The Sustainable Cities – Phase 1 project aims to develop a robust and adapted monitoring and evaluation system to enable systematic and effective collection, analysis and use of project data and information, and make an ongoing link to learning to support operational and strategic decision-making. This M&E system should also be used for both bottom-up (donor) and top-down (recipient) accountability purposes.

Expertise France is recruiting a MEAL Expert to develop and deploy this monitoring and evaluation system for the project. The MEAL Expert will be mobilized on a part-time basis to provide regular support to the project team on the following topics : revision of the logical framework and definition of the relevant monitoring indicators, elaboration of a monitoring and evaluation plan, accountability and learning, baseline information, project-level monitoring tools, data collection and compilation. He/she also contributes to the project reporting to the European Union and works under the supervision of the Project Leader and in close collaboration with other team members based in Accra and Tamale.

In particular,  the key responsibilities of the MEAL Expert include the following :

Sharing and Consolidating Project Theory of Change

• Lead one or more workshops with all stakeholders for a participatory reflection on the Theory of Change (ToC) of the project
• Produce a detailed and formalized version of the ToC of the project based on the elements from the workshops

Development of the Project M&E plan

• Assess the needs and capacities for tools and practices for monitoring, evaluation and learning, data collection and reporting of the team and implementation partners, 
• Develop a solid and co-constructed plan with the project stakeholders, in line with the commitments recommended in the Agency’s M&E policy, including: 
  • Revision of the logical framework and its indicators
  • Definition and monitoring plan for each indicator (means of verification, method of calculation, tools, etc.)
  • Baseline values and targets for each indicator
  •  Process of data flow, collection and use (collection, reporting, consolidation, visualization, use for management and decision-making, reporting, etc.)
  • Data management (analysis, reporting, archiving, confidentiality, quality control, data protection in compliance with the GDPR)
  • Detailed budget needed to implement the plan
  • Tools and software that will be used
  • Learning issues, and planning of learning times (workshops to identify good practices and lessons learned, report of experience capitalisation, etc.)
  • Definition of respective responsibilities of each partner organisation involved in the implementation of the activities
  • Ensure that the monitoring and evaluation plan is in line with Expertise France’s policy in this area, as well as the needs and expectations of the donors involved (European Union)
  • Contribute to the development and implementation of baseline and endline baseline studies for key indicators. The use of qualitative and/or secondary data where possible is strongly recommended
  • Design, implement and disseminate a tool for interactive sharing of monitoring and evaluation results (i.e. PowerBI)
  • Train and support the project team and partners on the tools and processes put in place to facilitate their use
  • Develop and update with project teams a manual for using monitoring and evaluation tools

Support in the implementation of the M&E plan 

• Ensure regular updating of the monitoring system - verification of the data collected, data management and analysis, updating of interactive tools – in close collaboration with the project team
• Interact with local relays and other stakeholders for data collection and interpretation
• Share results and conclusions of M&E activities with the project team
• Contribute to mid-year review exercises as required
• Propose and deploy a capitalisation plan for beneficiaries, implementation partners/operators and work closely with the communications officer on the development of capitalisation tools/materials
• Develop, with the Project Manager and the team, terms of reference to identify external providers for the final project evaluation
• Train all stakeholders in monitoring and evaluation and the mechanisms/tools developed to facilitate their involvement in the implementation and use of the monitoring, evaluation and learning system
• Update the M&E system and collection and monitoring tools as the project evolves as required