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.

The UN Women Nigeria Strategic Note (SN) 2023–2027 is the primary programming and accountability framework guiding the Country Office’s strategic vision, priorities, and results over the five-year period (2023 – 2027). It serves as a reference for programme planning, resource mobilization, implementation, monitoring, reporting, and coordination. The SN is firmly anchored in:

• The United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2023–2027, which provides the shared results framework for the UN system in Nigeria.
• The UN Women Strategic Plan 2022–2025 and associated global impact areas.
• Nigeria’s international normative commitments, including CEDAW, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the Maputo Protocol, and the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
• Nigeria’s national development priorities, including the Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

It adopts an intersectional, results-based approach to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women (GEWE) in Nigeria, with six mutually reinforcing outcomes of decent jobs and women’s economic empowerment, gender-responsive climate action and food systems, inclusive and gender-responsive social protection, women’s leadership in peace, security, and humanitarian response, inclusive governance and justice, and gender equality and human rights, including strengthened UN system coordination.

In 2025, the Nigeria office is at the midpoint of the implementation of the SN and intends to conduct a midterm review of the SN as part of its agility and adaptive strategy in connection with the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) plan to conduct a review of the UNSDC,  and as a strategic learning exercise with technical support from the Regional Office Planning and Monitoring team to take stock of progress toward expected results, make sense of emerging changes from a gender perspective, and refine its programme strategy as needed. 

This is most relevant because the operating environment in Nigeria has evolved significantly since the development of the SN in 2022 including through:

• New government: A new government came into power in 2023, the first year of the SN. This came with major policy reorientations, new government priorities and plans including the Renewed Hope Agenda (RHA).
• Global and regional normative shifts: The 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) produced renewed commitments for financing, multisectoral accountability, and transformative systems change for gender equality.
• Evolving development financing landscape: The suspension of contributions from the U.S. Government to UN Women, coupled with reduced funding towards gender equality, and changing donor priorities, has created urgent implications for sustainability and prioritization of GEWE programming.
• Escalating humanitarian and climate crises: Intensified security challenges in Nigeria, compounded by climate shocks and economic instability, demand more integrated humanitarian, peace, and development responses.
• Increased expectations for UN system coherence: The implementation of the UNSDCF (2023 – 2027) calls for deeper integration and joint programming across the UN Country Team, reinforcing UN Women’s coordination mandate. In addition, due to the changing landscape there is also a plan to conduct a midterm review of the UNSDCF, reinforcing UN Women’s role in ensuring that the needs of women and girls are identified through the review of the SN, and these contribute to the UNSDCF implementation.

Rationale for the Midterm Review

The MTR is, both a means to strategically drive UN Women contribution to the UNSDCF review, and pa strategic learning exercise. For the Nigeria Country Office, this MTR will:

• Provide an evidence-informed assessment of progress toward the SN’s intended results, drawing on both quantitative and qualitative data.
• Facilitate a participatory reflection process with both internal and external stakeholders, ensuring that diverse perspectives inform strategic decisions.
• Serve as a decision-making platform to adjust the SN’s results framework, delivery models, resource allocation, and partnerships considering evolving contexts and constraints.
• Strengthen accountability to the Government of Nigeria, partners, donors, and the communities served by UN Women.
• Position the Nigeria Country Office for its next planning cycle, by generating lessons learned and strategic insights for the SN 2028–2032 and contributing to the development of the UN Women Global Strategic Plan 2026–2029.

Duties and Responsibilities 

The consultant will work under the overall guidance of the Country Representative and the direct supervision of the assigned MTR Lead, with technical support from the RO Planning , Monitoring and Reporting unit. The consultant will lead technical design, data collection, analysis, validation, and reporting for the MTR, ensuring that the process is participatory, gender-responsive, human-rights-based, and evidence-informed. 

The scope of the MTR will cover the implementation period January 2023 – date of review in 2025, across all normative, coordination, and operational mandates, as articulated in the SN’s Development Results Framework (DRF) and Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency Framework (OEEF), and will include:

• Inception and planning: Establish a clear, agreed-upon approach, tools, and work plan for the MTR.
• Desk review and contextual analysis: to synthesize existing evidence and situate the SN’s performance in the evolving Nigerian context will occur through the:
• Primary data collection: The consultant will gather qualitative and quantitative evidence from diverse stakeholders to assess progress, challenges, and opportunities. The consultant will also obtain informed consent, ensure ethical safeguards and confidentiality of responses and apply gender-sensitive, culturally appropriate, and participatory facilitation during the various processes.
• Data analysis and validation: The consultant will synthesize findings and lead to the identification and development of actionable recommendations for management response.
• Reporting and dissemination: The consultant will deliver a high-quality, actionable MTR report and supporting products.

Key Deliverables

The consultant will work to deliver the following:

• Inception report 
• Background analysis paper 
• Preliminary findings presentation 
• First draft MTR report
• Second draft MTR report
• Final MTR report 
• Summary brief and PowerPoint presentation.

Consultant Workplace and Official Travel

The assignment will primarily be home-based, with virtual consultations and an in-person sense-making/validation meeting in Abuja.

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 understanding of gender equality and women’s empowerment programming.
• Proven skills in evaluation, strategic reviews, and RBM.
• Excellent facilitation and participatory methodology skills.
• Strong analytical, synthesis, and communication abilities.
• Ability to work under tight deadlines and in complex environments

Required Qualifications

Education

• Advanced degree (PhD or Master’s) in gender studies, social sciences, development studies, public policy, evaluation, or related field.

Experience

• Minimum 10 years’ experience in evaluation or strategic programme reviews.
• At least 7 years conducting gender-responsive evaluations or gender-responsive programme reviews.
• Familiarity with UN system work and triple mandate (normative, coordination, operational).
• Expertise in gender analysis and results-based management approach
• Experience in Nigeria or West Africa preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to produce high-quality reports.

Language

• Fluency in written and spoken English.
• Knowledge of a Nigerian language 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.

Women are strongly encouraged to apply