Evaluation of UNESCO's Operational Strategy for Priority Africa

CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

Brief description of the evaluand

Since 1984, UNESCO has defined the African continent as a priority in the implementation of its mandate. In its 37C/4 Medium Term Strategy (2014-2021), the Organization formalized this choice, by rendering Africa one of its two Global Priorities (along with Gender Equality) to be mainstreamed across UNESCO’s programmatic activities. To support this stance, the Organization devised the Operational Strategy for Priority Africa (2014-2021) (OSPA) which namely details six flagship programmes – related to all of UNESCO’s focus areas (education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, communication and information) – to be implemented in Africa in view of encouraging the development of the continent and addressing its specific needs. UNESCO’s OSPA is closely aligned with both the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the African Union’s 2063 Agenda: The Africa We Want.

2021 will mark the end of the Strategy’s implementation period. This evaluation offers the opportunity to assess not only its relevance of such an approach but also the achievements made so far and remaining challenges to inform future decision making. Building upon the findings and recommendations issued through two previous exercises (i.e. the 2012 IOS evaluation of Priority Africa and the 2017 internal mid-term review of the OSPA), this evaluation will feed into upcoming debates to design the next UNESCO Medium-Term Strategy (2022-2030) and UNESCO’s revised Operational Strategy for Priority Africa to be adopted in November 2021. It should also help strategically position UNESCO in this region.

Request:

UNESCO’s Internal Oversight Service – Evaluation Office – seeks proposals from qualified individuals / companies to conduct the Evaluation of UNESCO’s Operational Strategy for Priority Africa (2014-2021) described in the Terms of Reference (below). The evaluation is expected to take place between August 2020 and February 2021. The estimated effort for this exercise is 80 working days.

Terms of Reference

Background

1. In 2018, sub-Saharan Africa was home to over a billion people, a figure set to double by 2050 with 1 in 5 people worldwide coming from this region.[1] Africa is a young continent; in 2019 over 60% were under 25.[2] A young, fast growing population opens prospects of growth and dynamism. In fact, in the first decade of the 21st century, Africa had strong economic growth (5.5% per year). However, the continent continues to face significant challenges, such as providing meaningful educational and work opportunities to this mostly young population. Some countries continue to experience entrenched conflict and war, which destroys economies, worsens inequalities and pushes people to displacement. With 31% of children in sub-Saharan Africa out of school[3], 41% of women lacking basic literacy skills[4] and 89% of workers informally employed[5], there are concerns that some countries will not achieve the SDGs.

2. To focus attention on the specific development challenges faced by this continent, UNESCO established the “Priority Africa Programme” in 1989. In UNESCO’s 34 C/4 Medium Term Strategy (2008-2013)[6],Priority Africa was formalized as one of two Organizational Global Priorities, together with Global Priority Gender Equality. From its inception a key element of UNESCO’ s Global Priority Africa was its alignment with the priorities defined by Africa through the African Union and its New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).[7] This alignment was further attested in the context of the alignment exercise undertaken by PAX-Africa Department in 2016, as part of the 200th Session of the Executive Board.[8]

3. UNESCO is one of the few UN organizations to have explicitly placed a specific focus on the African continent.[9] The goal in defining it as a priority is to mainstream its objectives throughout the Organization’s programmatic work.

4. Through resolution 40C/61, Member States requested the Director General to ensure the consistency and complementarity of programmes to benefit Africa. These programmes should be developed in accordance with relevant decisions of the governing bodies and informed by findings and recommendations of the IOS 2012 Evaluation. In addition, they must be within the frameworks of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s Agenda 2063: The Africa we want.

5. In 2012, the Internal Oversight Service (IOS) carried out the Evaluation of Priority Africa. The evaluation underlined some areas of programmatic success such as the Capacity building for Education For All initiative (Cap-EFA). However, the overall picture was of concern. Some of the main findings of the 2012 evaluation were:

a) unclear understanding of Priority Africa within UNESCO;

b) insufficient decentralization to the region of human and financial resources;

c) underperforming flagship programmes;

d) conflicting and fragmented priority frameworks for UNESCO’s work in the region, including unclear roles and responsibilities.

