Overseas Volunteer Opportunity: Ghana

Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor - Ghana

Contribute. Discover. Grow. Volunteer with CDF Canada.

Eligibility criteria:   Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada

Location:   Salaga, Bimbilla, Kpandai, Kpalbe, Wulensi

Start Date:   Exact timing will be negotiated with the successful candidate.

Duration:   3-6 months, in-country and online support

Language Requirement:   English (Mandatory)

Reporting to:   Country Program Officer

The Project – VOICE for Women and Girls

The VOICE for Women and Girls project is a seven-year initiative (2020 – 2027) aimed at strengthening the performance of developing country partner (DCP) organizations to advance gender equality and economic empowerment of 50,000 women and men from marginalised communities, in particular young women (target: 60% women and girls), in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal and Malawi with a focus on action areas of the Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP), namely:

• Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls, and
• Growth that Works for Everyone.

The Project responds to the needs identified by women and men of cooperatives and the entire members in the countries of operation and is designed to increase the capacities of individual producers and primary co-operatives to support more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient growth. Supporting institutions, including apex co-operatives, co-operative colleges, and government/regulatory institutions will also be engaged to increase the capacity and prioritization of vulnerable groups.

The Partner you will work with

SEND Ghana has previously implemented the ACCESS and Fostering project and in some initiatives including 4R-NSP in partnership with CDF with funding from GAC. SEND Ghana focuses on research and advocacy to increase good governance practices of accountability, transparency, equity and participation in pro-poor policies and social services as well as empowers resource poor women and men to expand their small enterprises to improve income and farmers to increase food and nutrition security.

What you will do – Activities and deliverables

VOICE will be entering Year 4 of its project implementation, already the project has put together the project MEAL strategy for the country. There are timelines for project data to be collected and processed. The project data collection plan indicating the times for specific data to be collected, the purpose of the data collection and tools for collecting those data have been identified. The MEAL advisor will work with the specialist to see the feasibility of using the existing data collection tool and determine the best approach to make sure the needed data is collected expediently, effectively, and efficiently bearing in mind data integrity.

The position requires regular interaction with the partner, the coop managers, CDfs, and stakeholder institution responsible for supporting the growth and management of credit union coops. This will require frequent travel to rural setting to interact with the project beneficiaries and the targeted respondents. You will lead the field data collection activity with consultation with the MEAL specialist and the Country Program Officer.

There are 4 credit union co-ops spread in 5 districts with over 12 branches working with the VOICE for women and girls project. the focus is to help especially women in these districts and branches to gain the needed information that will enhance their agricultural activities that they are engaged in within the branches and communities where they live.

Objectives

Your role is to support the VOICE project regarding all initiatives concerning project data to improve over all data management system set up and operationalization. Having periodic review meeting with MEAL specialist based on local context, needs and nature of information. You will also assess the coop mangers, the CDfs, the partner and the stakeholder institutions capacity on data and provide training to help them increase their productivity. You have discussion with the prima groups identity their challenges, develop training session plans and materials for the data collection improvement.

Deliverables

Co-op support

• Ensure the alignment of MEAL activities with program goals
• Contribute to the development of annual work plans to identify project targets and ensure inclusion of MEAL activities
• Maintain existing indicator tracking tools; develop additional databases and tracking tools as needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of project interventions
• Ensure adherence to specific monitoring and reporting requirements for the VOICE project
• Analyze data for accuracy, flag validation or quality issues, and contribute to system fixes
• Aggregate and analyze data from across VOICE project sites to contribute to management decision-making and reporting
• Ensure quality and timely submission of country quarterly reports; manage preparation of additional reports and other donors as required
• Generate quarterly indicator reports for tracking progress against key indicators as needed
• Conduct field visits for data validation and to monitor the quality and completeness of data sets; coordinate data collection at project sites to monitor program development and ensure timely compilation and reporting of data; capture and document lessons learned; and champion the scaling up best practices
• Provide technical leadership and support to partner organization in planning and implementing M&E systems and activities, data-based program decision-making, and results reporting; provide training as needed
• Other duties as assigned

Project Management

• Document all program related information and share with the country Program officer
• Stay in constant communication with the CPO, partner’s focal person and the co-op managers to obtain the needed information regarding the co-ops
• prepare and submit weekly deliverables to the program officer and discuss what you require to complete those tasks
• collaborate with the National volunteer or co-op development facilitator to get information from the partner by making follow ups to ensure activities and tasks are done and completed on time
• complete monthly reports and times sheets and submit to the volunteer coordinator
• collect and compile relevant data requires by the project and also assist with the field data collection whenever its required

Training and development of training materials

• Will be required to prepare session plans or use available learning material to provide training for the co-ops in areas they require improvement for effective co-op management
• Develop training assessment tool, use the tool to collect information about the training and use the information to revise the session plans
• Ensure that only the most current session plans are appropriately stored in a format that is easy to retrieve and use
• Coordinate with the co-op development facilitators to ensure that co-op development training activities are appropriately down streamed

Your qualifications

Education:

• Degree in statistics, demographics, or international development preferred.

Experience:

• Experience working in the field of monitoring and evaluation
• Proven success in designing, implementing, and operating M&E systems, data collection and analyses,
• Experience in strategic planning and performance management, including indicator selection, target setting, reporting, database management, and developing M&E and performance monitoring plans.
• Knowledge of the major evaluation methodologies (qualitative, quantitative, mixed method, and impact) and data collection and analysis methodologies
• Experience in planning and managing surveys, developing, and refining data collection tools, and with data quality assessments and oversight
• Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously in a fast-paced environment, set priorities, and meet deadlines
• Ability to synthesize complex information and communicate it effectively to diverse audiences; ability to design and implement efficient workflows and procedures
• Ability to manage critical relationships with diplomacy and tact and engage a wide range of stakeholders.
• Fluency in English; excellent written and oral communication skills, including facilitation and cross-cultural communication.
• Strong attention to detail, organizational. and time management skills
• Willingness and ability to travel domestically.
• Computer proficiency in Windows environment (Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint) and proficiency in data collection platforms (e.g., Kobo).

Support package

This is a voluntary assignment. CDF Canada supports volunteers through the provision of a comprehensive package designed to cover a modest and healthy lifestyle, while allowing for effectiveness in the placement:

• Monthly allowance.
• Return-trip international and/or domestic airfare.
• Visa-related costs (if needed).
• International health insurance.
• Vaccination and health-related costs (if needed).
• Interpreter and/or translator (if needed and depending on the position and duration of the assignment).
• Pre-departure support and orientation.
• Support and orientation during the assignment.
• Debriefing upon completion of the assignment.

E-volunteering

Depending on the nature of the placement, volunteers are encouraged to provide e-volunteering support to our local partners before or after their placement.

Engaging Canadians

CDF Canada provides technical and logistical support to young and experienced professionals through volunteer assignments to apply and acquire new skills and knowledge in international co-operative development. We ask each volunteer, regardless of the duration of their mandate, to share their experience during and/or at the end of their assignment either in the country of assignment or in Canada. The experience can be shared by providing stories of human interest and photographs that can be used for social media outreach; Participate in events/conferences or other public engagement activities to share their experience to motivate others.

Application Process

Please submit a cover letter and CV/resume, by applying directly on our recruitment webpage. You must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. Successful candidates will be required to obtain a police-check from their local police or RCMP detachment. All applicants are thanked for their interest in CDF Canada; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.