Venezuelan Crisis – Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Manager

Starting date: ASAP

Duration of Mission: 6 months

Location: Latin America

Première Urgence Internationale (PUI) is a Humanitarian, non-governmental, non-profit, non-political and non-religious international aid organization. Our teams are committed to supporting civilian victims of marginalization and exclusion, or hit by natural disasters, wars and economic collapses, by addressing their fundamental needs. Our aim is to provide emergency relief to uprooted people in order to help them recover their dignity and regain self-sufficiency. The association leads on average 200 projects per year in the following sectors of intervention: food security, health, nutrition, construction and rehabilitation of infrastructures, water, sanitation, hygiene and economic recovery. PUI is providing assistance to around 6 million people in more than 22 countries – in Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Europe.

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Crisis Context

Venezuela faces a major political, economic and social crisis with hyperinflation, acute scarcity of food, medicines and other basic goods. According the UNHCR, some 5.4 million Venezuelans have left their country and most of them are in Latin American or Caribbean countries.

The economic crisis in Venezuela has eroded the country’s health-care infrastructure and threatened the public health of its people. Shortages in medications, health supplies, interruptions of basic utilities at health-care facilities, and the emigration of health-care workers have led to a progressive decline in the operational capacity of health care. These limitations have disproportionally affected the most vulnerable populations, including children, pregnant women, elderly, people with chronic diseases and remote communities. The effect of the crisis on public health has been difficult to measure since the Venezuelan Ministry of Health stopped publishing crucial public health statistics in 2016. From 2012 to 2017, maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity increased by 66 % and 51% respectively, requiring the strengthening of sexual and reproductive health services. At the beginning of 2019’s rainy season, malaria and dengue outbreaks were reported in Táchira and Zulia, which remains a significant threat to bordering countries given the migratory movements. In Colombia, for example, by June 2019 133,078 malaria cases were reported in Bolívar, 38,947 cases in Sucre, and 20,401 cases in Amazonas. Between 2017 and 2019, most patients who were infected with HIV interrupted therapy because of a lack of medications. By September 2019 the number of measles and diphtheria cases dropped by 92.2 % due to vaccination campaigns held by international organizations, compared to 2018. For other health conditions data is not current available. For example, 70% of the deaths in Venezuela were due to non-communicable diseases by 2016, such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension and chronic respiratory diseases. The number of preliminary tuberculosis cases date from 2018, when 10,575 new cases were reported.

Outbreaks and expanding epidemics of infectious diseases associated with declines in basic public health services are threatening the health of the country and the region. In Colombia, many of the 1.7 million Venezuelans have walked along the migration routes with no access to health services, which leads the most common conditions (dehydration, superficial wounds, waterborne diseases, etc.) to worsen and increases the risk of further complications. Furthermore, PWSN (such as pregnant women, people with disabilities, newborns and elderly people) and those with chronic health conditions are also unable to access to the medical treatment that their conditions require.

PUI’s strategy/position in the country

Following many exploratory missions and the confirmation of a project submitted and validated, PUI aims to launch its humanitarian project covering health and MHPSS sector, as well as to develop its positioning and operational strategy in the country for 2021.

Responsibilities

The Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Manager will be working under direct management of Head of Mission.

S/he will be in charge of the development, technical supervision and implementation of Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) activities. She/he will be mainly based in the Office coordination with frequent trips to the base for liaising with stakeholders at national level.**MEAL:** S/he will be responsible for oversight of all MEAL activities – data collection, data analysis, accountability and learning – for all program implemented by PUI. S/he will be responsible for designing MEAL plans for each of the projects, supporting Project Managers and Implementing Partners in monitoring implemented activities, preparing MEAL methodologies, tools and reports.

• Representation: S/he will liaise with stakeholders working on MEAL.
• Strategy/Advocacy: S/he will support HoM in the design of MEAL strategy for the mission, development of strategic document for the department and capacity building of technical and program team on MEAL sector.

