Mercy Corps Hiring for Impact Assessment Consultancy for Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance (ZFRA) at Amman, Jordan Full Time

Background:

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.

Mercy Corps has worked in Jordan since 2003 to implement a variety of programs funded by global public institutions, as well as private donors to meet the urgent needs of vulnerable populations, build cohesive and civically engaged communities, and increase inclusive economic opportunities. MC’s current portfolio in Jordan focuses on three domains: resilient individuals, strong communities and governance, and environmentally sustainable and inclusive economic growth. MC integrates cross-cutting themes of youth, gender equality and empowerment, governance, natural resource management, and technology.

Project Description:

The ‘Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance’ (ZFRA) is an alliance of nine organizations including international NGOs, private sector and research organizations, who have come together with the support of the Zurich Foundation to (1) drive better policy in support of flood resilience, (2) increase funding for flood resilience, and (3) improve practices in support of flood resilience to reduce the negative impact of floods on people and communities’ ability to thrive.

Despite being one of the most water-scarce countries in the world, floods are a common hazard in Jordan, with intensity and frequency expected to increase due to climate change. Since January 2021 Mercy Corps Jordan has been working with four flood-prone communities (both urban and rural), to measure their resilience, develop interventions with the communities to address flood risks, advocate with the government to address these gaps, and take learnings from resilience measurements and interventions to share with the government and global level policy conversations focused on climate change and disaster risk reduction.

Resilience interventions have been implemented across all four targeted communities (Azraq, Sweimeh, Main, Wadi Musa). These interventions were tailored to each community’s unique requirements and encompassed infrastructure development, community-wide campaigns, awareness sessions, trees plantation, and capacity-building workshops. The project close out date is December 2023.

Consultant Objectives:

The ZFRA project is seeking a consultant to:

• Undertake a small-scale impact assessment for the four targeted communities where the ZFRA project activities have been executed.
• Capture the perspectives of project participants concerning any alterations or improvements observed in their communities related to flood resilience, as a result of the project intervention.
• Investigate the enduring and substantive impact of the project within the targeted communities.
  • Report on two of the project’s indicators using this data:
    • Indicator 1: Number of people reached who can report substantive change as a result of the program, or for whom a change can be observed.
    • Indicator 2: Number of people reached who can report enduring change as a result of the program, or for whom a change can be observed.
• Determine the level of knowledge retention among participants concerning flood resilience.
• Evaluate the direct impact that the project has had on the participants, focusing on enhancing flood resilience.

The small-scale impact assessment will focus on evaluating the immediate outcomes of the interventions implemented over the past two years and will predominantly document the communities’ perceptions on the impact of the project’s activities.

Consultant Activities:

The Consultant will:

• Review the survey tool previously developed by ZFRA, recommend modifications, and incorporate additional questions to create a thorough data collection tool. The developed  tool should accurately assess the overall impact of the project by addressing the following overarching research questions:
  • How have the project outcomes contributed to a reduction in the vulnerability of communities to floods in the targeted locations? (With a focus on Early Warning Systems in Azraq)
  • What enduring and substantive changes have been observed in the communities as a result of the interventions?
  • To what extent have participants retained and applied knowledge related to flood resilience from the project activities?
  • What plans or strategies have the communities formulated for continued flood resilience beyond the duration of the ZFRA project?
• Administer the revised survey to 300-400 project participants (From a list provided by MC) located in Main, Sweimeh, Azraq, and Wadi Musa through phone interviews.
• Maintain data quality and integrity throughout the data collection process.
  • Implement data quality verification methods, report findings of these verifications, and confirm there are no discrepancies in the gathered data.
• Record the survey responses on MC’s data collection platform; ONA.
• Follow predetermined indicator analysis methodology established by the MEL Team to determine the values for two specific project indicators.
• Analyze the data to address the overarching research questions, evaluating the overall impact of the project.
• Compile a short summative impact report that highlights the key achievements observed in all four communities as a result of the project interventions. The report will cover the following areas:
  • Evaluate the tangible impact that the project activities have had on strengthening flood resilience within the communities.
  • Explore and highlight instances where respondents have acknowledged noticeable changes and positive impacts within their communities as a direct result of the project. Utilizing examples and testimonials that illustrate this recognition.
  • Assess the degree to which participants have retained, internalized, and possibly applied the knowledge gained from the project’s activities. Investigate if the participants are leveraging this knowledge for ongoing or future community endeavors related to flood resilience.
  • Evaluate how the implementation of Early Warning Systems (EWS) in Al Azraq Community has prepared and empowered communities to enhance their flood resilience and whether they have taken preventive actions after the fact.
• Collaborate with the project team by actively participating in pertinent decision-making meetings, where necessary, and communicate important findings.
• Examine and revise documents in accordance with feedback provided by the team.

