MEAL Specialist

Organizational Background

The Ethiopia Somali Development Association (ESDA) was established in April 2012 by the Somali communities in the region as non-governmental, no-profit making association registered under the Ethiopian civil society charity organization number 3122 with a view to mitigating the humanitarian and development problems of the region by mobilizing local and external resources. ESDA support the development endeavours of the people of Somali region in the areas of Health, Basic education, food security and livelihood, protection, Water, hygiene and sanitation, livestock health, peace building, income generating activities for women and youth, and other related development activities through mobilizing resources from volunteer members, Diaspora communities and institutional donors.

After four consecutive failed rainy seasons over the past two years, communities in parts of southern Ethiopia including the Somali region, have been severely affected by a prolonged drought. This resulted in significant economic losses, mainly due to the effect on agricultural productivity. In the Somali region, the population is highly dependent on natural-resource based livelihoods and is very vulnerable to drought. The Ethiopia Somali Development Association (ESDA) will implement a project titled “Digital Voucher for Nutrient-Dense Foods for Stunting and Waste Prevention” in Mula, Erer, Harshin, Degahbur, Gode, and Kebridehar woredas funded by the World Food Program (WFP). The project focuses on households with pregnant and lactating women and/or children under 2 years of age (6 to 23 months). The project beneficiaries will receive a voucher that can be used to purchase fruits, vegetables and certain animal source foods (such as eggs and milk). To ensure that the markets can respond to the increased demand, the FFV project will actively engage with fresh food traders in the intervention areas. The FFV project will include a large behavioral component where beneficiaries will be given information about the importance of a diverse diet, along with other social behavior change communication (SBCC) initiatives such as practical demonstrations on the proper usage of nutritious foods. Overall, the project has two objectives. First, it aims to improve dietary diversity among children between 6 and 23 months of age and among pregnant and lactating women (PLW).

Role Purpose:

The MEAL Specialist will bring significant experience and fresh ideas to develop and implement a realistic MEAL strategy and systems, ensuring that they are institutionalized within the existing FFV project cycle management framework, and that staff have the capacity to implement them.   The MEAL specialist will have a key role in establishing and promoting program quality and innovation, which will be achieved through developing and improving monitoring, evaluation, impact assessment and learning methodologies. S/he will ensure that FFV project is continually monitored and that lessons are documented and communicated to inform on-going implementation and future programming. S/he will guide teams in achieving outcome/impact focused projects and accountability to beneficiaries in line with ESDA’s and donors’ policies and practices.

The MEAL Specialist will lead on building capacities of staff and partners for accountability and participation, with a specific focus on children. The MEAL Specialist will be responsible for establishing and promoting the use of MEAL systems to ensure that ESDA management and donor, is  informed on the extent to which FFV project interventions are affecting the lives of the targeted populations; have evidence-based knowledge on the positive and negative impact that FFV project interventions are having over the communities; receives regular, timely and context-specific, meaningful feedback from our staff, partners, programme participants and that feedback effectively informs and signals areas where strategic attention is required

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Ensure that the ESDA delivers on all internal and external MEAL requirements of the FFV project in a timely manner and with high quality information.
• Develop robust MEAL systems and processes to measure achievement and progress towards project objectives and outcomes.
• Ensure that FFV project is designed and implemented in accordance with international MEAL standards (such as, but not limited to, Accountability Partnership International (HAP-I) Benchmarks, SPHERE, DEC Accountability Framework), ESDA and WFP Programming tools and approaches.
• Provide capacity building, technical support and training to ensure MEAL is consistently and systematically integrated in to the FFV project.
• Develop monitoring tools during programme design, in line with ESDA initiatives, donor requirements, and other internal monitoring and evaluation framework.
• Develop outcome and learning indicators for Log Frames and other purposes.
• Develop M&E plans for FFV project that include: data collection and reporting tools, filling system and indicator performance tracking.
• Support project staff to collect good quality monitoring data in a timely manner and collate/organize data received for reporting purposes.
• Bring together data and findings from across project operational sites to form a coherent basis for analysis of impact which promotes learning and strategy development.
• Produce high quality analysis reports to illustrate ESDA’s impact and assessment findings.
• Make recommendations on changes in FFV project activities or management based on findings from M&E and analysis of trends.
• Assist in data quality assurance and compliance with all grants related reporting requirements and their timely submission.
• Manage and provide technical supervision to all M&E field officers in the project sites.
• Ensure that children, women and other vulnerable community members are included in all MEAL activities.
• Keep track of all project evaluations and, in coordination with sectors’ technical coordinators, design evaluation TORs, provide briefings to consultants and provide logistical support to ensure evaluations are in line with ESDA’s and donors’ standards.