Specific Goals and Activities

DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION AND SUPERVISION OF MONITORING, EVALUATION, ACCOUNTABILITY AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Monitoring and evaluation:

• Developing Monitoring and Evaluation plans for projects (project M&E frameworks, baseline, midterm and end-line methodologies, specific monitoring activities in the field) and for the Consortium led by PUI
• Implementing and ensuring high quality of monitoring and evaluation activities of the projects, its timeliness and as per PUI and donors standards
• Supporting Field Coordinator and Project Managers in preparation of project monitoring and evaluation tools and activities (e.g. PMT)
• Developing survey plans, survey methodologies and necessary tools, preparing survey reports with analysis of data and recommendation for project teams
• Developing monitoring plans, monitoring methodologies and necessary tools, preparing monitoring visits reports and recommendations for the project teams
• Planning and implementation of internal evaluation activities for implemented projects

Accountability:

• Supervises implementation of Beneficiary Feedback Mechanism in the mission according to PUI SOPs and prepares regular reports on beneficiaries complaints to project team and HoM
• Coordinates with program team and follow up on the received feedbacks and complaints
• Ensures proper visibility and awareness among targeted communities of Beneficiary Feedback Mechanism (promotion of the existing system, facilitation of meetings with communities on BFM etc)
• Ensures proper mechanism for follow up of sensitive complaints according to PUI Beneficiary Feedback Mechanism SOPs
• In collaboration with the program teams, ensure that a participatory approach is initiated with local actors and partners in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects

Learning

• Designs the Learning strategy of the mission, according to PUI tools and methodology
• Facilitates learning process across all departments in the mission – coordinates collection of lessons learnt, preparation of recommendations and following up on implementation
• Prepares lessons learns reports and contribution to project review meetings, closure meetings, kick-off meetings and proposals preparations

DATA MANAGEMENT

• Ensures high quality of data collected during all MEAL activities – performs regular data quality check to ensure received data is reliable and accurate
• Supervises preparation of necessary databases, data collection tools and analysis, as per PUI sector requirements and guidelines, as well as national specific regulations (e.g. MoPH, clusters etc)
• Ensures PUI data protection protocol is in place for MEAL databases

STRATEGY AND CAPITALIZATION

• Supports the coordination in preparation of the technical department strategy, especially for MEAL sector
• Responsible for development or revision of strategic MEAL document and SOPs – Community Feedback Mechanism SOPs, Learning Database SOPs, Data collection and Management SOPs
• Supports proposal writing process, especially development of logical frameworks, MEAL plans, MEAL related budget
• Prepares methodologies for impact indicators calculation and reporting as per PUI, clusters and donors requirements

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

• Responsible for recruitment and performance evaluation of MEAL staff
• Technical support for MEAL Team of the implementing partners – data collection, data management, design and preparation of data collection tools, data analysis and report writing

Profile

Training:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a field related to Project Management, interna-tional development and/or social sciences

Experience:

• Experience in MEAL Management position
• Experience in Project Management positions
• Experience in MEAL systems development and set-up
• Experience in security and cultural sensitive contexts

Knowledge and skills:

• Capacity for analysing and synthetizing comprehensive information & technical data
• Good written communication skills
• Knowledge of project management
• Knowledge of donor MEAL requirements and expectations
• Advance Excel compulsory
• Knowledge of accountability systems and associated changes
• Ability to transfer knowledge to diverse audiences through training

Languages: English and Spanish mandatory

Required Personal Characteristics;

• Good stress management
• Resistance to pressure
• Analytical capability
• Organized and methodical
• Reliable
• Strong sense of responsibilities
• Strong listening and empathy skills
• Ability to adapt, manage priorities and be pragmatic
• Diplomatic and with a sense of negotiation
• Good communication skills
• Honesty and rigor

Conditions

• Employed with a Fixed-Term Contract
• Monthly gross income: from 1 815 up to 2 145 Euros depending on the experience in International Solidarity + 50 Euros per semester seniority with PUI
• Cost covered: Round-trip transportation to and from home / mission, visas, vaccines…
• Insurance including medical coverage and complementary healthcare, 24/24 assistance and repatriation
• Housing in collective accommodation
• Daily living Expenses (« Per diem ») of 480 euros
• Break Policy: 5 working days at 3 and 9 months + break allowance
• Paid Leaves Policy: 5 weeks of paid leaves per year + return ticket every 6 months