1. In 2017, the Africa Department commissioned a mid-term review of Priority Africa Flagship Programmes. The most notable findings were that the six flagship programmes as well as the Strategy itself were closely aligned with the goals of both Agenda 2030 and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. However, the review also highlighted that further alignment would require “a better focus on ownership of the Flagship Programmes by UNESCO Programme Sectors.”

2. A key recommendation of the 2012 evaluation was to develop a shared vision and strategy for Priority Africa and operationalize it with well-defined organization‐wide objectives and a clear definition and division of roles and responsibilities. This recommendation resulted in the adoption of the Operational Strategy for Priority Africa (2014-2021) OSPA.

The Operational Strategy for Priority Africa (2014-2021)

1. The 37 C/4 Medium Term Strategy (2014-2021) introduces a separate complementary strategy for Priority Africa. The OSPA lays out the development issues and challenges faced by Africa: population growth, sustainable development and economic growth, social transformations and democratic governance. The objectives of the operational strategy are “to consolidate the results of action taken by UNESCO in order to achieve Africa’s priorities and the Organization’s main medium-term goals.” The Operational Strategy was drafted after consultations with African Member States, African Institutions, including the African Union and Regional Economic Communities, UNESCO Programme Sectors, the Bureau of Strategic Planning and UNESCO Field Offices in Africa. The Strategy’s objectives coincide with those of the African Union*.**[10]***

2. In order to concretely address these issues, UNESCO designed an eight-year implementation strategy around six flagship programmes relevant across UNESCO sectors, aimed at:

(1) Promoting a culture of peace and nonviolence;

(2) Strengthening education systems for sustainable development in Africa: improving equity, quality and relevance;

(3) Harnessing Science Technology and Innovation (STI) for the sustainable socio-economic development of Africa;

(4) Fostering science for the sustainable management of Africa’s natural resources and disaster risk reduction;

(5) Harnessing the power of culture for sustainable development and peace in a context of regional integration;

(6) Promoting an environment conducive to freedom of expression and media development.

1. Activities and programmes undertaken in the context of Global Priority Africa, including those specifically related to the flagship programmes, are implemented at the Sector or field-level. The Priority Africa and External Relations Sector (PAX)[11] is in charge of coordinating and monitoring these activities. The Sector is headed by an Assistant Director-General and subdivided in two divisions, including one focused exclusively on African matters: the Division for Priority Africa Coordination (referred to as the Africa Department). This Division is subdivided into four Units: i) the Contextual Analysis and Foresight Unit, ii) the Section for Cooperation with African Regional Organizations, iii) the Unit for Relations with African Member States and Partnerships and iv) the Social Mobilization and Communication Unit.

2. The PAX Sector further performs an advisory role guiding programmatic sectors, Member States and partners in establishing appropriate links for the furtherance of African interests. All five programmatic Sectors at Headquarters and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO) contribute towards activities in Africa, supported by 16 Field Offices based in sub-Saharan Africa. Amongst these, the Addis Ababa Office plays a special role as UNESCO’s Liaison Office with the African Union.

Situating the theme within UNESCO’s Programme and Budget

1. UNESCO’s Programme and Budget document for the current biennium (2020-2021), the 40C/5, includes two specific, crosscutting, expected results (ER) for the Africa Department of PAX:

ER 1: Impact and visibility of UNESCO’s programmes in Africa strengthened through enhanced coordination and monitoring of the Operational Strategy for Priority Africa (2014-2021), and better understanding of Africa’s development opportunities and challenges

ER2: Support to Priority Africa enhanced through increased and more efficient strategic partnerships with public and private stakeholders

1. Most funds aimed at implementing Priority Africa stem from the Sectors’ respective budgets as they directly implement programmes and other activities in Africa. These are supplemented by the 1 069 800 USD in regular programme funds budgeted in the 40C/5 for the Africa Department’s operational activities. Nevertheless, given the breadth of activities implemented in the context of Global Priority Africa, extrabudgetary resources are required to fulfil the Organization’s ambitions and support implementation, hence the importance of a financial strategy around partnerships as elicited in ER2. In preparation for this, PAX devised a specific resource-mobilization strategy for the OSPA.[12]

2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and 2063 Agenda for the African Union

1. UNESCO’s Priority Africa contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda with the hope of alleviating poverty in Africa and encouraging prosperous development in Africa. In particular, UNESCO leverages its strengths in the fields of its mandate to contribute towards the achievement of a certain number of SDGs: SDG 4 (education), 5 (gender equality), 6 (water and sanitation), 9 (innovation), 11 (cities and human settlement), 13 (climate action), 14 (life in water), 15 (life on land), 16 (peace and justice) and 17 (partnerships).

