The Independent Evaluation Office is the custodian of the evaluation function. It reports functionally to the Executive Board and administratively to the Executive Director. The office is independent from the operational, management and decision-making functions in the organization, and is impartial, objective and free from undue influence.
The IEO conducts or commissions centralized evaluations that are proposed following the approval of a new Strategic Plan. These include thematic topics or institutional themes and can be done alone or with other organizations in a joint evaluation modality. The Evaluation Advisor also engages in corporate processes, such as representing the IEO on HQ-based committees, and contributes to Division-wide planning, monitoring and reporting exercises. The IEO provides the necessary capacity development on issues related to evaluation and engage in partnerships with professional evaluation networks, such as the United Nations Evaluation Group, and supports the harmonization of the evaluation function in the United Nations system. It also promotes multistakeholder and intergenerational partnerships to strengthen national evaluation capacities, including meaningful involvement of young evaluators.
Responsibilities include:
Conducting and/or managing credible, independent corporate evaluations and other evaluative studies of UNFPA’s programming and processes to international professional standards.
- Leads and manages different types of corporate evaluations as per the UNFPA Costed Evaluation Plan, including thematic, programme, institutional and joint evaluations, as well as other evaluative exercises relevant to UNFPA’s mandate;
- Develops terms of reference and budget, selects and contracts individuals or firms, constitutes and chairs evaluation reference groups, contributes substantially to the development of the scope, approach and methodology of evaluations, quality assures and pre-approves all evaluation deliverables and prepares a dissemination plan for all exercises;
- Ensures that evaluations meet high professional standards in line with the UNFPA Evaluation Policy (2024) and UNEG Norms & Standards;
- Closely liaises with other UNFPA units or external partners when conducting evaluations to ensure a high degree of utility;
- Keeps abreast of developments and innovations in evaluation and ensures that relevant evaluation techniques and approaches are applied in the conduct of evaluative exercises;
Contributing to strengthening evaluation practice within the UN through participation in United Nations Evaluation Group work and inter-agency cooperation.
- Contributes to United Nations Evaluation Group workplan and inter-agency cooperation as part of UNEG working groups, as required;
- Contributes to the harmonization of evaluation practices and guidelines among UN organizations;
- Contributes to global communities of practice, as relevant;
- Participates in international evaluation conferences and presents evaluative work, as required; and,
- Engages in networks with other UN organizations, bilateral donors, development cooperation organizations, professional institutions/associations on evaluation strategies, policies and practices.
Contributing to the management of the Independent Evaluation Office, including planning and reporting on the UNFPA evaluation function.
- Contributes to the preparation of UNFPA’s costed evaluation plans;
- Contributes to the preparation of the IEO budget, as required;
- Contributes to the IEO reporting including: annual report on evaluation to the Executive Board and presentations and updates to Executive Committee, Oversight Advisory Committee and Oversight Compliance and Monitoring Committee, as required;
- Contributes to IEO’s human resources management as required;
- Promote the ethical and responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in evaluation work;
- Acts as Officer in Charge as required; and,
- Any other task as required by the Director
Qualifications and Experience:
Education:
Master’s degree in social sciences, public health, economics, gender studies or demography.
Knowledge and Experience:
- At least 10 years of experience in managing complex evaluations in the areas of gender, health and/or population dynamics, as well as UNFPA’s other core programming areas;
- Demonstrable experience in managing and conducting different types of evaluations in or for UN organizations, other multi-lateral or bilateral development organizations;
- Demonstrable experience in working collaboratively within the IEO and with external partners and experts;
- Experience conducting evaluation-related workshops and training courses – both in person and online;
- Knowledge of specialized software applied to evaluation
- Knowledge of AI applied to evaluation is a strong asset.
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