Short-Term Consultancy, based in Nairobi: Member of the Geo-Enabling Monitoring and Supervision team (GEMS). Experience in digital M&E and GIS

A. ICT for Operational Effectiveness in FCV contexts and the GEMS Initiative

Fragility, Conflict, and Violence (FCV) impact the lives of over a quarter of the world’s population. Fragility, violent conflict, and poverty are undoubtedly interlinked, as large-scale violence can significantly hamper development and destabilize countries and entire regions. About 60 percent of the world’s extreme poor are expected to live in FCV contexts by 2030. Conflicts have led to a substantial proportion of forced displacement and humanitarian needs while contributing to local marginalization and setting some affected countries back decades in terms of development progress. Today, it is estimated that about 2 billion people live in countries that face fragility and experience violent conflict or significant interpersonal violence. Addressing the challenge of FCV and reaching the affected populations is therefore a strategic priority for the World Bank Group (WBG) and a necessity for achieving the twin goals of eradicating extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. We need to ‘get eyes on the ground where we cannot always have feet on the ground.’ The Geo-Enabling methodology for Monitoring and Supervision (GEMS) has been developed in response to this demand, with the aim to provide project teams, client agencies, and partner organizations with timely access to invaluable field information from areas that cannot be regularly visited. **

Development Objective: The GEMS method enables project teams to use simple and low-cost open-source tools for in-field collection of structured digital data that automatically feeds into centralized digital Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) systems. The integrated data can include any kind of indicators, based on tailor-made forms; photos, audio, videos; time and date stamps; and GPS coordinates that allow for automated geo-mapping of the information. Using these tools and visualizing real-time results on dashboards allows operations to enhance the transparency and accuracy of M&E and increase the accountability of third-party monitoring (TPM). Moreover, the GEMS method provides WBG Global Practices (GPs) and Country Management Units (CMUs) with platforms for remote supervision, real-time risk and safeguards monitoring, as well as portfolio mapping for coordination across projects and partners.

B. Background

Enhancing Resilience to Climate Change in the Horn of Africa (HoA): The HoA region is characterized by high levels of FCV. This is compounded by the impact of high climate variability and climate change, which increase tensions and insecurity in vulnerable borderland areas. Climate shocks are contributing to food insecurity, to increased tensions over scarce natural resources, particularly over water and land, and to heightened risks to public health. Resilience building constitutes a priority, particularly in the region’s borderlands, areas that have long been associated with socio-economic marginalization and chronic poverty, but also with economic opportunities and trade.**

Groundwater plays an important role in building resilience in the borderlands of the HoA, although, due to the complexity and lack of knowledge on the resource, it remains neglected and largely untapped. The impacts of climate change and variability in the HoA heighten the need for a robust, system-wide, approach to sustainable groundwater access and management.

The Horn of Africa (HoA) Groundwater for Resilience Program aims to increase the sustainable access and management of groundwater as a key contribution to strengthening the climate resilience of HoA’s borderlands, using a Multiphase Programmatic Approach (MPA). Three countries, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Republic of Kenya, and the Federal Republic of Somalia, as well as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), are included in phase I of this Regional Program. The Republic of Djibouti and the Republic of South Sudan have also expressed interest in participating in subsequent phases.

This Program has one overarching development objective and a common structure for the connected projects. The Program´s central goal is to provide sustainable access to groundwater resources in the borderlands of the HoA through medium/small scale infrastructure, as a basis to start building the climate resilience of vulnerable communities in these areas, in particular to drought. At the same time, the Program places emphasis on developing information and knowledge on regional aquifers, building institutional capacity on groundwater management and governance as key building blocks to foster trust among countries towards regional cooperation in the medium and long term. At the regional level, the Program will contribute to build trust and to enhance information and data sharing among countries in the region, as well as to strengthen the capacity of regional entities (i.e., IGAD) to enable and facilitate transboundary groundwater collaboration and governance, setting the foundation for long-term integration.

Embedded in the program design there is a strong learning agenda filled with ambitious activities to help understand the complex links between different variables, mainly on the role of groundwater in addressing the region’s fragility and enhancing resilience to climate change. The Program’s learning agenda will be supported through a robust monitoring system and a series of studies to document and apply lessons learned on the key areas outlined above.

The documentation of lessons learned will take place throughout implementation, and in close collaboration with participating countries and IGAD. State-of-the-art remote monitoring tools will be used through the GEMS method to capture and analyze data in real-time, enabling adaptive management, as needed, and will be complemented with rigorous, objective documentation methods on the key learning agenda aspects.

The WBG Horn of Africa (HoA) Groundwater for Resilience (GW4R) Program is looking to hire a short-term consultant (STC) to join the GEMS team. The consultant will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, and fully embedded in the GEMS team, within the World Bank’s Fragility, Conflict and Violence Group. The consultant will work under the guidance of the GEMS Task Team Leader (TTL) and in very close coordination with the HoA GW4R Program team.

