Terms of Reference: Outcome/Project Evaluation: Women s Empowerment, Gender Equality and Equity

Transcription

1 Terms of Reference: Outcome/Project Evaluation: Women s Empowerment, Gender Equality and Equity 1. Background UNDP s corporate policy is to evaluate its development cooperation with the host government on a regular basis in order to assess whether and how UNDP-funded interventions contribute to the achievement of agreed outcomes, i.e. changes in the development situation and ultimately in people s lives. Evaluating country programming and projects therefore involves ascertaining whether and how UNDP has assisted in improving human development conditions, including for individuals, institutions and systems. Evaluation also helps to clarify underlying factors affecting development, to identify unintended consequences (positive and negative), to generate lessons learned and to recommend actions to improve performance in future programming. These terms of reference are for an evaluation of UNDP s support to Zimbabwe in the area of gender, specifically through a mid-term evaluation of a UNDP Zimbabwe project implemented under National Priority 6: Women s Empowerment, Gender Equality and Equity. Zimbabwe is party to key international and regional gender equality and women s advancement instruments 1 and it has registered significant strides in policy and legislative reforms aimed at inter alia, conferring majority status on women and reducing discrimination on the grounds of gender, sex and marital status. These grounds have now been broadened in the national constitution of The 2012 Zimbabwe Millennium Development Goals Status Report indicates that Zimbabwe will most likely achieve gender parity in primary and secondary school education, but it is off-track regarding the target on participation in decision-making positions. However, Zimbabwe has now in place a new national constitution which was adopted in 2013 which has some strong gender equality and women empowerment provisions. These include affirmative action provisions in the form of 60 seats reserved for women in the National House of Assembly. In addition the constitution provides for proportional representation in the Senate. As a consequence, there is now 35% representation of women in Parliament. This is double what is reported in the 2012 MDG Status Report. Representation of women in local government is at 16% down from 21 % following 2008 elections. There is unequal participation between women and men in the economy, as few women are participating in key economic sectors such as mining and tourism. The Poverty Income Consumption and Expenditure Survey (PICES) findings indicate that 79% of women are employed in the 1Some of these instruments are the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Beijing Platform for Action, the Millennium Declaration, the SADC Gender and Development Protocol, the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa, the Protocol to the African Charter and People s Rights Protocol on Women s Rights and the COMESA Gender Policy

2 agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing sector, though most are engaged in subsistence farming. However, PICES findings also point to increased poverty amongst female headed households in the rural areas Zimbabwe has in place a Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development (MWAGCD) established in 2005 and this constitutes the National Gender Machinery (NGM), with the mandate to coordinate gender equality and empowerment of women interventions. The Ministry coordinates and works through Gender Focal Points who are found in all Government Ministries to ensure that gender is mainstreamed across the government. In addition, the MWAGCD collaborates with Parliament especially the relevant portfolio committees and the Zimbabwe Women s Parliamentary Caucus, Civil Society Organizations, including Women s Groups at national and community levels. However, the challenge is found in the capacity to effectively coordinate all these key stakeholders and ensure gender mainstreaming in the country through inter alia, policy, legislative and other measures. In April 2012, a project on Strengthening the National Gender Machinery (NGM), was initiated to address some of the coordination challenges of gender mainstreaming for the Government of Zimbabwe, and to respond to prevailing legal and policy gaps. The project period will extend to 2015 and has an overall budget of USD $ 5 million. UNDP inputs equal USD $ 2 million, while UN agencies and other development partners inputs equal USD $ 3 million. The Strengthening the National Gender Machinery Project is a nationally implemented project, by the MWAGCD, and aimed at building the capacity of the NGM. The project does this through updating and modernizing the current NGM model through several initiatives, including a review of the National Gender Policy. The project seeks to build the gender mainstreaming capacity of the MWAGCD at all levels focusing on ministry officials at national, provincial, district and to some extent ward levels. The target will be an effective coordination and result oriented gender mainstreaming for visible gender equality and transformative development results such as gender sensitive policies, programmes and legislation. The project attempts to redress the challenges posed by an uncoordinated gender management system which in the past resulted in some uncoordinated gender responses, thereby leading to the duplication of efforts. The project is being implemented through the six outputs detailed in Annex Evaluation purpose The UNDP Office in Zimbabwe is commissioning this evaluation to capture evaluative evidence of the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the current project, which can be used to strengthen the existing project and to set the stage for new initiatives. Evaluations serves an important accountability function, providing national stakeholders and partners in Zimbabwe with an impartial assessment of the results of UNDP governance support. The purpose of this evaluation is to evaluate project results and its contribution to the overall outcome on gender equality and empowerment of women, as well as to identify lessons learnt that can improve UNDP and the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development in future initiatives on gender equality and empowerment of women. The evaluation is also aimed at informing the project direction in the remaining period of implementation as well as informing the new gender programme in the new CPD which will start in 2016.

