Specialist for Mid-term Assessment on Capacity of CIFPEN's Pool of Experts

SUPERVISOR’S TITLE:  Project Director
COORDINATES WITH: CIFPEN and CHF Capacity Building Specialists, and Project Manager
JOB TITTLE: Specialist for Mid-term assessment on capacity of CIFPEN's pool of experts
DUTY STATION: Hanoi

Background
CHF, a Canadian NGO with 50 years of experience in international development, has entered into a partnership agreement with Center for Rural Communities Research and Development (CCRD) which is on behalf of the Civil Society Inclusion in Food Security and Poverty Elimination Network (CIFPEN) for the purpose of working together on a Capacity Building Project. The project, funded through grant assistance from Irish Aid’s Civil Society Facility, is aimed at increasing the capacity of a number of Vietnamese organizations to effectively mobilize grassroots participation and deliver development programs and services targeting vulnerable groups such as ethnic minorities. By strengthening the organizational, programmatic and networking capacity of VNGOs, CHF and CIFPEN will enhance the role of civil society organizations in participatory democracy while improving the resilience and livelihoods of vulnerable communities. The project will take a ‘learning-by-doing’ approach to capacity development by administering a sub-project fund aimed at providing opportunities to local organizations to apply their newly acquired skills for effective delivery of responsive sub-projects.

Pool of experts (26 people) are VNGOs staff who participating into a two year CIFPEN Capacity Building Project from 2011 to 2012. One of project’s objectives is to provide capacity building activities to pool of experts through various approaches including training of trainer and implementation of sub-projects. In the year one, project provided various training of trainer courses to pool of experts and enable them training to other VNGO staff. The following trainings and activities had been implemented by pool of experts.

Received training Participatory Rapid Institutional Assessment and Planning (PRIAP) and carried out Institutional Assessment at 12 VNGOs. 12 pool of experts.
Received and carried out training on Participatory Project Monitoring and Evaluation.  5 pool of experts.
Received and carried out training on Participatory Project Cycle Management. 4 pool of experts.
Received and carried out training on Human Resource Management and Finance. 4 pool of experts.
Received and carried out training on Participatory Adult Training skills. 6 pool of experts.
Received training and carried out training on Communication Skills and networking. 4 pool of experts.

Carried out various subprojects at four VNGOs including; i) Inclusive and Development Action (IDEA); ii) Nghe An Gardening Association; iii) Ha Tinh Center for Community Development (HCCD); and iv) Quang Binh Quang Binh Rural Development and Poverty Reduction Fund (RDPR) where pool of experts have been applying above learnt knowledge into implementation of the subprojects.

Assessment objective:
After one year implementing capacity building for pool of experts project plans to assess the capacity of those pool of experts to ensure that the capacity building activities met the requirement of the pool of experts; to measure capacity level of pool of experts to identify how difference before and after one year implementation of the project; to provide recommendations for improving capacity building of pool of expert in year two of the project and ensure that pool of experts can be “independent experts” in various expertises after end of project.
Scope of Work and Activities:

The Specialist will be expected to perform the following duties under the overall supervision of Project Director. He/ She will coordinate and cooperate with CIFPEN’s and CHF’s Capacity Building Specialists and Project Manager.

To evaluate capacity building activities which have been provided to pool of experts to ensure that those activities met requirements and capacity level of pool of experts.
To evaluate capacity building trainings including content and curriculum which were prepared by pool of experts to know the capacity level of pool of experts and propose requirements of improvement.
To evaluate training methods, skills and approaches which were used by pool of experts during trainings to identify weaknesses and requirements of improvement.
To evaluate the level of understanding and knowledge of pool of experts in above specific training subjects to identify the requirement of knowledgeable improvement.
To evaluate the adaptation and application of leant knowledge of trainees (selected VNGOs) who received capacity building activities from pool of experts to have specific requirements of improvement.
To evaluate the adaptation and application of learnt knowledge of pool of experts into implementation of subprojects (4 subprojects).

Write final training report which reflects and analyses the current context of capacity building activities, capacity level of pool of experts and provide recommendations for improvement of pool of expert’s capacity.

Assessment methods: The assessment would be done by interview, questionnaires and case study.

Duration of the assessment: The assessment will be implemented within working 10 days including preparation steps, carrying out the assessment and report writing. It is expected to start middle of March and finish middle of April 2012. The

Essential Skills and Experience:
1. Masters degree (or equivalent experience) in a field related to development.
2. Minimum seven (10) years of professional experience in a field related capacity building;
3. Proven skills in capacity building of local NGOs, with experience providing capacity building assessment;
4. Strong experience in, knowledge of and experience in applying participatory techniques and promoting gender equity;
5. Fluent in written and spoken Vietnamese and English.

The consultant fee is to be negotiated during interview. Please send your application dossier by March 23th 2012 to the following address or email:

Project Management Unit
The Center for Rural Communities Research and Development (CCRD)
28 Pham Tuan Tai Street, Cau Giay District,
Hanoi, Vietnam
[email protected],  cc: [email protected]