Information Management (IM) Consultant – Barometer of the localization of humanitarian aid in Cameroon.

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Consultancy description: Analysis of data related to the barometer of the localisation of humanitarian aid in Cameroon.
Area of expertise: Information and data management
Location: Yaounde, Cameroon
Contract: Consultancy
Consultation Period: October 2024 – February 2024
Number of consultation days: 20 days

About ICVA:
Founded in 1962, ICVA (International Council of Voluntary Agencies) is a global network of over 160 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in 160 countries. Its mission is to make humanitarian action more principled and effective by working collectively and independently to influence policies and practices. ICVA promotes and facilitates the effective engagement of NGOs in the humanitarian sector, focusing on forced migration, humanitarian coordination, humanitarian financing, and system-strengthening issues.

About Cameroonian Humanitarian Organizations Initiative abbreviated CHOI:
CHOI is a platform registered in 2008 under no. 00000317/RDA/J06/SAAJP/BAPP, P.O Box 1322 Yaoundé, Tel: +237 677 66 50 2 7 / 693 40 28 30. With its ten regional offices, CHOI helps to harmonize the programs and activities of national NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) and CSOs (Civil Society Organizations) so that they can act more effectively in the interests of vulnerable populations, by increasing the visibility of their actions and those involved; professionalizing organizations; putting in place a coordinated resource mobilization strategy; contributing to a more effective, rational and coordinated humanitarian response; helping to professionalize, structure and improve operational and technical capacities; empowering beneficiaries.

Context of the Consultancy:
Localisation has become a key topic in humanitarian aid over recent years. Since the Grand Bargain commitments, especially in West and Central Africa over the past two years, several initiatives have been undertaken to improve the role of national actors in humanitarian responses, including:

• Permanent seats on the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) and key coordination forums.
• More partnerships and capacity-strengthening initiatives.
• Improved direct access to funding.
• Localisation forums and working groups.

However, without clearly established goals and measurable criteria, it remains difficult to assess progress in localization and identify the remaining challenges. ICVA and its partners have developed a regional methodology to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the degree of localisation in humanitarian responses, track progress, and identify successes and challenges across countries in West and Central Africa. This aims to:

• Ensure a system of best practices and lessons learned.
• Advocate for evidence-based policies.
• Improve the localisation agenda in countries with concrete proposals.

The project is regional to ensure harmonization, comparative analysis, and constructive exchanges of best practices between countries. However, it relies heavily on national leadership (via the national project steering committee) to ensure alignment with national actors’ needs and expectations, full project ownership, and long-term sustainability.

Given recent advances in localisation, CHOI will lead the project in Cameroon in collaboration with ICVA.

Scope of Work:

The consultant IM will have to implement the methodology and tools developed at regional level within the country. He will be supported by an analyst consultant in country. A regional consultant (Regional Information Management Advisor) will provide support and guidance on the technical aspects of the project (tools, methodology, etc.).

Each country will have to take ownership of the methodology and tools developed to adapt them and ensure the best possible ownership of the project. Under the lead of CHOI, the IM consultant will therefore have to liaise with the regional consultant and the national GI consultant to ensure (i) that the project fits into the regional framework and (ii) that as many people as possible take ownership of the project at country level.

Methodology and Deliverables:
The steps below follow the full methodology, but only some of them will be carried out by the consultant IM.

Step 1: Indicator Library and Scoring Methodology (0 days):
This step will be carried out by the regional consultant. There is no day planned for the consultant in country. However, it is important to be aware of it for the overall progress of the project.

Drawing on the indicators developed by NEAR and HAG and included in the IASC’s localisation policies, the regional consultant, with the help of ICVA and CHOI, will develop a library of indicators based on the 6 components of localisation: 1) Partnerships, 2) Financing, 3) Capacities, 4) Coordination and complementarity, 5) Policy, influence and visibility and 6) Participation.

To this end, it will develop framework tools to facilitate country ownership. This will take the form of an exhaustive matrix of existing and available indicators, together with their collection methods and questionnaires. These elements will serve as essential supports during the methodological definition workshops in the countries.

A scoring methodology will be developed to ensure that spatial and/or temporal comparisons can be made within each component.

Step 2 – Overview: choice of indicators and methodological definition at national level (4 days)
The national IM consultant will support CHOI to organise a 2-day workshop based on the library of indicators developed in stage 1 to:

• Determine the components to be evaluated and the ambitions (‘what success looks like’)
• Select and contextualise the most relevant indicators
• For each indicator, define the target audience and the evaluation measure.

During this stage, the national IM consultant will be responsible for adapting the collection method and tools, while maintaining a closer link with the regional consultant to ensure methodological consistency at regional level. This will be achieved in particular through closer engagement with the various stakeholders at national level.

Step 3 – Primary and secondary data collection (10 days)
Primary data collection: The model forms will be revised and adapted by the regional consultant, with the help of the national IM consultant, for online surveys. These online surveys will be aimed at a wide audience, potentially including national and international NGOs, the United Nations, donors, etc. In order to maximise the number of respondents, they will be sent by e-mail to CHOI, INGO Forum, OCHA and other NGO forums mailing lists and presented and carried out in real time at a plenary meeting of each forum.

The collection of secondary data (recovery of minutes, attendance lists, financial data, etc.) will be carried out by the country IM consultant.

The country IM consultant will be responsible for monitoring and supervising the process of collecting primary and secondary data at country level (email dispatches / reminders / response rates, direct data collection, etc.) in direct liaison with CHOI and with the technical support of the regional consultant.
The country IM consultant will be trained in primary and secondary data collection by the regional consultant.

Step 4 – Processing and making data available (6 days)
The national IM consultant is responsible for supporting the national analyst consultant through :

• Processing and making data available.
• Supporting the manipulation of data to facilitate analysis.
• Drawing up graphs of interest to the national consultant analyst.

Commitment to CHOI and ICVA
Under the leadership of the CHOI the IM consultant will report to CHOI and to the ICVA regional team in West and Central Africa and will work closely with the regional consultant, the analyst consultant in country, the NGO forums and the project steering committee. He/she may be required to present the progress of the analysis to the Project Steering Committee at its request.

The IM consultant will meet with the team and provide regular updates on progress at each stage of the project.

Expected deliverables :

• Matrix of indicators, key questions, collection methods and weighting adapted following the initial country workshop
• Databases
• Graphic visuals

Consultant requirements, skills and abilities:
Compulsory skills

• Experience in information management, data collection, KII
• Experience in document analysis and documentation of results
• Proven ability to work independently and/or in a virtual working environment and to meet agreed deadlines with limited direct supervision
• Availability and flexibility to work a minimum of 2 days per week on this assignment throughout the project timeline: [October 2024 – Mid February 2025], with possible busy and slow periods
• Perfect command of English and French

Preferably

• Experience in the humanitarian sector
• Expertise in humanitarian coordination
• Proven understanding of the challenges of localisation

Note: Throughout the work, the consultant must be registered in accordance with legal requirements and must be able to submit documentation proving that he/she meets all legal obligations for consultancy, including full compliance with ICVA regulations, including the safeguarding policy.