Position: Evaluation Expert, USAID EE/MELDS

Location: Remote/Washington DC

Integra leads the Europe and Eurasia/Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, and Decision Support (EE/MELDS) contract for the USAID/Europe and Eurasia (EE) Bureau and missions. Integra provides USAID/EE with technical and advisory services related to monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) of USAID/EE projects and activities to enhance MEL capabilities and collect empirical evidence for programming, learning, and adapting. 

Integra is seeking an Evaluation Expert or Senior Evaluation Expert to assist the Evaluation Team Lead in designing, implementing, and reporting USAID project and portfolio performance evaluations in Europe and Eurasia. This role includes contributing to evaluation methodologies, data collection, analysis, and reporting while working closely with team members and stakeholders. 

ROLE/RESPONSIBILITIES

Senior Evaluation Expert
  • Provide guidance on desk review processes, helping the team interpret project documents, data, and stakeholder information frame the evaluation context.
  • Advise on the evaluation design, including methodologies, data collection tools, and timelines, ensuring alignment with best practices and evaluation goals.
  • Offer input on team responsibilities and support training efforts, promoting consistent and accurate data collection methods.
  • Support the team during data collection, providing insights to ensure data quality and actively participating in key stakeholder presentations and workshops as needed.
  • Review and advise on evaluation report drafts to ensure clarity, comprehensiveness, and alignment with USAID/E&E guidelines.
  • Serve as a key advisor, coordinating with USAID and implementing partners to uphold ethical standards and ensure a robust evaluation process.
Evaluation Expert
  • Conduct a detailed desk review of project documents (including reports and collected data) to understand project context and stakeholder involvement.
  • Assist in designing the evaluation methodology and data collection tools with guidance from senior experts.
  • Support role assignments and train team members on evaluation tools and methods to ensure consistent data gathering.
  • Coordinate and participate in data collection activities, including virtual and in-country sessions, ensuring accuracy and thorough documentation.
  • Contribute to drafting evaluation reports in compliance with USAID/E&E guidelines, and assist in gathering and organizing team inputs.
  • Collaborate closely with the evaluation team and senior management, maintaining ethical standards and clear communication with stakeholders throughout.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Minimum of 5 years of experience designing and implementing project performance evaluations.
  • Experience in qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis, and presentation, including designing KII, FGD, and survey tools, analyzing and visualizing data using qualitative and quantitative analysis tools.
    • Preference is given to candidates with experience programming surveys in Kobotoolbox or Survey Monkey.
    • Proficiency in conducting qualitative data analysis using ATLAS, Ti, Nvivo, or similar platforms are preferred.
    • Data visualization skills using Tableau or PowerBI is a plus.
  • Experience delivering remote and in-person presentations to present, discuss, validate, and/or co-create evaluation findings, conclusions, and recommendations. 
  • An undergraduate degree is expected, with a strong preference for those holding graduate degrees in Monitoring and Evaluation, Qualitative and Quantitative Research, Statistics, Sociology, International Development, Public Policy, or related fields.
  • Experience or expertise in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and East Asia is preferred.
  • Working proficiency in English is strongly preferred.

HOW TO APPLY:  Qualified and interested candidates should submit a cover letter and CV to jobs@integrallc.com. Please include “Evaluation Expert” in the subject line of the e-mail. No phone calls please. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Integra provides equal employment to all participants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, veteran or marital status.

Position: Project Performance Evaluation Team Lead, USAID EE/MELDS

Location: Remote/Washington DC

Integra leads the Europe and Eurasia/Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, and Decision Support (EE/MELDS) contract for the USAID/Europe and Eurasia (EE) Bureau and missions. Integra provides USAID/EE with technical and advisory services related to monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) of USAID/EE projects and activities to enhance MEL capabilities and collect empirical evidence for programming, learning, and adapting. 

Integra is seeking experienced Evaluation Team Lead candidates to manage the design, execution, and reporting of USAID project and portfolio evaluations in the Europe and Eurasia region. The role involves leading methodology design, team coordination, data analysis, stakeholder engagement, and report development. This position offers the opportunity to contribute to impactful development initiatives in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Conduct comprehensive desk reviews of relevant project and sector documents, including data, reports, and stakeholder information.
  • Design the evaluation methodology and develop data collection tools in collaboration with the Evaluation Expert.
  • Delegate and train the evaluation team on their responsibilities and the use of evaluation tools, ensuring accurate and consistent application and understanding.
  • Lead all phases of data collection (virtual and in-country).
  • Manage the processing and analysis of data.
  • Oversee key stakeholder engagements including presentations and workshops.
  • Develop and refine comprehensive evaluation reports aligned with USAID/E&E guidelines, delegating report sections among team members as appropriate.
  • Manage the Evaluation Team, coordinate with USAID, and ensure ethical standards are maintained throughout the evaluation.

