UN Women Uganda is embarking on the process of developing its Strategic Note (SN) for the period of 2026 – 2029. The SN will be aligned to the UNSCDF (2026 – 2030) for Uganda as well as the NDP IV. The UNSDCF remains the most important planning and implementation instrument for UN interventions at country level.

UN Women Uganda needs to develop a SN that is:

• Strategically aligned to national priorities and the UNSDCF (COs must adopt relevant UNSDCF Outcomes verbatim as the SN Outcomes and and contribute maximally to attainment of SP Results: PMR Policy, 2024). In development contexts, the duration of the SN must be harmonized with the UNSDCF cycle: PMR Procedure, 2024). In the context of humanitarian crisis or emergency, the Planning, Monitoring and Reporting (PMR) Procedure also provides for the inclusion of one dedicated Outcome and corresponding Output(s) to ensure strategic alignment with the Humanitarian Response Plan (or equivalent).
• Focused and clearly aligned with UN Women’s Strategic Plan (Regional and Global);
• Aligned to relevant intergovernmental frameworks on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls including the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, CEDAW, Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security where relevant, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In addition, this SN should:

• be robust in development, peace and security;
• be consultative, developed through the engagement of key stakeholders within the country, including youth and beneficiary populations to ensure ownership of the programme;
• be based on evidence from previous Evaluations/reviews and UNSDCF evaluations,  the common country analysis (CCA), ensuring that all major findings in these, other evaluative activities, and their subsequent management responses and/or implementation plans are reflected in the design and development of the SN document; and
• be informed by a review of existing and needed human resources, ensuring sufficient capacity is available to safely implement the country programme.

To this end, the UN Women Office in Uganda would like to bring on board a national consultant to support the development of the Strategic Note for Uganda, in line with UN Women’s SN corporate  guidelines. The consultant should employ a consultative and participatory approach throughout the development and drafting of the Strategic Note by involving UN Women staff, other UN agencies operating in the country, strategic partners including relevant government counterparts, key donors, CSOs and Women’s Rights Organizations, Private Sector Actors and other stakeholders in the process.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The consultant will report directly to the Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Specialist and also work closely  with the Deputy Country Representative. The Consultant will be required to carry out some or all of the following tasks (depending on what stage of the process Country Office is at), in close consultation with the country office team and drawing on UN Women’s Country Office SN Guidance.

•         Develop inception report outlining the key steps of the SN development work

•         Conduct a desk review of relevant key documents including

• The results and recommendations of mid-term review of SN (2022 – 2025),
• Findings of recent external/internal audits,
• Cooperation Framework and other strategic evaluations such as corporate and regional evaluations, when available,
• Common Country Analysis reports,
• SDG monitoring data and previous UN Women and UNSDCF reports;
• Key normative frameworks such as Beijing+25; CEDAW, voluntary national SDG reports, National Development Plan IV (2025/2026 – 2029/2030),
• UNCT frameworks documents such as the UNSDCF 2026 – 2030 for Uganda, UNCT-SWAP  Gender scorecard assessments
• Previous Country Portfolio evaluation report
• Humanitarian Situation Overview (HNOs)  and the resulting Humanitarian Response Plans (HRPs) for 2022, 2023 and 2024
• Any other document that may be found very relevant to the consultant
• Facilitate initial consultations with staff to gather background information and develop the initial results framework;
• Conduct consultations with key stakeholders in the country for initial inputs into strategy content and direction from their respective perspectives;
• Draft reports from all consultations and planning sessions with staff and external stakeholders, including the initial SN draft outline;
• Work with the CO team to elaborate session agendas and facilitate workshops with the UN Women team to develop various components of the SN including but not limited to the Theory of Change, Results Framework (DRF and OEE); 4-year budget and risk matrix;
• Draft the first version of the Strategic Note as per the UN Women Guidance on SNs including coordinating the submission of inputs required from various staff;
• Prepare an agenda for and facilitate the validation workshops with stakeholders as guided by the country team;
• Incorporate the comments from validation sessions with external stakeholders, Regional and Global Technical Review Committees and the global PRG into a complete Strategic Note package consisting of all the relevant attachments as per the Guidance note.
• Prepare the power point presentation for the global PRG jointly with the CO team