Evaluation Consultant : Midterm Evaluation of the Africa UNiTE Campaign

Midterm Evaluation of the Africa UNiTE Campaign

Terms of Reference for Evaluation Consultant

I. Introduction

The Africa- UNiTE Campaign is the Africa-led regional component of the UN Secretary General’s global campaign to end Violence against Women, launched on 25th February 2008. The global campaign covering the period 2008-2015, has the overall objective of raising public awareness and increasing political will and resources for preventing and responding to Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). The Secretary-General's campaign calls for a strengthening of the work of the UN system on ending violence against women and girls, seeks to increase global advocacy and resources for the work on the issue, and aims to build partnerships and capacities that address the persistence of gender inequality and violence against women and girls. The campaign is to create a favourable and supportive environment for governments, in partnership with civil society, experts, entities of the United Nations system and other stakeholders, to fulfil existing policy commitments.

The Africa-UNiTE Campaign which is aligned to the global campaign in terms of timeframewas officially launched in January 2010 during the African Union Heads of State Summit in Addis Ababa, and will be completed in 2015. The campaign involves operationalization of 6 major outcomes listed here below with a planned budget of roughly $10,840,867.64 million USD1.

1. Adoption and enforcement of national laws to address and punish all forms of violence against women and girls, in line with international human rights standards

2. Adoption and implementation of multi-sectoral national plans of action that emphasize prevention and that are adequately resourced

3. Establishment of data collection and analysis systems, on the prevalence of various forms of violence against women and girls

4. Establishment of national and/or local campaigns and the engagement of a diverse range of civil society actors in preventing violence and in supporting women and girls who have been abused

5. Systemic efforts to address sexual violence in conflict situations and to protect women and girls from rape as a tactic of war, and the full implementation of related laws and policies

6. Systemic efforts and actions to ensure women’s safety and security in public spaces.

The Campaign is premised upon the argument that ending VAW and ensuring effective support to survivors of VAWG in the Africa region, requires an effective campaign to reinforce existing initiatives, galvanize political support and mobilize matching resources. The Africa UNiTE Campaign is a response to the call of the UN Secretary General to each UN entity to play a prominent role to join efforts to end violence against women by providing leadership, knowledge and expertise according to their mandate and distinctive added value. Africa UNiTE is designed to give operational effect to the SG’s Global Campaign by serving as the platform for highlighting and building on existing activities and initiatives in Africa at the national, sub-regional and regional levels. The campaign has been designed around three outcome areas as follows; 

Outcome 1: Data collection and analysis systems on the prevalence of various forms of violence against (SG UNiTE campaign- outcome 3) 

Outcome 2: Public awareness and social mobilization are increased to prevent and respond to VAWG (SG UNITE campaign - outcome 4) 

Outcome 3: Enhanced coordination and coherence among UN agencies in Africa on the implementation of the SGs UNiTE Campaign (management outcome) 

The Campaign has three themes (the 3Ps) which guide the focus of the campaign and serve as the umbrella to mobilize and galvanize stakeholders’ support and political will for their realization: these are i) Prevention of Violence Against Women & Girls; ii) Provision of services to survivors of VAWG; and iii) Promotion of justice in order to end impunity. 
The Africa-UNiTE Secretariat is based in Addis Ababa and serves as the central point to monitor and coordinate implementing UN agencies’ work on the UNiTE campaign. 

II. Evaluation Purpose 

Due to the multiplicity and complexity of factors contributing to VAW and its elimination, measuring the impact of campaigns can be difficult. However, as seen from the global expected outcomes above, the campaign is targeting changes at the institutional and systemic levels that would eventually lead to changes in women’s lives. The purpose of this evaluation is therefore, to assess the progress towards the achievement of the planned outcomes. This is a utility-focused formative evaluation of the campaign progress and outcomes in order to identify lessons that can improve the remaining years of the campaign. 

Specifically the evaluation will; 

i. Assess progress made towards the achievement of planned outputs and outcomes. 

ii. Assess efficiency of the campaign strategies and resources in the achievement of the intended results. 

iii. Consolidate forward-looking recommendations and develop a Theory of Change to further improve the implementation and management of the Africa Unite Campaign 

iv. Contribute knowledge to organizations working in Africa on Ending VAW 

v. Provide inputs for UNWOMEN’s strategic reflection and learning on its work supporting initiatives on ending VAW. 

