Consultant at Center for Advocacy Transparency and Accountability Initiative – CATAI (6 Openings)

Center for Advocacy, Transparency and Accountability Initiative (CATAI) was established in 2018 as a registered NGO with Head Office in Maiduguri – Borno State, with offices across Yobe and Adamawa states. We have been visible in Borno Adamawa and Yobe states implementing projects in Education, Protection (Child /GBV), WaSH, Nutrition, Empowerment/Livelihood, Governance, and Peace Building. Our approach is aligned with our mission to enhance service delivery and empower citizens, through our Humanitarian, Development, and peace-building nexus (HDP).

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Consultant for Baseline Assessment for Multi-Sectoral Approach Project

Locations: Gwoza, Jere, Konduga Magumeri, Mobbar and Ngala – Borno
Employment Type: Contract
Duration: 60 working days, between April 15, 2024, and June 14, 2024.
Supervision and reporting: Executive Director of CATAI, NHF Consortium Manager and M&E Manager

Purpose of the Baseline Assessment
The baseline assessment is being conducted to establish a benchmark for measuring the project’s impact in the education and protection sectors, specifically focusing on the protective factors for women and girls. It serves the following purposes:

• Establish a Benchmark: The assessment will establish a benchmark or a ‘baseline’ against which future changes can be measured. This includes the current state of education and protection sectors, the enrolment rates of vulnerable girls and women, their transition rates from non-formal to formal education, the utilization of protection services, and wellbeing reports.
• Identify Needs and Priorities: The assessment will help identify the needs and priorities of the target population. This information will guide the project implementation and ensure that the interventions are tailored to the needs of the beneficiaries.
• Inform Project Design: The findings from the baseline assessment will inform the project design and implementation. It will help in setting realistic targets and ensuring that the project interventions are relevant and effective.

The baseline assessment aims to achieve the following:

• Data Collection: Collect comprehensive and reliable data on the current situation in the education and protection sectors. This includes data on enrolment rates, transition rates, utilization of protection services, and wellbeing reports.
• Benchmarking: Establish a benchmark against which the project’s progress and impact can be measured. This will enable the project team to track changes over time and assess the effectiveness of the interventions.
• Inform Decision-Making: Provide valuable information that will inform decision-making throughout the project lifecycle. The findings from the baseline assessment will guide the project implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Engage with stakeholders, including beneficiaries, project staff, and partners. The process of conducting the baseline assessment will provide an opportunity for stakeholder engagement, which is crucial for the success of the project.

Qualification Requirements

• Master’s degree or higher in development, international relations or humanitarianwork.
• Extensive experience in conducting evaluations along OECD evaluation criteria, ideally leading an evaluation team, and, experience in designing evaluation methodology/tools and data analysis.
• A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible work experience in research and or evaluations of health and humanitarian assistance programs
• Experience of working or evaluating projects in an insecure humanitarian environment.
• In-depth knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods
• Experience in quantitative and/or qualitative methodologies, using different research techniques, statistical techniques and software packages, and computer-based programs;
• Proven track record on successful delivery of high-quality reports and recommendations;
• Excellent analytical, presentation, and writing skills in English

Scope of Work:
The baseline assessment will cover the following specific tasks:
Education Sector:

• Enrollment Assessment: Conduct an assessment to determine the current enrollment rates of vulnerable girls and women affected by the conflict in schools and other learning setups in the 6 LGAs.
• Transition Rate Analysis: Analyze the transition rates of targeted girls and women from non-formal to formal education. This includes assessing their performance in state examinations and successful mainstreaming.
• Education Quality Evaluation: Evaluate the quality of both formal and non-formal education provided to the target population. This includes assessing the curriculum, teaching methods, and learning materials.
• Capacity Assessment: Assess the training and capacity building programs for teachers and other teaching staff. This includes evaluating the effectiveness of these programs in improving the quality of education.

Protection Sector:

• Protection Services Utilization Assessment: Conduct an assessment to determine the current utilization of protection services by children, women, and girls affected by emergencies.
• Wellbeing Report Analysis: Analyze wellbeing reports to understand the current state of wellbeing of the target population. This includes assessing physical, emotional, and social wellbeing.
• Protection Mechanisms Evaluation: Evaluate the existing protection mechanisms and their effectiveness in protecting the rights and wellbeing of the target population.
• Capacity Assessment: Assess the capacities of government agencies, national NGOs, and CBOs to promote women leadership and take ownership for the protection of women and girls.

Innovation Outcome:

• Leadership Assessment: Conduct an assessment to determine the current level of women and girls’ leadership in local humanitarian interventions.
• Key Deliverables
• The specific outputs expected from the baseline assessment include:
• Baseline Assessment Report: A comprehensive report detailing the findings of the baseline assessment. This report should include an executive summary, methodology, findings, conclusions, and recommendations. The report should present the status in the education and protection sectors, including data on enrolment rates, transition rates, utilization of protection services, and wellbeing reports.
• Data Sets: Complete data sets of all the information collected during the assessment. This includes raw data from assessments, interviews, focus group discussions, and case studies. The data sets should be organized and formatted in a way that allows for easy analysis and interpretation.
• Analysis and Interpretation: Detailed analysis and interpretation of the data collected. This includes statistical analysis of quantitative data and thematic analysis of qualitative data. The analysis should identify trends, patterns, and key insights.
• Recommendations: Based on the findings of the baseline assessment, the organization should provide specific, actionable recommendations for project implementation. These recommendations should aim to address the identified needs and priorities, improve the effectiveness of the interventions, and enhance the protective factors for women and girls.
• Benchmark Indicators: The baseline assessment should establish benchmark indicators against which the project’s progress and impact can be measured. These indicators should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
• Presentation: A presentation summarizing the key findings and recommendations of the baseline assessment. This presentation can be used to communicate the results of the assessment to stakeholders, including project staff, partners, and beneficiaries.

Duration:

• 60 working days, between April 15, 2024, and June 14, 2024.The timely planning, communication, preparation and execution of the assignment is of utmost importance for CATAI.

Supervision and reporting:

• Executive Director of CATAI, NHF Consortium Manager and M&E Manager

Travel and work arrangements:

• The consultant will travel to the 6 target LGAs of Borno.

Office, tools, and equipment:

• The Consultant shall use his/her own computer and office space.

Application Closing Date
14th June, 2024.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CVs of prospective consultants to: recruitment@cataing.org using the Job Title as tje subject of the mail.

Note

• Expression of Interest: The CATAI welcomes expressions of interest from seasoned consultants, individuals or firms in academia, social research, or humanitarian evaluation with a background in humanitarian aid, research methods, development economics, development studies, or other related fields.
• Technical proposal:  with clear understanding and interpretation of the ToR, including detailed tasks, recommended methodology summary and proposed schedule, relevant experience, how you meet the profile required, and details of time required (maximum 5 pages)
• Financial proposal: including daily professional fee and any other associated costs for the assignment. The consultant should itemize all costs for the duration of the assignment, lumped-up costs will not be accepted in the financial proposal. CATAI will only cover field-related costs while in-country. All costs need to be clearly stated in the bid submission.