Job Description

The Consultant will work under the overall supervision and guidance by Unit Manager, EE Unit of UN Women Nepal Country Office, in close consultation with Programme Officer for the day-to-day operations.
Stock-taking/compilation of the basic information:

• Develop a stocktaking matrix with the basic information of all vocational skills and entrepreneurship development training programmes implemented by the Government and/or development partners for last 10 years. The format of a matrix will be proposed by the Consultant after the commencement of this assignment in close consultation with UN Women Nepal Country Office. A stocktaking matrix includes but not limited to review of the nature and scope of programmes, targeted population, the number of benefited population, periods of support programmes (programme/project periods), total budget, basic information of training courses (duration of each course, subjects, training providers, etc.), achievement of the programme, strength and weakness of the programmes.

Desk review of the overall results of vocational skills and entrepreneurship development support for the last 10 years:

• Conduct a desk review of the secondary information and reference materials available on the major entrepreneurship and vocational skills development programmes;
• Summarize the overall results of the support for the last 10 years. A special focus will be given to how well those support programme addresses women’s empowerment both in designing and implementation;
• Summarize challenges and lessons learned from the major entrepreneurship and skills development programmes;
• Summarize results of evaluations if there is any evaluation reports available for the major entrepreneurship and skills development support programmes;
• Based on the results of the stocktaking and desk review, assess and analyze the impact of the major vocational skills and entrepreneurship development programmes on women’s economic empowerment. The Consultant will review the support programmes and identify any specific provisions/considerations which aimed at gender equality and social inclusion in designing and implementation of the support. The impact assessment shall be made with reference to efficiency, effectiveness, relevance and sustainability of respective support programmes and their overall impact on women’s economic empowerment;
• Based on results of the stocktaking and desk review, assess and analyze the impact of the entrepreneurship and vocational skills development programmes for the last 10 years on the achievement of the Government’s policy on entrepreneurship and vocational skills development. The Consultant will briefly summarize the related Government policy and strategy on entrepreneurship and vocational skills development and then assess the contributions of the support programmes reviewed under this assignment to the implementation of those policies and strategies. The impact assessment shall be made with reference to efficiency, effectiveness, relevance and sustainability of respective support programmes and their overall impact;
• Verify and/or supplement the paper-based secondary information by other data and information collection methods, such as key informant interview (KII) and questionnaire surveys to support the impact assessment. The Consultant is encouraged to contact relevant key informants / training participants to collect the supplementary information. Contact details of key informants will be provided by UN Women if it is necessary;
• Identify gaps of the existing major vocational skills and entrepreneurship development programmes especially on their impact on women’s economic empowerment, and compile a set of recommendations.

Competencies

• Demonstrated research skills and experiences in relevant fields;
• Comprehensive knowledge about vocational skills and entrepreneurship development trainings conducted in Nepal;
• Proven ability to write reports, briefs and concept notes;
• Proven ability to coordinate with Nepal government ministries;
• Excellent communication skills and intercultural sensitivity; and
• Ability to multi task, work on many concepts at once, and work in a team.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in Economics, Public Policy, Gender and Development, Social Science, Business Management, or any other related fields;
   

Experience:

• Minimum 3 years’ proven experience and demonstrated knowledge on researches and analyses on gender equality, particularly women’s economic empowerment issues;
• Familiarity and/or working experiences in programmes and projects on vocational skills, entrepreneurship development and relevant subjects is required;
• Experiences in conducting impact assessments and/or evaluations of entrepreneurship development, enterprise development and/or vocational skills development programmes are a great advantage; and
• Good knowledge of computer applications especially Microsoft Office applications such as word and excel together with good presentation skills.
• Language:
• Excellent command of written and oral English and Nepali.