2. UNESCO has sought to align itself with the aspirations of the Africa Union’s 2063 Agenda.[13] It collaborates with relevant institutions on the continent such as the Africa Regional Collaboration Platform (RCP), the AU Commission, the NEPAD and the eight Regional Economic Communities (REC).

Rationale for the Evaluation

1. The rationale for this evaluation is to contribute to better defining the future work and strategic positioning of the Organization in all areas of its mandate relevant to Africa. It will focus on the strategic and policy approach taken by the Organization to give priority to Africa, focussing on selected flagship programmes of the OSPA.

2. The final evaluation is envisaged in the Strategy[14] and was requested by the Priority Africa and External Relations Sector (PAX) to IOS.

3. It has been eight years since the last full-fledged evaluation of Priority Africa. This Biennium 2020-2021 marks the end of the implementation period for the Operational Strategy for Priority Africa as well as for the 37C/4 Medium Term Strategy. Regional consultations are currently taking place. The evaluation will therefore provide inputs and feed into the preparation of the next Medium-Term Strategy (41 C/4) and Programme and Budget (41 C/5), as well as, importantly, to a renewed strategic approach or a new strategy for the Global Priority Africa for the period 2022-2029. It is foreseen that a new Strategy will be adopted by Member States at the 41st UNESCO General Conference in November 2021.

Purpose and Scope

1. The focus of the evaluation is the Operational Strategy for Priority Africa. It will:

i. Assess the relevance, coherence, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the Operational Strategy for Priority Africa.

ii. Analyse the performance of flagship programmes as well as their relevance and efficiency as integral components of sectoral programmes.

iii. Provide recommendations and input to the future orientation of the C/4 and C/5 as well as the revised strategy for Priority Africa for the period 2022-2029.

1. The evaluation will review the period of 2014-2020. The evaluation will focus on all African UNESCO Member States, which includes the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa as well as countries from the Maghreb.

2. While the evaluation will be mainly formative in its orientation – in line with the above purpose of the envisaged continuous improvement – it will include summative elements as it is essential to learn what has been working so far, why and under what circumstances. It will also highlight challenges in order to extract lessons and identify possible improvements to ensure the effective implementation of the programme.

3. The final evaluation will involve all relevant stakeholders, comprising Member States, Programme Sectors and IOC-UNESCO, the Field Offices in Africa, the African Union, Regional Economic Communities, and other key external partners of UNESCO.

4. The final evaluation report will be submitted to the UNESCO Priority Africa and External Relations Sector, and be presented to the spring session of the Executive Board in 2021. It will be made publicly available on the IOS website.

5. To ensure findings from the evaluation are integrated in a timely manner to the ongoing development of the next Medium-Term Strategy (C/4) and Programme and Budget (C/5), a report with preliminary evaluation findings will be provided in December 2020.

Evaluation Questions

1. The evaluation will organize the questions it seeks to answer around six criteria. Together, criteria describe the desired attributes of an intervention or a programme. All interventions/programmes should be relevant to the context, coherent with other interventions, achieve their objectives, deliver results in an efficient way, and have positive impacts that last. [15]

2. The following are possible overarching questions. In consultation with the evaluation team, and after reviewing the compressed timeline, certain questions might be combined or adjusted during the inception phase.

Relevance:

The extent to which the intervention objectives and design respond to beneficiaries’, global, country, and partner/institution needs, policies, and priorities, and continue to do so if circumstances change.

i. To what extent does the Operational Strategy for Priority Africa (including its flagship programmes) address the priorities and specific needs of African countries (as identified by AU, RECs)?

ii. To what extent is the Operational Strategy for Priority Africa (including its flagship programmes) in alignment with the African Union’s Agenda 2063? and the 2030 Agenda?

iii. To what extent is the flagship programme modality/approach effective in supporting the goals of the OSPA?