The consultant(s) will be responsible for organizing their own logistics for data collection (screening and contacting participants), MC will assume a supervisory role throughout the entire process, offering feedback and direction as and when necessary.

Consultant Deliverables:

The Consultant (s) will deliver:

• Updated Data Collection Tool in English and Arabic
• An Excel Sheet that highlights participant reach and data collection progress.
• Raw Data Sets with necessary disaggregation
• Data Analysis Excel Sheets
• Indicator Calculation Excel Sheets
• Final Impact Report including:
  • A Draft impact report in English;(20 pages max in length, excluding appendices) consistent with MC branding and standards.
  • A Final Report in English. It should incorporate comments raised by the MC team within 1 week of receiving feedback.

Timeframe / Schedule: 

• Attend a kick-off meeting with the project team to establish a clear work plan and agree on roles and responsibilities, as soon as the contract is signed.
• Conduct a desk review of the project documents and finalize the data collection tool accordingly.
• Collect data and report on progress.
• Analyze the data and share preliminary findings approximately 3 weeks after the consultancy begins.
• Present the draft report 4 weeks into the consultancy.
• Submit the final report 5 weeks after the initiation of the consultancy.

The consultancy is expected to begin on the 19th November and should be completed by the 27^th December, 2023.

Application: 

Interested applicants must submit their applications including the following:

• Technical Proposal

Interested consultant(s) must submit a technical proposal covering but not limited to the following:

• Consultant experience and qualification: Brief about the applicant (entity or individuals) and CVs of  the team members/researchers who will be part of the assignment.
• The methodological approach that will be followed by the applicant throughout the assignment, including the way in which the consultant intends to carry out activities to achieve the objectives mentioned throughout this ToR.
• Clear work plan with a detailed breakdown of tasks and dates as per the deliverable/ schedule identified above. Including a clear outline of the roles and responsibilities of the team members that will be engaged throughout this assignment.
• Examples of former relevant work conducted by the applicant
• Financial Proposal

Applicants must provide details of the financial offer by describing the costs for each activity tackled under the proposed work plan including any cost of resources, travel expense, communication and venues. Offers will be evaluated against the MC’s cost-effectiveness and efficiency standards.

• References

The consultant (s) to share the information of two Recent References including; name, email, phone number, and address. 

Selection Criteria

Only shortlisted candidates/entities will be contacted after an in-depth evaluation process for their submitted proposals. MC will evaluate the technical proposals and will choose the candidates who demonstrate thorough knowledge and understanding of the ToR and financial proposals will be assessed based on the cost-effectiveness measures.

The Consultant will work closely with: MEL and Program Teams

The Consultant will report to: Program MEL Coordinator.

Required Experience & Skills:

• Proficiency in English and Arabic.
• More than 5 years of experience in research, data collection and reporting
• Experience working with international organizations;
• Experience conducting quantitative and qualitative surveys and analysis, remotely and/ or in-person;
• Preferred familiarity and experience with Climate Change programming and flood resilience

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives. 

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity
We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

How to apply:Mercy Corps Jordan is seeking a qualified Impact Assessment Consultant for Zurich. If you are interested, please send the requirements to the Mercy Corps – human resources department at                                                     “[email protected]” . The last date for submission is on the 8th of November, 2023 indicating the title of the position “Impact Assessment Consultancy” in the subject line.