C. Objective and Scope of Work: Leveraging ICT to Enhance M&E, Supervision, and Citizen Engagement

The focus of the consultancy will be to support the team in systematically implementing the GEMS method across countries participating in the regional HoA GW4R Program, namely Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia (Phase I), and potentially Djibouti and South Sudan, in future phases. Working in close collaboration with the GEMS team and the Program team, the consultant will be responsible for the design, implementation, supervision, and daily management of a customized dashboard, for the overall Program (covering M&E and project management aspects in participating countries), the delivery of GEMS capacity-building trainings and ongoing hand-on support for project teams, government agencies, safeguards and procurement specialists, and select partners, including the firm that will be leading the Program’s learning agenda, and that is responsible for data collection for this agenda´s research purposes. The role also includes reviewing and contributing to project documents, including progress reports, and regular follow-up engagement and technical assistance to clients. The STC will also be responsible for managing the HoA GW4R Program’s digital data collection and remote supervision platform across participating countries, and conducting tailored data analyses, based on demand.

The consultant will provide GIS and cartography support to the internal and external clients. An additional role of the consultant will be to support the Program team with the creation and administration of geo-enabled dashboards and related data platforms, as well as maps and spatial data analyses. This includes the responsibility to proactively liaise with technical counterparts, gather and process geospatial information, and create the project dashboard for M&E and project management purposes. The dashboards should have different visualizations to allow for different types of technical analyses, both relating to project M&E, project management, and the learning agenda.

The consultant should work closely with the HoA GW4R Program team to help define the scope of its M&E approach in terms of type of data collected, amount, frequency, and required resources for data collection, data quality control, among others. Towards this end, the consultant should gain an in-depth understanding of the Program through a close interaction with the team.**

A complementary focus will be on developing training guidelines, protocols and technical platforms for systematizing and scaling-up the GEMS support across clients in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. The consultant will support the team in:

1. rolling out a standard learning package on the GEMS method, with in-person kick off trainings for all PCUs, PIUS, Sub-PIUs and WB staff, and other entities involved in the implementation of the program, and conducting quarterly refreshers (two months prior the submission of the M&E reports) during the first two years of implementation.
2. developing and managing the customized project monitoring dashboard on which project data can be geo-mapped and related to contextual insights;
3. establishing internal standards and guidelines for the sustainable implementation of the GEMS method, by revisiting the Project Operations Manuals (POMs) of participating countries, and developing user friendly guidelines for the users.

The consultant will directly support ministries and government agencies in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, IGAD, as well as donors and other partners, subject to interest, in setting up systems for data collection, sharing and coordination. To leverage the GEMS system as an inter-agency coordination tool, the consultant will also build capacity with stakeholders outside of the World Bank. To this end, the consultant will closely work with government agencies and other partners to leverage the GEMS tools and method for supervision and coordination. In this regard, the consultant will oversee the technical cooperation in terms of leveraging the GEMS tool, develop strategies for joint data analysis, and create data collection questionnaires upon agreement with the partners.

The consultant will also support the wider remote supervision agenda of the Program. The consultant will work with the GEMS team, the Program team and country partners to explore and apply complementary field-appropriate ICT tools and procedures to improve remote supervision as well as effectiveness and accountability of operational engagement. In this regard, the STC will closely cooperate with the WB Information and Technology Solutions (ITS) department and their ‘Project360’ (P360) project implementation platform and support team. Supervision solutions that will be explored through the use of P360 will include inter alia (a) earth observation, remote sensing, and aerial imagery through satellite/drones/etc.; (b) data analytics, including social media data for complementary monitoring tasks; (c) mobile-phone/SMS-based survey systems for citizen engagement, beneficiary feedback, and grievance redress mechanisms, and; d) interoperability of the projects data collection platform (KoBoToolbox) with existing clients MIS. The above list is not exhaustive and may be extended during implementation of the Program.

D. Objectives

The selected STC will be responsible for the following:

I. Learning package and implementation support to clients.

1. Support the sustainable application of the GEMS method across the projects that are part of the regional HoA GW4R Program (Phase I: Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia), and ensure that gradually all projects are integrated in the system.
2. Deliver GEMS capacity building trainings to project task teams, client Project Implementation Units (PIUs), and selected partners (train-the-trainers approach) to ensure sustainability in the use of the methodology.
3. Setting up a help desk via What’s app/TEAMs/EMAIL to assist PIUs on the daily collection of data, data bugs, or any needs regarding the M&E systems.
4. Establishing internal standards and guidelines for the sustainable implementation of the GEMS method by revisiting the project POMs, and developing user friendly guidelines for the users.
5. Provide follow-up support to clients to ensure that the system is leveraged sustainably.
6. Provide GIS and cartography support to the clients if needed to ensure the geo-data is leveraged appropriately for the customized program dashboard.