Coherence

The compatibility of the intervention with other interventions in a country, sector or institution.

iv. To what extent is the OSPA consistent with the efforts of external partners, particularly the RECs and the African Union? (external coherence)

v. To what extent have the priorities defined in the OSPA been integrated into United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks at the country level?16

vi. To what extent are OSPA flagship programmes implemented as components of UNESCO major programmes, and owned by Programme sectors and Field Offices? (internal coherence).

Effectiveness[17]

The extent to which the intervention achieved, or is expected to achieve, its objectives, and its results, including any differential results across groups.

vii. What has been the progress in reaching the objectives (including the flagship programmes) outlined in the OSPA?

viii. To what extent are African Member States (through UNESCO National Commissions, Line Ministries and Permanent Delegations at Headquarters) invested in the success of the OSPA?

ix. To what extent has UNESCO capitalized on its partnership networks in the African Region (National Commissions, Chairs, and category 1 and 2 Institutes) to advocate and strengthen the implementation of the OSPA?

x. How well have private and public strategic partnerships contributed to the results of the OSPA?

xi. To what extent has the OSPA and the activities of the flagship programmes contributed to advancing gender equality in the region?

xii. To what extent have the monitoring mechanisms set up by the OSPA been an effective framework to monitor progress and to produce useful and actionable data to steer the OSPA?

xiii. To what extent has the OSPA been a vehicle for cross-sector initiatives?

xiv. To what extent did the establishment of 5 Multisectoral Offices in sub-Saharan Africa as well as the Liaison Office help or hinder the effective implementation of the OSPA?

Efficiency

The extent to which the intervention delivers, or is likely to deliver results in an economic and timely way.

xv. To what extent have sufficient human and financial resources been decentralized and directed at Priority Africa? What are the trends in comparison to the resources for Africa detailed in the IOS 2012 evaluation?

xvi. To what extent is the current division of roles and responsibilities between PAX, the Programme Sectors and the Field Offices been conducive to an efficient implementation of the OSPA?

xvii. To what extent has the OSPA’s resource mobilization strategy achieved its objectives in terms of mobilizing funds for its implementation?

Sustainability and Impact

The extent to which the intervention has generated or is expected to generate significant positive or negative, intended or unintended, higher-level effects.

The extent to which the net benefits of the intervention continue, or are likely to continue.

xviii. Are there concrete examples of OSPA flagship programmes or activities that have contributed to longer-term changes?

Prospective

xix. ****In the current Covid-19 sanitary crisis, to what extent does UNESCO have to adjust/reorient its approach to Priority Africa?

Methodology

The evaluation in the current context of Covid-19

1. The evaluation will take place in a highly uncertain context brought about by the global pandemic. As such, the IOS Evaluation Office has defined some basic parameters[18] foremost of which is the health of the evaluation team, stakeholders or any other individuals involved in the evaluation.

2. The Evaluation Office of UNESCO has reviewed each evaluation in its 2020 workplan, considering adjustments and on occasion postponing the exercise. In the case of the Evaluation of the OSPA, evaluation findings will feed into future Member State led decision-making processes, (the development of the next OSPA, and the 41 C/4) which have not been postponed by the crisis. Therefore, in these circumstances IOS together with the evaluation team, and the reference group will discuss feasible approaches and methods in order to carry out the evaluation while being mindful of the safety and health of those involved and with as minimal impact as possible on the quality of the evaluation products.

3. It is unlikely the evaluation will include field visits to UNESCO Headquarters, the Liaison Office in Addis Ababa or UNESCO regional and national offices in Africa. Interviews with key informants will be conducted by telephone and virtual platforms. Access to some evaluation stakeholders such as beneficiaries or some national partners might prove challenging. This is one of the main limitations of the evaluation. IOS and the evaluation team will be in constant communication to explore different modalities and innovative solutions.

4. Taking into account the current sanitary crisis, which precludes certain forms of data collection such as direct observation, the methods will rely to a larger extent on a review of existing documentation.

5. The evaluation may include some or all of the methodological elements below. The specific methods will be further refined during the inception phase, in consultation with the Evaluation Reference Group and the evaluation team, in due consideration of any developments related to the sanitary crisis.

6. The evaluation team will use a mixed method approach involving quantitative and qualitative data from multiple sources. Any findings require triangulation with more than one data source. The evaluation will use the most recent theory of change (intervention logic) on Priority Africa to help guide the analysis.

