International Consultant- UN Women Mozambique CO Strategic Note Mid-Term Review

I. Background 

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievements of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women´s rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure commitments to advance gender equality in line with the national priorities. 

UN Women Country Office (CO) has been operational in Mozambique since 2010. For UN Women, the Country Office Strategic Note (SN) is the main planning tool for the agencies’ support to normative, coordination and operational work. 

The current CO Strategic Note is aligned with the previous and National Development Strategy (ENDE – (2015 -2025 and 2025-2044), the five-year government programme (PQG – 2020 – 2024), the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDGs 1,5, 8, 10, 13, 16 and 17. 

UN Women vision for Mozambique is the empowerment of women and girls, and the fulfilment of their human rights are achieved in a peaceful and resilient Mozambican society. To achieve this vision, the CO builds and sustains synergies with other UN Agencies under the principle of “Delivering as One”, the Regional Bodies, Development Partners and Private Sector through Joint Programming. In support of this goal and thoroughly taking into consideration the specificities of the Mozambican context, UN Women concentrates its efforts and interventions toward the realization of the following outcomes, as described in the organization strategic note (SN): 

i) Outcome 2.1 - By 2026 more people, particularly women and youth, participate in and benefit from a more diversified, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth based on increased production, productivity, and greater value-added chains (CF Outcome 2) 

ii) Outcome 3.1 - by 2026, more people, particularly the most vulnerable and marginalized, have a more equitable access to and utilization of quality, inclusive, resilient, gender- and shock responsive social protection and essential social services (CF Outcome 1) 

iii) Outcome 4.1 - by 2026, more people, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized, are protected, enjoy their rights, and benefit from a secure, peaceful environment, enabled by inclusive governance systems, and independent and accountable institutions abiding by the rule of law (CF Outcome 4)- (WPS for UN Women) 

iv) Outcome 6.1 - Global norms, standards, and processes on gender equality and empowerment of all  women and girls are translated into gender-responsive laws, policies, and plans and effectively implemented (New). 

vi) Outcome 6.2 - The UN system coherently and systematically contributes to the progress of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls (New).

Description of the Strategic Note 

UN Women Mozambique Country Office Strategic Note (2023-2026) guides the work of the organization in the country, articulating how it will contribute to the achievement of national goals. The Country Office has embraced an integrated programming approach and the triple nexus development-peace and humanitarian with Leave No One Behind (LNOB) principles to spearhead the impactful changes in the communities but also making sure that Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) is embedded in policies, laws, programmes, institutions and financing mechanisms. 

The SN programmes were designed in a context of ongoing development and humanitarian challenges and aimed at advancing the triple nexus by addressing humanitarian needs and peacebuilding while also focusing on resilience, life-saving support, access to services including Gender Based Violence (GBV) assistance, livelihoods and the protection of women’s and girls’ rights. 

Full implementation of the current SN is costed at 39 million from 2023 to 2026, divided per impact area:

 Purpose of the Mid Term Review 

The SN (2023-2026) MTR will be conducted by an independent consultant, aiming at providing an assessment of the progress (or lack of) towards intended results and/or unintended results against. 

Specifically, it will: 

1. Analyse and reflect on the progress made towards attainment of the planned results as defined in the SN for UN Women in Mozambique, including challenges and lessons learned over the first half 
2. Update the situation analysis of women and girls in Mozambique and reposition the work of UN Women in the country considering the new and emerging priorities. 
3. To analyse whether the financial and human resources were effectively and efficiently used and if they concur for the achievement of intended results by 2026. 
4. To review theory of change as articulated in the SN together with partners and beneficiaries and by re-examining the Theory of Change (ToC) advise accordingly as whether the ToC must change or be modified to accommodate new and emerging country priorities on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women. 
5. Re-examine the geographical focus of UN Women in Mozambique. 
6. To take stock of emerging issues and changes in the programming context and operational response across the UN women Triple mandate (Normative, coordination and Operational along the humanitarian, Peace and development nexus). 
7. To agree on the contribution of UN Women in Mozambique towards fulfilment of GEWE commitments as aligned to the SDGs and the national priorities. 