Stakeholders 

The stakeholders in this evaluation include the 12 – member Regional Steering Committee for the Africa Unite; (members include UNECA the African Union Commission, African Development Bank, UNWOMEN, UNFPA, UNICEF, Alliance for Arab Women, GenderLinks, WILDAF, and SOAWR); the UN Inter-Agency Committees for the UNiTE campaign at headquarters, regional and national levels, UNCTs in countries where the campaign has been launched and governments in Africa. The Campaign Secretariat based in Addis Ababa is also a stakeholder for this evaluation. 

III. Evaluation Approach 

The overall approach of this evaluation is utility-focused and aligned with UNWOMEN’s evaluation strategy guidelines, UNEG norms and standards. In addition, UNWOMEN’s evaluations are also expected to adhere to a framework supporting human rights-based (HRBA), results oriented and gender responsive monitoring and evaluation. Towards this purpose, the evaluation of the Africa Unite campaign will encompass the principles of gender equality and human rights, ensuring that the evaluation process respects these normative standards, and aims for progressive realization of the same by respecting, protecting and fulfilling obligations of non-discrimination, access to information, and ensuring participation through a combination of consultative and participatory evaluation approach. The evaluation will also include the voices of marginalized groups such as women survivors of violence. The evaluating team may further define the overall approach by adopting complementary methodologies and approaches, such as a case study approach that explores the campaign as the “case” and prioritizes the evaluation questions suggested in this TOR to maintain a utilitarian focus. 

IV. Evaluation Criteria 

Many different criteria can be applied for focusing the evaluative inquiries, such as questions based on human rights and gender perspective, equality and non-discrimination, empowerment, accountability etc. The most common criteria are efficiency, effectiveness, relevance, impact and sustainability. For the purposes of this evaluation, there will be four main evaluation criteria: effectiveness, efficiency, relevance and sustainability. The impact of the campaign is not deemed evaluable at this time since the campaign was launched only two and a half years ago and the evaluable period is insufficient for measuring long-term impact. In the context of this campaign evaluation, the “effectiveness” criteria will measure the extent of achievement of outcomes and outputs. “Efficiency” will assess quantitative and qualitative outputs, in relation to the inputs of the campaign. The questions categorized under “relevance” will assess the coherence of the campaign’s vision and strategies with UNWOMEN’s organizational goals, the regional contexts and strategic priorities. In addition, the evaluation can also examine the external factors that have influenced the campaign’s strategies and how the campaign has adapted to these factors. Evaluation questions that refer to “sustainability” will examine whether and how the benefits generated will continue at the end of the campaign, for a reasonably long period of

time. Sustainability may refer to the financial or technical capacity of partner organizations to continue the initiative, national ownership of the initiative, and adaptive, operational, or management capacities of national partners. 

V. Evaluation Questions and Focus 

The following section summarizes some of the key evaluation questions, categorized under the appropriate evaluation criteria. There is an emphasis on evaluating intermediate outcome and process, rather than impact level changes since the evaluable period is relatively short and this evaluation will provide valuable feedback for subsequent phases of the campaign. The evaluation focus has been narrowed down based on the following factors: 

(a) Evaluability in terms of available resources and information; 

(b) Questions that cannot be answered by the campaign team through internal de-brief or self-assessment. 

Effectiveness of the Campaign 

• To what extent is the campaign making progress in the achievement of the intended outcomes? 

• To what extent is the campaign effective in raising awareness, increasing salience of the issue, and what effect did it have on the attitudes, knowledge and self-efficacy of the participating public? 

• To what extent is the campaign’s messaging and strategies effective in eliciting participation and commitment of member states? 

• To what extent did women survivors of violence consider the campaign and its messaging effective and relevant to their needs and realities? 

• To what extent have Member States; regional organisations; and the women’s movement in Africa considered the campaign relevant to their priorities and strategies? 

• What aspects of the campaign strategy and managerial/operational process facilitated achieving the desired results or posed hindrances for UNWOMEN HQ, field offices and civil society partners? 

• What, if any, were the unexpected outcomes of this campaign? 

• What were the risks relevant to UNIFEM and UN Women in terms of process and management, and risks relevant to the issue? 

• What measures have been taken during the implementation period to ensure that the campaign resources are used efficiently? Is there evidence that there was efficient use of resources in relation to financial and non-financial results produced 

• How did the campaign management; organizational structure, managerial support and coordination mechanisms support the efficiency of the implemented initiatives? 

• Is the managerial and staff structure in place cost-effective? Is it adequate to current context and demand? 

• What is the role of other UN agencies and of inter-agency collaboration in the area of at the regional subregional and national levels? Were these agencies adequately engaged in the different countries where the campaign is being implemented? 

• To what extent has the programme been implemented in a timely manner? Have there been any delays and if so what are the impacts of these to the programme? 

• How is the campaign addressing external and internal risks? 