REQUIREMENTS:

  • A minimum of eight (8) years of experience implementing project performance evaluations, including serving as Team Lead of 3+ evaluations.
  • Experience conducting project performance evaluations for USAID is required.
  • Experience with the World Bank and the United Nations is highly valued.
  • Experience leading evaluation teams of at least four (4) team members is required.
  • Experience in qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis, and presentation, including designing KII, FGD, and survey tools.
  • Experience analyzing and visualizing data using qualitative and quantitative analysis tools.
  • Experience beyond the traditional mixed-method evaluation design, including but not limited to case study design, process tracing, system mapping, and outcome harvesting, is preferred.
  • Experience delivering remote and in-person presentations to discuss, validate, and/or co-create evaluation findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
  • An undergraduate degree is expected, with a strong preference for those holding graduate degrees in Monitoring and Evaluation, Qualitative and Quantitative Research, Statistics, Sociology, International Development, Public Policy, or related fields.
  • Experience or expertise in Eastern Europe and/or Central Asia is preferred.
  • Advanced proficiency and fluency in written and spoken English, equivalent to a native level.
  • Exceptional organizational, analytical, and writing skills.

HOW TO APPLY:  Qualified and interested candidates should submit a cover letter and CV to jobs@integrallc.com. Please include “Project Performance Evaluation Team Lead” in the subject line of the e-mail. No phone calls please. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Integra provides equal employment to all participants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, veteran or marital status.

Position: Project Director, USAID Analytical Services V (ASV)

Location: Remote/Washington DC

Integra is seeking Project Director candidates for an upcoming proposal on the multi-year Analytical Services V contract. This mechanism will provide the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance’s Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DCHA/DRG) with the means to support US foreign policy objectives by promoting resilient, democratic societies. Support for DRG is vital to the pursuit of freedom and national security and is essential to achieve the Agency’s and the US Government’s broader social and economic development goals. The IDIQ will directly build on USAID’s DRG Strategy by supporting USAID Missions and other operating units to develop strategies and projects that will have the greatest impact.

Responsibilities:

  • Provide overall leadership and technical direction throughout the project’s life with a focus on achieving results as described in the contract.
  • Provide technical inputs on select activity proposal efforts.
  • Serve as a primary point of contact for USAID staff and relevant stakeholders, reporting on progress, assessing evolving needs, and communicating lessons learned.
  • Contribute to technical work products, provide quality assurance, and own the delivery of high-value reports and workshops to USAID clients.
  • Work with Integra home-office staff in personnel, contract administration and financial management of the overall project.

REQUIREMENTS:

  • Advanced degree in economics, statistics, sociology, international development or other social science fields.
  • Minimum of 10 years of experience in MEL and research activities for international development.
  • Minimum of 5 years of experience in direct management or oversight of USAID projects.
  • Experience working with USAID/DRG, BHA or OTI preferred.
  • Expertise in democratic governance, participation and inclusion, DEIA, free and fair elections, promoting independent media, civic engagement, rule of law, human rights, e-governance and digital democracy, anti-corruption, and countering authoritarianism highly preferred.
  • Proficiency in USAID regulations, FAR, ADS, procurement procedures, and contract compliance.
  • Experience managing teams of internal staff and consultants resulting in successful project delivery, with a strong preference for experience in managing the concurrent implementation of multiple task orders under similar IDIQ mechanisms.
  • Demonstrated experience in technical proposal writing skills for USAID, Department of State, Millennium Challenge Corporation, or other donors for procurement opportunities.
  • The ability to produce high-quality technical work expeditiously and independently.
  • Strong people skills evidenced by client and team management experience, including through Project Manager roles.
  • Proficiency in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Remuneration Package: A competitive package would be offered based on salary history and
work experience.

HOW TO APPLY:  Qualified and interested candidates should submit a cover letter and CV to jobs@integrallc.com. Please include “Project Director, USAID Analytical Services V (ASV)” in the subject line of the e-mail. No phone calls please. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Integra provides equal employment to all participants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, veteran or marital status.

Kayode Fayemi, Governor Nigeria’s Ekiti state, has declared yesterday his administration is ready to integrate fully Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

Kayode Fayemi, Governor Nigeria's Ekiti state with a big smile

Kayode Fayemi, Governor Nigeria's Ekiti state, is happy about future the preliminary success of the Ekiti state's website. (image: file)

 

He even launched a new official website for the state. The new website will enhance accountability and transparency in governance he believes. The website is also expected to be interactive, easing access to government by providing diverse information on government activities.