IV.  Mid-term Review objectives, criteria and key questions 

4.1 Evaluation objectives and scope 

The specific objectives of the evaluation are to: 

• Assess the relevance of the SN at national level and alignment with the needs of the intended beneficiaries and with international agreements and conventions. 
• Assess the organizational efficiency of the SN in relation to delivering the desired results of the SN. 
• Assess the effectiveness related to the achievement of the SN outcomes as identified, as well as unintended outcomes. 
• Assess the potential sustainability of the SN results. 
• Analyse how human rights-based approach and gender equality principles were integrated in the design and implementation of the SN. 
• Identify and validate challenges, lessons learned, best, innovative and promising practices with high replicability potential. 
• Document enabling factors and strategies that contributed towards achievement of results. 
• Analyse the extent to which the SN was and is still aligned with government priorities as well as UNDAF and UNSDCF. 
• Provide concrete and actionable recommendations for future programming and design of the next SN and the 2026 AWP given the socio-economic and political context of the country in general and implementation sites in particular. 

4.2 Mid-term review criteria and key questions 

The MTR will apply the OECD-DAC evaluation criteria of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability as well as the additional criterion of human rights and gender equality by addressing the key evaluation questions identified below. At the inception stage, the evaluator is expected to develop an evaluation matrix summarizing key questions, indicators, sources of information and methodology to guide the analysis and triangulation. The final evaluation matrix will be validated by the evaluation management group (EMG) constituted in the framework of this evaluation processes.

VI. Mid-Term Review methodology 

The MTR methodology should deploy mixed methods, including quantitative and qualitative data collection methods and gender and human rights based analytical approaches to ensure participatory, inclusiveness processes. Throughout its implementation, the evaluation must ensure full adherence to UN Women principles for gender responsive evaluations by i) using gender analysis frameworks1 and feminist theory and methodologies; ii) being participatory; iii) ensuring collection of disaggregated data; iv) understanding the constraints and challenges of informants; v) exploring gender and power relations; and vi) being context and cultural-sensitive. 

Tasks and responsibilities 

Under the technical guidance of the Planning, M&E and Reporting Officer and overall supervision of the Senior Management Team (SMT) of UN Women Mozambique, the consultant will be responsible for following tasks to assist the preparation of the MTR:

• Desk review of key documents, including: 
• UN Women Mozambique Strategic Note 2023-2026 
• UN Women Mozambique Strategic Note 2017-2022 
• UN Women Strategic Note 2017-2022 Mid-term-review report 
• Country Portfolio Evaluation (2017-2022) 
• UN Women Mozambique AWPs 
• UN Women Mozambique Annual Narrative Reports 
• UN Women Project and Programme Documents 
• UN Women Project and Programme Reports 
• Responsible Partners Progress Reports 
• United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2016-2020 
• United Nations Sustainable Development Assistance Framework (UNSDCF) 2021 – 2025 
• Progress reports (and presentations on progress and achievements) 
• Donor reports 
• Knowledge products, publications, and visibility materials 
• Reports on specific activities 
• Documents related to projects and programme achievements. 
• Assessment reports on SDGs roll out and implementation. 
• UNCT-SWAP Gender scorecard assessments and annual progress reports for 2022 , 2023 and 2024 
• Any other document that may be found very relevant to the consultant 
• Prepare a short questionnaire based on the standard sample questions (with possibility for the consultant to have additional questions or rephrase the guidng questions ) and conduct a survey of key UN Women Country Office partners, analyzing and synthesizing results for feedback. 
• Develop a short and focused Discussion Paper describing the general situation analysis ,and hence ? outlining relevance and programme . 
• Review and make recommendations on position papers on Programme, Partnerships, Normative Issues, Coordination Issues, Operations, Communication, M&E and knowledge management. 
• Capture the main findings and issues identified for all papers in a powerpoint presentation and brief the MOZCO team. 
• Conduct specific sessions within the Mid Term Review workshops with staff , partners and participate fully in discussions 
• Prepare and finalize SN MTR report including summarized findings from the MTR workshop discussions and the desk reviews. 
• Prepare a list of recommendations to inform the preparation of UN Women MOZCO 2026 Workplan and the 2027 – 2030 SN integrating the key messages and strategic priorities and repositioning from the SN MTR report . 