7. The evaluation will be based on a hybrid approach. The external consultant(s) will act as the overall evaluation team leader however, IOS will lead the data collection on certain issues or with certain stakeholders, notably with Member State delegates based in Paris. In addition, IOS will also assume the leadership in briefing Member States on progress of the evaluation as well as emerging findings.

8. A recommended methodological approach will include:

9. Desk review. The evaluation will review and synthesise in detail past evaluations and audits. For the past years, IOS evaluations have integrated Priority Africa as a line of analysis. The synthesis will collect all evaluations in the period 2014-2020 and systematise the findings, conclusions and lessons learned concerning Priority Africa. The desk review will also include reviews of reference documents including annual reports of Field Offices in Africa, programmes and budgets and implementation and monitoring reports. In addition, the analysis will cover documents produced by other institutions notably the AU. A final list of relevant documents will be identified together with PAX, however the evaluation consultant or team is expected to exercise due diligence in canvassing the relevant literature.

10. Review/adjustment of the Theory of Change. The evaluators will review intervention logic/ theory of change for Priority Africa. Such an exercise was conducted as part of the 2012 evaluation. The consultant will integrate any necessary adjustments.

11. Resource analysis. The evaluation will reproduce the analysis conducted in the IOS evaluation of 2012 which reviewed the allocation of financial and human resources dedicated to Africa. This will allow capturing trends and changes from 2011-2012 to the present.

12. Review a sample of flagship programmes- Building on the analysis carried out in the 2012 evaluation and the Review of Priority Africa Flagship Programmes (2017), the evaluation will select (in consultation with the reference group) a small number of flagship programmes for more detailed analysis.

13. Techniques

14. · Desk review and systematic synthesis of documents and evaluations

15. · Structured and semi-structured interviews (for the most part through virtual means) with stakeholders including: UNESCO Member State representatives from Africa and from other regions, UNESCO Directors in Regional and National Offices in Africa; UNESCO staff in Headquarters; UNESCO Directors of Category I Institutes, partners including AU and RECs and other UN agencies.

16. · Survey of UNESCO staff based in African field offices and in UNESCO PAX-Africa Department.

17. · Questionnaire(s) and/or survey(s) of all UNESCO Member States and UNESCO’s partners.

18. · Participatory workshop to discuss preliminary findings, lessons learned and recommendations prior to the finalization of the evaluation report.

19. Data collection, sampling and analysis must incorporate a gender equality perspective, be based on a human rights based approach, and take into consideration the diverse cultural contexts in which the activities are being implemented.

Roles and Responsibilities

1. The evaluation will be managed by UNESCO’s Internal Oversight Service (IOS) Evaluation Office, which will be responsible for the overall management of the evaluation and quality assurance of the deliverables. UNESCO IOS will further lead data collection on given aspects of the evaluation, to be determined during the inception phase, and liaise with Member State representatives in Paris.

2. IOS is ultimately responsible for the content of the evaluation and is the owner of the reports, the data collection tools and the raw data.

3. A senior evaluation consultant or a team of consultants will conduct the evaluation. The evaluation consultant(s) will need to have specific knowledge and experience of the African continent and, ideally, be based in Africa.

4. The evaluation consultant(s) will be responsible for developing an inception report which will include an adjusted/revised theory of change and further precisions on the methodology. The consultant(s) will conduct data collection, analyse the data and prepare a draft with initial findings by December 2020 (in English or French). The final report will be due in February 2021. The consultant(s) might be required to present findings and recommendations to UNESCO stakeholders including Member States.

5. The evaluation team will be in charge of its own logistics: office space, administrative and secretarial support, telecommunications, printing of documentation etc. Given the current circumstances, travel is not envisaged and therefore the majority, if not all of the interviews, will be conducted virtually. Therefore, it is critical that the consultant(s) have excellent internet connectivity and experience with virtual platforms.

6. IOS will support access to relevant documentation contact details and lists of stakeholders. It will also facilitate the communication with relevant Member States, UNESCO staff from Headquarters, field offices and specialized institutes.

