MONITORING AND EVALUATION AND LEARNING MANAGER ( MEL)

Expertise France is the French public agency for international technical assistance. The agency provides partner countries with knowledge, skills and management expertise in:

• Democratic, economic, and financial governance,
• Stability, international security and peace,
• Sustainable development, climate and agriculture,
• Health and human development.

Expertise France designs and implements cooperation projects addressing skills transfers between professionals. The agency also develops integrated offers, assembling public and private expertise in order to respond to the partner countries' needs.

With a business volume of 192 million Euros, a portfolio of over 500 projects in 100 countries, and 63,000 days of expert missions every year, Expertise France promotes French and European development policy goals.

Context

The Middle East is currently experiencing a profound crisis. The conflicts in Syria and Iraq are both a reflection and a transmitter of this crisis, with growing potential to further destabilize neighbouring countries and the wider region. These crises have resulted in a humanitarian disaster affecting more than 13.5 million people who were forced to flee their homes from Syria, and more than 17 million people in need of humanitarian aid (12.2 in Syria and 5.2 in Iraq).

Lebanon is now home to the largest number of Syrian refugees per capita relative to its total population, putting a severe strain on the country’s fragile infrastructures, economy, and security. The population of Lebanon was estimated at about 4.8 million (including almost half a million Palestinian refugees) in 2013. Even though Lebanon has not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention, it has taken in up to now about a fourth of its own population. According to UNHCR, in September 2016 about 1,017,433 persons from Syria were registered as refugees in Lebanon.  In the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan 2017- 2020 (2018 update) (LCRP), the total number of people living in Lebanon is estimated at 5.9 million, with 3.3 million people in need. 

The severe social, economic, financial, and monetary crises Lebanon has been going through since 2019, compounded by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, have severely affected hundreds of thousands of people, irrespective of their nationality.

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Stabilisation and resilience background

The “Stabilisation and Resilience” unit runs 2 projects in Lebanon: QUDRA and SHABAKE.

1. QUDRA

’Qudra – Resilience for Syrian refugees, IDPs and host communities in response to the Syrian and Iraqi crises’ is a regional action co-financed by the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis, the Madad Fund, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) seeking to strengthen the resilience of Syrian refugees, IDPs and host communities in response to the Syrian and Iraqi crises. The Programme launched in June 2016 has been jointly implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Expertise France (EF) and AECID in Programme partner countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and North Iraq.

In Lebanon, EF implemented Qudra between 2016 and 2019 in close collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA). Currently, the two partners are implementing Qudra 2, another three-year Programme, with a continuation of activities to be delivered in selected Social Development Centres (SDCs) and/or through Mobile Units. The project seeks to improve social stability among communities in Lebanon through a comprehensive and local approach of protection for children and adults. To do so, activities revolve around four pillars: (i) support to SDCs under MoSA, (ii) Child Protection activities, (iii) Protection activities and (iv) campaigns and communication activities. The activities are implemented in partnership between seven local NGOs and 14 SDCs within the framework of the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan and MoSA Strategic Plan on the Protection of Women and Children. In addition, Qudra 2 also aims to further develop the capacity of MoSA and SDC staff through training, coaching and on-the-job learning.

2. SHABAKE 1 &2

The Shabake 1 project is funded by Agence Francaise de Development (AFD) co funded by DANIDA (Danish cooperation agency)., is a 3 years (2019-2022) project designed withing the framework of the localization of aid agenda and the need to strengthen Lebanese NGOs capacities.

The project aims to help local and international Lebanese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) become lasting, key players in mitigating and ameliorating the effects of the Syrian refugee crisis on Lebanon and the subsequent crises that have emerged in the current context in Lebanon, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Beirut Port Explosions.

The NGO partners selected for the Shabake project are comprised of 13 local NGOs, each of whom will receive support in developing their organizational and technical capacities. They will also have an opportunity to put their new institutional changes into practice via a humanitarian project that reduce vulnerabilities and Economic Recovery projects that will improve the economic wellbeing of businesses in the Beirut blast area. In addition, each NGO partner will be invited to meet and directly interact with donors, aid providers, and public authorities working in the development-aid ecosystem. 

To this end, the Shabake capacity-reinforcement project is divided in four main component parts:

1. Building on the strengths, assets, capacities, and skills of the local Lebanese NGOs
2. Having each NGO partner implement a crisis-response project to reduce vulnerabilities.
3. Improving and/or integrating the participation of NGO partners in the development-aid ecosystem.
4. Local NGO partners have designed and implemented innovative economic recovery and livelihood projects post the Beirut Port Explosions.

The Shabake 2 project is part of the Peace and Resilience Fund – Minka Middle East, which aims to contribute to the response to the consequences of the Syrian crisis, and to act on the prevention and management of the protracted crisis in Lebanon. In addition, the intervention with a dynamic and mature Lebanese civil society makes it possible to concretize the French commitments of "localization of aid" within the framework of the "Grand Bargain" of the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit. The project is also a continuation of the first phase conducted by Expertise France (EF), which supported 13 local NGOs, and conducted a study on the local associative fabric and a mid-term evaluation, the conclusions of which feed into phase 2.