3 2. Evaluation Scope The outcome evaluation will be conducted during the months of June and July 2014, with a view to enhancing programmes while providing strategic direction and inputs to the preparation of the next UNDP country programme and the next ZUNDAF, both scheduled to start in This evaluation focuses on UNDP Zimbabwe s major initiative in the area of gender equality and the empowerment of women, through the Strengthening National Gender Machinery project. The evaluation will consider the six project outputs stated in the Project Document and detailed in Annex 1. An analysis of achievements across these outputs is expected. To date, this is the only existing project under the following ZUNDAF and CPAP Outcomes: ZUNDAF Outcome 7.1: Laws, Policies and Frameworks established and implemented to ensure gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls CPAP Outcome: Women s participation in politics and decision making increased CPAP Outcome: National gender machinery strengthened Specifically, the evaluation will assess: 1) The relevance and sustainability of the Strengthening of the National Gender Machinery in Zimbabwe project. 2) The progress made toward project outputs, contributing factors and constraints, and lessons learned for future UNDP gender initiatives in Zimbabwe 3) The distinctive characteristics and features of UNDP s gender equality and mainstreaming support and how it has shaped UNDP's relevance as a current and potential partner in Zimbabwe. 4) The frameworks and strategies that UNDP has devised for its support on gender through this project, including partnership strategies with other UNDP programmes and UN agencies, and whether they are well conceived going forward 5) Possible entry points to alignment of future interventions to the new Constitution, the revised National Gender Policy, the ZIM-ASSET, UNDP Strategic Plan and the UNDP Gender Equality Strategy Evaluation questions The outcome evaluation will seek to answer the following questions, focused around the evaluation criteria of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability: Relevance: To what extent is UNDP s engagement a reflection of strategic considerations, including UNDP s role in a particular development context in Zimbabwe and its comparative advantage vis-à-vis other partners? To what extent has UNDP s selected method of delivery appropriate to the development context? Has UNDP been influential in national debates on gender issues and has it influenced national policies on gender? To what extent have UN reforms influenced the relevance of UNDP support to Government of Zimbabwe in the gender Ministry?