7. An Evaluation Reference Group will guide the evaluation process and ensure the quality of associated deliverables. In consultation with PAX, IOS will establish the reference group to accompany the evaluation process and provide feedback on the terms of reference, the inception report and the draft evaluation report. The group will be composed of representatives from the following entities: all five Programme Sectors, the Priority Africa and the External Relations Sector (PAX), the Bureau of Strategic Planning (BSP), the Division for Gender Equality, the UNESCO Liaison Office with the African Union and from two UNESCO Field Offices in Africa (Abuja and Windhoek Offices).

8. The evaluators will comply with United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) updated 2016 Norms and Standards for Evaluation, UNEG Guidelines for Integrating Human Rights and Gender Equality in Evaluations and UNEG Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation.

Qualifications of External Experts

1. The recommended composition of the evaluation team includes one team leader/ senior evaluator and one junior level evaluator/researcher. IOS will also consider alternative team compositions.

2. The consultant(s) should collectively possess the following mandatory qualifications and experience:

3. Team Leader/Senior evaluator

4. University degree at Masters level or equivalent in education, social sciences, political sciences, economics, or any related field;

5. At least 10 years of working experience in evaluation acquired at the international level or in an international setting, including at least 5 in Africa;

6. Substantive knowledge and experience in the development field in Africa;

7. Familiarity with UN mandates and its programming in the framework of the Sustainable Development Agenda

8. Familiarity with Agenda 2063.

9. Experience with strategic planning, strategic management and RBM principles;

10. Understanding and application of UN mandates in Human Rights and Gender Equality

11. Demonstrated excellent drafting skills in English or French;

12. Oral communication skills and ability to work in both English and French (read documents, conduct interviews, send emails)

13. No previous involvement in the implementation of the activities under review.

Desirable skills:

• Knowledge of the work of the African Regional Economic Communities
• Knowledge of UNESCO’s programmatic areas of work (i.e. education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, communication and information), especially in the African context
• Ability to work in other languages commonly used in Africa (Arabic, Portuguese or KiSwahili

Verification of these qualifications will be based on the provided curriculum vitae and may include an interview. Candidates are also encouraged to submit other references such as research papers or articles that demonstrate their familiarity with evaluation in the African context. We strongly encourage candidates from Africa to apply for this exercise.

Deliverables and Schedule

1. The evaluation will take place between August 2020-March 2021.

2. The estimation is that the evaluation assignment will require approximately 80 to 85 professional working days. As the evaluation will need to be finalized by early 2021, the period from mid-September to mid-December will require a full time commitment from the principal evaluator. Given the current sanitary crisis, the evaluation, in principle will not include field visits. IOS and the evaluation team will monitor the situation closely.

3. The evaluation will consist of five main deliverables: inception report, initial findings, draft report, final report and communication outputs.

Activity/Deliverable

Indicative Timing

Finalization of Terms of Reference June 2020

Call for Proposals and Selection of Consultants July-August 2020

Inception phase August-September 2020

**Inception note Early September 2020

Data collection and analysis phase September-November 2020

**Short initial report with preliminary findings December 2020

Presentation of preliminary findings December 2020

**Draft evaluation report Early February 2021

*Final report and communication outputs March 2021*deliverables

Deliverables i. Inception note:

This is a plan outlining how the team will carry out the evaluation. It should include, any adjustments to the methodology and evaluation questions from the ToRs. It is advisable to use an evaluation matrix that connects questions and indicators to data collection methods/sources and sampling. It should also include the communication plan for the evaluation products.

ii. Initial findings note

This deliverable will be required in December 2020. (There is no flexibility on the timing of this deliverable). It will provide initial feedback and inform the ongoing discussions on the next OSPA and the 41 C/4 and 41 C/5. The note should focus primarily on initial findings in a succinct 5-10 page note.

iii. Draft evaluation report

The evaluation team will prepare a draft evaluation report and IOS will circulate it for comments among the evaluation reference group. IOS will consolidate all comments for the evaluation team. The team, will provide a table explaining how they addressed each comment. The report will be written in English or French according to UNESCO IOS’s Evaluation Report Guidelines. IOS will share the guidelines and a detailed final report template with the evaluation team at the beginning of the assignment. The main body of the draft report shall not exceed 30 pages, excluding annexes.

iv. Final evaluation report:

As part of the UNESCO IOS quality assurance processes, all evaluation reports are subject to review by an external expert to ensure compliance with quality standards. The recommended actions from the quality assurance process will be addressed prior to finalization of the report

v. Communication output(s):

The evaluation team will prepare a synthesis of the main findings from the evaluation. This might take different formats such as a power point presentation or slides, a 2-page brief or an infographic.