Following the lessons learned in Phase 1, the Shabake 2 project rebalances the objectives with increased attention to the rapid and concrete effects that NGO grants will achieve on the ground. The overall objective of the project is to strengthen social cohesion and support peace and stability by accompanying local NGOs in their key crisis management role and providing sustainable support to vulnerable host communities and Syrian refugees.

It aims to strengthen purpose-driven, technically sound and locally rooted NGOs to support their abilities in weathering the crises as they arise, gaining greater financial autonomy and contributing to Lebanon's recovery. An emergency response component, funded by the Crisis Centre (CDCS) of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE), is included in the programme, which makes it possible to articulate different French emergency and development instruments as part of a comprehensive approach to support Lebanese CSOs.

The project is structured around three components:

Enable NGOs to be trusted partners in the implementation of vulnerability reduction projects and thematic actions

Support local NGOs in their efforts to respond effectively to ongoing emergencies and crises in Lebanon

Strengthen the technical and organizational capacities and the economic model of partner NGOs for a better localization of aid for the benefit of vulnerable populations.

* The Expertise France office in Lebanon currently implements 3 other projects, outside the scope of this position.

Job description

In coordination with the two Project Managers (Qudra and Shabake 1 &2 ) and under the supervision of the Programme Director, the MEL manager will be responsible for the Monitoring and Evaluation and learning  of the two projects implemented by the Stabilisation and Resilience Unit within the Beirut Office.

The MEL Manager is having under his / her responsibility  2 Officers and will be responsible to follow up their task and achievements.

1. Design tools and M&E framework of projects

• In cooperation with PMs, The MEL manager is responsible for the design proper M&E plans and frameworks for both projects
• Develop data collection tools for both projects including qualitative data
• supervise the M&E assistant on its assigned task: Revision and verification of the submitted supporting documents. Identifying missing details and documents and raising any issues with the relevant staff.  Write a monthly progress update on the partners’ submitted documents. Any other task relevant to the follow up on monitoring tools and supporting documents
• Establish an internal system to follow-up on partners’ M&E related needs.
• Proactively work with the MEL team and key stakeholders to resolve and/or disseminate key risks, issues and best practices identified through the projects monitoring work.
• Articulate key risks and issues to the appropriate people, ensuring these risks and issues are understood and acted upon.
• Support the adoption of relevant MEL tools and methodologies to enhance MEL practice and quality.

2. Ensure implementation of M&E plan and framework, and respect of guidelines

• Consolidation of field data to be submitted regularly to donors in accordance with the programme frameworks and indicators, to ensure compliance with internal and donor requirements;
• Coordinate  baseline assessments / performance assessments and needs assessments with partners/beneficiaries when needed;
• Be responsible for the coordination, planning and design of  monitoring processes
• Liaise with the EF Project Managers on a daily basis to consolidate the field level data to feed into the program level;
• In collaboration with external and internal experts and evaluators, design innovative and participatory evaluation methodologies and tools to assess outcomes and impact of projects.

3. Support partner in capacity building

• Assess capacity of partner in terms of Monitoring,Evaluation and Learning capacities;
• Coordinate with the Project Managers and the field teams to identify the capacity building needs of the local partner NGOs in terms of monitoring processes and data collection tools;
• Support in the design and implementation  of monitoring/data collection tools and templates as needed, for the partner organizations, in order to facilitate efficient information flow at the program level;
• Ensure proper quality of data collection processes by the partner NGOs to ensure that systematic flow of information to EF Beirut Office is ensured according to the guidelines and standards set;
• Provide day-to-day support, coordination and mentoring to field-based data officers to facilitate the compilation, consolidation and submission of data

4. Contribute to a constructive learning environment, promote good practice and produce analysis

• Actively participate in monitoring/information management working groups of UN, other relevant meetings and international fora, sharing lessons learned and feeding lessons back in the program level;
• Contribute to the M&E / knowledge management / learning efforts at EF program level in general;
• Produce high-quality information and analysis based on the identified project level result frameworks and indicators as well as data analysis.
• Sharing lessons learned from reporting regularly with the Project Managers and programmes director
•  communicating recommendations and regularly following up the implementation of these recommendations.
• Ensure that data brought together and findings from across thematic and operational areas form a coherent basis for analysis of impact which promotes learning and strategy development.

Profile

• University degree in Information Management, Development Programs, International Project Management or any relevant field.
•  5/7 years of experience in monitoring, information management, data collection and evaluation for international projects/donors/organisations, development projects, preferably in the humanitarian/social development / education or refugee assistance fields.
• Excellent understanding of result frameworks & indicators as well as international M&E standards and applications.
• Good knowledge and working experience of Lebanese institutions and policies, especially of the Ministry of Social Affairs, as well as the civil society organisations.
• Sound knowledge of the Lebanese context and of the relationship between host and refugee communities.
• Good knowledge of international donors and organisations working in the migration/social cohesion field in Lebanon.
• Excellent writing, data collection/analysis and presentation skills.
• Professional working knowledge of English and Arabic is required. French is an asset.
• Excellent coordination and team work skills.