Vacancy Announcement Details

AREA OF SPECIALIZATION/THEMATIC AREAS

Evaluation, training, including in areas related to peacebuilding.

PROJECT TITLE

Independent Evaluation of the Youth-led peace and reconciliation in Colombia: A Transformational Approach Project 

OVERVIEW

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is a principal training arm of the United Nations, with the aim to increase the effectiveness of the United Nations in achieving its major objectives through training and research. UNITAR’s mission is to develop the individual, institutional and organizational capacity of countries and other United Nations stakeholders through high-quality learning solutions and related knowledge products and services to enhance decision-making and to support country-level action for overcoming global challenges. 

Within the framework of the Institute, the Division for Peace contributes to international community's efforts aiming at enabling individuals and institutions to make meaningful contributions to sustain peace. The Division has successfully developed a model of offering training, learning and capacity building solutions that are based on filling specific capacity gaps of partnering institutions, organizations, group of actors or individuals. More specifically, the Division offers methodological and conceptual support that leads the beneficiaries to reach their intended goals through people-centred solutions oriented towards the transferring knowledge and skills and the transformation of attitudes and behaviours.

UNITAR’s division for peace has been active in Colombia since December 2014, when its team and The Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative in partnership with Ciudad Don Bosco (CDB) implemented the first project phase of a broader project called “Pintando el Futuro“, whose overall objective has been the support to the Colombian peace process between de government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The continuation of this project has been funded by Institute for Foreign Relations (ifa) zivik1 since 2016. 

Initiated in 2019, the project Youth-led peace and reconciliation in Colombia: A Transformational Approach is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented with the local educational and social partner institution CDB. The project builds on UNITAR efforts to support the peace and reconciliation process in Colombia since 2016, by working to strengthen the resilience and conflict prevention capacities of at-risk youth, families, marginalized communities and the broader society. It does so by through a three-components strategy focused on: 

• Preventing the (re-)recruitment of at-risk youth and support to the reintegration of former child soldiers through the use of visual storytelling tools. 
• Strengthening the capacity of young people in marginalized communities to act as agents of positive change in their direct environments. 
• Supporting the reconciliation process in the Colombian society through storytelling and historical memory building.

GENERAL OBJECTIVES OF THE CONTRACT

The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the project; to identify any problems or challenges that the project has encountered; to issue recommendations, replica hublot and to identify lessons to be learned on project design, implementation and management. The evaluation’s purpose is thus to provide findings and conclusions to meet accountability requirements, and recommendations and lessons learned to contribute to the project’s improvement and broader organization learning. The evaluation should not only assess how well the project has performed, but also seek to answer the ‘why ‘question by identifying factors contributing to (or inhibiting) successful delivery of the project results. The evaluation is also forward-looking to inform decisions on the design and planning of possible future phases and focus areas. 

More information can be found in the terms of references (Annex 1).

RESPONSIBILITIES/DESCRIPTION OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

The consultant shall undertake a desk review based on the project related documents including analytical reports; collect data using appropriate tools, including surveys, interviews and focus groups; analyze data using quantitative and qualitative methods as appropriate to the evaluation questions; and submit deliverables in accordance with the below schedule.

MEASURABLE OUTPUTS/DELIVERABLES/INDICATIVE SCHEDULE OF DELIVERABLES

• Initial data collection, including desk review, stakeholder analysis 
• Evaluation design/ question matrix 
• Data collection and analysis, including survey(s), interviews, focus groups, field missions
• Zero draft evaluation 
• Draft evaluation
• Final evaluation 
• Presentation of findings

*To be adjusted depending on the contract signature and to be agreed upon with the Evaluation Manager.

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR EVALUATION OF RESULTS

The performance indicators for evaluation of results for this assignment are the following:

• Timely submission of deliverables;
• Satisfactory quality of the evaluation report.

REPORTING STRUCTURE

The evaluation will be undertaken by an international consultant under the overall responsibility of the Manager, Planning, Performance Monitoring, and Evaluation Unit (PPME), UNITAR.

QUALIFICATIONS

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

• MA degree or equivalent in peacebuilding, development or a related discipline. Knowledge and experience of executive type training, including in areas related to peacebuilding.
• At least 7 years of professional experience conducting evaluation in the field of capacity building, peacebuilding. Knowledge of United Nations Norms and Standards for Evaluation.
• Technical knowledge of the focal area including the evaluation of peacebuilding related topics
• Field work experience in developing countries.
• Excellent research and analytical skills, including experience in a variety of evaluation methods and approaches. Experience in evaluation using Kirkpatrick method is an advantage.
• Excellent writing skills.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Cross-cultural awareness and flexibility.
• Availability to travel.
• Fluency in oral and written English and Spanish (a language proficiency test will be administered to assess language requriements).  

REMARKS

General conditions of contracts for the service of consultants apply. Before initiating the assignment, the consultant shall sign the Evaluation Consultant Code of Conduct and Agreement Form (part of Annex 1).

Interested applicants who have worked for the project or who may have a conflict of interest are not eligible for the assignment.

ANNEXES

Annex 1: Complete Terms of Reference.

HOW TO APPLY

Send a letter of motivation and P11 form or Curriculum Vitae to evaluation@unitar.org with the following subject line: “Independent Evaluation of the Youth-led peace and reconciliation in Colombia project”

Due to the high number of expected applications, UNITAR will only contact shortlisted applicants.

Full vacancy announcement including the terms of references can be found here:

https://unitar.org/about/unitar/employment-opportunities/evaluator-independent-evaluation-planning-consultant-home-based