The website also linked to Social Media sites like Facebook, Slideshare, Google Plus, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube, as well as mobile applications for Android and Blackberry devices, while Nokia and iPhone versions will be released within a month. Since its’ launch, the website has become the second most visited in Nigeria.

Ekiti is said to be the first state to have Quick Reference (QR) Codes integrated into its website. Fayemi also disclosed that his administration was providing laptops for students in public secondary schools.

While, the Ekiti State University (EKSU) is expected to be fully connected to the internet in two months time to allow students access to e-library. The site is expected to serve as an interactive platform between the people of the State and the government to get feedback and as means of engaging the younger generation.

Segun Adekoye

Eleven Ghanian government departments and agencies will commence with e-government projects to improve service to its citizens, the government said on Wednesday.

William Tevie, National Information Technology Agency (NITA) Director General, encouraged members to get the discussions out of the way to get procedures underway. (image: flickr.com)

William Tevie, National Information Technology Agency (NITA) Director General, encouraged members to get the discussions out of the way to get procedures underway. (image: flickr.com)

These agencies include Food and Drugs Board, National Communication Authority, Births and Death Registry, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional integration, Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Passport Office, National Health Insurance Scheme, National Information Technology Agency, Minerals Commission and Registrar Generals Department.

William Tevie, National Information Technology Agency (NITA) Director General, disclosed this at the stakeholders’ meeting on e-payment system implementation on Tuesday in Accra.

He said the meeting aimed to tackle issues concerning the online payment for government e-service being deployed in the varying stages of the implementation process. The e-government project ensures the presence of important and relevant government information on the web be noted.

The e-services being developed are a Content Management System (CMS) for managing hosted content on the government portal, a payment gateway allowing portal applications to receive payments from customers, e-forms and a document management application. The project is expected to provide a free flow of information between department and agencies, service providers and the public.

He also stated that NITA played a central role in the government e-service such as the geGov currently being used by the Registrar Generals Department and the Ghana Revenue Authority, which was a Public Private Partnership. “An e-justice system, e-immigration, e-parliament, e-passport and e-Government Procurement system are envisaged,” he added.

Tevie urged the participants to use the meeting to deliberate and come out with recommendations that would help establish an effective online payment system that would be of benefit to the economy.

Segun Adekoye

The Higher Tunisian Court trial about blocking certain websites has been postponed until 22 February.

Overhead veiw of boulevard in Tunis

Tunisian internet censorship issues remains undecided. (image: file)

The issue arose late last year after Tunisian lawyers filed lawsuits. They felt national policy was lax around access to adult websites. They proposed these be blocked, calling into question internet freedom.

The ATI (Tunisian Internet Agency) appealed the lawsuit, noting the financial and technical difficulties of censorship.

Throughout ousted President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali’s term internet filtering was implemented.

Tunisia’s has four million internet users. The government considers ICT central to helping the country’s growing economy.

Micro blogging service and social media website Twitter revealed yesterday that they now have the ability to block certain Tweets from other users across the world. While certain Tweets may be perfectly legal in some countries, Twitter will begin to restrict Tweets in specific countries where content may be contentious.

Twitter now has the ability to block certain Tweets from other users (image: Bartelme Designs)

“Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country while keeping it available in the rest of the world. Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression,” Twitter wrote on their blog.

As an example, the company said that Tweets with “pro-Nazi content” will not be visible in France and Germany, where it is banned – but will be visible to the rest of the world.

The announcement comes in stark contrast to a blog post last year during the Arab uprisings, when Twitter said it won’t censor Tweets.

“We do not remove Tweets on the basis of their content. Our position on freedom of expression carries with it a mandate to protect our users’ right to speak freely and preserve their ability to contest having their private information revealed.”

Charlie Fripp – Acting online editor

"Mohamed suffered a lot. He worked hard. But when he set fire to himself, it wasn't about his scales being confiscated. It was about his dignity." —Mannoubia Bouazizi, Tunisia Photograph by Peter Hapak for TIME

2011 will be remembered as the year that democratic awakening occurred in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Activists used information and communication technology (ICT) tools to organize and coordinate political demonstrations that brought an end to long-standing regimes and paved the way to landmark elections.

Time Magazine fittingly awarded the “Person of the Year” accolade to the protester. What would come to be known as the “Arab Spring” began in Tunisia’s under-developed town of Sidi Bouzid, where the late Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor whose wares were confiscated by the police, set himself on fire outside of a government building in December 2010. Few would have predicted that Bouazizi’s actions would trigger an uprising that brought an end to Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s 23-year-old regime on January 14th.