References

• Priority Africa at UNESCO
• The UNESCO Operational Strategy for Priority Africa (2014-2021) and the Action Plan for its implementation (37C/4 Compl.2)
• Evaluation of UNESCO’s Priority Africa (2012)
• Overview of Priority Africa Flagship Programmes and Actions (see here)
• African Union’s 2063 Agenda
• Alignment of UNESCO’s Priority Africa with the 2030 and 2063 Agendas (see Annex in 200 EX/13.INF).

[1] World Population Prospects 2019, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Table 1, page 6.

[2] Ibid, Figure 10, page 16.

[3] New methodology shows that 258 Million children, adolescents and youth are out of school, UIS Fact Sheet No 56, Sept. 2019, UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), Table 1, page 4.

[4] UNESCO Institute for Statistics, SDG 4 data dashboard.

[5] Women and men in the informal economy: a statistical picture, Third Edition, 2018, International Labour Organization (ILO), Figure 13 – G1, page 27

[6] Action in favour of Africa will respect the priorities decided by Africa itself through the African Union and its New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)..

[7] NEPAD is an economic development program of the African Union adopted in 2001.

[8] see Annex in 200 EX/13.INF

[9] For UNESCO Africa refers to Sub-Saharan Africa only. Therefore 47 of the 54 African states are covered in UNESCO’s Priority Africa programme

[10] Building peace, security and stability in Africa, contributing to inclusive and sustainable economic and social growth, strengthening integration and cooperation at the continental level, promoting African values as a basis for continental integration and strengthening the Commission’s work to project a positive vision and image of Africa on the international scene. African Union. Draft Strategic Plan for 2014-2017

[11] Pursuant to the 205th session of the Executive Board, the Africa Department and the Division of Member States and Partners merged to create the Priority Africa and External Relations Sector (PAX).

[12] See Annex III of 194 EX/Decision 5.I. (https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000226615)

[13] 199 EX/Decision 5.II.E. The African Union’s Agenda 2063 is found in UNESCO’s programming tool (SISTER).

[14] OSPA, p. 27.

[15] Better Criteria for Better Evaluation Revised Evaluation Criteria Definitions and Principles for Use OECD/DAC Network on Development Evaluation.

[16] The United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (formerly named United Nations Development Assistance Framework) is the most important instrument for planning and implementation of the UN development activities at country level.

[17] Effectiveness analyses progress towards objectives along the results chain / causal pathway. In contrast to impact, which looks at higher-order effects and broader changes to which an intervention may be contributing, effectiveness is concerned with more closely attributable results

[18] UNESCO Guidance on Evaluation in the context of the Pandemic-March 2020

How to apply:

Interested individuals / companies should submit their application by Wednesday 22 July 2020 23:59 CET to Ms. Claudia Ibarguen, Head of the UNESCO Evaluation Office (c.ibarguen@unesco.org) with copy to Ms. Taipei Dlamini, Associate Evaluation Programme Coordinator (t.dlamini@unesco.org) and Ms. Syreen Forest, Associate Evaluation Programme Coordinator (s.forest@unesco.org). Please specify ‘Expression of interest – UNESCO Evaluation of UNESCO’s Operational Strategy for Priority Africa’ in the email subject line.

The proposal should include:

• The entities/person/team planning to bid on the evaluation. Include updated and abridged curriculum vitae for each member of the team, when applicable.
• Describe how the evaluator/team cover all the qualifications as defined in the Terms of Reference with specific mention of experience in the area of African development, in particular in areas related to UNESCO’s mandate. (1-2 pages)
• A statement indicating what experience, practices, areas of expertise and/or specialization distinguish you/ your team and make you a good fit for this assignment? (maximum half a page)
• The overall cost of the assignment. Include the daily rates of the consultant (or team members) as well as other overheads or incidentals. The financial proposal is to be presented as a stand-alone document separated from the other elements of the proposal. (1 page).
• Provide 2-3 executive summaries from recent evaluation reports you have completed, preferably on a topic of relevance to this assignment.