MEAL Consultant, SHARE
MEAL Consultant, SHARE
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Job Description
ABOUT CUSO INTERNATIONAL
Cuso International is an international cooperation and development organization that works to create economic and social opportunities for marginalized groups. Together with our partners we are focused on efforts to advance gender equality and social inclusion improve economic resilience and deliver progress on climate action. We believe that by sharing skills we can build better presently supports programs implemented in Africa Canada Central an South America and the Caribbean. Find out more
BACKGROUND
Sharing Canadian Expertise for Inclusive Development and Gender Equality (SHARE) is an eight-year volunteer cooperation project funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and implemented by Cuso International (Cuso) with a total budget of $. It is the successor of a long series of similar projects all funded through GACs Volunteer Cooperation Program (VCP) and its design is adapted from these previous iterations. Its goal is to improve the economic and/or social well-being of the poorest most marginalized and vulnerable people particularly women and girls in developing countries. It achieves this through developing partnerships with organizations in the nine countries it operates in: Benin Cameroon Colombia Democratic Republic of Congo Ethiopia Honduras Jamaica Peru and Tanzania. It works with developing country partners (DCPs) to apply the Capacity Assessment Process (CAP) tool that evaluates these organizations current operational capacities across 10 dimensions and is used to develop an action plan for each organization. Support is provided by recruiting qualified Canadian volunteers placed with the DCPs providing small targeted project grants and providing other technical support such as training by the volunteers. The intention is that by improving the capacity of these organizations to deliver effective services to vulnerable groups or communities working in various ways to strengthen the economic and/or social well-being of marginalized and vulnerable peoples Cuso will strengthen the DCPs work and achieve its goal. At the end of the Year 5 reporting period it had partnered with 125 organizations (with 74 active partnerships) and had placed over 700 volunteers.
As part of its planning implementation and performance tracking processes SHARE uses the Annual Work Plan (AWP) the Annual Partnership Report (APR) and the Annual Country Report (ACR) templates to develop work plans and report progress respectively. In practice the AWP and APR processes are conducted with little linkage between them; thus these tools need to be updated and the processes aligned to reflect better harmonization. In addition to staff changes some inconsistencies have been observed in the approach to counting the direct and indirect project participants reached under the SHARE project. The approach to counting direct and indirect beneficiaries needs to be updated in line with the GAC methodological notes.
Recently a midterm evaluation of SHARE was conducted using a qualitative approach. To provide a complete picture of progress at midterm it is necessary to review the previous years reports by analyzing the quantitative project results from Y1 to Y5.
OBJECTIVES
With the above background it is necessary to develop a more coherent approach to MEAL for the SHARE project: the specific objectives listed below are part of one improved and unified MEAL framework for SHARE. The ultimate objective of this effort is to improve staff knowledge and familiarity with the updated tools and ensure consistency across the project countries. A consultant will be engaged to:
- Review and update the APR AWP and CAP tools for coherence and better usability.
- Recommend strategies to better integrate the planning and reporting cycles using the updated AWP and APR tools.
- Design a tool for capturing quarterly reports from volunteers during their placement.
- Develop guidance for reporting direct and indirect reach aligned with GAC methodological notes.
- Analyze Y1 to Y5 quantitative data to assess progress towards set targets for the PMF indicators.
- Recommend strategies to fast-track the achievement of set targets.
SCOPE OF WORK
The scope includes but is not limited to:
- Tool Review and Enhancement
- Assess the current formats and utility of the APR AWP and CAP tools.
- Propose tool revisions to align with updated implementation reality and stakeholder needs.
- Prepare a tool for collating quarterly volunteer reports.
- Quantitative Data Analysis
- Review data reported from Y1 to Y5.
- Conduct trend and gap analyses for progress against set indicator targets.
- Present findings with insights and recommendations to fast-track the achievement of results.
- Integration Strategy
- Map out workflow alignment between work planning and reporting processes including more frequent check-ins.
- Recommend procedural or tool-based integrations to streamline activity planning and reporting that align with the donor requirements.
DELIVERABLES & LEVEL OF EFFORT (LOE)
The consultant is expected to produce the following deliverables over 20 days of LOE. This LOE will be spread out from July-October 2025.
- Revised versions of the APR AWP ACR and CAP templates 8 days LOE.
- Quarterly reporting tool for volunteers in placement 2 days LOE.
- Quantitative analytical report on progress against targets from SHARE Y1 to Y5 with visualizations 5 days LOE.
- A guidance document or roadmap for improved integration of annual work planning and reporting processes 5 days LOE.
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
The ideal consultant should have:
- Strong expertise in strategic planning and performance monitoring.
- Proven experience with data analysis preferably in the VCP sector.
- Familiarity with planning/reporting cycles and organizational change.
- Familiarity with GAC Methodological Notes.
- Ability to work in English and a second language (French or Spanish) will be an added advantage.
REPORTING AND MANAGEMENT
The selected consultant will report to the SHARE Senior Program Manager with technical oversight from the Lead CLA. They will also work closely with the relevant SHARE project staff across Cuso countries to access relevant project documents and reports.
HOW TO APPLY
Please click the Apply for This Job button to submit your application no later than by July 25 2025. Expressions of interest should be sent in English. Please note that a confirmation email will be generated once you submit your application but it may be directed to your spam or junk folders of your email inbox.
Cuso International is committed to the integrity of our volunteers interns staff managers board members and subcontractors in preventing sexual violence in the way we operate. This is done through a defined framework code of conduct values and guiding principles as well as Cooperation Canadas Leaders Pledge.
Required Experience:
Senior IC
Employment Type
Full Time