Interested candidates are requested to include in their proposal a proposed approach and methodology that can best address the evaluation objectives and questions. 

VII. Evaluation Ethics and Norms: 

The review will be conducted in line with UNEG Norms and Standards for Evaluation https://www.betterevaluation.org/sites/default/files/UNEG%20Norms%20%20Standards%20for%20Evaluation_WEB.pdf , the UNEG Code of Conduct for Evaluations in the UN System https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=238604 , UN Women evaluation guidelines including Evaluation Policy, GERAAS evaluation report quality checklist, and the UN Women “How To Manage Gender-Responsive Evaluation” handbook. The evaluation will also apply the UNCT SWAP Evaluation Performance Indicator http://www.uneval.org/document/download/2148 . In line with the UNEG Norms and Standards a management response will be prepared for this evaluation as practical means to enhance the use of evaluation findings and follow-up to the evaluation recommendations. The management response will identify who is responsible, what are the action points and deadlines.

VIII. Evaluation phases and timelines 

8.1 Evaluation phases 

The evaluation process is divided in five phases: 1) Preparation, mainly devoted to structuring the evaluation approach, preparing the TOR, compiling documentation, and recruiting the consultant; 2) Inception, which will involve a stakeholder’s analysis, reconstruction of theory of change, inception meetings, inception report and finalization of evaluation methodology; 3) Data collection and analysis, including desk research and field missions; 4) Data analysis and synthesis stage, focusing on data analyzed, interpretation of findings and drafting of an Evaluation Report; and 5) Dissemination and follow-up, which will entail the development of a Management Response by UN Women 

The consultant will be responsible for inception, data collection and data analysis and synthesis. Please refer to UN Women Evaluation Handbook 

Inception phase: at the beginning of the consultancy, the consultant will be provided with key sources of information for an initial desk review. The inception meetings will be conducted with UN Women. At the end of this phase an inception report that will include the refined evaluation methodology will be delivered. The inception report will be validated and approved by UN Women Mozambique with support from the Regional Office. 

The evaluation consultant is expected to establish the scope and limitations of the end evaluation, especially in terms of time frame, geographic coverage, thematic and programmatic coverage in addition to identifying which stakeholders will be included or excluded from the evaluation process. The evaluators will be expected to undertake a comprehensive stakeholder analysis. These will need to be discussed in the inception workshop. 

The consultant is expected to undertake a rapid evaluability assessment in the inception period and an initial assessment of the availability of secondary data in the country office necessary for the evaluation. Additionally, if any constraint is encountered – such as limited travel or accessibility to project sites - these limitations should be understood, and generalizing findings should be avoided where a strong sample has not been used. In addition, cultural aspects that could impact the collection of data should be analyzed and integrated into data collection methods and tools. The evaluator is expected to include adequate time for testing data collection tools.

Data collection phase: based on the inception phase, the contractor will carry out an in-depth desk review, and field mission/s will be conducted to complete data collection and triangulation of information. Interviews and focus group discussions with key stakeholders will take place. Data will be collected from institutional information systems, financial records, beneficiaries, staff (from both IPs and UN Women), funders, experts, government officials and community groups). 

Data analysis and synthesis phase: The collected information will be analysed, and the evaluation report will be delivered. A validation meeting will be organized where the consultant will validate the final report with UN Women. Afterwards, the consultant is expected to present the results through a presentation for participating government stakeholders and programme implementing partners. 

