Community-led Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (ColMEAL) Officer, TOGETHER Project

Job Description

About ADRA Kenya

ADRA Kenya (the Adventist Development and Relief Agency Kenya) is a faith-based agency that strives to demonstrate God’s love and compassion. We work to change the lives of people in need so profoundly so that they can help themselves and create positive change around them.

Project Description

The TOGETHER project (uniting Towards Gender Equality for the enjoyment of women and girls’ Total Health and Rights) is a 6-year gender-transformative initiative to increase the enjoyment of health-related human rights of the most vulnerable adolescent girls and boys (10-19 years), women and men (20+ years) and children under 5 years (U5), especially those with intersecting vulnerabilities, in indigenous, remote or resettlement settings in Kenya, Cambodia, Philippines, and Uganda. The project is an initiative of ADRA Canada, its Canadian partners (Salanga and Sick Kids), together with implementing partners (IPs): ADRA Cambodia, Kenya, Philippines, and Uganda. The projects also bring together local and grassroots women’s organizations and duty-bearers in each country and is funded by Global Affairs Canada’s (GAC) The project in Kenya targets people living in indigenous, remote or resettlement settings in Turkana West sub-county of Turkana County and seeks to contribute to poverty reduction by improving response to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV); improving equitable access to and use of health care services, especially on reproductive health, and emphasizing preventative care.

The desired project outcomes are to be achieved through:

• i. Promoting equitable use of health services by empowering and reducing barriers preventing access for adolescent girls and women (AGW) and children U5 through activities focusing on building self-confidence, Female and Male Champion Groups, and gender-responsive training that target boys, men, parents/caregivers, and other key gatekeepers.
• ii. Improving provision of gender-responsive and inclusive health, social, and nutrition services for the most vulnerable AGW and children U5, by increasing capacity of service providers, caregivers, and educators, and increasing support from duty-bearers.
• iii. Increasing community-led actions to reduce structural barriers to health-related rights, especially sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), by building the capacity of the most vulnerable AGW in action planning, utilizing the innovative Community-led Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (ColMEAL) methodology, and supporting grassroots women’s organizations.

Job Summary

The CoLMEAL Officer will lead and strengthen community-led monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning processes within the TOGETHER Project. The role focuses on strengthening community-led rights protection among AGWs by equipping them and their community leaders with the skills and tools needed to identify challenges, generate evidence, and drive locally led solutions to SRHR/SGBV issues. Through sustained mentorship, technical guidance, and collaboration with community structures and health system actors, the CoLMEAL Officer supports the scale-up of community-driven approaches that improve service delivery, accountability, and long term protection outcomes.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

• Design, initiate, and facilitate productive, collaborative, respectful, and solution-oriented community-level monitoring evaluation, accountability, and learning systems.
• Provide technical leadership in planning, scheduling, and implementing CoLMEAL activities, ensuring all processes are carried out and reported within workplan timelines.
• Facilitate and support community monitoring teams to make evidence-based decisions and report results, while guiding community members to identify their SGBV issues, define the changes they want to see, and develop their own indicators and measures of success to strengthen community ownership.
• Foster and maintain strong relationships with community members, local government, and other stakeholders by promoting community-led rights protection and integrating SRHR/SGBV activities within existing community and government structures. This includes supporting the initiation and strengthening of community-based processes and systems for data collection, analysis, service delivery, and long-term project sustainability.
• Develop and implement work plans for the CoLMEAL scale-up, ensuring they strengthen community-led rights protection among AGWs.
• Actively identify and incorporate opportunities to link CoLMEAL activities with other ongoing program interventions.
• Conduct engagement activities with local, regional, and national stakeholders for policy change and impacts on the ground.
• Act as the lead trainer on CoLMEAL by providing targeted mentorship, skills-building, and continuous guidance to community members—including marginalized and vulnerable groups—to enable them to lead their own MEAL processes. This includes training and coaching in community-led rights protection, data collection, analysis, validation, dissemination, reporting, and the effective use of evidence to achieve the project’s intended outcomes.
• Work with communities to co-design data collection tools (e.g., surveys, FGD guides) that are context-specific, fit-for-purpose, and accessible to different groups in line with their pathways.
• Promote data use and learning by ensuring that information gathered from the field is primarily used by communities for decision-making, adaptive management, continuous learning, and project reporting.
• Support communities to use their self-generated evidence to foster accountability and drive SRHR/SGBV advocacy, including holding duty-bearers accountable, advocating for improved services, and influencing local SRHR/SGBV policies and decision-making processes.
• Provide support in project communication to ensure all stakeholders are informed about project objectives, activities, progress, and opportunities for involvement throughout implementation.
• Contribute to the development of the Program implementation Plan (PIP), annual work plans and detailed implementation plans (DIPs) to identify project targets and ensure inclusion of M&E activities
• Support the development, design, and writing of proposals and concept notes for related programming information management and reporting
• Perform other duties as deemed relevant to the assignment and advancement of the project objective by the supervisor

Educational Qualifications, Experience, & Skills Required

• University degree in statistics, demographics, public health, or international development with additional training in the field of monitoring and evaluation is preferred.
• At least three (3) years of experience in project implementation, with demonstrated expertise in community-led approaches for rights protection and their contribution to enhancing protection rights against GBV and CEFM.
• Extensive experience in facilitating training and mentorship, with a strong focus on community empowerment and GBV prevention/response.
• Strong background in participatory analysis, community evidence generation, and supporting communities to use evidence for action, advocacy, and accountability.
• Demonstrated experience in participatory processes and in facilitating dialogue among and between communities, development partners, the private sector, civil society, and government on sensitive matters
• A good understanding of the social-economic and environmental dynamics of the ASAL counties, of Kenya particularly, Turkana County
• Strong skills in participatory MEAL, community facilitation, qualitative inquiry, and community-driven evidence generation.
• Strong research, analysis and M&E skills.
• Excellent evaluation, analytical and synthesis skills, with the ability to translate community-generated data into actionable insights.
• Knowledge of the major evaluation methodologies (qualitative, quantitative, mixed method, and impact) and data collection and analysis methodologies
• Ability to synthesize complex information and communicate it effectively to diverse audiences; ability to design and implement efficient workflows and procedures
• Ability to coordinate and work in teams, as well as in complex environments.
• Strong communication, facilitation, and advocacy skills, with proven ability to engage communities and stakeholders respectfully and productively.
• Excellent interpersonal, written, oral and interpersonal skills. Proficiency in
• English and Kiswahili is required. Knowledge of Turkana language is an added advantage.
• Strong initiative, adaptability, and ability to manage multiple tasks in challenging field environments.
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently and work in remote areas of Turkana County.