Relevance of the Campaign 

• How are the campaign strategies coherent to UNWOMEN and the United Nations UNiTE agenda at global and national levels? 

• Are the campaign’s objectives and strategies addressing the needs and priorities in national/regional context? 

• What are the external contexts/factors that influence the campaign’s outcomes and/or Strategies and how have they affected the relevance of the campaign? 

• How relevant was the campaign in each country situation – in terms of- 

- Alignment with priorities and needs of the region and the countries? 

- How flexibly did the campaign strategies respond to the differences in national capacity and changes in country situations? 

- How well did the campaign strategy respond to the changes in the United Nations operating environment following the various United Nations reform initiative (e.g., Joint Programming, One UN pilot,)? 

• Did the campaign objectives address the identified rights and needs of the target groups? 

• Was the campaign strategy and design articulated in a coherent manner? 

• How has the campaign responded to external and internal opportunities if any? 

• What is UNWOMEN’s comparative advantage in coordinating this campaign? 

Sustainability of the Campaign 

• How can the results of this campaign contribute towards furthering the UNWOMEN and other UN agencies’ aims of social mobilization and increased awareness about VAWG? 

• Is the campaign leading to sustainable institutional changes and results? 

• What are some of the main challenges and key opportunities for working more effectively and systematically on ending VAW in Africa? 

• Were the partnership choices appropriate for greater sustainability of the campaign? 

VI. Evaluation Scope 

The evaluation will focus on the activities of the campaign between January 2010 and July 2012 but the document review and interviews will take into account the relevant preparatory work since the launch of the SG’s Global Unite campaign in 2008. The geographic scope of the evaluation will be Africa as a whole. The evaluation will include field visits to a select number of countries that will be determined during the inception phase of the evaluation. The selection criterion for the countries will be based on the extent of participation in the campaign by UNWOMEN, other UN agencies and partners in those 6 | P a g e 

countries and comparable and similar characteristics in terms of prevalence of violence against women. 

VII. Existing Information Sources 

Some of the existing sources of information will include annual reports from the campaign secretariat and implementing countries. Other documents that are available are the programme documents/proposals, concept papers, narrative and mission reports. A baseline study was undertaken in the first phase of the campaign and will provide an important benchmark against which progress in the achievement of expected campaign outcomes will be assessed since the commencement of the campaign. 

VIII. Evaluation Process And Methods 

The final evaluation methodologies to be applied in the evaluation will be developed by the Consultant and presented for approval to the Reference Group. The methodology should include: 

• An evaluation design that builds on the above detailed objectives, scope and evaluation questions, including an evaluation matrix 

• The instruments and tools to gather relevant information and data, including the variety of key informants to be interviewed; and the approaches for the analysis and interpretation of data. 

• The approaches for the analysis and the interpretation of data (e.g. types of data analysis used, data collection instruments, the level of precision, sampling approaches); 

• The selection process and criteria for sampling the programme countries to be evaluated; 

• The list of information sources gathered, and making them available to UNWOMEN; 

• Expected measures that will be put in place to ensure that the evaluation process is ethical and that the participants in the evaluation – e.g. interviewees, sources – will be protected (according to the UNEG norms and standards and UNEG Ethical Guidelines, see :http://www.unevaluation.org/ethicalguidelines 

• A detailed work plan indicating timing of activities, responsibilities, and use of resources. 

The evaluation will analyze the anticipated and actual change processes resulting from the UNiTE campaign through developing a Theory of Change (ToC) for the UNiTE campaign. This ToC will describe the sequence of events that is expected to lead to the 6 major UNiTE outcomes. It will make explicit and test the underlying assumptions of the ToC through collecting evidence on what has worked and what not in the overall change process. 

In developing the evaluation framework and -methodology the consultant should make use of existing literature on how to evaluate advocacy & policy initiatives. Evaluation methods will include a desk study, an electronic stakeholder survey, case studies as well as individual and group interviews in selected countries. 

In building on the report “Establishing a Baseline For Evaluating and 
Planning UNiTE Africa to End Violence against Women and Girls” (May 2011) this evaluation will assess the levels of progress in combating VAWG in African Countries and to the extent possible update the respective country ranking (see p. 12 of the report). The indicators on VAW presented in Annex 3 of the baseline report will be used as basis for this assessment.

The evaluation will be conducted in 4 stages – an inception stage; a desk study; country field visits, a final overall analysis stage to draft the final evaluation report and presentation of results and consolidation of inputs to a wider group consultation at the Regional Steering Committee meeting. 

