UN Women: Endline Evaluation of the Programme on Women, Peace and Security in Nigeria (Phase II), Abuja, Nigeria, National Consultant

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 active participation of women and girls in shaping their future, based on a recognition of their dignity and capacities, is posited in several global policy frameworks as a basic condition to promote gender equality and women’s rights. SDG 16 “Peace, Justice and effective, accountable, inclusive Institutions” and SDG 5 “Gender Equality and Empower all Women and Girls” are understood and implemented together, as interdependent and synergic goals. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts and works to support Government’s national priorities to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action, promoting the empowerment of women and girls and their contribution to all areas of economic, political and social development. 

Nigeria is a vast country with a population of more than 200 million people. The country’s six geo-political zones all have a history of incessant regionalized violent conflicts. The humanitarian crisis in North-East Nigeria remains one of the world's largest and most complex humanitarian crises. The objective of building and sustaining peace and security across the country is critical for Nigeria, which faces several security challenges, including the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East, and violence-related events such as banditry, criminal activity, and communal clashes fueled by long-standing ethnic and religious tensions  in the north west and north central geopolitical zones., Gender-specific security risks and challenges confronting women and girls, including rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, as well as sexual exploitation and abuse have been a notable feature of these conflict environments in Nigeria, particularly due to displacements and the critical conditions within Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps.

The United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) was unanimously adopted on 31 October 2000 in recognition of the disproportionate impact of conflict on women and girls and need to mainstream gender in peace and security. In line with effort to localise the global policy framework and address context specific WPS issues in Nigeria, the government of Nigeria has developed and implemented two generations National Action Plan (NAP)- the first and second NAP in 2013 and 2017, respectively through the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs. The ground-breaking Resolution 1325 builds on a body of international human rights laws and legal instruments. Since 2013, the localization of the NAP has gained support by stakeholders, hence, the development and implementation of State Action Plans (SAPs) in 16 states and 22 Local Action Plans (LAPs); development and implementation of gender policies for the armed forces, NSCDC, and Nigeria Police Force; as well as establishment of functional WPS structures, amongst other achievements. Despite these achievements, substantial gaps remain. The implementation challenges/gaps and lesson learnt identified included legislative gaps, weak engagement with legislature, limited coordination, insufficient funding, as well as the need for improved capacity building, compliance monitoring, multi stakeholder partnership and enhanced oversight to improve the effectiveness of third NAP and advance WPS agenda in Nigeria. In addition to this, women remain poorly represented in formal peace and security processes despite widespread insecurity and complex conflict dynamics including emerging WPS issues. 

In the last three years, within the framework of the Programme on Women, Peace and Security in Nigeria (Phase II), UN Women has been addressing these issues through multilayered WPS programming including policy development and support for overall national coordination, monitoring and reporting of the WPS agenda, broadly with stakeholders at both national and state levels. The programme has continued to consolidate the gains of Phase I of the Programme in Kaduna and Plateau States (primary target areas), as well as Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue and Gombe states (secondary target areas). Recently, the programme supported the development of Nigeria's 3rd National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security, including mechanisms to enhance coordination in implementation, monitoring and reporting. This plan is due to be launched in early 2025. Further, the programme has continued to provide capacity building trainings and technical support to staff of federal and state Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs); enhancing legislative engagement and action on WPS agenda; strengthening the functioning and sustainability of the WPS local structures established under Phase I of the Programme in Bauchi and Benue States; and promoting women’s leadership and participation in peace processes and governance in the six target states.

Programme on Women, Peace, and Security (Phase II, 2022-2024)

Building on Phase I, Phase II aims to enhance women's participation in peace and security processes across Abuja, Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Gombe, Kaduna, and Plateau states. The project strengthens policy frameworks, coordination, and oversight while supporting Nigeria's commitment to UNSCR 1325, SDGs, and regional gender equality frameworks. The overall objective of the project is to attain a more peaceful and gender-equal society, with the following outcomes.

Project Outcomes:

Purpose of the Evaluation

The purpose of this end-line evaluation is to assess the overall achievements, impact, and sustainability of the project. It will determine the extent to which the project’s objectives were achieved, document lessons learned and provide recommendations to inform future programming. This evaluation is critical in ensuring accountability to stakeholders and promoting organizational learning.

Targeted Users of the Evaluation

The primary users of this evaluation include UN Women Nigeria Country Office, the Government of Norway (donor), Federal and State Ministries of Women Affairs, security institutions, implementing partners, civil society organizations, and community-based organizations. The findings will also benefit stakeholders involved in Women, Peace, and Security programming.

Scope of the Evaluation

Timeframe: The evaluation will cover the entire duration of Phase II (2022-2024).

Stakeholders: The evaluation will engage key government partners, security institutions, implementing partners, women-led organizations, community-based structures and the donor. 

Geographical coverage: Abuja, Kaduna and Plateau (Primary states); and Gombe, Benue, Adamawa and Bauchi States (Secondary states)

Supervision of the evaluation: Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting Specialist/ WCARO Monitoring and Reporting Analyst. The National Consultant will undertake the tasks outlined below. To facilitate the delivery of the above outputs, UN Women will provide the consultant with available documents and relevant templates.

Expected Deliverables

The consultant is responsible for the following deliverables:

Final evaluation report taking into consideration comments and feedback collected from UN Women. The report shall include the following chapters: executive summary, introduction and background, evaluation approach and methodology (including limitations), findings, conclusions, lessons learned, recommendations, and relevant annexes, including evaluation brief (3-4 pages). The report will be considered finalized once it has been validated by the management group. 

Competencies :

Core Values:

Core Competencies:

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

Functional Competencies:

Education and Certification:

Advanced University degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in a relevant social science (gender studies, business administration, international development, human rights, political science, international relations, peace and conflict studies or any related field).

Experience:

Languages:

Fluency in oral and written English is required.

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.