Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting 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.

Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, and in line with the ongoing UN Reform, UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts in Uganda to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Uganda’s priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships within the UN, with Government, the Donor community, civil society and other relevant actors.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) is the UN’s strategic programme framework that defines the UN’s support to national development results. UN Women in Uganda co-chairs the Results Based Management Team (RBMT) along with IOM – this is the UNCT group responsible for the coordination of and policy advice on Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting issues in the UNSDCF.UN Women is also a principal partner in several outcome results groups in the UNSDCF as well as a partner to several UN joint programmes. Up till September 2024, the agency also played a key role in advancing GEWE Coordination at sub national level within the UN Area Coordination (UNAC) system (in Arua, Gulu, Karamoja and Mbarara). 

Objective of the Assignment

The country office is currently in the process of finalizing its 2026 – 2030 Strategic Note, it is critical to strengthen results-based planning, monitoring, evaluation, and robust reporting. This assignment will focus on supporting evidence-based programme design, effective implementation, and accountability to both donors and national stakeholders, ensuring results and learning drive future programming. The consultant will be informed by and contribute to engagements with the UN Country Team, government ministries (especially Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development), private sector, donors, civil society organizations and other development stakeholders, through coordination platforms, data collection efforts, and strategic reporting processes.

The consultant will report to the Deputy Country Representative with day-to-day coordination and oversight provided by the PMER Team Leader. S/he will operate with a high degree of independence in managing and coordinating the assigned portfolio, making technical and procedural decisions within the scope of their responsibilities, while ensuring timely communication and strategic alignment with the Deputy Country Representative, PMER team and other teams as relevant. The consultant will be responsible for submitting agreed deliverables, periodic progress updates, and a final assignment report. Specific reporting requirements, formats, and deadlines will be articulated in the inception meeting with the Deputy Country Representative and PMER team leader.

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work:

The consultant is expected to demonstrate an advanced understanding of UN Women’s mandate and the Uganda country programme, and to lead and coordinate planning, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting functions. Key responsibilities and outputs will include:

Provide technical support to integrated and coherent planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting across the different thematic areas in the Uganda CO Strategic Note

• Lead development of country programming processes and products, including the 2026 – 2030 strategic note, Biennial workplan, and programme/project documents in close coordination with the PMER team and Regional Office
• Provide support to strengthen strategic linkages, ensure coherence, coordination and collaboration between different UN Women programme components
• Conceptualize, develop, and promote strategies for effective and harmonized strategic planning, monitoring and reporting for UN Women.

Provide technical support to the Uganda Country Office in incorporating monitoring, reporting and learning from audits and evaluations into programme formulation.

• Provide quality assurance of program documents through review of results frameworks and theories of change in order to meet SMART criteria;
• Coordinate Biennial work plan monitoring, reviews and reporting;
• Ensure linkage of Biennial Work Plans (BWPs) and corresponding Monitoring, Evaluation and Research (MER) Plans with the UN Women Strategic Plan and the UN Strategic Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF);
• Provide strategic guidance to partners and Uganda Country Office in developing Performance Monitoring Frameworks (PMFs) and Baseline Surveys;

Oversee monitoring and tracking of results against country level targets and UN Women Strategic Plan

• Develop, support implementation, and monitor the Uganda Country Office Monitoring, Evaluation, and Research Plan.
• Apply RBM principles as foundation for programme implementation from the levels of inputs to activities and results at the output and outcome levels.

Oversee reporting of results to internal (UN Women) and external (Executive Board, Donors) audiences

• Coordinate and provide technical guidance to the country office teams in meeting internal and external reporting requirements and deadlines; Finalize donor and programme reports.
• Ensure the availability (including collecting and maintaining) of data for country, regional and global corporate reports, Country Office quarterly business reviews (QBR), mid-term reviews, and final evaluations.

