Duration: 4 Months (National Consultant Required)
Background
Preventing and reducing stunting, especially during the first 1000 days of life; from conception to 2 years of age has emerged as one of the most critical national priorities for Zimbabwe as reflected in the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZIMASSET), the government’s economic turnaround blue-print, as cluster number one. UN Agencies (UNICEF, WFP, FAO, WHO) propose to support the Government of Zimbabwe to implement a multi-sectoral community based model for reducing stunting. Given that stunting is a result of multiple causes, the model will therefore call for efforts of multi-stakeholders including Health, HIV, WASH, agriculture, education, women’s affairs and social protection. The existing food and nutrition security coordination mechanisms at provincial, district, ward and village levels will be utilized to implement this model. It is envisaged that the proposed model will contribute towards building resilience of communities in the event of shocks threatening nutrition security. The US Fund for UNICEF, co-funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has been supporting UNICEF to initiate a project “Institutional Strengthening to Improve Program Monitoring and Response in the Eastern and Southern Africa region”. The project seeks to identify and promote promising practices at country and district levels related to:
Making data on intermediate results in the delivery of health, nutrition, HIV, water and sanitation services available on a near real time basis in poorly performing districts in Eastern and Southern African Region (ESAR) countries;
Enhancing prioritization of essential services and timely program adjustments through local planning and decision-making mechanisms as well as in-country learning forums;
Strengthening the links between social accountability mechanisms and actual delivery agencies for improved feedback and learning; and
Establishing and refining knowledge exchange mechanisms for peer-to-peer learning about program monitoring within and among all country offices and country partners in ESAR.
2. Introduction
Under overall supervision of the Chief of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and the Nutrition Manager, and coordination with YCSD health, nutrition, WASH, BEGE and Child Protection and HIV units, the incumbent is expected to design, implement, monitor and evaluate the real time monitoring project in line with the objectives of the “Institutional Strengthening to Improve Program Monitoring and Response in the Eastern and Southern Africa region”.
3. Objective (s)
Two outcomes are expected:
On the basis of demonstrated district models, plans of action will be prepared to scale up use of real time monitoring data to address bottlenecks in the delivery of health, nutrition, HIV and WASH services.
Increased knowledge of UNICEF and government staff on program monitoring and response in the delivery of health, nutrition, HIV and WASH services.
In the context of the outcomes, five outputs are expected:
Four districts use reliable and quality real-time data for identifying and addressing bottlenecks in the delivery of health, nutrition, HIV and WASH services;
Citizens/youth groups provide feedback on the delivery of health, nutrition, HIV and WASH services using social media platform;
Four districts conduct quarterly performance review using data from real-time monitoring;
Staff of UNICEF and partner governments use e-platforms for cross-country learning about program monitoring and response;
An evidence-informed national plan for scaling up models for decentralized program monitoring is developed.
4. Methodology & Expected Output
Under the guidance of the Chief -pme and Nutrition Manager, the work will be implemented by the Consultant in close collaboration with Nutrition, Health, WASH and Child Protection colleagues. Relevant documents, reports, tools, material and financial support will be provided.
The expected outputs are the following:
A multi-stakeholder inclusive real time monitoring system for the project ;
Regularly updated data collection, analysis and reporting system;
Stakeholder participation in the project;
Documentation on the project implementing results and bottlenecks.
Major Tasks, Deliverables & Timeframe
Major Task: Guide/facilitate the delivery of a fully functional M&E system
Deliverable: Adequate dashboards, Well-defined processes for data collection and capture, Adequate capacities for data capture; Time frame – By 30 June 2016
Major Task: Demonstrate system functionality
Deliverable: Data for at least 20 wards and 60 Villages is available, At least 20 wards and 60 villages have social accountability data; Time frame – By end of July 2016
Major Task: Build capacities for the management and utilisation of M&E system capabilities
Deliverable: UNICEF, FNC and participating districts each have at least two people capable of serving as trainers, Training materials are available for data collection, entry, utilisation and reporting
Major Task: Facilitate conduct of review and learning activities
Deliverable: 4 district level reviews undertaken, Inter-district reviews conducted (2); Time frame – By end of July 2016
Major Task: Facilitate the development of a shared understanding of the Social Accountability component
Deliverable: Produce a document on the shared understanding of Social Accountability and the operational model, Develop adequate capacities for the operation of the model in at least 20 wards and 60 villages; Time Frame: By end of June 2016
Major Task: Support Project Documentation
Deliverable: Produce a timeline of the intervention and status update, Produce a document on lessons learnt in implementation; Time frame – By mid-September 2016
Major Task: Update the B&MG project timeline and budget utilization
Deliverable: Updated timeline produced and shared with stakeholders; Time frame – On-going; report submitted end of every month
Payment Schedule
The payment will be released on a monthly basis – (25% each month) on submission of a progress report showing progress against the deliverables.
Consultancy Requirements
Education
A university degree in Social Sciences, computer science and statistics, project management, or in relevant field. Advanced degree an added advantage.
Work Experience
3-5 years of proven experience with:
M&E methods and approaches (including quantitative, qualitative and participatory);
Planning and implementation of M&E systems;
Capacity building for M&E systems development and implementation;
Facilitating learning-oriented analysis sessions of M&E data with multiple stakeholders;
Use of real time data collection tools;
Multi-sectoral information analysis and report writing.
Supervision
The Chief-PME will be supervising the learning component of the Real Time Monitoring and Citizen Engagement Consultancy, whilst the Nutrition Manager will be supervising the monitoring component of the project.
Additional Comments
This is a multi-country project sponsored US Fund for UNICEF and co-funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It is supporting UNICEF to initiate a project “Institutional Strengthening to Improve Program Monitoring and Response in the Eastern and Southern Africa region”. Four countries namely, Kenya, Swaziland, Uganda and Zimbabwe are participating.
HOW TO APPLY:
If you have experience of working in a similar capacity, meet the above profile and want to make an active and lasting contribution to build a better world for children, send your proposal (including the financials), application letter together with curriculum vitae quoting consultancy name and number to the following address. Either email or drop in person to:
Human Resources Manager
(Consultancy Announcement No. Zim/2016:07)
UNICEF, 6 Fairbridge Avenue,
Belgravia, Harare
or email: hararevacancies@unicef.org
Applications should be received by 02 June 2016.Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
UNICEF is committed to gender equality in its mandate and its staff. Well qualified candidates, particularly women are especially encouraged to apply.