4 Effectiveness To what extent has UNDP been effective in achieving outputs for the Strengthening NGM project? What contributing factors and impediments enhance or impede UNDP s contribution to the achievement of the outcome through project outputs? What evidence is there that UNDP support has contributed towards an improvement in national government capacity, including institutional strengthening across project outputs? Has UNDP worked effectively with other UN agencies and other delivery partners to deliver project activities? Does UNDP occupy a critical niche in implementing this project? Has UNDP been effective in advocating best practices and desired goals? Has UNDP been effective in influencing national debates and policies on gender? Has UNDP been effective in helping improve gender equality at the local level in Zimbabwe? Do these local results aggregate into nationally significant results? To what extend does UNDP support align with the Gender Equality Strategy of UNDP? Efficiency To what extent have UNDP project outputs been efficient (including an efficient transformation of inputs to outputs) and cost-effective? Has there been an economical use of financial and human resources? Did the overhead costs justify the quality of the deliverables? To what extent does this project create synergies and leverage with other programmes in Zimbabwe? To what extent does UNDP ensure that joint project activities with other UNDP Programmes, UN Agencies, and other development partners sufficiently draw on each other to contribute to the achievement of outputs? Are the monitoring and evaluation systems that UNDP has in place helping to ensure that programmes are managed efficiently and effectively? Sustainability What is the likelihood that project interventions are sustainable? What mechanisms have been set in place by UNDP to support the Ministry of Gender to sustain improvements made through project activities? What changes should be made in the current set of government partnerships in order to achieve outputs and promote long term sustainability? How should the project activities be enhanced to support appropriate central authorities, local communities and civil society in improving service delivery in a long term perspective What changes should be made in order to improve the Gender programme for the next programming cycle? Assess possible areas of partnerships with other national institutions, CSOs, UN Agencies, private sector and development partners in Zimbabwe Based on the above analysis, the evaluation should provide recommendations on how the UNDP Zimbabwe Country Office should adjust its programming, partnership arrangements, resource mobilization strategies, and capacities to ensure that the gender programme achieves its outcomes by the end of the ZUNDAF period and beyond. 5. Methodology

5 The evaluation will be carried out by an external evaluator, and will engage a wide array of stakeholders and beneficiaries, including national and local government officials, donors, civil society organizations, academics and subject experts, private sector representatives and community members. Evidence obtained and used to assess the results of UNDP support should be triangulated from a variety of sources, including verifiable data on indicator achievement, existing reports, evaluations and technical papers, stakeholder interviews, focus groups, surveys and site visits. Engagement with the project team in the MWAGCD will take place over the course of the evaluation. This will include an initial meeting with the project team in the MWAGCD and UNDP and the presentation of a draft report to UNDP and MWAGCD and relevant stakeholders for validation and feed-back. The following steps in data collection are anticipated: 5.1 Desk Review A desk review should be carried out of the key strategies and documents underpinning the project activities and broader ZUNDAF outcome. This includes reviewing the ZUNDAF and pertinent country programme documents, the Gender Equality Strategy of UNDP, as well as a wide array of monitoring and evaluation documents, to be provided by the UNDP country office. The evaluator is expected to review pertinent strategies and reports developed by the Government of Zimbabwe that are relevant to UNDPs gender support. This includes the government s Mid-Term Plan (MTP), the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Social and Economic Transformation (ZIMASSET), the Constitution of Zimbabwe, and other national reports, to be made available by the UNDP country office. The evaluator will examine all relevant documentation concerning the Strengthening the NGM project implemented within the gender area, including any existing project TORs, work plans, evaluations, and technical assessment reports. 5.2 Field Data Collection Following the desk review, the evaluator will build on the documented evidence through an agreed set of field and interview methodologies, including: Interviews with key partners and stakeholders Field visits to project sites and partner institutions Survey questionnaires where appropriate Participatory observation, focus groups, and rapid appraisal techniques 6. Deliverables The following reports and deliverables are required for the evaluation: Inception report Draft Evaluation Report Presentation at the validation workshop with key stakeholders, (partners and beneficiaries) Final Evaluation report

