Result of Service

Evaluations at ESCWA strive to demonstrate the difference made by its work and its impact on member States and their citizens. This evaluation will aim to determine how the work undertaken in MSMEs project contributed to achieving its intended results, the pathway to these results, and the elements that contributed most significantly to their achievement. It will also consider any unintended results — positive or negative — that emerged during implementation. The evaluation will serve three main purposes:

Evidence-based decision-making: Provide a foundation for strategic planning and risk management.
Accountability: Demonstrate performance and results to ESCWA’s Executive and member States, in line with the Commission’s mandate.
Organizational learning: Identify lessons learned and actionable recommendations to strengthen future ESCWA projects in MSMEs.

Work Location

Remote / Hybrid

Expected duration

4 months

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Background and Objective The Arab region's economic landscape heavily relies on micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which represent over 90% of all businesses in the region and employ a large part of the population.1 These enterprises are integral to fostering sustainable and inclusive growth, driving innovation, and promoting gender equality. However, their potential is hindered by challenges such as limited access to finance, complex regulatory environments, lack of skilled labor, and political instability, all exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In Djibouti, the economy's heavy reliance on port activities underscores the pressing need for more comprehensive economic support, particularly in diversifying beyond these sectors. Meanwhile, Egyptian MSMEs are grappling with fragmented strategies and complex regulatory barriers, creating a challenging landscape for growth. Concurrently, in Iraq, the long-standing legacy of conflict and ongoing political instability significantly impede entrepreneurial progress. Similarly, Lebanon’s MSME sector faces severe impacts due to the country's economic collapse, compounded by political unrest and infrastructural challenges post-Beirut blast. Moreover, in Palestine, the unrelenting conflict directly impairs its business environment, creating hurdles for economic stability. Furthermore, Somalia's political instability, coupled with inadequate infrastructure, poses significant challenges to the growth of MSMEs. In Sudan, continuous warfare and economic uncertainty are major obstacles hindering the development of SMEs. Similarly, over a decade of conflict in Syria has drastically affected its business environment. Additionally, Tunisia's MSME sector is struggling amidst political instability and slow economic growth, highlighting the need for more targeted support. Lastly, the protracted conflict in Yemen has created a highly challenging environment, greatly affecting the potential for business growth in the region. The project's primary focus is on enhancing soft infrastructure and promoting the internationalization of MSMEs in the Arab region. Soft infrastructure, including essential non-physical aspects like regulatory frameworks and trade agreements, is crucial for creating a conducive business environment. This aspect facilitates smoother operations and compliance with international standards. By addressing non-physical aspects of soft infrastructure, the project contributes to building the necessary foundation for MSMEs to thrive in the global market. Internationalization involves expanding MSME operations beyond local markets, introducing them to regional as well as global trade and commerce. This expansion is pivotal for opening new markets and fostering global competitiveness among these enterprises. The strategy draws upon the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia's (ESCWA) experience in developing supportive environments for MSMEs, as evidenced by initiatives like the SMEs Digital Enabling Portal for the Arab Region (DEPAR). Capitalizing on ESCWA's previous successes, such as the "Improving the performance of SMEs in the Arab region" project and the Arab SMEs Summit, this project aims to advance MSMEs' soft infrastructure and internationalization. The objective is to enhance access, visibility, capabilities, competitiveness, and sustainability of MSMEs in the Arab region. By aligning with the Belt and Road Initiative’s (BRI) vision of interconnected economic growth, the project seeks to empower MSMEs to become integral players in the global economic landscape. The project, with its emphasis on enhancing the soft infrastructure and promoting internationalization of MSMEs in the Arab region, aligns closely with and contributes to the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It contributes directly to specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, while also indirectly impacting other SDGs. 2. Duties and Responsibilities Purpose of the Evaluation Evaluations at ESCWA strive to demonstrate the difference made by its work and its impact on member States and their citizens. This evaluation will aim to determine how the work undertaken in MSMEs project contributed to achieving its intended results, the pathway to these results, and the elements that contributed most significantly to their achievement. It will also consider any unintended results — positive or negative — that emerged during implementation. The evaluation will serve three main purposes:

Evidence-based decision-making: Provide a foundation for strategic planning and risk management.
Accountability: Demonstrate performance and results to ESCWA’s Executive and member States, in line with the Commission’s mandate.
Organizational learning: Identify lessons learned and actionable recommendations to strengthen future ESCWA projects in MSMEs. The evaluation will be conducted in accordance with ESCWA’s Evaluation Policy (2025) and the UNEG Norms and Standards for Evaluation. It will integrate best practices for promoting gender equality, human rights, disability inclusion, and environmental sustainability. Scope of the Evaluation The evaluation will be forward-looking and will objectively and systematically assess the performance of the project in terms of its relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability. Furthermore, the evaluation will assess the extent to which gender, human rights, disability inclusion, environmental concerns, and other cross-cutting issues were incorporated or mainstreamed into the project. The evaluation will cover the period from April 2024 to March 2027. Evaluation Criteria The following key evaluation questions per criteria will guide the evaluation. The evaluator is expected to refine evaluation questions where necessary and to include the refinement in the Inception Report. Relevance
How did the project team determine the strategic needs and priorities of member States in its project design?
How were the intended results of the project aligned with the strategic needs and priorities of member States, the sustainable development goals, and national and regional development agendas?
How were the identified results aligned with other stakeholders’ strategic needs and priorities?
How was the log frame translated to ensure that the activities carried out were relevant and contributed to achievement of the intended result(s)?
How were planned and implemented activities designed and sequenced to ensure a conscious consideration of the intended result? Effectiveness
What evidence is available to support the achievement of the results identified?
Which of the activities undertaken by the project team directly contributed to the identified results? How did these activities contribute to the results?
To what degree can the achievement of results be attributed to the intervention?
How did the work of stakeholders contribute to the achievement of the identified results?
Which other factors have contributed to the achievement of the identified results?
Would the results have been achieved regardless of the project being implemented?
How were key partnerships integrated in the delivery of the project to maximise the achievement of results? Efficiency
Were the planned activities considered and delivered with the end results in mind? How did this shape the process?
What, if any, adjustments were made during the project to optimize the achievement of results?
What, if any, considerations were made in terms of the most efficient way of delivering activities (choice of modality, expertise available, etc.)
To what extent were partnerships leveraged and/or enhanced to utilize additional strategic expertise? Impact
What, if any, high-level effects did the project cause (such as changes in norms or systems)?
How did the project ensure that all the intended target groups, including the most disadvantaged and vulnerable, benefitted equally from the intervention?
How transformative was the project – did it create enduring changes in norms – including gender norms – and systems, whether intended or not?
To what extent did the intervention lead to other changes, including “scalable” or “replicable” results? Sustainability
Given a similar context, could the identified results of the project be replicated?
Which of the activities identified as contributing to the identified results of the project provided ongoing benefits for stakeholders?
What evidence is available to indicate that the results of the project can be maintained by stakeholders? Gender, Human Rights, Disability Inclusion, and Environmental Issues
To what extent were issues of gender, human rights, disability inclusion, and the environment incorporated into the design, planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation practices of the project, as well as the results achieved? To what extent did the project respond to and affected the rights, needs and interests of different stakeholders, including women, men, youth, people with disabilities and other marginalized groups? Evaluation Methodology The evaluator is expected to identify the main results achieved through the project, as established by both the project team and key stakeholders, and develop a Theory of Change (ToC) for these results. The causal links postulated in the ToC should then be used to theorise a plausible causal mechanism, which should be tested using all available evidence, to evaluate the influence of ESCWA’s work on results achieved through the project. The evaluator is expected to ensure a mixed method (qualitative and quantitative), inclusive and participatory approach, with adequate triangulation across methods, to arrive at credible, reliable, and unbiased findings. The evaluator will also ensure that all aspects of the evaluation are gender and human rights sensitive (including a special focus on the rights with person with disabilities). In addition, the evaluator must ensure that they always comply with the UNEG Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation during the conduct of the evaluation. The above methodology is indicative. The evaluator is expected to build upon it and present a robust evaluation methodology within the inception report, including addressing and refining the evaluation questions. Management and Governance Arrangements SPARK will oversee management of the evaluation through an evaluation officer/s, who will act as the evaluation manager/s. This role will include recruiting the evaluator/s; serving as the main port-of-call for the evaluator/s and for internal and external stakeholders; recording the feedback of the project team and effectively integrating it into the evaluation exercise; monitoring the budget and the correct implementation of the work-plan; ensuring quality assurance; etc. The support of the organization and project’s senior management is key for the success of the evaluation, particularly during the recruitment of the evaluator/s, collection of documents for desk review, identification of stakeholders and arrangement of interviews, focus groups or surveys. Quality Assurance Mechanism The evaluator will employ a quality assurance mechanism of her/his preference (either an internal or an external system can be used), which will provide quality checks throughout the evaluation process. This quality assurance mechanism will be indicated in the Inception Report and in the Final Evaluation Report. In addition, ESCWA will review the evaluation report prior to finalization to ensure that it aligns with the UNEG Quality Checklist for Evaluation Reports , particularly with reference to the quality of recommendations. Evaluation Ethics The evaluation will be conducted in accordance with the principles outlined in the UNEG Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation; and all rights and confidentiality of information providers will be prioritized and safeguarded as per UNEG Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation.

Qualifications/special skills

A Master's degree in management, evaluation, or related area is required. All candidates must submit a copy of the required educational degree. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. A minimum of five years’ experience undertaking impact evaluations, including of projects and/or evaluations working with Arab governmental bodies, is required. Proven competency in quantitative and qualitative research methods, particularly self-administered surveys, document analysis, and informal and semi-structured interviews is required. Experience in MSMEs policy making and research is desirable. Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in social sciences, development studies, management, international relations, economics or any other related field.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat; and Arabic is a working language of ESCWA. For this position, fluency in English is required. Fluency in Arabic is desirable. Note: “Fluency” equals a rating of ‘fluent’ in all four areas (speak, read, write, and understand) and “Knowledge of” equals a rating of ‘confident’ in two of the four areas.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.

Evaluation of Enhancing MSMEs soft infrastructure & internationalisation in countries facing security, financial, or political transition challenges in the Arab Region