IX. Evaluation Timeframe 

This evaluation, including the field work, is expected to be carried out within 30 working days starting from the date of signing the consultancy agreement The MTR report is to be submitted to the Evaluation Management Group by June 2025.

Inception Phase 

1. Inception Meeting (26 May 2025). 

2. Draft Inception Report (30 May 2025). (See Annex 1 for Template) 

3. Final Inception Report (03 June 2025). 

Data Collection Phase 

4. Meetings, workshops (04 June – 18 June 2025). 

Reporting Phase 

5. Draft final Report (18 June – 04 July 2025), (Refer to UN Women Evaluation Handbook). 

6. Validation workshop (08 July 2025) 

7. Final Report (11 July 2025).

 X. Evaluation Governance and Management 

The evaluation will be a consultative, inclusive, and participatory process and will include a two-fold management structure which consists of an Evaluation Management Group (EMG) and an Evaluation Task Manager (EMT) advised by the Regional Evaluation Specialist. 

The EMG will be composed by members of the Senior Management Team (SMT), which will be supported by the Evaluation Task Manager (ETM), the Planning M&E and Reporting Officer (PMERO), who will lead the day-to-day coordination of the evaluation process. The EMG is constituted to oversee the evaluation management, make key decisions and assure quality the different deliverables. 

EMG is the key accountable body that will ultimately endorse the evaluation report and will be responsible for the development of an evaluation Management Response (MR) to address the recommendations included in the report. The ETM and the regional evaluation specialist will quality assure the evaluation report. The draft and final evaluation report will be shared with the EMG for quality review and approval of the final report. It is mandatory that key deliverables (inception report and final report) are submitted in both Portuguese and English to allow engagement with all stakeholders. The additional specific functions of the EMG will include the following: 

• Revise and endorse the different evaluation deliverables: inception report and final evaluation report. 
• Lead in the development of the evaluation Management Response (MR) in coordination with relevant staff 
• Endorse the MR, which will be made publicly available in the UN Women Global Accountability and Tracking of Evaluation (GATE) system. 

To facilitate a comprehensive review of the evaluation products and to ensure the participation of key stakeholders (project partners) in the evaluation, UN Women will establish also an Evaluation Reference Group comprising UN Women Staff, duty bearers and right holders, including national government partners, development partners/donors, UNCT representatives former and partner Civil Society Organizations. These will be selected based on the stakeholder analysis.

XII. Competencies 

An international evaluation consultant supported by a national evaluation consultant will undertake the evaluation. The evaluation team will be assembled to ensure the right mix of evaluation expertise, knowledge of the national context and expert knowledge of gender issues in general and gender statistics in particular.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

Excellent facilitation and communication skills, including experience in field data collection and facilitating meetings;
Extensive evaluation experience with UN agencies and programmes;
Strong knowledge of issues concerning development frameworks, women peace and security, gender equality and women's empowerment;
Good understanding of the context of Mozambique in general and Cabo Delgado in particular and experience with the relevant Civil Society Organizations and government partner ministries;
Strong reporting skills;
Ability to manage and supervise evaluation teams and ensure timely submission of quality evaluation reports (international consultant);

Education: 

Master’s degree or advanced university degree in social science, gender/women’s studies, programme management, or other related fields 

Bachelor’s degree with a qualifying experience may be considered in lieu of advanced degree 

Experience: 

10 years of professional work experience in programme development and implementation, including monitoring and evaluation activities.

Experience working on gender equality and women’s empowerment in Africa and Mozambique in particular

Proven experience in guiding and documenting programme reviews and evaluations. 

Proven knowledge of programme monitoring and evaluation theory, including theories of change, methodology, technology and tools. 

Experience programming, monitoring and evaluation with the UN agencies, similar international organizations, NGOs, multi/bilateral and/or government institutions would be an advantage. 

Language requirements: 

High proficiency in portuguese and English

Statements:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.