Publish What You Pay: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Consultancy – MENA

For all details: https://www.pwyp.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/TOR-MEL-consultant-NORAD_Final.pdf

Background

Publish What You Pay (PWYP) is a global movement of civil society organizations in over 50 countries making oil, gas and mineral governance open, accountable, sustainable, equitable and responsive to all people. Our vision is a world where all citizens benefit from their natural resources, today and tomorrow. PWYP works to address the negative impacts of a phenomenon known as the “resource curse”, where countries rich in natural resources tend to have worse development outcomes than those without abundant oil, gas or mineral resources.

PWYP has received a grant from the Norwegian Agency for Development and Cooperation (NORAD) to implement three-year projects in three different countries located in Africa and the Middle East: Kenya, a new oil producing country, has a relevant opportunity to raise people’s awareness and engagement in the decision-making process. The project title reflects its civil society aspirations: “Promote transparency, accountability, and participation in the oil sector”.

Lebanon, developing its nascent petroleum sector, and facing widespread corruption, is urgently in need of a civil society working in a collective context to insulate the rising industry from the decayed political and administrative conditions. The project titled “A united civil society for a transparent petroleum sector” opens a window of opportunity for the CSOs seeking an open and accountable sector.

Iraq, a major oil producer, and an EITI member, is currently undergoing major security threats due to the widespread uprisings taking place in the country where citizens are requesting more transparency and 2 accountability. Iraqi citizens simply need to know where the revenues of their oil wealth are going. Hence, the three-year project titled: “Iraq PWYP coalition – Promoting transparency and good governance” offers a significant chance for change amid the deteriorating economic and political situation the country is witnessing.

The project aims to achieve the following objectives:

1. To promote access to reliable information, in order to enhance civic engagement and greater demand for accountability from both the governments and oil companies in Kenya. This will be realised through targeting key stakeholders including affected communities, media outlets, Ministry of Energy, and other CSOs and inter-governmental organizations (e.g. the African Union).

2. To establish a capable civil society coalition and enhance its ability to access, understand, and analyse data, and reach out to decision-makers in Lebanon. In addition, engaging the academia through forming a university students and professors network is a major aim.

3. To expand and diversify the Iraqi coalition and improve its capacity to better engage in the national EITI process, including the Multi stakeholder Group (MSG). Moreover, to better analyse revenue data and to work on developing a forum for information sharing between the government, regulatory authorities, experts, oil companies, and oversight actors.

These objectives will be achieved through a series of research, capacity building, outreach, and advocacy initiatives, to inform policy and fiscal reform recommendations, and make the government more responsive to public needs; capacity building and awareness raising at community and national levels; targeted mapping to develop effective women and youth participation in the extractive industry decisionmaking process; and peer learning and experience sharing through exchange visits.

The project intends to achieve the following outcomes:

1. Diverse, inclusive and effective coalitions of advocacy and oversight actors exist in Lebanon, Iraq and Kenya.

2. Oversight actors (journalists, civil society, academics and affected communities) are technically equipped on relevant issues relating to petroleum sector governance (e.g. contract transparency, community engagement policies and processes, revenue data analysis).

3. Stronger relationships and enhanced information sharing between oversight actors and key stakeholders in the petroleum sector (e.g. impacted communities, EITI MSGs, government ministries, company representatives) at national and sub-national levels.

4. Enhanced opportunities for regional peer-learning and sharing of best practices among oversight actors.

Consultancy objectives:

PWYP requires a MEL professional fluent in Arabic and English to enhance the monitoring, evaluation of, and learning from the project. PWYP is hiring the consultant in order to support the project team and project partners to develop and implement a comprehensive MEL framework for the project. The consultant will deliver the following:

1. The consultant should ensure that PWYP’s project planning articulates how the project implementers will achieve outcomes as well as the clear purpose of activities, so that this will make MEL possible.

2. Work with implementers to articulate appropriate project indicators and to anticipate which data will need to be collected to understand and evidence progress and contribution.

