Liberia: Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist

JOB DESCRIPTION

POSITION: Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist
Liberia Community Peace Building and Development
AED Social Change Group’s Center for Civil Society and Governance

SUPERVISOR: Denise Barrett, Mercy Corps, Chief of Party

Anne O’Toole Salinas, Senior Program Officer, Center for Civil Society and Governance

GRADE: 6

SALARY RANGE: Commensurate with education and experience

DURATION: February 2005 to April 2006

LOCATION: Monrovia, Liberia

The AED Social Change Group’s Center for Civil Society and Governance (CCSG) focuses on projects and research that strengthen democracy and the ability of citizens and citizen groups to solve social and political problems as well as influence policy decisions that affect their lives. CCSG oversees a variety of USAID Cooperative Agreements, including the Global Civil Society Strengthening (GCSS) and Capable Partners (CAP) Leader with Associates Awards and the Managing African Conflict (MAC) IQC. As a growing unit within AED, CCSG continually responds to proposals with democracy-building and civil society strengthening objectives.

AED, in partnership with Mercy Corps in Liberia, is implementing the Community Peace Building and Development project, or Diompilor, a 5-year program funded by USAID. Diompilor – meaning “oneness” in the local Kisi language— began in September 2002 and seeks to “promote a greater role for civil society in a successful transition to improved social, economic and political conditions in Liberia.” AED serves as the consortium lead, based in Washington, D.C., while Mercy Corps manages CPBD operations in Liberia. With the country emerging from a nearly 14-year uninterrupted civil war, Diompilor is positioned to significantly contribute to the recovery and post-recovery periods, as Liberia, the second poorest country in the world, heals and resumes a path to peace and prosperity.

Diompilor is organized into three primary sets of integrated grassroots activities:

1) Social Mobilization and Civic Organization Capacity building. A) Diompilor utilizes REFLECT as its social mobilization process, which combines literacy and social empowerment for rural communities. Founded by Action Aid, this process provides reading, writing and numeracy skills developed primarily through the use of traditional Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools. In addition to literacy skills, the REFLECT process engages communities in dialogue on development and conflict issues that inhibit peace and prosperity. The Diompilor implementing agencies and their Liberian NGO partners then assist these communities to design and implement plans to meet these needs. The process also provides communities with mechanisms and models of collaborative action for peaceful change. B) The CPBD implementing agencies and their Liberian partners also work to improve civil society coordination, networking and institutional capacity in areas like human rights, tolerance, conflict resolution at the local, regional and national levels. C) To help partner NGOs and CBOs carry out community-based activities, Diompilor staff provide technical capacity building in a range of program, leadership & governance, fundraising, administration and financial management skills.
2) Agricultural and Economic Development. Because so much of successful social development is dependent on communities’ abilities to meet their own needs, Mercy Corps and its current five core local NGO partners work with rural communities to improve household livelihoods through community-driven agricultural extension services like model farms, training programs on new and improved agricultural techniques, media programming on agricultural topics, as well as support to grassroots traditional micro-credit groups. The agriculture/economic development program will also expand to provide capacity-building to entrepreneurs on the development and marketing of post-harvest products & micro-enterprises, internal and external market development and investment linkages.
3) Community Communications. Community access to accurate information on social, economic and political issues will be improved through activities overseen by the Community Communications Unit. C2U uses a range of media means to engage communities, including the production and airing of radio dramas, features and other radio formats, the development of community radio stations and the use of live theater. C2U provides technical and capacity-building assistance to these radio stations and other local and national level media. Local groups promoting peace and tolerance are assisted to effectively market their messages to a wider audience using radio and other appropriate media.

PURPOSE

The Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist Officer is a new 13.5 month field position, supporting the monitoring and evaluation, public information, planning, and donor reporting requirements under the USAID Community Peace Building and Development Program. The position will also help the Diompilor program technical staff to provide training/capacity-building of local partners in monitoring and evaluation - including the preparation of effective baselines and other assessments/surveys, data analysis and interpretation, preparation of clear and meaningful reports, and utilization of performance data in program management. This position was created in response to the clear need for support in the above areas and to help free the Country Director to provide much needed support to the CPBD program team, as well as pursue fundraising and program development opportunities, especially as the program expands in its third year and begins to attract more donor interest and build key elements of its program.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
• In coordination with program staff, the Deputy Director/Head of Program and the Chief of Party/Country Director, oversee the program’s performance monitoring and evaluation to ensure that data is collected, analyzed, reported upon, and incorporated into programmatic decision-making and planning.

• In coordination with program staff, the Deputy Director/Head of Program and the Chief of Party/Country Director, prepare all USAID- required performance and planning report including the CPBD semi-annual reports and the Annual Implementation Plan. In doing so, coordinate with the program team and local core partners in the collection of information based on the Performance Monitoring Plan and advise the team on ways of improving information collection, analyzing results and articulating these results in report form.

• Serve as the lead writer and editor of the CPBD newsletter and web site. Work with other program members, AED Washington, D.C. and USAID Liberia in the planning of issues/updates and train CPBD team members in writing articles for these important external relations information tools.

• Write three to four success stories for submission to USAID (via the USAID web site).

• Consult and coordinate with field office staff and counterparts on project development, project design (including monitoring and evaluation aspects), in pursuit of high impact, cost effective, seamless country program strategies and activities.

• As the CPBD Program begins to diversify funding sources, coordinate the program reporting schedule, and prepare and review project/program reports to ensure that reports are accurate, clear, in the proper format and submitted to the AED Home Office on time.

• Provide timely information to the AED and Mercy Corps home offices on the status of existing and planned projects within the CPBD program as requested.

• Assist with the documentation of lessons learned and good practices in Liberia for dissemination within AED, Mercy Corps, and USAID.

• In collaboration with the Country Director, Deputy Director/Head of Program and the Finance Manager, provide assistance to program staff and local partners in understanding USAID performance monitoring and reporting requirements.

• Other tasks as requested.

QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIRED SKILLS: This position requires a BA/BS or equivalent in International Development or related field [MA/MS preferred] and a minimum of five years experience in international relief and development work, with strong demonstrated capacity in monitoring and evaluation (preferably working on USAID funded activities). Vital, proven monitoring and evaluation skills in an international development program include: design of performance monitoring plans; interpretation of indicator data to be used in program planning and to produce meaningful reports; other information collection, including conducting interviews and focus groups; and writing annual implementation plans and performance reports. Other important skills include writing and editing newsletters and web site copy; and training others in monitoring and evaluation and report writing skills. Effective verbal and written communication, organizational, prioritization skills and the ability to follow procedures are necessary. Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members in a cross cultural environment is required. Sensitivity to staff from different educational and national backgrounds and ability to advise and mentor national staff and partner organizations is required. Experience working with donors (especially USG) is required. Experience working in West Africa is preferred. Must at least possess a strong understanding of the current political, economic, and social conditions in West African countries and the historical context for the current issues.

KEY POSITION SUCCESS FACTORS:

The Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist must be cross-culturally adept, collaborative and team-oriented. Must facilitate rather than direct – supporting the evolving leadership of national staff and partner agencies in advancing Diompilor. Must be willing to work long hours in harsh post-war conditions – and have a sense of humor, strong communication and relationship-building skills, and a mature self-awareness of affect on others and how to prevent and resolve interpersonal conflicts. The Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist must also have the ability to quickly orient his/herself to a complex project, and to quickly grasp the activities and impact under each of the three program components.