MEAL Consultant - War Child Holland

Consultancy Title: Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) Consultant
Start date: September 15th 2023
End date: December 15th 2023
Locations: 50% Remote, 50% offices of War Child and partners
Number of working days: Maximum 40 working days
Reporting to: MEAL Unit Manager

Description of the assignment:

War Child seeks to hire a firm or individual Expert to provide training, coaching and support on various Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) areas for War Child and its partner organizations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The overall objective for this assignment is to enhance the organizational capabilities of War Child, and its 12 partners (8 in the West Bank and 4 in Gaza) to improve the programme quality through performing the MEAL activities effectively and efficiently during and after the project’s life. The requested service shall include the following deliverables:

First Delivery: Updated Competency Building Plan (Maximum 4 days)

Utilizing the partners’ annual survey conducted in 2022, the consultant will carry out an assessment to capture the current competency-building needs and priorities of the local partners. The assessment will start with utilizing customized questionnaires that can help illustrate the institutionalization of the different quality/ MEAL systems within the partner organization. The consultant will analyze the data and lead the development of a competency-building plan in consultation with the partners, with close coordination with the MEAL Unit Manager of War Child.

Deliverables:

Assessment tools and methodology
Initial Assessment Report: A detailed report outlining current competency levels and needs among partner organizations.
Competency Building Plan: developed in consultations with partner organizations and the War team.

Second Delivery: Implementation of Competency Building Plan (Maximum 30 days)

The partners’ annual survey conducted in 2022 has reflected different capacity needs for the partners in topics including developing Theory of Change (ToC) and Logical Frameworks (LF), monitoring tools, Accountability to Affected Population (AAP), and Feedback, Complaints, and Response Mechanisms (FCRM), measuring project impact, data management, review workflows, DQA management, and general report writing. The consultant will use the updated plan of the first delivery to lead the capacity-building process. With the support of partners, training outlines were drafted. War Child is interested in hiring a consultant to lead the drafting and implementation of the competency-building plans. The training will be held in Ramallah over 3 to 4 days, while participants will attend in person or virtually. Overall, the number of trained participants is expected to be around 12 to 17. The consultant will help define the most appropriate dates, times, and modalities of the competency-based on consultations with the partners. In addition, the consultant will support War Child in planning the sessions for none- MEAL topics through advising on the timing and molality based on consultation with the partners. Lastly, the consultant will support measuring the impact of different competency-building trainings by employing pre- and post-assessments and reporting the results to War Child.

After the implementation of the collective training, the focus will be on one-on-one coaching tailored to the specific needs of each partner organization. Collaboratively developed coaching plans will be designed to target gaps in MEAL processes, information management systems, and data analysis strategies. These coaching plans will outline the specific areas of engagement, methodologies to be used, anticipated outputs, and the time allocation for each area. Once these plans are formulated, they will be sent to War Child for approval. Upon completion of the coaching sessions, a comprehensive report will be prepared to summarize the activities conducted, the outcomes achieved, and any recommendations for future engagement. This report will be shared first with the partner organizations for their endorsement. After obtaining their feedback and making necessary adjustments, the finalized report will be submitted to War Child for final approval.

Deliverables of the training part:

Individual Coaching Plans: Tailored for each partner organization and approved by War Child.
Session Summaries: Brief summaries after each coaching session, documenting progress.
Final Coaching Report: Summarizing activities, outcomes, and recommendations, to be endorsed by partners and approved by War Child.

Deliverables of the coaching part:

Training Agenda: A detailed schedule and list of topics to be covered.
Training Materials: PowerPoint slides, handouts, and supplementary resources.
Post-Training Report: Summary of training activities, participant feedback, and recommendations for future training needs.
Attendance Records: Documenting who participated and in what capacity (virtually or in-person).

Third Delivery: Support in reviewing and rolling out the MEAL system (Maximum 6 days)

Given that the MEAL system is digitalized, this phase will involve a meticulous evaluation of its components, ranging from its user interface, and functionalities, to backend processes. The consultant will also assess the roles and permissions architecture within the system, ensuring that access controls are appropriately designed to both facilitate workflow and safeguard data. Additional focus will be placed on assessing the practicality and functionality of the system in real-world settings—how well it serves the users in accomplishing their tasks efficiently and how flexibly it adapts to changing project requirements. A multi-stakeholder approach will be adopted for this phase, involving system users, IT specialists, and MEAL professionals to garner diverse perspectives on the system's utility and limitations. Based on this multi-faceted review, the consultant will provide War Child with a detailed report containing findings and recommendations. This may include proposals for design improvements, process re-engineering, or even the inclusion of new features to make the digitalized MEAL system more intuitive, reliable, and adaptable.

Deliverables:

System Evaluation Report: Detailing the existing components, processes, and roles.
Draft Recommendations: Initial suggestions for improvement, with a focus on functionality and practicality.
Final Recommendations: Finalized report, including recommendations for updating the digital MEAL system.

Needed Qualifications/Skills:

Relevant academic background (e.g.: development, statistics, demography, social science).
Advance MEAL-related experience with at least 10 years of professional work experience in the field.
Proven work experience in conducting capacity building for a local organization.
Technology-oriented and experienced in developing/reviewing MEAL systems.
Excellent writing skills and data analysis experience.
Result-oriented, critical thinking, and strong analytical skills.
Strong communication skills (speaking and writing) in Arabic and English languages.
Good problem-solving skills.
Demonstrated experience in recruiting field researchers and managing their performance.

How to Apply:

Interested experts, research groups, or companies shall submit the following CoB of September 5th, 2023, to recruitment.opt@warchild.nl citing “MEAL Consultant” in the subject line.

recruitment.opt@warchild.nl

Personal Resume: highlighting the related experience and including the contact info of three references.
Motivation letter highlighting the following:

How do your qualifications fit into the consultancy?
What motivations do you have to apply for this assignment?
Suggested timetable and work plan.

Financial offer: Fixed daily rate in Euro (excluding VAT), including all anticipated costs; taxes, travel, accommodation, transportation, insurance, etc.