6 One week after contract signing, the evaluation manager will produce an inception report for this evaluation. The inception report should include an evaluation matrix presenting the evaluation questions, data sources, data collection, analysis tools and methods to be used. Annex 2 provides a simple matrix template. The inception report should detail the specific timing for evaluation activities and deliverables, and propose specific site visits and stakeholders to be interviewed. Protocols for different stakeholders should be developed. The inception report will be discussed and agreed with the UNDP country office and MWAGCD before the evaluator proceeds with site visits. The draft evaluation report will be shared with stakeholders, and presented in a validation workshop, that the UNDP country office will organise. Feedback received from these sessions should be taken into account when preparing the final report. The evaluator will produce an audit trail indicating whether and how each comment received was addressed in revisions to the final report. The suggested table of contents of the evaluation report is as follows: Title Table of contents Acronyms and abbreviations Executive Summary Introduction Background and context Evaluation scope and objectives Evaluation approach and methods Data analysis Findings and conclusions Lessons learned Recommendations Annexes 7. Evaluation team composition and required competencies The evaluation will be undertaken by an external evaluator, hired as a consultant. Both international and national consultants can be considered for this position. Required Qualifications of the Gender Evaluator Minimum Master s degree in gender, economics, political science, public administration, regional development/planning, or other social science; Minimum years of professional experience in public sector development, including in the areas of democratic governance, regional development, gender equality and social services. At least 5 years of experience in conducting evaluations of government and international aid organisations, preferably with direct experience with civil service capacity building; Knowledge of contemporary regional and international gender equality and women empowerment developments including knowledge of key UN, SADC and AU gender equality instruments Demonstrated work experience on gender issues including gender responsive policies, public administration.

7 Strong working knowledge of the UN and its mandate in Zimbabwe, and more specifically the work of UNDP in support of government and civil society in Zimbabwe; Sound knowledge of results-based management systems, and monitoring and evaluation methodologies; including experience in applying SMART (S Specific; M Measurable; A Achievable; R Relevant; T Time-bound) indicators; Excellent reporting and communication skills The Gender Evaluator will have overall responsibility for the quality and timely submission of the draft and final evaluation report. Specifically, the Evaluation Manager will perform the following tasks: Carry out the evaluation mission; Develop the inception report, detailing the evaluation scope, methodology and approach; Conduct the project evaluation in accordance with the proposed objective and scope of the evaluation and UNDP evaluation guidelines; Draft and present the draft and final evaluation reports; Lead the presentation of draft findings in the stakeholder workshop; Finalize the evaluation report and submit it to UNDP. 8. Evaluation Ethics The evaluation must be carried out in accordance with the principles outlined in the UNEG Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation and sign the Ethical Code of Conduct for UNDP Evaluations. In particular, evaluators must be free and clear of perceived conflicts of interest. To this end, interested consultants will not be considered if they were directly and substantively involved, as an employee or consultant, in the formulation of UNDP strategies and programming relating to the outcomes and programmes under review. The code of conduct and an agreement form to be signed by each consultant are included in Annex Implementation Arrangements The UNDP Zimbabwe country office will select the evaluator, and will be responsible for the management of the evaluators. UNDP will designate a focal point for the evaluation and any additional staff to assist in facilitating the process (e.g., providing relevant documentation, arranging visits/interviews with key informants, etc.). The Country Office will take responsibility for the approval of the final evaluation report. The M&E Specialist and the Gender focal point in the Country Office will arrange introductory meetings within UNDP and Unit Heads and will establish initial contacts with government partners and project staff. The consultant will take responsibility for setting up meetings and conducting the evaluation, subject to advanced approval of the methodology submitted in the inception report. The UNDP country office will develop a management response to the evaluation within six weeks of report finalization. While the Country Office will provide some logistical support during the evaluation, for instance assisting in setting interviews with senior government officials, it will be the responsibility of the evaluators to logistically and financially arrange their travel to and from relevant project sites and to arrange most interviews. Planned travels and associated costs will be included in the Inception Report, and agreed with the Country Office.