Promote the use of evaluations and ensure that evaluation findings and recommendations are implemented:

• Prepare aggregate analysis and qualitative assessments of decentralized evaluations to input into Evaluation Annual report and management briefs;
• Ensure that evaluation results are taken into account for the continued implementation of strategies, programmes/projects and for the design and appraisal of new projects/ programmes;
• Provide advice/information/guidance to programme managers on evaluations and ensure that project/programme managers respond to recommendations and monitor the follow up on evaluations. 
• Establish/maintain partnerships with governments, regional evaluation associations/communities of practice, networks and academic institutions to strengthen capacity and learning on gender responsive evaluation.

Promote UN coherence and inter-agency collaboration on planning, monitoring, reporting and evaluation that is gender responsive:

• Serve as the focal point for RBM in close collaboration with PMER Team Leader, coordinating with the UN Country Team; and Deputies’ platform; RBM Group; other UN agencies and SDG Secretariat to harmonize results frameworks, joint work plans, and reporting processes in Uganda.
• Promote UN coherence and inter-agency collaboration on gender-responsive planning, monitoring, reporting, and evaluation, supporting the development and monitoring of the UNSDCF and participating in inter-agency meetings as required.
• Contribute substantively to United Nations Evaluation Group initiatives and the inclusion of gender equality dimensions in UN system-wide evaluations and assessments, including through the application of the gender equality marker in the UNSDCF.
• Provide substantive support to the UN Women Representative and Deputy Representative on inter-agency coordination related activities.
• Collaborate with professional evaluation bodies in the area of gender responsive evaluation.

Contribute to knowledge building and capacity building

• Identify and disseminate good practices, lessons and knowledge; as identified through implementation, monitoring and evaluation activities;
• Build capacity of staff on programme planning and monitoring; and the use of alternative monitoring tools and means of verification in order to articulate the Uganda Country Office’s programme results stories.
• Manage capacity building opportunities of staff and partners in the region/country in the areas of Results Based Management (RBM);
• Promote awareness and understanding of the shared responsibility of M&E and RBM among all staff members through communication, training, learning and development activities.

Key Deliverables:

• Strategic Note Finalization: Lead the completion of the 2026–2030 Country Strategic Note, with close support from the PMER team leader, including results framework, theories of change, and performance indicators, ensuring alignment with UN Women global standards and national priorities.
• Results-Based Management (RBM) Coordination: Serve as the focal point for RBM, coordinating with the UN Country Team and other UN agencies to harmonize results frameworks, joint work plans, and reporting processes in Uganda.
• Biennial Work Planning 2026-2027: Lead the development of the 2026-2027 Biennial Work Plan, including costed activities, milestones, and results monitoring tools.
• Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting: Establish and implement monitoring and evaluation systems for the country programme, ensuring timely, quality, and evidence-based reporting to headquarters, donors, and the Government of Uganda.
• Capacity Building: Facilitate at least two training sessions for UN Women Uganda staff and key partners on RBM, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting best practices.
• Knowledge Management and Adaptive Learning: Document lessons learned and best practices from planning and M&E processes to support adaptive learning contribute to knowledge sharing and support strategic adjustments within the UN Women Uganda team and with external partners.

Consultant’S Workplace And Official Travel:

This is an office-based consultancy in Kampala, Uganda.

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 knowledge of programme formulation and implementation and Results Based Management
• Strong knowledge of monitoring and evaluation, evaluation design, data collection and analysis, and reporting 
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports
• Strong analytical and report writing skills
• Good knowledge of UN programme management systems.

Required Qualifications

Education And Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, Public Policy, International Development, Monitoring and Evaluation, or a related field is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• Certification in project/programme management, RBM, or M&E would be an added advantage.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting of development projects/ programmes is required.
• Experience working on gender equality and women’s empowerment is required.
• Experience in leading the development of strategic documents (e.g., Country Strategic Notes, work plans, or related frameworks) is required.
• Experience working on UN System coordination is required.
• Proven record of coordinating RBM processes within the UN system or similar international organizations.
• Excellent analytical skills and demonstrated ability to work independently and deliver quality results within deadlines. 

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of any other UN official is an asset.

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.