Regional Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Partner – Powered by the People Project

Regional Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Partner – Powered by the People Project

Period of Performance: July 1st, 2024 -September 30th, 2024, with possibility of extension.

Consultant: RMEL (5 Opportunities)

Location: Middle East and North Africa, Europe and Eurasia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific, Africa

Program: Powered by the People. Press Release: https://www.partnersglobal.org/newsroom/partnersglobal-to-lead-international-consortium-awarded-45-million-powered-by-the-people-grant-by-united-states-agency-for-international-development/

ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND: PartnersGlobal (previously Partners for Democratic Change), established in 1989, is an international, non-governmental organization committed to building sustainable capacity to advance democratic institutions, civil society, and a culture of peaceful change and conflict management worldwide. PartnersGlobal specializes in organizational development and social entrepreneurship, having provided the seed capital and technical assistance to establish 21 independent, local Centers around the world.

PartnersGlobal adheres to the values of participatory decision-making, collaboration, and consensus-building as the fundamentals of an inclusive, democratic society; and we promote the application of these skills in all aspects of our work. The PartnersGlobal team includes process and technical experts, facilitators, and trainers who apply those collaborative skills to achieve concrete results in technical areas such as rule of law development, women’s empowerment, security sector reform, and natural resource management. Our network of local Centers is renowned for undertaking cutting edge work and applying our process expertise to convene disparate parties to jointly tackle some of the most complex development challenges.

PROGRAM BACKGROUND: Powered by the People (PxP) provides direct and accessible support that addresses the needs, opportunities, and challenges identified by activists and other allied civic actors engaged in nonviolent collective action. PxP ultimately strengthens the agency, resiliency, and efficacy of activists and people-powered nonviolent social movements (NVSMs) that advance human rights, social justice, democracy, and inclusive development within a cohesive global social movement ecosystem.

PXP PROGRAM OBJECTIVES:

• Objective 1: Foster relationships, networking, coordination, and collaboration among nonviolent social movements, grassroots organizers, activists, historically excluded communities, scholars, formal civil society organizations, and donors.
• Objective 2: Promote practices that cultivate leadership, organizing capacity, strategic decision-making, and nonviolent discipline of activists, grassroots actors, and organizers.
• Objective 3: Increase flexible and accessible funding available to bolster the agency and resilience of activists, grassroots actors, and organizers.
• Objective 4: Improve documentation, translation, and dissemination of learning, strategies, best practices, and other knowledge that activists and grassroots organizers identify as central to the success of their movements.

PxP evidence-based, research and learning activities are closely connected to project activities under program Objective 4: Improve documentation, translation, and dissemination of learning, strategies, best practices, and other knowledge that activists and grassroots organizes identify as central to the success of their movements. PartnersGlobal seeks interested and qualified consultants (individuals or entities) to work with a diverse and dynamic group of activists, NVSMs, CSOs, and consortium members in the region. The consultants will be responsible for providing knowledge management and learning activities.

ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION:

Objective: The Regional MEL partners will play a pivotal role in the implementation of Evidence Based Reflection Evaluation and Learning (EBREL) activities of the Powered by the People (PxP) project. They will be responsible for facilitating data collection and coordinating learning and sharing between consortium members, activists, Nonviolent Social Movements (NVSMs), and the PxP Coordination Team at PartnersGlobal.

Capacity and Expertise: The Regional MEL partners could be either a consultant, consultant firm, activist, or NVSM local to the region. They must possess a general background or interest in Knowledge Management and evidence collection, along with experience in research, learning, and training. Knowledge of working with activists and NVSMs will be highly valuable for the RMEL Partner. The MEL partners are required to communicate in English as the main language for this assignment, however knowledge of relevant regional languages such as Arabic, Spanish, French, or Portuguese is highly valuable.