Accountability

• Ensure that all staff at all levels, including senior managers, fully understand and promote accountability in general, through training and coaching.
• Ensure that accountability to beneficiaries becomes a core element and success indicator for all program activities.
• Build on progress to date on integrating accountability to beneficiaries within FFV project through establishing feedback mechanisms and producing information materials in a way which mainstreams accountability across all programmes.
• Contribute to improvements in existing policies and procedures to enhance effective accountability mechanisms.
• Develop and report against accountability-related indicators and issues.
• Assess how beneficiaries can best be involved at every stage of the project cycle.
• Design and implement appropriate feedback mechanisms that are contextual, effective, accessible and safe for beneficiaries, and that ensure that feedback is recorded, reviewed and acted upon.
• Develop regular trend analysis of complaints on the organisation and sharing for wider learning and improvement.

Learning

• Promote learning throughout the FFV project, particularly on issues of program quality, policy analysis and advocacy. Ensure new analysis and information is constantly available.
• Communicate program learning (through document sharing, presentations, etc.) internally to provide guidance and technical input on strategic direction and programme design, and externally with key stakeholders (NGOs, government partners, working groups, etc.).
• Coordinate with sectors’ technical specialist, project Manager and program staff to ensure that lessons learned are properly documented and are incorporated into program implementation and design.
• Regularly produce and report on best practices and case studies.
• Participate in designing and implementation of studies, assessments and learning in coordination and cooperation with sectors’ technical Specialists and program staff.

Technical supervision, performance management and capacity building of staff

• Ensure appropriate staffing within the MEAL team.
• Provide leadership, motivation, guidance and technical support to the MEAL team.
• Provide technical supervision of the field-based MEAL staff through regular contact, field visits and meetings.
• Identify training needs of staff and conduct trainings to address the capacity gaps, in collaboration with their line-manager and the human resources department.
• Contribute to performance management of staff within the MEAL team, in cooperation and collaboration with their line-manager and the human resources department through: – effective use of the performance management system (establish clear and measureable objectives, on-going feedback, periodic reviews and fair and unbiased evaluations); – coaching, mentoring and other development opportunities; – recognition and rewards for outstanding performance; – documentation of unsatisfactory performances with appropriate tools and means.
• Contribute to creating and maintaining a cooperative and positive working environment where staff have clear roles and responsibilities, participate in decision making and are supported in progressing towards their objectives.
• Contribute to supervision and capacity building of local partners, in line with partnership guidelines.

Fundraising

• Ensure that MEAL resources are included in proposal development and work creatively to secure funding from diverse sources.
• Maintain a strategic overview of grants in all locations, identifying programmatic gaps and supporting fundraising.
• Identify funding opportunities through actively engaging with donors in country and abroad, in cooperation with the ESDA Senior Management team.

Coordination

• Represent ESDA in relevant coordination meetings if and when delegated.
• Facilitate coordination with other actors such as relevant Government line bureaus, UN system and other NGOs if and when delegated.

Others

• Comply with all relevant ESDA policies and procedures with respect to child safeguarding policy, health and safety, equal opportunities and other relevant policies.
• Contribute to ensuring that programme’s delivery happens in strict adherence to security policy and procedures.
• Any other reasonable duty as may be assigned that is consistent with the nature of the job and level of responsibility.

Duty station Jig jiga with frequent travel to field

Reports directly to:  Head of Programs