Purpose of consultancy:
UNFPA is seeking a Monitoring and Evaluation Project Associate in Humanitarian to support the UNFPA Afghanistan work on monitoring and evaluation of FCDO, Canada, CERF, and DFAT-funded projects. The consultant was initially engaged through a non-competitive selection process for a seven-month period, from 01 September 2024 to 31 July 2025. As a key member of both the Humanitarian and Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) Units, the consultant has been pivotal in supporting SDP mapping, donor reporting, coordinating the RMNCAH working group, managing RH Supplies data, and enhancing the Office Information Management System. These contributions have significantly improved the office’s analytical capacity and strengthened reporting, which is crucial for evidence-based programming.
Given the critical role the consultant plays in advancing the M&E framework, it is essential to renew the contract for an additional four months, from 01 September 2025 to 31 December 2025. This renewal will ensure continuity, build on the momentum already established, and further strengthen the unit’s capacity to implement a robust monitoring and evaluation system. Such sustained support is necessary to effectively communicate impactful results to donors, thereby enhancing the credibility of the Country Office (CO) and ensuring the successful implementation of program activities aligned with donor commitments.
UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person's potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025) reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning, and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments to accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon the UN Member States, organizations, and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recovering lost gains, and realizing our goals.
Afghanistan faces an unprecedented humanitarian crisis with a very real risk of systematic collapse and human catastrophe. The crisis is feared to roll back development gains of the last twenty years. In response to the humanitarian situation, UNFPA in Afghanistan works towards increasing the availability and use of integrated SRH/PSS services (including family planning, maternal health, and psychosocial support) that are gender- responsive and meet human rights standards for quality of care and equity in access. The UNFPA Country Office in Afghanistan has been receiving financial support from various donors to carry out its humanitarian interventions. One of the key donors is the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom. The FCDO has been supporting UNFPA since August 2021, following the Taliban's takeover of the country, as part of their commitment to assisting the Afghan people in meeting their maternal, reproductive health, and protection needs.
To ensure the timely implementation of FCDOs, CERF, and Canada-funded projects, he/she will work within the context of humanitarian programming to provide support in data collection, processing, validating, and reporting with evidence-based recommendations in line with the donor proposals. She/he will be in regular contact with implementing partners and UNFPA staff to ensure completion, accuracy, reliability, and timeliness of the required data to support implementation of population-centric interventions.
The incumbent will be responsible for information management activities as per the project indicators and tracking the implementation of quality improvement measures. He/she will work to ensure that the project maintains its strategic vision and that its activities result in the achievement of its intended outputs in a timely manner. Finally, she/he will contribute to donor reports in coordination with the M&E and relevant teams.
You would be responsible for: The Monitoring and Evaluation – Project Associate will work under the direct supervision of the M&E Specialist and the overall guidance of the UNFPA Humanitarian Coordinator. Furthermore, he/she will coordinate closely with the Humanitarian team, program staff, and UNFPA country Office M&E team to monitor and assess the quality of activities and performance indicators. With direct supervision of the M&E Specialist and guidance from the Humanitarian Coordinator and in close collaboration with other units and field teams, he/she will provide expertise and support in the areas of data collection, SDP mapping, and reporting. He/she will be providing support in monitoring and evaluating ongoing projects in the Humanitarian Programming. He/she will be responsible for the overall IM needs of the project under the Humanitarian unit and will come up with findings based on real data to show the performance of the project. He/she will play a role in promoting key learnings for the improvement of the project and for wider learning of the organization on Humanitarian programming.
Essential tasks:
- Support the development of standard data collection tools for the Humanitarian programming activities as required as per the donor proposals..
- Ensure routine data Collection, Data Analysis, and timely monitoring of the planned activities under the guidance of the Humanitarian Coordinator and M&E Specialist.
- Collect standard data for all related Humanitarian unit activities in consultation and coordination with the Humanitarian Coordinator and, M&E Specialist.
- Ensure cleaning and compile all Humanitarian unit Service Delivery Points (SDP’s) facility and community level data, and ensure quality of the data by applying data quality assurance protocol and methods for providing the program clean, complete, and up-to-date data with the help of the Information Assistants
- Supporting the RHCS Specialist with the data collection and visualization of the RHCS data for the humanitarian programming in close coordination with implementing partners and the SRHiE Specialist
- Support in the collection and processing of the data for the humanitarian program in close coordination with the other IM program officers
- Compile data for sitereps and reports, and contribute monthly progress reports to the humanitarian team.
- Closely track and monitor the statistics and project’s indicators on a regular basis.
- Provide additional analysis of data and information on different variables when needed
- Conduct routine data quality audits and review the quality of collected data and the methods for data collection
- Set monthly realistic targets to be met by the field staff and monitor the results at the end of the month
- Share and discuss findings and compiled data with relevant program staff to inform program activities
- Support the development of the project monitoring plan for the projects
Reporting:
- Assist in drafting monthly, quarterly, semiannual, and annual reports, in conjunction with the Humanitarian program team, according to donor requirements
- Assist in the preparation of monthly and/or bimonthly reports for UNFPA and donors as required.
- Provide full and detailed feedback to the implementing partners on reporting problems and solutions.
- Assist in the design of a comprehensive reporting system across the humanitarian program while working with staff to ensure consistency and compatibility of information formats.
Assessments, Evaluation, and Learning:
- In coordination with program staff and/or external consultants, participate in the implementation of surveys or studies and analyze results to inform project design and program implementation
- Assist in the design and development of monitoring and evaluation guidelines and tools in a participatory manner
- Document program progress, including lessons learned and success stories, to feed back to the M&E dashboard
- Share learning from the M&E process with the wider team
- Support in the development of proposals (particularly objectives, outputs, and indicators) and project targets as needed
- Assist in training field staff on M&E tools and techniques, as needed.
- Support the management of the Programme Evaluation, including coordination with internal and external stakeholders, as well as with the evaluation firm
Other:
- Attend meetings in person, particularly related to the M&E related to the humanitarian programme
- Any other duties requested by line managers
- Adhere to all of UNFPA’s policies and procedures, including the Code of Conduct and SOPs.