MEAL Assistant at the Center for Advocacy Transparency and Accountability Initiative (CATAI)

The Center for Advocacy, Transparency and Accountability Initiative (CATAI) is established in 2018 as registered NGO with Head Office in Maiduguri - Borno State, with offices across Yobe and Adamawa state. We have been visible in Borno Adamawa and Yobe states implementing projects in Education, Protection (Child /GBV), WaSH, Nutrition, Empowerment/Livelihood, Governance and Peace Building. Our approach is aligned with our mission to enhance services delivery and empower citizens, through our Humanitarian, Development, and peace building nexus (HDP).

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: MEAL Assistant

Location: Gwoza, Borno
Employment Type: Contract
Contract Duration: 12 Months
Position Reports to: MEAL Officer
Position Directly Supervises: Enumerators

Description 

• In conflict-affected Borno State, Nigeria, women, men, girls, and boys, including children living with disabilities, face compounded challenges amidst escalating violence and instability. The prevalence of child protection (CP) issues and gender-based violence (GBV) is alarmingly high, exacerbated by displacement, poverty, and disrupted social structures. Reports indicate widespread instances of child protection concerns, including forced labor and recruitment by armed groups, further compromising the safety and well-being of children.
• The project aims to address these gaps by strengthening community-based child protection and GBV prevention systems, improving access to inclusive education and economic opportunities, enhancing communities' capabilities to deliver effective services, and creating a more supportive social and policy environment through awareness activities and advocacy.
• The project's approach is centered on empowering local communities and strengthening existing child protection (CP) and gender-based violence (GBV) systems. Studies consistently demonstrate that community-based interventions and capacity-building initiatives effectively enhance child protection outcomes, promote resilience, and mitigate risks of violence and exploitation among vulnerable populations.
• This evidence underscores the importance of fostering sustainable practices and local ownership to ensure a lasting impact in conflict-affected regions like Borno State, Nigeria.

Responsibilities

• Follow-up on reporting by responsible staff on Output Indicators as per the Monitoring and Evaluation Plan.
• Prepare Output Monitoring Report against project Output Project Indicators and provide information on achievement against the Indicators.
• Make field visits to verify the achievements of Output Indicators.
  Monitoring.
• Under the supervision of the MEAL Officer, the MEAL Assistant will contribute to the implementation of MEAL activities in the field by supporting Project/Field Officers, partner staff and Community Facilitators/Mobilisers in data collection, consolidation and quality management and undertake M&E-related activities and implementation of an appropriate monitoring and evaluation system for successful delivery and attainment of project goals and objectives.

• She/he will also be in charge of implementing the accountability strategy in Gwoza, as well as strengthening capacity-building and capitalization through the development and implementation of learning tools and processes.

Other Responsibilities:
Implementation of the accountability strategy:

• Assist the MEAL Officer in the implementation of complaints and feedback mechanism (CFM) based on the highest levels of integrity which beneficiaries will trust and ensure that they can make confidential complaints and be confident of the response processes
• Monitor complaints received and response (follow-up) processes by developing and maintaining a tracking mechanism
• Ensure that feedback is routinely recorded, reviewed and responded timely in line with feedback mechanism guidelines
• Be the first point of contact for beneficiary, staff and stakeholder complaints
• Maintain and update the CFM database and provide timely update to project staff based on the nature of feedback
• Assist in Analyzing patterns and trends in complaints to help improve programming
• Generate periodic reports and share with the MEAL officer
• Conduct periodic field visit to ensure that accountability systems are in place and the necessary support is provided as needed
• Participate in internal and external meetings related to humanitarian accountability
• The MEAL Assistant will be responsible for managing data at the project level of Outputs Indicators, Quality Monitoring, and FRM (Feedback and Reporting Mechanism).
• Lead the data collection and entry of any evaluation conducted for the project at the field level.
  BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)Accountability:

Implementation of the Monitoring & Evaluation Plan:

• Assist the MEAL Officer in the collection, reporting and validation of monitoring data of project teams and ensure the data reported by Field Officers/Program Managers is accurate and of good quality and reported in a timely manner
• Support in ensuring that community leaders and beneficiaries are actively participating in all project and M&E activities
• Ensure utilization by projects of appropriate data collection and reporting templates that facilitate the acquisition and aggregation of data

Internal and external reporting:

• Update MEAL Officer on daily achievements and challenges encountered on the field, at the end of each day
• Ensure that the data collected goes through a data cleaning and validation process each day
• Keep monitoring tools and files archived at the Field office, ensuring their availability to the MEAL department in the HQ
• Pass on any information or problems to her/his direct and/or indirect supervisor concerning her/his task, CATAI’s programs, or safety aspects
• Share monitoring reports in line with preset quality benchmark findings and prepare action plan jointly with the program team.
• Ensure that the monitoring action tracker, & plan tracker have been maintained and updated on time.
• Conduct follow-up monitoring visits to materialize action agreed in the action tracker and plan tracker and maintain 'Monitoring.
• Crosscheck and verify output monitoring data and share its findings with the concerned program team.
  Accountability:
• Ensure that all staff in the Province fully understand and promote accountability in general and to children in particular through training and coaching.
• Establish an effective functional system for feedback and reporting handling and response mechanisms at the field level with support from the HQ MEAL Officer.
• Ensure the Program team has shared community sharing tools (pocket calendar with MEAL's information, master flex print, toll-free number, and objectives of the activity/ project) with the beneficiaries.
• Support the MEAL Officer to ensure that the feedback and reporting mechanism issues are addressed on time.
• Ensure the feedback and reporting have been timely recorded and sent to the FRM focal Point.
• Conduct preliminary verification and prepare the preliminary report in case of serious nature of feedback/reporting filed by beneficiaries/ communities.
• Support program team and consultants in the field while conducting situation analysis study, baseline, midterm, and end-line evaluation.

Requirements
Qualifications and Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree or HND in a relevant field (e.g., Social Sciences, Statistics, with a minimum of 2year experience in relevant field.
• Experience in monitoring and evaluation, data collection, or related areas, preferably in the NGO sector.
• Basic knowledge of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, especially Excel; experience with M&E software is a plus.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Good report-writing skills
• Good communication skills, with proficiency in English and Hausa.
• Ability to work effectively in a team and to handle multiple tasks under tight deadlines.

Policy Statements:

• CATAI does not charge any fee to facilitate any recruitment process. Center for Advocacy Transparency and Accountability Initiative (CATAI) operates in an equal opportunity environment and has policies that actively encourage gender equality, diversity and social inclusion, Child Safeguarding, Adolescents and Youth Initiatives, PSEA, GBV, VAC and Fraud

Application Closing Date
16th December, 2024.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• Applications will be reviewed on a rolling bases and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
• Our employees enjoy a work culture that promotes diversity and inclusion
• CATAI provides Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability or genetics.
• Other benefits include but are not limited to 100% health care coverage, Pension, maternity leave, and paternity leave for Male parents.