National MEAL Consultant

Annex 2 – TERMS OF REFERENCE

FOR THE CONSULTANCY CONTRACT OF: National MEAL Consultant 

1. Duty Station of the Consultancy:    The consultant’s duty station will be on-site presence at the IOM office in Addis Ababa. The consultant will be full-time and is expected to travel to the project site for implementation support.
2. Duration of Consultancy: The consultant is expected to take five months (May to Sep 2026) of contract with possible extension depending on the availability of the budget and the performance of the consultant. The consultant will report monthly in accordance with the work plan agreed upon with the line manager.
3. Nature of the consultancy: The consultancy will be under category A and will be responsible for carrying out MEAL support.
   1. Provide comprehensive monitoring, evaluation, and learning support, including field monitoring, assessments, surveys, and documentation of findings to strengthen evidence‑based programme decisions.
   2. Lead data quality and information management efforts, including feedback mechanisms, data quality assurance, secure data storage, and ethical data handling.
   3. Support organizational learning and reporting through capturing lessons learned, managing knowledge products, and contributing accurate, timely MEAL inputs to internal and donor reports.

These deliverables include, but are not limited to, the following:

Monitoring and evaluation support 

• Conduct regular field monitoring in line with approved work plans and ensure compliance with organizational and donor M&E standards.
• Support implementation of M&E tools (M&E plans, data collection tools, Site Visit Notes, assessments, evaluations).
• Participate in baseline, midline, endline studies, PDMs, and satisfaction surveys.
• Draft and contribute to MEAL reports, identifying gaps and recommending corrective actions.
• Share monitoring findings with programme teams and stakeholders to inform decision‑making.

Accountability oversight 

• Support timely and adequate information sharing and meaningful participation of the affected community
• Support the establishment and operation of feedback and complaint mechanisms adapted to local contexts.
• Conduct regular site visits to assess beneficiary satisfaction and document accountability-related findings.
• Support the AAP team where beneficiary feedback is systematically collected, analysed, and used to inform programme improvement.
• Support adherence to accountability standards across project activities.

Learning and knowledge management 

• Support the documentation of lessons learned, best practices, success stories, and case studies across projects.
• Contribute to learning reviews, after‑action reviews (AARs), and periodic reflection meetings.
• Facilitate knowledge‑sharing sessions with programme teams and partners to strengthen institutional learning.
• Maintain updated knowledge repositories, including MEAL guidance, tools, and templates.
• Promote adaptive learning by ensuring evidence and insights inform programme design and improvement.

Data quality assurance, data management, and reporting 

• Ensure accuracy, completeness, consistency, and timeliness of data collected across all MEAL activities.
• Conduct routine data quality assessments (DQAs) and follow up on identified gaps or inconsistencies.
• Maintain structured and secure data storage systems, including databases, trackers, and shared folders.
• Support cleaning, verification, and organization of raw data before analysis and reporting.
• Ensure proper documentation, version control, and safe archiving of MEAL data and tools.
• Facilitate data accessibility for programme teams while ensuring compliance with data protection and confidentiality standards.
• Contribute to the preparation of internal and external reports (weekly, monthly, quarterly, donor reports) with accurate and timely MEAL inputs.
• Support the consolidation of monitoring data, survey findings, and assessments into coherent analytical reports.
• Prepare visual data summaries (charts, dashboards, tables) to support decision‑making and reporting requirements.
• Assist programme teams in meeting donor reporting standards, guidelines, and timelines.

1. Scope of the assignment 

The consultant will be responsible for supporting and strengthening the mission’s overall MEAL system and functions under the direct guidance of the supervisor. This includes contributing to the execution of MEAL activities across projects, ensuring the quality, accuracy, and reliability of data, and supporting regular reporting processes. The consultant will also conduct field visits to verify progress, document findings, and provide actionable recommendations. In addition, the role involves facilitating organizational learning, supporting knowledge‑management practices, and enhancing accountability mechanisms to ensure meaningful engagement with affected populations. More importantly, the consultant will play a central role in overseeing MEAL plans, activity implementation, and reporting requirements for the following key projects:

1. Leveraging the use of the population mobility mapping tool at the points of entry and along high-mobility corridors (MP0634 -WFP)
   1. Enhancing the capacities of Ethiopia to address the reintegration of returnees (RR0545)
   2. IOM rapid deployment of infectious disease outbreak response activities during acute health emergencies (MP0724)