II. Develop and manage data collection tools.

1. In consultation with the WB TT and the client, the consultant will finalize the data collection template packages for the GW4R program**.**
2. Ensure the data collection tools are designed, tested, and validated to feed the customized dashboard for the program and to avoid invalid data, errors, bugs, or system breakdowns.
3. Develop protocols for data collection and quality control.
4. When requested by any given country for any specific purpose, the consultant will develop customized templates to capture additional aspects of the individual country projects.
5. Have an organized library of relevant project datasets, sector datasets, development datasets, and geo-spatial datasets and shapefiles, as provided by both the WB and the clients, for all the countries involved in the program.
6. Review and/or support the digitalization of data collection questionnaires and methods for specific clients and projects.
7. Explore options for collaboration on data exchange and analysis with partners.
8. Explore the use of complementary technology and processes for remote supervision of operational engagements, support project teams with the implementation, and produce practical guidance material.

III. Establish and Manage the Program’s Customized Dashboard

1. Design, develop, operate, maintain, and administer a customized dashboard for both program M&E and program management functions, using a combination of tools such as KoBoToolbox, Power BI, ArcGIS Online, and other potentially complementary tools, and in close coordination with the GW4R Program team, country clients and the P360 Team.
2. Ensure that all data collection tools, software, and processes follow a robust and well-designed “flow” of data – from project/program onsite collection, through data storage, data validation, data integration, and finally into the various dashboard screens, charts, and visuals.
3. Follow up with client parties and implementation agencies to ensure that data is regularly collected from all project/program site locations on the correct pre-defined data collection schedules (e.g. initial site registration, quarterly site reporting, ad-hoc site visit records, etc.). Ensure that collected and updated data is automatically synchronized with the program’s central data storage repositories and into the ‘live’ customized dashboard.
4. Manage the process of cleaning and validating data after it is input, and before it is integrated into the customized dashboard.
5. In coordination with the GW4R Program team and the P360 Team, ensure the access to, the maintenance of, and the proper operation of the data and software systems and tools, and promptly troubleshoot and fix issues as they arise.
6. With the guidance of the GW4R Program team, facilitate the periodic review of the program’s customized dashboard and the data collection / analysis processes in order to ensure that they remain relevant and productive to the evolving regional program and country project needs for M&E and project management. As needed, manage the processes of adapting and revising the tools to meet the changing needs.
7. Prepare brief but detailed descriptions of how the dashboard and custom platforms work, and how data is to be entered and updated. This documentation will be used to share technical information with team and will also be used for training and teaching system users.

IV. Others

1. Coordinate, as required, with the firm that will be leading the Program’s Learning Agenda, to ensure the efficient integration of the data that they will be collecting into the Program’s platform.
2. Support the preparation of a monthly briefing note in PowerPoint format on the GEMS implementation throughout the Program (in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia).
3. Regularly record statistical data on training participants and trained/supported projects as well as project-specific use cases in a centrally provided database. Recordings are expected immediately after any trainings and provided project support.

E. Selection Criteria

The ideal candidate will have a primary expertise in M&E, GIS and ICT, as well as an in-depth understanding of World Bank operations, policies and procedures. S/he will be familiar with ways in which technology can be applied to monitor projects and other dynamics on the ground and will meet the following selection criteria:

1. Master’s degree in either engineering, geography, environmental science or in computer science. In any case, specific experience in using ICT to boost development effectiveness will be crucial.**
2. At least 5 years of experience in issues related to M&E, ICT, geospatial analysis, with demonstrated ability to apply technologies to solve challenges related to development/humanitarian interventions.
3. Knowledge of M&E systems, especially as they apply to fragile contexts, demonstrated through field experience.**
4. Advanced GIS skills and proven experience with geospatial data and analysis (through ArcMap, QGIS, R, and/or Python) and ability to manage databases and suites of large datasets.
5. Proven experience using mobile data collection tools, such as KoBoToolbox, ONA, SurveyCTO, Survey Solutions, etc. as well as experience with advanced data analysis tools, such as ArcGIS online, Power BI or Tableau. Experience with Microsoft Power Query and other data ETL tools is a strong plus.
6. Knowledge of World Bank operational policies and business practices is a plus.**
7. Background and proven experience in the private sector are a plus.
8. Demonstrated initiative, leadership skills, innovation and drive for results including ability to undertake a diversity of tasks within a rapidly changing and demanding environment on short deadlines.**
9. Excellent communication skills, with an ability to adapt to an audience that is technical/operational, but not necessarily knowledgeable of ICT issues.**
10. Fluency in English, enabling the consultant to conduct interactive technical trainings with clients and to produce high-quality written outputs.**
11. Advanced skills in MS office applications, in particular Excel and PowerPoint.**
12. Excellent workflow management skills and a proactive attitude.**

F. Administrative Arrangements

The selected consultant will be contracted by FCV Group for a period of 60 days at a fee to be negotiated with the supervisor, subject to extension upon performance. The consultant will report to a Task Team Leader based in Nairobi, Kenya. S/he will closely collaborate with the HoA GW4R Program team, the World Bank’s GEMS team (FCV Group), based in Washington DC, and with other relevant teams, as needed.

The contract will comprise the Fiscal Year 2022 (until June 30, 2022) and part of FY 2023, with the option of extension. The consultant will be based in Nairobi, Kenya.