8 Subsequent to the completion of this outcome evaluation, the full UNDP Zimbabwe programme will be evaluated by the UNDP Independent Evaluation Office. Zimbabwe is one of six countries to receive an Assessment of Development Results (ADR) in The IEO carries out these country programme assessments in the year prior to new UNDAF s and CPDs being established. This outcome evaluation on governance support will be an important source of information for the Zimbabwe ADR. The UNDP Independent Evaluation Office may request to extend the contracts of the evaluators for this outcome evaluation to provide additional support to the ADR implementation during August through October Time-frame for the Evaluation Process The evaluation is expected to take 30 working days, over a period of six weeks starting 28 th July A tentative date for the stakeholder workshop is 26 August 2014, and the final draft evaluation report is due by 1 st September The following table provides an indicative breakout for activities and delivery: Activity Deliverable Work day Time period (days) allocation for task Gender Evaluator completion Review materials and develop work plan Inception report 6 7 Participate in an Inception Meeting with and evaluation UNDP Zimbabwe country office and MWAGCD Draft inception report matrix Review Documents and stakeholder Draft evaluation consultations report Stakeholder workshop presentation Interview stakeholders Conduct field visits Analyse data Develop draft evaluation report and submit to Country Office Present draft Evaluation Report at Validation Workshop Final evaluation Finalize and submit evaluation report incorporating additions and comments provided by stakeholders report 7 7 totals 28 6 weeks 11. Fees and payments Interested consultants should provide their requested fee rates when they submit their expressions of interest, in USD. The UNDP Country Office will then negotiate and finalise contracts. Travel costs and daily allowances will be paid against invoice, and subject to the UN payment schedules for Zimbabwe. Fee payments will be made upon acceptance and approval by the UNDP Country Office of planned deliverables, based on the following payment schedule: Inception report 10% Draft Evaluation Report 70% Final Evaluation Report 20%

9 ANNEXES Annex 1: Outputs for Strengthening National Gender Machinery Project Output 1 National Gender Policy and implementation strategy reviewed and implemented Support is being rendered to the MWAGCD to finalize the process to review the National Gender Policy (NGP) and ensure that a new policy aligned to the new constitution, national, regional and international gender equality and advancement of women s rights instruments. The output also facilitates the training of Gender Focal Points in the provisions of the new National Gender Policy so that they cascade the information in various government departments. Other key activities include the development of an Implementation Strategy and simplification of the NGP. Output 2: National gender monitoring and evaluation mechanism established. The project seeks to support the MWAGCD in gender monitoring and reporting starting with improvements in reporting for the project results. This would be achieved through the training of a selection of MWAGCD officers and Gender Focal Points in gender monitoring and evaluation so that they have the skills to collect data and analyse the data for gender equality results. Key activities already covered include development of monitoring and evaluation tools for the project and training in gender auditing. Output 3: National Gender Commission Established The new constitution provides for the establishment of a Gender Commission to monitor the enforcement of gender equality constitutional, legislative and administrative measures. The project seeks to assist the MWAGCD with technical support of the Ministry of Justice in crafting the Gender Commission Bill. Interventions include stakeholder consultative meetings on the Bill and lobbying the Gender Portfolios Committee. Expected results include the enactment of the Gender Commission Act and the initial support towards the establishment of the Gender Commission Secretariat. Output 4: Gender-responsive economic policy-making institutionalized within the public sector The project seeks to support the implementation of the Gender and Economic Policy Management Initiative in Zimbabwe (GEPMI). The introduction of the Gender Responsive Economic Policy Management initiative in 2011 came from a strategic partnership between UNDP and the Government of Zimbabwe responding to a long-term objective of creating a critical mass of new cadre of economic policy planners and decision-makers capable of integrating gender as a variable for economic analysis, policy and budgeting as a key determinant of economic policy management. The GEPMI is based on a three week modular short course and the long term process of institutionalizing the course within appropriate institutions. Improved data and analysis would better inform policy development and increase policy effectiveness and address the negative impact of gender inequalities on economic growth.