• Stage I. Inception phase involves an initial desk review and interviews with the key stakeholders to define the scope of evaluation and refine the evaluation questions. It will result in an inception report with the development of detailed work plan, methodology for gathering and analyzing the data, and the criteria for the selection of countries. 

• Stage II. Desk study covers a thorough review of all relevant documentation and completion of initial interviews with key stakeholders. 

• Stage III. Country field visits involve field visits to countries selected, drafting of country notes, drafting of preliminary evaluation report and a stakeholder workshop to share preliminary evaluation findings and obtain inputs from stakeholders. 

• Stage IV. Overall analysis will focus on final data analysis, including a presentation at a regional meeting for validation of the findings and preparation of the final evaluation report. 


IX. Expected Products and Timeline for the Evaluation 

The consultancy will be undertaken in 50 working days spread over three months: November 2012 to January 2013. The consultant is expected to undertake some missions to conduct survey and assess the implementation of the programme.

The following are the main deliverables of the evaluation.

Milestone/ Deliverable / Responsibility / Dates Due:

1- Inception phase

- Reference & Advisory Group Established / Africa Section / 10 August 2012

- TOR Finalised / Africa Section / October 2012

- Recruitment and briefing of the Consultant / Africa Section/Campaign Secretariat / 15 November 2012

- Production of inception report (including a workplan for the evaluation) / Consultant / 23 November 2012

- Review of inception report / Reference group / 27 November 2012

2- Desk study

Desk review, initial interviews / Consultant / 4 December 2012

3- Country field visits

- Conduct country visits, / Consultant/Country offices / 24 December 2012

- Drafting of country notes and draft evaluation report, / Consultant / January 15 2013

- Regional Steering Committee Meeting / Campaign Secretariat/Regional Steering Committee / TBC

- Review and feedback from the draft evaluation report / Reference group / 25 January 2013

4- Overall analysis

Submission of final evaluation report / Consultant / 31 January 2013

5. Utilization of Evaluation Results

Review of final evaluation report, development of strategy for dissemination and utilization of evaluation results / Campaign Secretariat/regional Steering committee / 28 February 2013

The deliverables expected from the consultant include the following;

i. An Inception report with refined evaluation questions and evaluation methodology

ii. A draft evaluation report to be reviewed by the reference group

iii. A power point presentation to be made at the regional stakeholders workshop

iv. Final evaluation report which should include annexes of country specific findings from the evaluation

X. Consultant Skills And Experience

The evaluation will be conducted by a Lead consultant and national consultants who will be identified following the selection of countries for field visits.

Lead Consultant: The Consultant will be responsible for coordinating the evaluation as a whole, the work plan and the presentation of the different evaluation products. The Lead consultant will guide and supervise the national consultants. The required qualifications experience and education of the lead consultant are outlined below;

i. At least a master’s degree, PhD preferred, in any social science.

ii. Ten years of working experience in evaluation, and at least five in evaluation of advocacy or campaign initiatives.

iii. Experience in evaluation of large programmes involving multi-countries.

iv. Proven experience and ability to lead and work with other evaluation experts.

v. Five years of experience and background on gender equality and/or human rights and familiarity with programmes on ending VAW in Africa

vi. Experience in working with multi-stakeholders: governments, civil society organizations (CSOs), and the United Nations/ multilateral/bilateral institutions.

vii. Experience in theory-based and participatory evaluation approaches required.

viii. Facilitation skills and ability to manage diversity of views in different cultural contexts.

ix. Ability to produce well written reports demonstrating analytical ability and communication skills.

x. Ability to work with the organization commissioning the evaluation and with other evaluation stakeholders to ensure that a high quality product is delivered on a timely basis.

XI. Management Of The Evaluation

The following outlines the roles and responsibilities for ensuring stakeholder engagement. The Programme Specialist Planning, Monitoring and Reporting at the Africa Section will be the Task Manager for this evaluation. The Evaluation Task Manager will be responsible for managing the evaluation process as a whole, and following up with the Consultant to ensure deliverables and the timely application of the work-plan. The evaluation manager is responsible for managing risks that may occur during the evaluation process. Examples are risks related to the data availability, utilization of evaluation results etc. The Evaluation Manager will be working in close collaboration and will be reporting to the Reference Group The task Manager will coordinate all the evaluation related logistics and will liaise with the relevant office for the contracting process.

An evaluation a Reference Group will be established consisting of UNWOMEN and representatives from the Campaign Regional Steering Committee. The Reference Group has decision making responsibility during the different stages of the evaluation and is the ultimate owner and user of the evaluation. Key responsibilities are: determine the key objectives and scope of the evaluation (input to TOR); review deliverables such as inception report, draft and final report; decide who in Africa will use the evaluation findings and how; safeguard the independence of the evaluation; and allocate adequate funding and human resources for the evaluation.

