Monitoring, Evaluation and learning Specialist

Job Description

Purpose: The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Specialist is responsible to provide technical support for the planning, implementation, coordination and monitoring, evaluation of FNS implementation and achievement of the GOE/FNS objectives and strengthen Multisectoral Nutrition coordination

Location:        Addis Ababa

Duration:        9 months

Start Date:      Feb 15, 2023

Reporting to:  Direct: UNICEF, NOD Specialist

Functional: FMOH, Nutrition Coordination Office

Background

Ethiopia has made a remarkable progress in reducing child malnutrition with a decrease in national stunting rates among children under five from 58 per cent to 38 per cent over the past 15 years through a concerted multi-sectoral effort. To accelerate this promising progress, Ethiopia developed the Food and Nutrition Strategy, which is implemented through multi-sectoral approaches, with different sectors playing key roles in executing nutrition-specific and sensitive interventions.

Justification

Supporting strengthening nutrition multi-sectoral coordination, nutrition information systems, and monitoring components of FNS implementation have been identified as priority areas across all regions. Evidence informed decision making in nutrition requires the availability of timely multi-sectoral data though a multi-sectoral information platform named the Unified Nutrition Information System in Ethiopia (UNISE). There remain gaps in information technology and cascading capacity down to regions and sub-regional levels.

Furthermore, some critical nutrition related information that do not come through routine data are lacking.

UNICEF in collaboration with MOH conducted operational research on the nutrition specific intervention to identify barriers and record best practices of the IFA, GMP, and VAS service delivery and multisectoral coordination.

Currently UNICEF is working closely with FMOH (Nutrition coordinating office) to identify scalable nutrition interventions and to implement proposed operational research implementation strategies that will generate new evidence on what works (and how) in improving nutritional status of women and children.

It is required to provide technical assistance for the successful implementation of proposed nutrition strategies, monitoring and evaluation of the research progress and documentation. Moreover, provide technical assistance to the nutrition coordinating office with the purpose to strengthen their capacity and raise nutrition on the agenda within food and nutrition implementing sectors, and to accelerate progress toward integration of nutrition interventions into the package of routine health services is critical.

Responsibilities and Specific tasks

The Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist will contribute to the planning, implementation, coordination and monitoring and evaluation of FNS implementation and achievement of the GOE/FNS objectives. Support evidence generation for nutrition programming, support nutrition focused researches as well as take the lead in the implementation of the Unified Nutrition Information Systems for Ethiopia (UNISE) in identified Woredas.

The main responsibilities of the post are:

Support multisectoral coordination and monitoring and evaluation implementation

• Support and monitor functioning of the regional multisectoral coordination committee
• Identify and leverage experiences on multi-sectoral coordination of nutrition data both within the region and national level.
• Share learnings from the regional Food and Nutrition Coordination Unit
• Develop a strategy for monitoring, evaluation and learning capacity assessment and capacity building to deepen multi-sectoral nutrition data use for decision making
• Provide strategic direction and technical support in monitoring and follow up of nutrition sensitive and specific interventions of FNS.
• Support implementing sectors joint annual planning process and follow-up on proper implementation of jointly agreed activities.

• Ensure development and execution of a routine multi-sector nutrition monitoring system, including process monitoring and annual outcome monitoring solutions for the National Nutrition Program.
• Support the nutrition coordinating office to conduct regular reviews to monitor progress against work plans, prepare progress reports and other relevant program documentation, and highlight issues requiring corrective actions.
• Prepare reports against FNS targets, indicators, milestones, and activities.
• Oversee the collection, analysis and synthesis of evidence, data and management information to enable timely and effective decision-making and planning.

Support Nutrition Information system

•  Support the roll-out of Unified Nutrition Information System (UNISE) and documentation of lessons learnt.
•   Organize a forum for sharing experiences from UNISE implementation in target woredas.
• Support nutrition information systems and monitoring and quality assurance components of FNS implementation.

  Support Operational Research’s and Evaluation

•  Engage in the development and review of operational research and evaluation reports and facilitate review among the FMOH Nutrition Research Advisor Counsel.

• Ensure operational research implementation strategies are documented, reviewed, and comments incorporated.
• Facilitate review process of monitoring reports, draft operational reports and final reports.
• Supervise the training and data collection process of the operational research and evaluation.
• Monitor the design and printing of operational research and evaluation reports.

• Facilitate the dissemination of operational research and evaluation findings.

Job Requirement

Knowledge, skills & experience

• Master’s degree or equivalent within a relevant specialty; in public health, nutrition, demography, statistics, or related field, with emphasis on quantitative analysis.
• Proven subject matter expert with broad understanding of the nutrition space, including food security, agriculture, maternal and child health and nutrition (MCHN), Nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), social protection, education and broader development issues.
• At least 8 years’ experience working in monitoring and evaluation or related work in public health, nutrition, agriculture, water, sanitation and hygiene.
• Detailed understanding of the National Food and Nutrition policy and strategy and related initiatives response to child undernutrition.
• Quantitative and qualitative data analysis skills are desired, data interpretation and translation skills required.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Ability to think critically and analytically to draw sound conclusions based on evidence and data.
• Proven track record of building and maintaining strategic relationships, influencing complex processes, working in partnership is essential.
• Proven track record of designing, appraising and implementing M&E systems is highly desirable.
• Experience leading technical working groups and participating in M&E forums.
• Experience presenting and sharing research and evidence findings in a range of fora.

 Expected Deliverables

 Report on the functionality of multisectoral nutrition coordination

• Monitoring report of nutrition-sensitive and specific interventions of food and nutrition strategy.
• UNICEF/FMoH/implementing sectors annual plan and implementation report of jointly agreed activities.

• Development and execution of a routine multi-sector nutrition monitoring system, including process monitoring and annual outcome monitoring solutions for the food and nutrition strategy
• Conduct regular reviews to monitor progress against work plans, prepare progress reports and other relevant programme documentation, and highlight issues requiring corrective actions.
• Prepare reports against food and nutrition strategy, indicators, milestones, and activities.
• Collection, analysis and synthesis of evidence, data and management information to enable timely and effective decision-making and planning.

• Final operational and evaluation survey reports.
• Workshops conducted for validation of results of operational research and evaluations.

·         UNISE roll-out implementation and lesson-learned report.

·         Workshop conducted for dissemination and experience sharing of UNISE implementation lesson learned.

• Strategy for monitoring, evaluation and learning capacity assessment and capacity building to deepen multi-sectoral nutrition data use for decision making.

·         Regional Food and Nutrition program delivery of community of practice that would encourage sharing of learnings and development of a learning culture across another region PDU and partners involved in implementing multisectoral nutrition programming.