Video clips of the first protests, including demonstrations at the spot where Bouazizi set-himself on fire, were recorded on mobile phones, posted on YouTube, and spread across Tunisia and in the Arab world when they were shared on Facebook before news media outlets such as Al Jazeera began running their stories, reports Robert Mackey in the New York Times.

The Tunisian revolutionary spirit spread in neighboring Egypt. Inspired by events in Tunsia, political demonstrations began in January as thousands took to the streets in anti-government protests against poverty, rampant unemployment, corruption, and demanding an end to the 30-year autocratic rule of President Hosni Mubarak, writes Cara Parks in The Huffington Post.

Aware of the potent effect that social media had in Tunisia’s uprising, the Egyptian government blocked Facebook, Twitter, and later Internet services to lead a crackdown on the largest protests the country had witnessed since 1970s, according to Parks. Despite violent clashes with the riot police, protests  kept going not only in Cairo, the capital, but also in Alexandria and Suez, and two other major cities.

Photo Credit: Huffington Post

The revolution’s main goal was achieved with the resignation of President Mubarak on February 11th. Activist Wael Ghonim, a marketing manager for Google who played a significant role in organizing the January 25 protests by reaching out to young Egyptians on Facebook, credited the social networking site for the success of the Egyptian people’s uprising, says Catharine Smith in The Huffington Post.

“[…] This revolution started on Facebook. […] We would post a video on Facebook that would be shared by 60,000 people on their walls within a few hours. I’ve always said that if you want to liberate a society just give them the Internet. […],” Ghonim told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in an interview that Facebook and the Internet were responsible for the uprising in Egypt.

After Egypt, it was the turn of Syrians to protest against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Pro-democratic demonstrations began in January and young Syrians, inspired by the ousting of Ben Ali in Tunisia and Mubarak in Egypt, began organizing protests online and then took them to the streets.

In this citizen journalism image made on a mobile phone, Syrian men carry bread loaves during a protest against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, in the coastal town of Banias, Syria, May 3, 2011 Photo Credit: AP

Syrian activists have been working their computers and mobile phones, updating Facebook pages, sending out messages over Twitter, and uploading videos onto YouTube to inform the outside world of what was taking place in their surroundings since foreign reporters were banned, reports Margaret Besheer for VOA news.

Libya was the revolution’s next stop in North Africa . Protests broke out in February in the eastern city of Benghazi and escalated to an armed conflict as forces loyal to Muammar  Gaddafi clashed with anti-government rebels. Gaddafi was captured and killed on October 24 bringing an end to four decades of autocratic rule.

Libya Crisis Map illustrates how ICTs can be applied in a conflict situation. This web-based platform was created by the Standby Task Force, and used the Ushahidi crowdsourced crisis reporting system to map latest news from Libya gleaned from Twitter and traditional news sources.

The LibyaCrisisMap platform was activated by the request of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to the Standby Task Force (SBTF). The platform was fully handed over to OCHA supervision in April 2011, and continued to be supported by a team of volunteers until June 4th of 2011.

 

Yemenis also took up the streets in February to protest against President Ali Abdullah Saleh calling for his resignation. Saleh agreed a deal, in which he will transfer power to his deputy by February 2012, ahead of elections. Young Yemeni Activists are however angry that the deal guarantees immunity for Mr Saleh and his allies, reports the BBC.

The Kingdom of Bahrain, with financial, equipment and manpower backing from its Saudi neighbor, is the only government in the MENA region to  have successfully crushed pro-democracy demonstrations, reports Adrian Humphreys in the National Post.

Revolutions in the spring paved the way to landmark elections in the fall.

Tunisian politicians engaged voters via YouTube ahead of the October 23rd elections of representative for the new Constituent Assembly, which will ratify a new constitution and appoint a new transitional government that will schedule elections for a permanent government. Tunisia Live, a startup news portal,  launched Tunisia Talks on YouTube where citizens asked questions to politicians.

Egyptians also queued up in numbers at polling stations in the country’s first democratic elections. Citizens took up the responsibility to monitor the electoral process blogging and Tweeting about irregularities and fraudulent activities. Parliamentary elections will end in March and Presidential elections are scheduled for mid-2012.

ICTs in form of social media platforms, cell phones, and the Internet played a significant role in the push for democracy and governance not only in the MENA region but also throughout the world.

Launched in June, ICT for Democracy in East Africa is a network of organizations seeking to leverage the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance good governance and strengthen democracy.

