DRC: Consultant - Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Support

Apr 18, 2018 | Mercy Corps
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Mercy Corps has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since August 2007, with a staff of around 250 people working in North and South Kivu. Mercy Corps’ national office is in Goma with sub-field offices in Katwe, Mweso, Butembo (North Kivu), Bukavu (South Kivu). Current Mercy Corps activities focus on the provision of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services in camps of internally displaced people, but also large-scale WASH infrastructure and service delivery development in urban centers. Mercy Corps also has Food Security, Economic Recovery/Development and Governance programs, with an increasing shift towards transitional and integrated development programming. The DRC team has a strong commitment to providing entrepreneurial and innovative solutions to development challenges, and is actively seeking and facilitating market-based solutions.

Mercy Corps has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since 2007, with a staff of approximately 250 people in North and South Kivu. We support vulnerable communities, while fostering strong relationships and partnerships across government, civil society and the private sector to deliver programs that build resilience and promote sustainable change. Our current activities focus on the provision of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services in camps for internally displaced people, and large-scale WASH infrastructure and service delivery in urban centers. Mercy Corps also has food security, economic recovery/development and governance programs, with an increasing shift towards transitional and integrated development programming. The DRC team has a strong commitment to providing entrepreneurial and innovative solutions to development challenges, and actively seeks and facilitates market-based solutions. 

Consultant Objectives:

Mercy Corps is looking for a 2-3 month short term support consultancy  to support the Monitoring and Evaluation team and new MEL Manager for a USAID-funded Development Food Assistance Project (DFAP) implemented in Eastern DRC. This five-year project will improve food and nutrition security and economic well-being of vulnerable populations through outcomes focused on agriculture, natural resources, livelihoods, health, nutrition, WASH and governance. The consultant will be responsible for supporting the implementation of effective measurement, evaluation and learning strategies aimed at ensuring that project activities result in positive outcomes for male and female participants of different age groups. S/he will provide technical reviews and development of tools and the M&E system to integrate quantitative and qualitative approaches into project activities, raising awareness of the importance of ongoing measurement and learning. The consultant will work closely with sector team leads to ensure the effective and timely execution of monitoring and evaluation activities, including high-quality compliance with USAID’s M&E standards. 

Consultant Activities:

The Consultant will:

  • Lead the finalization and revisions of the required USAID M&E products, including the M&E plan, logical framework, Theory of Change, Performance Indicator Reference Sheets, Indicator Performance Tracking Table and others as necessary, in alignment with the mission-level MEL Strategy and Information Management Strategy.
  • Set up the M&E system, ensuring the dataflow for all indicators are in place and that the tools are tested
  • Ensure that gender, age, ethnicity and other relevant considerations are effectively integrated at design, implementation, analysis and report writing stages for all M&E products.
  • Develop monitoring workplans to ensure that all necessary indicators are measured in an appropriate and timely manner for each program sector.
  • Ensure that sector teams understand their respective indicators and the utility of these data.
  • Train sector teams to perform their assigned monitoring responsibilities.
  • Develop mapping of program data flow
  • Ensure compliance with the integrated Google Drive-Excel-CommCare information management system elected by the mission.

Consultant Deliverables:

The Consultant will:

  • Completed set of MEL deliverables, including revised IPTT, MEL Plan and PIRS
  • Set-up the M&E system and deliver a set of tested MEL tools and data flow maps
  • Take the lead in working with the FSP team to understand the data collection process and FFP requirements
  • Develop monitoring workplans with FSP technical and field staff

Timeframe / Schedule: 

In consultation with the FSP team, the deliverables will be determined with the consultant and aligned with the team’s needs and implementation timelines. The consultancy should in May 2018. 

The Consultant will report to:

Reports Directly To: Mercy Corps MEL Country Manager, with secondary link to FSP Chief of Party 

The Consultant will work closely with:

Works Directly With: FSP Program Managers and staff, MEL specialists from other programs    

Required Experience & Skills:

The ideal consultant will have the following experience and skills: 
  • MA/S or equivalent in social science, public health, statistics, international development, or similar field.
  • 3-5 years’ experience in M&E, previous Food For Peace experience strongly preferred.
  • Demonstrated experience using quantitative and qualitative data for program decision-making.
  • Prior experience in staff capacity building and participatory training.
  • Excellent computer skills, including required experience with Excel, Google Drive, and electronic data collection applications (ODK Collect, CommCare, Kobo Toolbox, etc).
  • Experience using other statistical or data management packages an advantage (R, Epi-info, Publisher, SPSS, QGIS/ArcGIS, etc).
  • Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members is required;
  • Fluent written and oral communication in both French and English is required

To Apply:

In addition to your CV, please submit a brief cover letter which includes a list of relevant projects/experience, expected fees/daily rate, and availability.  Applications will be considered on a rolling basis for a target start date before the end of May 2018.