Consultant to update UN Women IES e-learning

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 achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

The UN Women Evaluation Strategy 2022–2025 outlines how UN Women will leverage its evaluation function to provide evaluative evidence for greater impact on the lives of the women and girls it serves. The Independent Evaluation Service (IES), mandated from UN Women’s Evaluation Policy provides evidence for a more relevant, effective and efficient UN Women with greater impact on the lives of women and girls it serves.  

 The evaluation function at UN Women focuses on five strategic areas 

1. Conducting corporate evaluations and establishing effective corporate evaluation systems
2. Strengthening decentralized evaluation culture and systems for greater accountability and improved programming
3. Leading UN coordination on GRE to generate system-wide accountability
4. Supporting national evaluation capacity-building for GRE
5. Strengthening evaluation use

As part of its national capacity building on gender responsive evaluation and strengthening evaluation use strategic areas, IES developed an e-learning course based on the 2014 edition of the UN Women Evaluation Handbook on How to manage gender responsive evaluations. The training course is currently operational through the UN Women eLearning Campus (https://trainingcentre.unwomen.org/). In 2022, the evaluation handbook has been updated to align with the current UN Women evaluation policy and coverage norms, as well as IES structure, governance, and processes, as well as innovations in the field of gender responsive evaluation. The primary audience for the handbook remains UN Women personnel who are involved with and manage evaluations. Based on that, there is a need to update the current eLearning course to reflect the 2022 updates and other guidance that has been issued since then. 

Objective

To update and enhance the current E-Learning Training on How to manage Gender-Responsive Evaluation based on the 2022 edition of the UN Women Evaluation Handbook and other guidance, incorporating both evaluation and pedagogical expertise to ensure the course is engaging, accessible, and effective for adult learners.

Duration

20 working days during around 3 months 

Scope of Work and Key Deliverables

The consultant will work in close collaboration with IES and will be expected to bring pedagogical expertise in eLearning design and development, ensuring that the course reflects best practices in adult learning and instructional design. This includes:

1. Instructional Design and Pedagogical Guidance
   • Provide expert advice on structuring content for optimal learner engagement and retention.
   • Recommend interactive and multimedia elements to enhance learning outcomes.
   • Ensure alignment with adult learning principles and eLearning standards.
2. Content Development
   • Update 7 PowerPoint presentations based on the 7 modules of the 2022 UN Women Evaluation Handbook. Existing module PPTs may be used as a base. Visual design will be supported by the internal IES designer.
   • Each module must include:
     • A slide of Learning Objectives 
     • 2–3 practical examples to ground the learning 
     • Slides for each tool (or clusters for longer tools) with links to the actual tools 
     • Integration of examples and guidance from the 2024 UNEG Guidance on Integrating Human Rights and Gender Equality in Evaluation and the 2022 UNEG Guidance on Integrating Disability Inclusion in Evaluation. 
     • Emphasis on language, data management, ethical protocols, and data privacy as outlined in the 2022 Guidance.
3. Script Writing
   • Develop detailed scripts for each module to support future video production and PDF-based self-paced learning.
4. Assessment Design
   • Revise and align multiple-choice tests for each module with the updated Handbook and pedagogical best practices.
5. Introductory Materials
   • Create an introductory slideshow and script for presentation by the Director IEAIS and Chief of IES.
6. Additional Modules
   • Develop 6 supplementary modules presenting key knowledge products, each including:
     • Objective of the guidance 
     • Value-add  
     • Intended use 

These modules will cover:

• “Good practices in gender-responsive evaluation”; 
• “UN Women rapid assessment tool to evaluate gender equality and women’s empowerment results in humanitarian contexts”; 
• “Inclusive systemic evaluation for gender equality, environments, and marginalized voices (ISE4GEMs)”; 
• “UN Women guidance note: Evaluating impact in gender equality and women’s empowerment”
• “Pocket tool for managing evaluation during the COVID-19 pandemic”
• UNEG  Guidance on Integrating Disability Inclusion in Evaluations and Reporting on the UNDIS Entity Accountability Framework Evaluation Indicator or UN Women Guidance on Disability Inclusion in Evaluation  
• DIVERSE SOGIESC RAPID ASSESSMENT TOOL To Assess Diverse SOGIESC Inclusion Results In Humanitarian Contexts

Requirements: 

Education 

• Advanced university degree in instructional design, education technology, evaluation, international development, or social sciences.
• A first-level university degree with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree.

Professional Experience

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in designing and developing eLearning courses, preferably for adult learners in international development or evaluation contexts.
• Familiarity with integrating human rights and disability inclusion principles into learning content.
• Demonstrated expertise in gender-responsive evaluation or gender equality programming is an asset.
• Experience working with UN agencies or international organizations is an asset.

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:

• Strong command of instructional design principles and adult learning methodologies.
• Ability to translate technical evaluation content into engaging, accessible eLearning formats.
• Proficiency in authoring tools and learning management systems (e.g., Moodle).
• Experience with data visualization and analysis tools (e.g., Tableau, NVivo).
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English; knowledge of another UN language is an asset.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively within diverse teams.

Payment plan 

A lump sum fee will be paid upon satisfactory delivery of the updated e-learning. 
 

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.