Organization: Catholic Agency for Overseas Development
Country: Nepal
Closing date:
06 Sep 2016Background
The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) is the official development and humanitarian relief agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, and is part of Caritas International (CI). With an annual income of approximately £50m, CAFOD works alongside people of all faiths and none, and with around 450 partners in over 30 countries across the world to bring hope, compassion and solidarity to poor communities to end poverty and injustice.
Nepal was struck by a devastating earthquake in April, 2015, that caused devastation across the country. Over 8,000 people lost their lives in the disaster, and hundreds of thousands of families were left homeless. Damage to infrastructure such as roads, schools and medical facilities was widespread. CAFOD was not working in Nepal prior to the earthquake. However the British public, and particularly the Catholic Community in England and Wales, reacted with overwhelming generosity after the earthquake. Working with partners is central to CAFOD’s humanitarian response, and CAFOD is currently working in partnership with 6 organisations in Nepal, including Caritas Nepal, 3 sister Caritas agencies from around the world, and 2 local partners.
CAFOD is implementing a 3 year earthquake recovery programme in Nepal, ending in April 2018. We are working in collaboration with Trócaire, Caritas Ireland, under the joint programme: CAFOD and Trócaire in Partnership for Nepal. The programme is supporting a wide range of recovery efforts in communities across the country, including initial relief, house and school reconstruction, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), DRR and Livelihoods recovery.
Goal and purpose of the consultancy
The Nepal Emergency Response Partner Accompanier will play an important role in the delivery of the Nepal emergency programme, by strengthening our partners’ ability to deliver quality emergency preparedness, response and recovery programmes. He/she will also directly contribute to the achievement of outcome 6 of the Nepal Emergency Response programme: CAFOD and Trócaire in Partnership for Nepal partners have improved capacity to manage safe and dignified humanitarian programmes by April 2018.
The purpose of this consultancy is to co-ordinate CAFOD and Trócaire support and capacity strengthening for their partners in Nepal, and to support the Nepal Emergency programme team in ensuring highest quality standards. He/she will also represent CAFOD and/or ‘CAFOD and Trócaire in Partnership for Nepal’ in country when required, and support effective communication and collaboration with partners, Caritas agencies and other key stakeholders.
Timeframe and deliverables
The Consultancy will run for 12 months, from 1 October 2016 – 30 September 2017, with the possibility of a 6 month extension.
The consultant will report to the Nepal Emergency Programme Manager for Nepal, and will be required to provide a monthly update report (by email, skype or in person) on progress against the following planned activities and deliverables:
Representation and coordination
- Coordinate with the Caritas Nepal Emergency Appeal Facilitating team to support the EA capacity strengthening processes as required;
- Coordinate with the Technical Working Groups and other Caritas Internationalis Member Organisations (CIMOs) to ensure capacity strengthening plans and activities are complementary, and to make the most of opportunities for learning and sharing between CAFOD/Trócaire partners and CIMO sister agencies;
- Attend relevant working groups, clusters and interagency coordination meetings, for the purposes of coordination and learning, and to inform the CAFOD and Trócaire response in Nepal.
- On behalf of the Emergency Programme Manager, represent CAFOD and Trócaire in Partnership for Nepal with Caritas Agencies, CAFOD and Trócaire partners, and government ministries working on recovery, as and when required;
Programme reporting and support
- Accompany CAFOD and Trócaire Emergency Programme staff on visits to partners and projects in earthquake affected Districts of Nepal as required;
- Work with the CAFOD and Trócaire Emergency Programme staff to identify and address any capacity issues highlighted during project reporting and monitoring visits;
- Develop and maintain simple systems for monitoring partner progress, in relation to partner capacity assessments and capacity strengthening processes, including collecting, consolidating and analysing data, and using participatory tools;
- Report on a quarterly basis on progress against the CAFOD and Trócaire Outcome 6 partner capacity strengthening indicators;
- Work with CAFOD and Trócaire Emergency Programme staff to develop and monitor budgets for any capacity strengthening activities, and identify any additional resources as appropriate;
- Provide support to partners in the event of any new emergency.
Partner Accompaniment and Capacity strengthening Support
- Coordinate the process of existing CAFOD and Trócaire NNGO partner capacity assessment and capacity strengthening, and if needed, support CAFOD and Trócaire Emergency Programme staff with appraisal of potential partners.
- Work with NNGO partners to identify priority areas for development, and to work with them on capacity strengthening plans, to be agreed with partners and Emergency Programme Manager.
- Support NNGO partners in the development and implementation of their project monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plans, systems and practices;
- Coordinate with CAFOD and Trócaire’s programme staff and technical advisers to develop technical support plans, especially in focus areas such as DRR, protection mainstreaming, WASH, livelihoods, and emergency preparedness;
- Support NNGO partners to implement their capacity strengthening plans, through various methods including direct training and accompaniment, linking them to specialist agencies, and/or arranging technical training to improve their organisational systems and staff capacity.
