Employment Type: Consultancy Contract

Closing Date: Close of business, Thursday, 15^th December 2022.

Supporting Documentation:  TERMS OF REFERENCE (Please visit CADECOM home page: www.ecmmw.org)

• Task Title            Development of the A+ successor Project design
• Length                15-20 days
• Timeframe          December, 2022 to January, 2023

The Catholic Development Commission in Malawi (CADECOM) with support from Caritas Australia has been implementing the ‘Integrated Community Development Programs (Australia Africa Community Engagement Scheme (AACES)’ Program and the Malawi Tanzania Integrated Community Development Programs ( A+) for 12 years now aimed at supporting marginal communities in to enhance their quality of life by adopting an endogenous approach and through improved food security and access to water, sanitation and hygiene services. CADECOM in partnership with Caritas Australia plan to develop a successor Program for A+.

Rationale and purpose

CADECOM is seeking services of a consultant to help design the successor program of the A+ in Malawi. The main purpose is thus to develop a program design that highlights key priority areas of intervention supported with statistics and with clear strategies of intervention

Consultant Key responsibilities

A Consultant will be required to;

• Conduct a desk review of relevant literature including the End of Project evaluation report to best inform the proposal development including but not limited to the baseline study report, final evaluation report and the Caritas Australia strategic plan
• Develop a comprehensive inception report with a detailed methodology on how the consultant intends to carry out the assignment including a detailed work plan
• Identify areas of collaboration with public and private stakeholders including the national development agenda stipulated in the Malawi 2063.
• Facilitate development of the new project design in collaboration with CADECOM
• Consolidate and produce a complete project design (including Budget, Risk Assessment and MEL Framework).

The consultant should have the following: 

• At least a Master’s Degree in development studies or related field. A post graduate level certificate in transformative awareness will be an added advantage
• Demonstrated experience in conducting livelihood related research and developing proposals on livelihood resilience programming
• Proven track record of conducting similar assignments with at least two referees

If interested?                                                                               

If interested in this consultancy task, review the Terms of Reference, and submit an Expressions of Interest (EOI) to chimwemwenkosi@gmail and fdamaseke@gmail.com,  copy to immaculate.jo.j@gmail.com

The expression of interest should also include:

• A curriculum vitae with two references (Max 5 Pages)
• A proposal:

Technical Proposal: The proposed approach and methodology for the consultancy (Max 7 pages)

Financial Proposal: Proposed Budget – including daily rate and all costs in relation to travel, meals, accommodation and other expenses related to the consultancy

• Availability (available months/year) to undertake the consultancy.

Only short-listed applicants meeting the requirements stated above will be contacted. 

For any questions, please get in touch with above email contacts.

Terms of Reference for Designing the A+ successor Program

Background

For over fifty years, Caritas Australia has worked alongside our partners in the most marginalised and remote communities, to challenge poverty and inequality. With continued efforts, CA notes that the context keeps on changing introducing new challenges along the way.  We are faced with a world in which conflict, displacement, extreme weather and diseases are increasingly common. CA’s Strategic Direction is intended to build on existing strengths, successes and learning from its previous Strategic Plan to take us forward into a future where we will need to be more agile and resilient than ever before.

Caritas Australia supported CADECOM in Malawi to implement the DFAT-funded AACES Program since July 2012 to 2016. The program covered 3 Dioceses of Mzuzu, Blantyre and Lilongwe in Malawi. The program was later on succeeded by A+ Program also known as the Malawi-Tanzania Integrated Community Development Program (A+ program) which has been running from 2016 to date.  A recent evaluation of the program revealed that the A+ program is a success looking at the impact on livelihood improvements, food security, WASH and cross cutting components of gender inclusiveness and persons with disability. The evaluation however also highlights that A+ is an unfinished agenda. There are many things and actions that remain to be done to scale up successfully and pre-tested interventions for wider coverage and visibility. The general recommendation is that Caritas Australia should continue with intentions already underway to plan and support a successor program based on the  Strength Based and Right Based Approaches that the program has been using as they have proven to work best.

CADECOM intends to develop a successor program in Malawi to further enhance the positive impacts of the interventions and help marginalized communities by building on the already registered success and drawing from lessons through the predecessor program and work by other stakeholders.

Purpose of the consultancy assignment

CADECOM is seeking services of a consultant to help design the successor program of the A+ in Malawi. The main purpose is thus to develop a program design that highlights key priority areas of intervention supported with statistics and with clear strategies of intervention. Specific objectives of the assignment include the following:

The assignment has the following specific objectives:

• Design a situational analysis research in the new target areas to understand the context in which the new project will be implemented and the change that the communities would like to see
• Identify and engage key stakeholders
• Identify best practices related to community capacities to become self-sustaining
• Identify opportunities through the gaps identified in the current project
• Establish opportunities for marginalised groups such as women groups at district and community levels to maximize their participation access and use of productive resources
• Make recommendations on practical interventions that should be included in the proposed project
• In collaboration with CADECOM staff, lead in development of a complete project design (including Budget, Risk Assessment and MEL Framework)

Scope of the Assignment

The consultant(s) are expected to carry out a desk review of the predecessor projects and national level policies and strategies that will help shape the proposed intervention and ensure that it contributes to the national agenda. Key activities should include the following:

1. Conduct a desk review of relevant literature including the End of Project evaluation report to best inform the proposal development including but not limited to the baseline study report, final evaluation report and the Caritas Australia strategic plan
2. Develop a comprehensive inception report with a detailed methodology on how the consultant intends to carry out the assignment including a detailed work plan
3. Identify areas of collaboration with public and private stakeholders including the national development agenda stipulated in the Malawi 2063.
4. Facilitate development of the new project design in collaboration with CADECOM
5. Consolidate and produce a complete project design (including Budget, Risk Assessment and MEL Framework).

Qualifications of the consultants

The preferred should possess the following attributes:

• At least a Master’s Degree in development studies or related field. A post graduate level certificate in transformative awareness will be an added advantage
• Demonstrated experience in conducting livelihood related research and developing proposals on livelihood resilience programming
• Proven track record of conducting similar assignments with at least two referees

Submission

Proposals are to be submitted not later than the 15^th December, 2022. Submissions are to be made via email to the following address: chimwemwenkosi@gmail.com   and fdamaseke@gmail.com , copy to  immaculate.jo.j@gmail.com.