National Consultant - Mid-Term Review of UNFPA Malawi 9th Country Programme

UNFPA in Malawi is currently implementing its 9th Country Programme (CP, 2024 – 2028), which supports the Government of Malawi in achieving national priorities set out in Malawi Vision 2063, the Malawi 2063 First 10-Year Implementation Plan (MIP-1), and the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, and the Programme of Action for the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). As the CP reaches its midpoint in 2026, the Country Office (CO) seeks to conduct a comprehensive Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the 9th CP to ensure its continued relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability. The Malawi CO is at a critical juncture due to two major shifts: i) Global Strategic Alignment: The launch of the new UNFPA global Strategic Plan (2026 – 2029, SP) requires the 9th CP to align its priorities and strategies with new global focus areas. ii) Resource Constraints: A significant change in funding landscape at both global and country levels necessitates a critical review of the Results and Resources Framework (RRF) to ensure targets remain realistic and achievable under constrained financial resources. The MTR will provide a basis for required adjustments, updating the 9th CP including the Theory of Change (ToC) and the RRF well-aligned with the new SP and the recent contextual changes, for the remainder of the cycle. As a critical management exercise to ensure continued relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of the 9th CP, this MTR serves to recalibrate the 9th CP by aligning its RRF and ToC with the new 2026-2029 SP and the evolving national funding landscape. In line with the above, the CO seeks to recruit a national consultant to conduct the Mid-Term Review of the 9th Country Programme.

You would be responsible for:

• Progress assessment: Assess the progress or lack thereof, towards the expected outputs envisaged in the CP; the enabling and constraining factors and where appropriate, the review will also highlight unexpected results (positive or negative).
• Strategic alignment: Align and update 9th CP priorities and strategies with the new UNFPA Strategic Plan (2026–2029).
• ToC revision: Critically review and update the CP's Theory of Change to reflect the current socio-economic and funding context. This will also inform the RRF rationalisation.
• RRF rationalization: Update indicators, baselines, and targets in the Results and Resources Framework to ensure they remain realistic, strategic and achievable within available resources in line with the updated TOC.
• Response to changing context: Review the impact of the changing funding scenario at global and national level on programme delivery and recommend adjustments, and document recommendations on how the 9th CP should address the change for the remainder of the 9th CP cycle and inform updates to the UNSDCF.

Description of Activities:

The consultant will work closely with the CO management team and in consultation with the programme and operations teams. UNFPA’s East and Southern Africa Regional Office will also be engaged for guidance as necessary, e.g. for review of inception and findings reports. The process will include a desk review of secondary literature, interviews/focus group discussions with implementing partners, team reflections and a reflection/dissemination workshop with the CO team. The MTR is expected to answer the following questions; the consultant will review and develop final review questions in the inception report that will be approved by the country office.

• EQ 1 (Effectiveness): To what extent has the 9th CP achieved its cumulative output targets for 2024–2026, and how have the contextual changes influenced these results?
• EQ 2 (Relevance): How well do the current 9th CP priorities align with the new UNFPA Global Strategic Plan (2026–2029) and recent national contexts?
• EQ 3 (Efficiency): In light of the changing funding landscape, how effectively has the Country Office reallocated resources and utilized partnerships to maintain essential service delivery for the 'furthest behind first'?
• EQ 4 (Sustainability): Based on implementation experience to date, what specific adjustments are required for the Theory of Change and Results and Resources Framework (RRF) to ensure targets for 2027–2028 remain realistic, strategic, and impactful?

Methodology:

The assessment will primarily adopt a qualitative methodology, involving desk reviews and the collection of secondary data from relevant reports, publications, websites, and other existing documentation. The consultant should apply triangulation to ensure validity of the findings. The consultant will conduct interviews with selected stakeholders, including implementing Partners (IPs) such as government entities, professional associations, civil society organizations (CSOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and academic institutions as well as development partners. In addition, consultations will be held with selected members of the UNFPA Country Office team. UNFPA will provide a list and contacts of focal persons from implementing partners, development partners, NGOs, and CSOs from which the respondents will be selected. For efficiency, it is recommended that interviews and consultations be conducted virtually where possible, including in data collection of the views from the district level.

Other relevant information or special conditions:

Interested candidates are requested to attach or provide a link to their recent two evaluation/mid-term review reports.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Education: Minimum of a Master’s degree in Public Policy, Monitoring and Evaluation, demography, public health, or related field.
• Knowledge and Experience: At least 5 years of professional experience conducting evaluations, strategic planning including development and evaluations of country programmes. Prior experience conducting evaluations, assessments, and technical and programme reviews of country programmes, preferably within the UN. For the national consultant, experience and knowledge of the Malawi context is required. Familiarity with UNFPA programmes and mandates will be an added advantage. Excellent communication skills including report writing.
• Languages: Fluency in Chichewa and English.

Compensation and Benefits:

The Consultant will be paid as per the UNFPA consultancy payment guideline.