National Individual Consultancy: End of Programme Evaluation Global Disability Fund (GDF) Joint Programme in Kenya

The consultant will work under the supervision of UNFPA. He or she will work directly with the SRHR and Youth Advisor and relevant programme specialists and associates, under the overall guidance of the Deputy Representative. Technical oversight and quality assurance throughout the evaluation process will be provided by the Evaluation Reference Group (ERG)—a consultative body comprising key stakeholders, including PUNOs, government entities in disability programming, and implementing partner agencies. 

Kenya ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2008. However, a situation analysis conducted in 2023 on the rights of persons with disabilities revealed significant gaps and challenges in its implementation. This led to the development of a Joint programme aimed at catalyzing action across various sectors, with a focus on strengthening systems for Disability policies, Programmes, and Services in Kenya. 

The Joint Programme, titled, Systems Strengthening towards Disability Inclusive Policies, Programmes and Services in Kenya is 24-month initiative with a total value of 600,000 USD, supplemented by co-funding from the Norway Humanitarian Innovation Programme and the UN Partnership Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) in New York. 

This Joint Programme is coordinated through the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office (UNRCO) in Kenya and convened by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in collaboration with UNICEF and UNFPA. The programme is implemented alongside key government stakeholders, including the State Department for Social Protection, National Council for Persons with Disabilities, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. It also works with several Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), Federation of Kenya Employers and the Central Organization of trade Unions in Kenya. The primary purpose of the JP is to catalyse systemic change by strengthening national coordination and monitoring mechanisms, providing technical support for the enactment of the Persons with Disabilities Bill, and ensuring that essential services in health, education, and employment are accessible and inclusive for all.

Central to the programme’s design is a commitment to advancing the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and promoting disability-inclusive Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDGs 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, and 17.  By addressing existing gaps in the legislative and policy environment, the JP seeks to fulfill Kenya’s international obligations under the CRPD, specifically targeting articles related to equality, employment, data collection, and national monitoring. This rights-based approach ensures that disability inclusion is not treated as a peripheral issue but is instead woven into the fabric of national planning, including humanitarian preparedness and climate change adaptation, thereby accelerating progress toward the 2030 Agenda and ensuring that persons with disabilities are not left behind.

Strategic alignment is further maintained through a direct link between the JP and the UNPRPD/Global Disability Fourth (GDF) Strategy (2020–2025) and its accompanying Results Framework. The programme leverages the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS) as a primary platform for inter-agency coordination, ensuring that all interventions are catalytic and contribute to long-term governance and accountability. By aligning its outputs with the GDF’s focus on systemic transformation, the JP ensures that its investments in data systems, policy reform, and inclusive service delivery provide a scalable model for disability-inclusive development that is both sustainable and measurable within the broader UN development system.

The Joint Programme places particular emphasis on the rights and inclusion of children with disabilities in Kenya, who face intersecting barriers related to age, disability, gender, and location. In line with Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the programme promotes the best interests, participation, and equal enjoyment of rights of children with disabilities through targeted system-strengthening interventions. 

The three partner agencies in the UNPRPD programme play complementary roles: UNICEF leads on strengthening national and county government coordination mechanisms (IACC/IGRTWG), establishing complaints and redress systems, facilitating integrated medical and educational disability assessment referrals, and mainstreaming disability inclusion within humanitarian and emergency preparedness plans. The ILO focuses on advancing economic participation and employment for persons with disabilities, specifically on inclusive employment by leading the development of guidelines to operationalize the 5% employment reservation, stigma elimination and non-discrimination and enhancing organizations of persons with disabilities' (OPDs) capacity in strategy development and engagement for policy finalization and their participation in decision making processes. Meanwhile, UNFPA drives policy and legislative reforms by leading advocacy for the Persons with Disabilities Bill enactment and finalization of the National Policy, while also building OPD capacity for data collection and strengthening the monitoring of CRPD implementation, and piloting inclusive Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) service delivery.

The programme is implemented at the national level and in select counties comprising Nairobi, Narok, Baringo, Kajiado and Kisumu. Specifically, Narok and Baringo focused on inclusive Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) service delivery; Nairobi and Kisumu focused on economic participation and employment for persons with disabilities, whereas Kajiado focused on integrated medical and disability education and mainstreaming disability inclusion within humanitarian and emergency preparedness plans.

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.  UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

The evaluation aims to assess the achievements of the JP and its overall contribution to advance the CRPD implementation in Kenya. 

Specific learning objectives for the evaluation include the following:

The evaluation will cover the project implementation period of 1^st September 2022 to 30^th June 2026 and will focus on select counties of programme implementation that include: Nairobi, Narok, Baringo, Kajiado and Kisumu. It will be based on criteria related to relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, sustainability, and contribute to the assessment of impact, with an emphasis on equity and gender sensitivity. A framework with guiding questions will be provided to guide the process. 

The evaluation will adopt a

To ensure a comprehensive assessment, the evaluation will follow a

The consultant shall use own equipment and work-space as may be necessary

(Presenting findings, analysis, case studies, lessons learnt and actionable recommendations-Max 30 pages))

The consultancy will involve travelling to select project sites for data collection. This may include Nairobi, Kajiado, Kisumu, Narok, and Baringo counties. Travel and accommodation costs will be covered by UNFPA.

Advanced degree in relevant academic areas e.g. public health, social sciences, public policy, epidemiology, international development, economics and demography.

The Consultant will be asked to declare any potential conflict of interest before undertaking the work. 

The Consultant will discharge his/her functions exclusively as an advisor to UNFPA and the UN Joint Programme team (UNFPA, ILO and UNICEF) in partnership with the UN Resident Coordinator's office in Kenya. 

Consultant will be expected to undertake some mandatory courses (if not done previously) such as Security (BESAFE) and the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA).

UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of UNFPA's workforce - click here [link removed] to learn more.

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts.