UNICEF is a UN organization mandated by the UN General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. In Lao PDR, UNICEF is working with its partners to support the Government to realize children’s rights on survival, development, protection and participation.
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.
Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.
And we never give up.
For every child, support
UNICEF in Vientiane, Lao PDR is looking for an International Consultancy for Team Lead for the evaluation of the UNICEF Lao PDR Country programme (2022-2026). The duration of this assignment is 4 months starting as soon as possible. The assignment is home based with one travel to Vientiane and to one province for data collection and validation workshop.
Summary of key functions/accountabilities:
Scope of the Evaluation
The CPE will focus on the implementation period of the current Country Programme from 2022 to the present. Since the current Country Programme logically builds upon the previous one, examination of the programmes carried over from the last Country Programme (2017-2021) will be expected where needed. The CPE will analyze results both at the national and sub-national levels, as many UNICEF programme areas start with pilot activities in selected areas (ranging from cities, districts to provinces) and can only be expected to achieve national-level results in later phases of programming. The specific sub-national level programme areas within the scope will be determined following discussion with the evaluation reference group (ERG) and the evaluation team, during the inception phase of the evaluation.
As implementation of the current Country Programme has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some programs and projects may not have achieved full expected results by the time of the CPE. In these cases, the focus of the evaluation will be formative, assessing interim results, determining key lessons learned and providing recommendations for the continuation of the programme. Conversely, there are programme localities where UNICEF has had a presence and engagement spanning multiple programme cycles. These will be particularly instructive for measuring what concrete results have been achieved.
The CPE will assess the Country Programme in its entirety. Given the large scale of UNICEF’s activities in Lao PDR, and the number of existing sectoral and cross-sectoral evaluations conducted in the current programme cycle, specific focus will be placed on the following areas:
- Use of the following strategies to achieve equity in child outcomes results: a) improving the quality of service provision; b) strengthening the social service workforce; c) strengthening data and evidence-driven approaches; d) utilizing multisectoral service delivery models; e) generating demand and building trust in services; and f) efficient allocation and use of financial resources.
- Ability of the country programme to expand engagement, dialogue and cooperation with new and existing partners to promoting children’s issues.
Work Assignment Overview:
- Inception:
• Kickoff meeting
• Initial desk review and discussion with key UNICEF focal points)
• Preparation of draft inception report and data collection tools
• Ethical review (as needed)
• Final inception report submitted to ERG, addressing all comments received on the draft
- Data collection and validation:
• Logistical arrangements for country visit, with support of UNICEF LCO
• Pilot tools, review documents, conduct data collection
• Prepare, present, and validate emerging findings and reflect on conclusions and learnings with the ERG
- Reporting and dissemination:
• Further processing and analysis of evidence
• Draft evaluation report
• Revise draft final report based on ERG feedback
• Document all comments raised and how they have been addressed in a comments matrix
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Qualification and experience:
Master’s in international development, Public Administration, Development Programme & Evaluation, or any related social science discipline
Knowledge and skills:
- A minimum of 15 years of experience in development program evaluation, with excellent understanding of evaluation principles and methodologies
- Master's degree in International Development, Public Administration, Development Programme & Evaluation, or any related social science discipline
- Evaluation experience in at least two of the six programmatic areas, i.e., (a) health; (b) nutrition; (c) education; (d) child protection; (e) WASH; (f) social policy
- Experience in leading and managing CPEs of UNICEF or other international organizations
- Substantial experience in implementing a range of qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques and methods in programme evaluations, including survey implementation and field studies
- Diplomacy and tact in carrying out and presenting findings of evaluations in sensitive contexts
- Strong English report writing skills and a track record of producing high quality reports
- Experience in evaluating programmes in Lao PDR would be strongly preferred
Submission of applications:
Interested candidates are kindly requested to apply and upload the following documents:
- Letter of Interest (cover letter)
- CV or Resume
- Performance evaluation reports or references of similar consultancy assignments (if available)
- Financial proposal: All-inclusive lump-sum cost including medical insurance with medivac, travel and accommodation cost for this assignment as per work assignment
Additional requirements:
- Technical proposal in Annex A - Technical response form (attached)
Assessment Criteria:
- Technical Qualification, 80 points
1. OVERALL RESPONSE
1.1 Completeness and concord of the technical proposal (10 points)
1.2 Demonstrated understanding of the purpose, objectives, scope, and deliverables of the evaluation (10 points)
2. METHODOLOGY
2.1 Quality of the proposed approach and methodology. This will entail providing a detailed description of the proposed methodology and approach that will be taken to deliver the outputs for each phase of the evaluation (10 points)
2.2 Quality of the proposed implementation plan. The plan will identify key tasks and timelines, focal person for each activity/deliverable, and proposed internal quality assurance arrangements of all evaluation products (10 points)
2.3 Innovative ideas for collection, analysis and presentation of evaluative evidence (5 points)
2.4 Risk assessment - recognition of the peripheral problems (at least 2) and methods to prevent and manage the peripheral problems (5 points)
- CANDIDATE CAPACITY AND QUALIFICATIONS
3.1 Relevant experience, qualification, skills, and competencies for the assignment (15 points)
3.2 Professional expertise, in-depth knowledge and experience, client reference, quality of work samples, and recent assignments with similar projects/ agencies (Points)
B) Financial Proposal, 20 points
The maximum number of points shall be allotted to the lowest Financial Proposal that is opened /evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum 56 points score in the technical evaluation. Other Financial Proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.
The Contract shall be awarded to candidate obtaining the highest combined technical and financial scores, subject to the satisfactory result of the verification interview.
Please find the full detail of TOR here: 
ToR for consultant _ CPE Team Lead for VA.pdf
Form to be completed and uploaded in the application by the candidate:
1. Financial Proposal Template: Financial Proposal Template-updated Oct 2024.doc
2. Technical response form: Annex A - Technical Proposal - LCO CPE.docx
For every Child, you demonstrate...
UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.
View our competency framework at here
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.
UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles 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.
Remarks: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
