Research and Evaluation Specialist, UNICEF Maputo

****UNICEF Mozambique****

TERMS OF REFERENCE: Research and Evaluation Specialist

1. Context and Justification

In 2014 the Country office, led by the SPPIM section, produced a solid and innovative Situation Analysis of Children in Mozambique. That research increased the interest of partners for more solid and in-depth knowledge of different aspect affecting children in the country. At the same time the office is already moving toward the preparatory work for a new country program and is looking for strong evidence on how to shape the work of the office in the future. As a result, the demand of solid and policy oriented research increased dramatically in the country office: the number of research planned in 2015 by all sectors is almost 3 times the number of research finalized in 2014. It also moved to more specific and challenging questions that may require innovative methodology and solid scrutiny.

2. Purpose and Objective of the Technical Assistance assignment

Under the overall guidance of the Sr. Social Policy Specialist, the incumbent of this post will support and advise UNICEF staff in the Country Office in the design, creation and use of solid evidence for the implementation of policies, strategies, programmes and systems in the area of Child Rights. The incumbent will be responsible for providing technical assistance, management advice, programme support and capacity development to the Country Office and partners in the area of Research and evaluation with a focus on: research methods; research ethics; policy use of research; child rights monitoring; impact assessment; research dissemination; and encourage country-led evaluation approaches.

Specifically, the Research and Evaluation Specialist will play a core role in the country by contributing to evidence generation, policy dialogue and advocacy, providing guidance and contributing to oversight, and facilitating partnerships with knowledge institutions, civil society and policy makers in Mozambique. The incumbent will conducts data collection and analysis to fill information gaps and to strengthen capacity for advocacy for children’s rights

The incumbent of this post will help to ensure that the UNICEF Country Office has useful, valid and reliable up-to-date evidence and information, disaggregated by gender and socio-economic status, on:

• The situation of children's and women's rights in the country with particular reference to monitoring results in each of the country priority and trends in equity gaps over time;
• The performance of UNICEF-supported and governments' own programmes, regarding relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability for enhancing equity and child rights, as well as - in emergency contexts - their coverage, coordination and coherence;
• What works and what doesn't in addressing equity gaps in the country.

In detail the incumbent will also work:

• To support sections in the implementation of the research and evaluation plan, providing direct support in the design and oversight of all different research projects
• To assist in the development of national capacities for evaluation and research, with special attention to research ethics and the interest, concern and participation of government, community, and civil society stakeholders.

****3. Assignment details****:

****KEY END-RESULTS****

1. Advisory capacity and Policy development. Professional and timely advice on research and evaluation design, implementation and policy use. Constructive dialogue and partnerships are established with office colleagues, partners and policy stakeholders on the generation and use of evidence, to provide effective protective environment for the most vulnerable children,
2. Evaluation and Research Planning. The Country Office and national partners have a well-prioritised and realistic plan of research and evaluation activities, developed collaboratively and attaining established UN quality standards, that provides all the relevant and strategic information needed to manage the Country Programme,
3. Data collection, analysis and results-based approach Data-driven analysis is provided for effective prioritization, planning, development, and results-based management for planning, adjusting, and scaling-up specific policy initiatives.
4. Research and Evaluation Capacity Building. The research and evaluation capacities of Country Office staff and national partners – government and civil society – enhanced with the contribution of UNICEF knowledge partners meet the expectations and requirements of their positions and responsibilities.
5. Effective partnerships with the Government, UN and academia. Establishes effective partnerships with the Government, bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, civil society, international and local universities, think tanks, and research institution in generating the required evidence to support sustained and proactive commitment to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and to achieve global UN agendas such as the Millennium Development Goals and the World Fit for Children (WFFC) agenda

****KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES and DUTIES & TASKS****

1. Advisory capacity and Policy development

• Support sections in the implementation of the research and evaluation plan, providing direct support in the design and oversight of all different research projects
• Technically support programme partners to formulate Terms of Reference for research and evaluation designs of high quality, when relevant drawing on the know-how of knowledge institutions, in compliance with the organization’s programme evaluation policies and guidelines.
• Quality assure key monitoring and evaluation processes and products, including thematic evaluations, programme evaluations and evaluation of models
• Provide special advice and oversight in the area of research ethics
• Up-to-date knowledge in the areas of child rights research and evaluation is maintained and expanded, is well disseminated across the Country office and shared with other partners and regional/national institutions
• Contribute towards identification of knowledge gaps/research needs at country level and assist in planning effective evaluations, assessments and studies on ground-breaking themes that have great potential for programme development.
• Ensure proper policy guidance and adaptation of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, as well as oversight on the implementation of research to assess trends and progress towards equity and child rights realization.
• In humanitarian response situations, provide professional support to sectors for rapid assessments (inter- agency or independently if necessary) to be carried out within the first 48-72 hours, working in close collaboration with humanitarian clusters partners.
• Evaluation & Research Planning
• Make professional contributions to and provide technical assistance for the planning and establishing the major research, monitoring and evaluation objectives, priorities, and activities in UNICEF’s multi-year and annual IMEPs, in consultation with child-rights and implementing partners.: e.g. evaluation of the National Plan of Action on Children PNAC; support to major household surveys such as Violence against children, Household Budget Survey, DHS, Census etc)
• Manage and keep updated the Integrated Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (IMEP) in collaboration with the National Officer and sectors colelagues.
• In humanitarian response situations, within the first month, draft and recommend a simple one-month data-collection plan to cover key data gaps as required for the initial emergency response, working in close collaboration with the humanitarian clusters partners.

