Proposal Development and MEAL Consultant

About the Enabled Children Initiative (ECI)

The Enabled Children Initiative is a registered 501c3 with a branch in Afghanistan. ECI runs 6 programs across 6 provinces of Afghanistan that serve disadvantaged children with disabilities. ECI has been operating in Afghanistan since 2010, as one of the only organizations dedicated to working with children with disabilities.

ECI’s mission is to:

• Provide safe spaces for children and youth with disabilities to access their rights to education, healthcare and basic services
• Increase awareness and understanding of disability across Afghanistan
• Promote inclusion for persons with disabilities
• Support dignified lives for persons with disabilities

ECI’s vision is of a more inclusive Afghanistan, where persons with disabilities are embraced and respected by their families and communities, and have equal access to education, healthcare, and employment opportunities to reach their full potential as human beings.

Through our 6 programs across 6 provinces, we provide residential, educational, income generation support and emergency aid to children and youth living with disabilities in Afghanistan, and their families.

• We fund a private care home, with an in-home school, called Window of Hope, for orphans and abandoned children with disabilities.
• We run a school for children with disabilities, the Enabled Children School.
• We support families living in poverty to support their disabled child within the home and raise awareness in local communities, via our Community-Based Disability Awareness & Support Program.
• The Mirza Gul Family Fund provides in-home education for 16 disabled children in Nangahar. This fund started in 2021 when 7 children in Nangarhar who became amputees and received home schooling from this fund.
• Our Social Integration program equips youth with disabilities with vocational skills and helps integrate them into society.
• Our Emergency Relief Fund supports families in poverty & affected by disasters who have a member with a disability.
• We also advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities in Afghanistan, helping families understand their child’s rights, get children enrolled in school, or access healthcare and treatment.

Scope
Reporting to the Executive Director, the Development and MEAL Consultant is expected to lead major-donor proposal development, including but not limited to USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and develop a MEAL Framework and system for ECI for efficient data collection, entries, monitoring and evaluation of data. In addition, the consultant is to provide summarised dashboards for reports and support ECI’s research projects.

Roles and responsibilities:

1. Lead the development of project proposal for BHA for the ECI’s largest ongoing program Community-Based Disability Awareness & Support Program, implemented in 6 provinces. (35%)
2. Lead the development of project proposal for other suitable donor/s for any of ECI programs (15%)
3. Identify and prepare tools and templates (online) for data collection and reporting for output, outcome and impact level indicators (15%)
4. Train ECI Afghanistan team and project team members on the MEAL tools and provide technical support when requested (5%)
5. Monitor use of tools and review monthly data reports (5%)
6. Analyse data and prepare reporting against output, outcome and impact level indicators and targets for quarterly, annual reporting and donor reporting purposes (10%)
7. Contribute to the development of and preparation for project impact evaluations ToRs and lead in the recruitment, selection and follow up of external evaluators if/when necessary (5%)
8. Attend and actively participate in meetings (5%)
9. Any other reasonable request relating to proposal development, scoping of new project proposals or MEAL support by Executive Director (5%)

Selection Criteria

• Master’s degree or higher in international development, international affairs, or a similar field.
• Minimum 10 years’ experience working in international development, human rights, or international humanitarian sector in roles related to M&E and proposal development
• Significant experience of USAID BHA proposals, compliance, donor relations and contracting, as we well as USAID M&E
• Experience working on MEAL/ M&E plans, developing tools, monitoring data collection and/or carrying out assessments and evaluations.
• Working knowledge and familiarity Afghanistan or the region preferred
• Significant experience working with in-country teams and with capacity building of M&E staff
• Fluent in reading, writing and speaking English
• Self-motivated and able to work remotely
• Well organised and able to track multiple moving parts and timelines of partners’ deliverables and donor requirements.
• Collaborative with excellent communication skills.
• Good at problem solving and identifying potential problems before they arise.
• Strong administrative and computer skills, including excel and ability to learn new programs and online training platforms
• Availability and willingness to work occasionally on Sundays is a great plus.

Contract Conditions

• Maximum 35 working days
• Period: 1 January 2024 (or ASAP)- 31 December 2024
• Fees are to be all inclusive of taxes, ECI will not cover any equipment or additional costs. Fees are to be presented as daily and hourly rate and provided in fixed rate in US Dollars.
• All invoices are to be in US Dollars
• Consultant must read and sign the ECI Child Protection and safeguarding policies and sign the relevant codes of conduct (TBC).