This initiative is funded by the Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions (SPIDER) and aims to promote collaboration amongst democracy actors in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Member organizations in the network are Kenya’s iHub, the Kenyan Human Rights Commission (KHRC), the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), Transparency International Uganda (TIU), and Tanzania’s Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG).

iHub, an open space for the tech community in Kenya, hosted a governance workshop in October.  The event brought together stakeholders in academia, government, civil society and the tech community to identify governance challenges—such as an uninformed or misinformed citizenry about their basic rights and an entrenched culture of corruption. The take away from the session was that ICTs—particularly mobile phones—provide citizens with the platform by which they can engage in governance solutions in a discreet, personalized way, anytime, anywhere.

In the wake of 2012 Presidential elections, citizens need to be better educated, informed and engaged in the political processes to avoid post-elections clashes as it was the case in 2007. To this end, KHRC plans to tap into the potential of ICTs to increase citizen participation, monitor human rights violations, monitor the electoral processes, monitor government fulfillment of promises, carry out campaigns and also inform and educate its constituents and the public on various human rights and governance issues.

Civic participation and democracy monitoring is relatively weak in Uganda given that only 59% of registered voters cast their ballots in the February 2011 presidential elections, according to SPIDER. The proliferation of ICT tools, their potential to enhance communication and improve access to important information creates an opportunity for improved citizen engagement and advocacy towards increased transparency and accountability.

Through the strategic use of ICTs, Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), aims to improve access to public services, increase efficiency, transparency and accountability of government and political processes to ensure that citizens are informed about government functions and promote efficient service delivery.

WOUGNET will particularly target women, in community based organizations (CBOs) located in the rural districts of Northern Uganda.  WOUGNET aims build the ICT capacity of these (CBOs)  to monitor public service delivery as part of its anti-corruption strategy.

Similarly, Tanzania’s CHRAGG is implementing a project that will create  a system that will enable citizens to file complaints, check the status of already filed complaints and receive feedback through SMS. The project will help poor Tanzanians forego the transportation lodging costs involved in filing complaints in far off regional offices.

The World Bank approved in June a $20 million credit to support Moldova’s Governance e-Transformation (GeT) project.  According to Philippe Dongier, World Bank ICT sector manager, eTransformation is “about leadership commitment for institutional reform and for citizen-centric governance.”

The project is part of a Government initiative to address Moldova’s legacy of corruption and bureaucracy inherited during the Soviet Union era by improving and modernizing public sector governance and increasing citizen access to government services.

As part of an institutional reform, the Government established in August 2010 an e-Government Center charged to develop a “digital transformation policy, a government IT strategy, and an open data roadmap”. In April, Moldova became one of the first countries in the region to launch an open data portal.

“The initiative is aimed at opening government data for citizens and improving governance and service delivery,” says Stela Mocan, executive director of the e-Government Center.

Benefits of GeT

GeT has several intended benefits that include increased transparency. The Ministry of Finance recently released a spreadsheet of more than one million lines, detailing all public spending data from the past five years.

“Publishing information about public funds will increase transparency,” says Prime Minister Vlad Filat

GeT also intends to reduce the cost of public service delivery. Through “cloud computing” infrastructure—in which applications and data are accessible from multiple network devices—the Government also expects significant savings in public sector IT expenditure.

Promoting innovation in the civil society sector is another key feature of the project. The Bank’s Civil Society Fund in Moldova—which provides grants to nongovernmental and civil society organizations—is supporting the National Environment Center in the collection and mapping of information on pollution of water resources. Since 80% of Modova’s rural population use water from nitrate-polutated wells, this initiative aims to empower citizens with the necessary tools to hold the Government accountable on the environmental policy.

E-Government: a worldwide phenomen

According to the Wolrd Bank, “e-Government” is the use by government agencies of information technologies—such as Internet, and mobile computing—that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government.

Moldova is not the only country using ICTs as part of an innovative approach to address corruption and strengthen democracy.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan of the  State of Maharashtra in Western India recently launched an e-Governance program that aims to tackle corruption by reducing personal interaction between the public and government officials and requiring government officials to use computers in their day-to-day operations. Limiting discretion and facilitating the process of tracking all transactions decrease the incidence of corruption.

To combat fraudulent activities during elections, the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) upgraded its computer and communication network in 2002 to verify the eligibility of voters who had lost their voting cards or whose names were missing from the manual voter registers in the respective polling stations.

ICTs’ potential for addressing governance challenges is significant. Through increased transparency and accountability, governments can better serve their citizens. Implementing successful e-Government initiatives in developing countries is a challenging endeavor. However, sustained political commitment to institutional reform, citizen-centric policies, and financial backing create an environment where ICT applications can improve governance.

 

 

 

 

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