3. Data collection, analysis and results-based approach

• Collects systematically qualitative data for the sound and up-to-date assessment of the situation of children and women to provide the base-lines for result-based decisions on interventions and evaluations. Develops information systems for monitoring child rights indicators, with emphasis on community and child participation
• Provides timely, regular data-driven analysis for effective prioritization, planning, and development; facilitates results-based management for planning, adjusting, and scaling-up specific social policy initiatives. Support maintenance of information system for monitoring key office priorities
• Monitor and ensure the quality of research field work and data management during the implementation phase, and the quality of the analysis and ease of understanding during the report writing phase.
• Disseminate evaluation findings and recommendations to the intended audiences in user-friendly methods. In particular, to ensure that effective participatory feedback is provided to community and civil society stakeholders.
• Support the mid-term evaluation of the National plan of Acton for children (PNAC II)

4. Research and Evaluation Capacity Building

• Child rights research and evaluation capacities of UNICEF Country office staff and partners are continually strengthened through an effective capacity development approach, enabling counterparts to progressively establish national systems for child rights monitoring and joint or country- led evaluations.
• Provide support for capacity building initiatives in monitoring and evaluation, for field offices and national counterparts (especially National Statistical offices, sectorial Ministries and Ministries of Economic Planning) through national and provincial training, human resource development and national networking. Actively seek partnerships with knowledge institutions for the identification of capacity gaps and development of strategies to address them
• In close collaboration with partners, ensure that an M&E capacity building strategy for UNICEF/UN staff national partners and institutions exists in the context of the IMEP, or UNDAF M&E plan. Pay particular attention so the capacity needs of national partners such as professional evaluation associations will be strengthened by involvement in evaluation processes and possibly through specific capacity building initiatives.

5. Effective partnerships with the Government, UN and academia

• Support to strategic alliances with national partners involved in the generation use and dissemination of data and evidence, in particular with the Institute of National Statistics (INE), knowledge/academic institutions and national evaluation associations.
• Collaborate with Regional M&E Advisers, Office of Research and HQ Evaluation Office for overall coordination of priority research, monitoring and evaluation activities, especially those of regional scope requiring the coordinated effort of multiple countries.

QUALIFICATION AND COMPETENCIES

1. Education:
2. Advanced university degree in social sciences, statistics, demography, economics, development or related fields, plus 5 years progressively responsible experience in the development field.
3. Basic training / certification on research ethics is desirable
4. Work Experience:
5. Professional work experience in applied research or programme development and implementation including monitoring and evaluation activities.
6. Five years of relevant professional work experience. Developing country work experience.
7. Language Proficiency

Fluency in English required. Fluency in Portuguese highly desirable.

1. Competency Profile (For details, please refer to UNICEF Professional Competency Profiles.)

****i) Core Values (Required)****

• Commitment • Diversity and Inclusion • Integrity

ii) Core Competencies (Required)

• Communication [ II ] • Working with People[ II ] • Drive for Result [ II ]

1. Functional Competencies (Required)
2. Leading and Supervising [ II ]
3. Formulating Strategies and Concepts [ II ]
4. Analyzing [ II ]
5. Applying Technical Expertise [ II ]
6. Planning and Organizing [ III ]

****iii) Specific Technical Knowledge & Competencies Required****(for the job)

• Knowledge of Project Evaluation.
• Professional technical knowledge/expertise in Evaluation Process Management, Follow-up on Recommendations and Dissemination of M&E results.
• Emerging international good practice in research and evaluation partnerships.

****7. Management, Organization and Schedule****

The incumbent will be supervised directly by the Senior Social policy Specialist (head of section), and will work as in close collaboration with a Programme Specialist (NOA). The incumbent will support monitoring and evaluation focal points throughout the UNICEF office, and will sit as a member of the One UN Monitoring and Evaluation task team, performing support functions for the development Results groups and wider UN planning and monitoring functions.

HOW TO APPLY:

Qualified candidates are to submit their résumé to hrmaputo@unicef.org on or before close of business of 16 April 2015.