RMEL partners will report to the PxP EBREL Director and undertake a variety of Knowledge Management Responsibilities such as:

• Coordination and Collaboration:
  • Collaborate with the PxP EBREL team at PartnersGlobal to coordinate MEL efforts and ensure alignment with project objectives.
  • Work with consortium members to understand and support activities happening in the region that contribute to the project’s goals and learning agenda.
  • Work with consortium members to receive activity reports and analyze data for indicator reporting and documentation.
• Facilitation of Interaction:
  • Identify spaces for interaction and collaboration among activists and NVSMs to gather feedback and insights such as planning and conducting learning events in person or virtual.
  • Facilitate dialogue and knowledge-sharing sessions to promote learning and networking within the regional context.
• Identification and Collection of Stories:
  • Work closely with consortium members, activists, and NVSMs in the region to identify stories relevant to the PxP project.
  • Serve as a liaison between the stakeholders and the Results for Development (R4D) team designing and piloting the storytelling for knowledge sharing methodology to ensure the efficient collection of stories as data.
  • Ensure that stories collected adhere to the storytelling methodology and maintain quality and standards.
  • Ensure that stories are captured into storytelling digital platform for further synthetization and analysis.

DELIVERABLES:

• Regular reports on collected stories, insights gained, and interactions facilitated.
• Regular reports on project related indicators.
• Coordination documentation and updates on MEL efforts.
• Recommendations for enhancing MEL processes and improving project outcomes.

Specific deliverables and timelines will be determined through a collaborative work planning exercise between PartnersGlobal and successful applicants.

PROCUREMENT OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES:

Selection Process:

All submissions will be evaluated by the PartnersGlobal selection panel based on the following criteria (Maximum possible score: 100 points):

Capacity Statement: 50 Points

The applicant must submit a one-page capacity statement addressing the Scope of Work (SOW). It should focus on the consultant’s:

• Professional experience in monitoring, evaluation, and learning within international development projects.
• Proven track record of implementing MEL systems.
• Proficiency in quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis techniques.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex information in a clear and concise manner.
• Experience in facilitating training and capacity-building workshops for the project team and partners.
• Experience working in multicultural environments and sensitivity to cultural differences.
• Language proficiency; confirmation of English fluency, as well as fluency in relevant regional languages.

Past Performance: 25 Points

• Applications should demonstrate 7+ years of experience leading knowledge management and MEL system development in the region for which they are applying.
• Applicants should also provide evidence of work in the areas of Civil Society Strengthening, activism, and Non-Violent Social Movements (NVSM).
• Additionally, they should have previous experience conducting monitoring and evaluation activities for donors or international organizations in the region.

Cost Effectiveness and Justification of Costs: 25 Points.

PartnersGlobal strongly encourages applicants to clearly demonstrate program cost-effectiveness in their application, including examples of leveraging institutional and other resources.

• If the applicant is a firm, applications should include budgets with reasonable overhead and administration costs, along with clear explanations and justifications for these costs in relation to the work involved.
• If the applicant is an individual evaluator, the daily rate must be supported by the individual’s level of experience and history of daily rates for comparable assignments.
• While the maximum budget for this assignment is $15,000, applications will be reviewed based on the best cost proposal in line with the applicant’s technical capacity and past performance.

INTERVIEWS:

• At its discretion, PartnersGlobal may conduct interviews with any consultant to identify the most qualified firm and reserves the right to interview only the top-ranked firms based on the evaluation of qualifications. Only qualified candidates will be contacted for interviews.
• Additionally, PartnersGlobal will interview qualified applicants on a rolling basis as applications are received. However, applications submitted after the closing date will not be considered.

AGREEMENT:

• PartnersGlobal shall prepare the proposed final agreement between PartnersGlobal and the selected consultant or organization.

FINAL APPROVAL:

• PartnersGlobal’s selection committee will notify the selected offeror upon final internal approval.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Applicants are required to submit:

• a one-page capacity statement addressing the tasks outlined in the Scope of Work, past performance on similar assignments.
• resumes of the individuals who will work on the assignment.
• budget and/or daily rate with estimated number of days available for delivery of the assignment.
• (2) references who can speak to the consultant’s experience and quality of work.