- Oversee the work of technical staff, consultants and service-providers working on capacity strengthening, including supporting with the development of TORs and task management.
- Support partners’ capacity building events, in a technical or organisational capacity (e.g. supporting design of agenda, participatory workshop methodology and logistical support);
- Support NNGO partners to meet CAFOD minimum standards in financial management and supply chain management, through supporting MANGO Financial Health Check assessments, following up on action plans, and providing and coordinating technical support and training.
- Support NNGO partners to develop basic emergency preparedness and contingency plans.
- Capture and share learning experiences with CAFOD and Trócaire colleagues and adopt good practices from such learning.
Consultancy outputs:
- Light-touch capacity assessment and capacity strengthening plans for all NNGO partners where these do not already exist;
- 6-monthly reports against capacity partner development plans;
- Updated MANGO Financial Health Check and action plans for all NNGO partners (at least 3);
- 6-monthly reports against MANGO Financial Health Check action plans;
- Quarterly reports on progress against the Outcome 6 partner capacity strengthening indicators;
- Quarterly reports against capacity strengthening budgets;
- Documentation of capacity strengthening activities (consultancy TORs, training agendas and support materials, reports, evaluations, tests etc);
- End of consultancy report and handover document.
Consultant Competencies
We are looking for a consultant with the following proven skills, experience and competencies:
- Degree in Development Management or similar qualification, OR equivalent professional experience in a relevant field.
- Significant experience in the Nepal NGO sector.
- Experience of designing and leading emergency response or recovery interventions, in more than one humanitarian context.
- Experience of working with local partners in the delivery of humanitarian programmes.
- Excellent interpersonal skills, and ability to build relationships with partner staff and management.
- Excellent capacity strengthening skills, including experience in capacity assessments, identifying development needs, designing and facilitating participatory training, and on-the-job support and mentoring.
- Experience of developing project or programme monitoring and evaluation systems, including M&E frameworks / plans, data collection tools, and project databases / information systems.
- Good understanding of financial management, and ability to transfer those skills to partner staff.
- Experience of preparing and managing budgets, and of financial monitoring of partners and projects.
- Communications and media experience an advantage.
- Ability to work and travel in potentially insecure and difficult environments and to manage one’s own personal security.
- Works comfortably with secular and Church-based organisations. Experience working with Caritas Internationalis organisations an advantage.
- Ability to work well with international and diverse bodies and consortia (e.g. Church networks, local partners, INGOs, various donors).
- Provides a clear sense of purpose and priorities for self and others to ensure a focus on results; creates contingency plans for potential problems.
- Fluent in written and spoken English and Nepali.
- Able to communicate complex issues simply and clearly.
Terms and Conditions
Contract. A 12-month national consultancy contract, with possibility of 6 month extension.
Nationality. Open to Nepalese nationals only
Compensation. Consultancy fee to be agreed by negotiation. Fees will be paid in equal tranches, every 6 months (October 2016, April 2017, and October 2017), upon delivery of key work and outputs. Agreed in-country expenses (including work-related travel, field visit subsistence and phone credit) will be reimbursed separately, on presentation of quarterly receipts and invoice.
Equipment. The consultant will need to provide their own laptop, phone and email.
Hours and Holidays. The consultant and CAFOD/Trócaire will come to mutual agreement about core to working hours and/or set working days on a quarterly and/or monthly basis, based on the deliverables and interaction required during that period. The consultant will need to work closely with CAFOD/Trócaire programme staff and partner staff, who will mostly work according to Nepal and UK office working days and office hours. However the consultancy may from time to time require some weekend and evening work.
Disabilities. We are committed to making every reasonable adjustment to the workplace or working arrangements so as to accommodate people with disabilities.
Location. The post will be based in Nepal. He/she will be required to travel to the offices and project locations of CAFOD’s partners, across the earthquake affected districts.
Conduct. The consultant will need to sign CAFOD’s Code of Conduct, and follow CAFOD’s Nepal Security Plan.
How to apply:Applications
Applications for the consultancy should be submitted by e-mail to Janet Crossley at jcrossley@cafod.org.uk specifying in the subject line: Nepal Partner Accompanier Consultancy.
Applications should include:
- An expression of interest, outlining motivation for applying, relevant experience and a proposed budget for the consultancy fees and expenses, in no more than 2 pages.
- A CV with two references.
The deadline for applications is: Tuesday 6 September 2016. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted by Friday 9 September.
Interviews with shortlisted candidates will be held in Lalitpur, Nepal on Wednesday 14 September, and/or by skype in mid to late September.