10 Output 5: Policies and programmes to increase women s capacity to participate in politics and occupy decision-making positions in the public and private sector developed and implemented The output contributes to the increased participation of women in Parliament, local government and other decision making positions in both the private and public sector through the NGM coordination and facilitation of the participation of women in the constitution making process, collaborating with MPs, women political leaders and the women s movement. This is because of the realization that constitutional measures, in particular some affirmative measures, will contribute to increased participation of women in decision making. Interventions include support to research on gender, women and the constitution, production of a position paper on women s key constitutional demands, lobbying and advocacy dialogues with senior political leaders and Members of Parliament. Output 6: Increased access to women s economic opportunities In the previous ZUNDAF cycle studies carried out indicated the low participation of women in the economy and inadequate mainstreaming of gender in economic development plans, limited resources for women s economic empowerment. This output seeks to promote the women s access to economic opportunities through evidence based gender analysis and research on inter alia, alternative financing for women s economic opportunities. Key interventions include coordination and facilitation of the participation of women s groups at national, regional and international trade fairs and business expositions to access markets and improve on the incomes with the aim of increasing women s economic opportunities.

11 Annex 2 - Documents to be consulted The evaluator will be expected to consult the following documents: Zimbabwe United Nations Development Assistance Framework ZUNDAF Annual and mid-term review reports UNDP Country Programme Document UNDP Country Programme Action Plan UNDP PME Handbook UNDP Evaluation Guide and addendum UNDG RBM Handbook UNDG Ethical Code of Conduct of Evaluators Project Result and Resources Framework Other documents and materials related to the outcome to be evaluated (from the government, donors, research papers etc.) Relevant ROARs MDG Status Report 2012 Project Annual Work Plans and Progress Reports Project Monitoring plans UNDP evaluation policy, UNEG norms and standards, and other policy documents

12 Annex 3: EVALUATION MATRIX Evaluation matrices are useful tools for planning and conducting evaluations; helping to summarize and visually present an evaluation design and methodology for discussions with stakeholders. In an evaluation matrix, the evaluation questions, data sources, data collection, analysis tools and methods appropriate for each data source are presented, and the standard or measure by which each question will be evaluated is shown. Relevant evaluation criteria Key Questions Specific Sub- Questions Data Sources Data collection Methods/Tools Indicators/ Success Standard Methods for Data Analysis

13 Annex 4: Ethical Code of Conduct for UNDP Evaluations Evaluators: 1. Must present information that is complete and fair in its assessment of strengths and weaknesses so that decisions or actions taken are well founded 2. Must disclose the full set of evaluation findings along with information on their limitations and have this accessible to all affected by the evaluation with expressed legal rights to receive results. 3. Should protect the anonymity and confidentiality of individual informants. They should provide maximum notice, minimize demands on time, and: respect people s right not to engage. Evaluators must respect people s right to provide information in confidence, and must ensure that sensitive information cannot be traced to its source. Evaluators are not expected to evaluate individuals, and must balance an evaluation of management functions with this general principle. 4. Sometimes uncover evidence of wrongdoing while conducting evaluations. Such cases must be reported discreetly to the appropriate investigative body. Evaluators should consult with other relevant oversight entities when there is any doubt about if and how issues should be reported. 5. Should be sensitive to beliefs, manners and customs and act with integrity and honesty in their relations with all stakeholders. In line with the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, evaluators must be sensitive to and address issues of discrimination and gender equality. They should avoid offending the dignity and self-respect of those persons with whom they come in contact in the course of the evaluation. Knowing that evaluation might negatively affect the interests of some stakeholders, evaluators should conduct the evaluation and communicate its purpose and results in a way that clearly respects the stakeholders dignity and self-worth. 6. Are responsible for their performance and their product(s). They are responsible for the clear, accurate and fair written and/or oral presentation of study limitations, findings and recommendations. 7. Should reflect sound accounting procedures and be prudent in using the resources of the evaluation. Evaluation Consultant Agreement Form 2 Agreement to abide by the Code of Conduct for Evaluation in the UN System Name of Consultant: Name of Consultancy Organization (where relevant): I confirm that I have received and understood and will abide by the United Nations Code of Conduct for Evaluation. Signed at on Signature: 2