The evaluation will be carried out following UNEG Norms and Standards as well as the UN Women Evaluation Policy. According to UN Women Evaluation Policy the evaluation in UN Women will be independent and abide to the following evaluation standards: Participation and Inclusiveness, Utilization-Focused and Intentionality, Transparency, Independence and Impartiality, Quality and Credibility as well as Ethical Standards. Following Evaluation Policy a management response will be prepared by the commissioning unit within 6 weeks after completion of the report. It will specify the key actions to be taken, key partners to be involved in carrying out the actions and the timeframe for implementation. When preparing the response, inputs should be sought from all parties to whom recommendations are addressed including partners. UNEG Norms and Standards and the UN Women Evaluation Policy are publicly available under http://www.unwomen.org/about/evaluation.php “

UNWOMEN staff at sub-regional and country offices will be providing administrative and logistical support to the evaluation process such as arrangement of meetings with stakeholders, travel arrangements etc. The staff at country level will also support the identification of the national consultants. In addition, the other UN agencies working on the same issue will be consulted in the course of the evaluation where they will share their expectations on the evaluation. At the country level main donors who support programmes on EVAW will also be consulted and will also receive the evaluation report.

The UNWOMEN Africa Section will respond to the evaluation by preparing a management response and use the findings as appropriate. The Section may participate in the country missions in collaboration with the Consultant.

XII. Ethical Code Of Conduct For The Evaluation

It is expected that the evaluators will respect the ethical code of conduct of the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG). These are:

i. Independence: Evaluators shall ensure that independence of judgment is maintained and that evaluation findings and recommendations are independently presented.

ii. Impartiality: Evaluators shall operate in an impartial and unbiased manner and give a balanced presentation of strengths and weaknesses of the policy, programme, project or organizational unit being evaluated.

iii. Conflict of Interest: Evaluators are required to disclose in writing any past experience that may give rise to a potential conflict of interest, and to deal honestly in resolving any conflict of interest that may arise.

iv. Honesty and Integrity: Evaluators shall show honesty and integrity in their own behaviour, negotiating honestly the evaluation costs, tasks, limitations, and scope of results likely to be obtained, while accurately presenting their procedures, data and findings and highlighting any limitations or uncertainties of interpretation within the evaluation.

v. Competence: Evaluators shall accurately represent their level of skills and knowledge and work only within the limits of their professional training and abilities in evaluation, declining assignments that they do not have the skills and experience to complete successfully.

vi. Accountability: Evaluators are accountable for the completion of the agreed evaluation deliverables within the timeframe and budget agreed, while operating in a cost effective manner.

vii. Obligations to Participants: Evaluators shall respect and protect the rights and welfare of human subjects and communities, in accordance with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights conventions. Evaluators shall respect differences in culture, local customs, religious beliefs and practices, personal interaction, gender roles, disability, age and ethnicity, while using evaluation instruments appropriate to the cultural setting. Evaluators shall ensure prospective participants are treated as autonomous agents, free to choose whether to participate in the evaluation, while ensuring that the relatively powerless are represented.

viii. Confidentiality: Evaluators shall respect people’s right to provide information in confidence and make participants aware of the scope and limits of confidentiality, while ensuring that sensitive information cannot be traced to its source.

ix. Avoidance of Harm: Evaluators shall act to minimize risks and harms to, and burdens on, those participating in the evaluation, without compromising the integrity of the evaluation findings.

x. Accuracy, Completeness and Reliability: Evaluators have an obligation to ensure that evaluation reports and presentations are accurate, complete and reliable. Evaluators shall explicitly justify judgments, findings and conclusions and show their underlying rationale, so that stakeholders are in a position to assess them.

xi. Transparency: Evaluators shall clearly communicate to stakeholders the purpose of the evaluation, the criteria applied and the intended use of findings. Evaluators shall ensure that stakeholders have a say in shaping the evaluation and shall ensure that all documentation is readily available to and understood by stakeholders.

xii. Omissions and wrongdoing: Where evaluators find evidence of wrongdoing or unethical conduct, they are obliged to report it to the proper oversight authority

Applying for the consultancy:

Interested consultants should send the following;

Cover letter stating why you want to do this work, your capacity and experience in evaluating campaigns or advocacy programmes and available start date.

the application should state the expected daily professional fee

Detailed CV (UN Women P11)- (this can be down- loaded from the UNWOMEN website)

Applications with the above details should be sent to linet.miriti-otieno@unwomen.org by COB East Africa Time latest 9th November 2012