Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist

Details

Mission and objectives

UNDP is the UN’s global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in some 170 countries and territories, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners. UNDP has been supporting the Kyrgyz people in their struggle against poverty since it opened an in-country office in 1993. https://www.kg.undp.org/content/kyrgyzstan/en/home.html
UNDP’s Strategic Plan (2018-2021) has been designed to be responsive to the wide diversity of the countries we serve. The diversity is reflected in three broad development contexts: eradicating poverty; structural transformations; and building resilience.

Context

The United Nations Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) started supporting the Kyrgyz Republic in the wake of the violent inter-ethnic clashes, known as Osh events, of June 2010. Since then, the PBF has gradually invested a total of around USD 56 million in peacebuilding projects, most of which have been received through the procedure of formal country eligibility. The latest PBF eligibility cycle for the country was approved for the period of 2021 – 2026 in response to the request of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, who in his letter to the UN Secretary General identified supporting social cohesion and addressing risks of border conflicts as key peacebuilding priorities for the country. Based on these identified priorities, the UN Country Team, in agreement with the relevant government stakeholders, developed a Strategic Results Framework (SRF) that guides the implementation of the Peacebuilding Fund projects during the current eligibility term in three broad areas: (1) strengthening trust between citizens and authorities; (2) fostering greater mutual trust between different identity groups; and (3) facilitating cooperation between border communities. Currently, 5 projects are being implemented with a total budget of USD 9 million. Two more projects with a total budget of USD 2.9 million have been approved for funding and are in the pipeline.
This United Nations Volunteers (UNV) assignment is part of the Peacebuilding Fund Secretariat project, which is administered by UNDP and hosted by the Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO). The project’s purpose is to support the coordination, monitoring, evaluation, and visibility of PBF projects in Kyrgyzstan. The UNV will provide support to PBF recipient UN organizations and civil society organizations (CSOs), on matters pertaining to measuring the portfolio-wide progress and results, particularly those reflected in the PBF’s SRF for Kyrgyzstan. The incumbent will for example help coordinating collection of data on progress against the results and commitments reflected in the SRF. They will be expected to identify opportunities for learning and adaptation from the PBF peacebuilding programming in terms of best practices and areas for improvement in tracking project results and feeding them into broad interagency communication on the topic, as well as to the knowledge products of the UN RCO. The UNV’s role will include support to recipient UN organizations and CSOs, in developing specific tools for monitoring and evaluating the results and progress of their projects at the implementation and completion stages, as well as measuring medium-term impacts, and contributing to communicating portfolio-wide results and impact.

Task description

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the Peace and Development Officer / PBF Secretariat Manager and overall guidance of the Peace and Development Adviser, the UN Volunteer will:
1. Lead the development of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) plans
• Lead the development and implementation of comprehensive and realistic M&E plans and strategies with appropriate data sources, collection methods, analysis plans, quality controls and resource requirements, in cooperation with technical staff of recipient UN organisations ( RUNOs);
• Continually assess methodologies and instruments for collection, documentation, analysis and reporting of data for weaknesses and potential improvements and alignment with the Ethical and safety guidelines for research and data collection on gender-based violence (GBV) and other relevant PBF reference guidelines;
• Advise the Peace and Development Officer, PBF Secretariat and teams in the PBF recipient UN organizations (RUNOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs) on the development and improvement of core implementation tools, including joint work plans; and
• Collect information on the latest developments of the use of new types of data sources and tools, (e.g., big data) for peacebuilding.
2. Coordinate monitoring, data collection and reporting on the Peacebuilding Fund’s Projects
• Coordinate and contribute substantially to baseline, mid-term reviews (midline), if relevant, and endline studies for the SRF, as well for the evaluation of the entire PBF portfolio implemented during the current eligibility term of 2021-2026. This includes supervision of consultants and contractors, alongside the Peace and Development Adviser and PBF Secretariat Manager, as well as of substantive contributions to above mentioned M&E exercises;
• Design and disseminate M&E resource materials, templates, and guidance documentation to RUNOs and recipient CSOs, as well as implementing partners, where relevant;
• Support inter-agency efforts on results and progress monitoring and reporting for the PBF projects, working in close cooperation with M&E staff across RUNOs and recipient CSOs;
• Coordinate and participate in inter-agency work related to the collection and use of monitoring data, as well as evaluation and reporting;
• Raise awareness of teams in RUNOs and recipient CSOs about the quality of reporting based on PBF requirements and best practices, and provide guidance to relevant staff when preparing regular progress and final reports to the PBF;
• Develop a monitoring plan for the PBF SRF and for the entire portfolio of PBF projects in Kyrgyzstan for the eligibility duration of 2021-2026;
• Ensure alignment of all research protocol, data collection tools, etc. with the Ethical and safety guidelines for research on gender-based violence (GBV);
• Organize and Coordinate joint UN-PBF and Joint Steering Committee (JSC) monitoring missions;
• Assist M&E consultants and contractors, alongside the PBF Secretariat Manager; Coordinate evaluation validation meetings;
• Document progress of the PBF projects against project implementation plans, results matrix, milestones and targets;
• Mainstream key results achieved and knowledge acquired through ongoing M&E during the life cycle of the projects and communicate results effectively to the Communication Officer at the Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO); and
• Based on M&E information and learning, advise the UN Resident Coordinator (RC), Peace and Development Advisers and PBF Secretariat Manager, JSC, RUNOs and recipient CSO on timely readjustments of strategies and corrective actions, as necessary, to ensure programme delivery.
3. Develop and expand strategic research and data partnerships
• Support and facilitate the engagement of the Peace and Development Advisers, PBF Secretariat Manager, RUNOs and recipient CSOs with national data and statistical systems;
• Communicate and coordinate with existing partnerships and help form new partnerships with a range of stakeholders to further the use of data science pertinent to peacebuilding;
• Communicate and coordinate with internal and external partners on data collection and programme implementation.
4. Knowledge management, dissemination and use of data on the elimination of violence against women and girls
• Facilitate the efficient flow of M&E data within RUNOs, PBF, the Government and civil society partners and in close coordination with the RCO Communications Specialist; and
• Fulfil any other relevant M&E tasks as necessary