3. Develop an MEL framework encompassing the whole project, with reference to the NORAD results framework and PWYP Vision 2025,.including outlining country-specific MEL required. Ensure the implementation of the framework.

4. Carry out a capacity needs assessment for the MEL framework development for the project and address capacity gaps through training or other interventions.

5. Design and collect baseline data before the commencement of the project and ensure the collection of subsequent data at the end of the project.

6. Support country project managers to implement their own country MEL frameworks and contribute to building their capacities.

7. Ensure that evidence is gathered in real-time to demonstrate whether key planned activities were effective and whether they achieved their impact.

8. Lead in the design and delivery of mid-project learning reviews so that key learnings are reported and reflected upon and incorporated into strategic and tactical decision-making

9. Enable outcome harvests and the collection of stories of change from the project as appropriate.

10. Commission or conduct as necessary a project evaluation of the project for accountability, sustainability and learning purposes. Contribute to PWYP International’s ongoing learning.

Proposed methodology

The consultant is expected to work closely and collaboratively with the PWYP Project Manager and with the national project teams throughout the period of implementation, agreeing approaches, providing expert guidance and support both in person and remotely. The consultant may be required to travel and is expected to be regularly in touch with project teams to follow up and support the best practice of the 4 project MEL. The consultant will review project documents including; outline of the project, theory of change, project proposal narrative, results management framework, draft MEL framework, the project inception meeting report.

Expected Outcomes

1. Clear ‘MEL-able’ project objectives and outcomes

2. A clear MEL framework and frameworks for each of the contributing countries

3. Baseline data and monitoring data is collected. Logframe data required by donors is collected

4. Implementing staff have the capacity to participate in/implement MEL

5. Documented learning reviews and recommendations and subsequent changes in tactics/strategy/implementation

6. Periodic outcome harvests detailing outcomes, contribution, evidence, as appropriate

7. Stories of change from the project

8. Project evaluation

9. Clearly articulated learnings about the approaches taken in the project both for contributing countries and PWYP International. Evidence of cross-learning.

Experience and skills required Essential

● A highly proactive MEL professional with a minimum of 5 years of previous professional experience in leading MEL for complex projects, preferably involving evaluating advocacy

● Fluency in English and Arabic

● Strong qualitative and quantitative skills, including understanding the value of anecdotal data and stories of change

● Knowledge of the particular demands and challenges in conducting MEL for advocacy

● Experience of building capacity of non-experts to implement effective M&E and Learning

● Experience of working collaboratively and productively with diverse stakeholders

● Excellent writing, interpersonal, communication skills

● Effective time and project management ability Preferred

● Experience of working with civil society activists, experience of networks/coalitions

● Experience in (or knowledge of) advocacy evaluation methods including outcome harvesting, contribution analysis, and other qualitative methods

● Experience and understanding of advocacy/campaigning and the extractives transparency movement

● Experience in running after-action and learning reviews Duration The consultant is expected to support country teams throughout the project implementation reporting period (till January 2022).

Expected Deliverables

Deliverable ///// Suggested Deadline

1. Project and country MEL frameworks with clear plans/roles for data collection and learning, based on clearly articulated outcomes, theories of change and activities with clearly stated purpose /////  April 15, 2020

2. Support baseline data collection methodologies for country MEL frameworks; production of baseline data ///// April 30, 2020

3. A capacity needs assessment report with specific areas for capacity building, plan for implementation of capacity building  ///// May 20, 2020

4. Capacity building. Ongoing mentoring and support to record data and report against MEL framework, to reflect and adapt as necessary ///// Ongoing / periodic 

5. Lead in the design and delivery of after-action reviews and mid-term project learning reviews, including delivery of capacity building to project country teams ///// May 2021 (mid point) and as appropriate

6. Stories of change / outcome harvests  ///// As appropriate

7. Commission project evaluation (on agreement) /////Close of project