Dates of Internship: November 2017- April 2018 (flexible)
Intern Manager: MEL Manager
Funding Available for Internship: This is an unpaid internship but a modest living allowance is provided in country (see below for details)
Responsibilities:
Mercy Corps responsibilities:
For the duration of this internship assignment the intern will receive:
- $800/month stipend to be distributed in-country
- ISOS Emergency Med-Evac coverage
- Ground transport in country
- Visa fees (reimbursed by DRC office)
- Housing in Goma (shared)
- One leave day per month
Intern responsibilities:
- Intern will remain responsible for all costs associated with:
- International travel
- Medical costs in addition to standard insurance coverage (vaccinations, if applicable)
- All other costs associated with this internship
Program/Department Description
Mercy Corps is an international humanitarian and development Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) which has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since August 2007, with a staff of about 200 people. Mercy Corps’ country office is located in Goma with field offices in Mweso, Kitchanga (North Kivu) and Bukavu (South Kivu), and a representative office in Kinshasa.
Current Mercy Corps humanitarian activities in the DRC focus on providing emergency assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs), especially through cash distributions and WASH activities. Mercy Corps DRC also implements complex WASH, Food Security, Governance and economic recovery development programs, with an increasing shift towards transitional and integrated development programming.
General Position Summary:
The Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning (MEL) Intern will support M&E systems-building across the mission’s numerous projects, as well as focal-point the development of the project learning strategy. With numerous projects entering the start-up phase, the MEL Intern will play a key role in designing M&E plans, drafting data collection tools, and supporting evaluation activities. This position will be the perfect fit for an inquisitive self-starter who is looking to apply their formal M&E training in the field—and discover what does and doesn’t work outside the lab!
At the beginning of the internship, the MEL Intern will highlight specific areas of interest with the MEL Manager; together, they will review the mission portfolio to identify activities that can serve as professional learning opportunities.
Examples of such professional development activities might include:
- Building a CommCare application
- Drafting a project M&E plan
- Supporting a gender assessment
- Conducting data quality assessments and provide recommendations
- Designing a program dashboard.
The MEL Intern will additionally lead two mission-wide activities, the Bon Apprentissage initiative and the Program Learning strategy. The Bon Apprentissage initiative aims to promote professional development within the mission through a weekly lecture series. The nascent Program Learning strategy will aim to facilitate mission-wide programmatic and operational learning to inform future actions.
Through these activities, the MEL Intern will gain experience 1) promoting capacity building across a wide variety of humanitarian- and development-related subjects, 2) researching, elaborating and pitching a knowledge management strategy with implications for the entire mission.
Learning Objectives:
At the completion of this internship, the intern will gain experience:
- Developing inclusive indicator reference sheets, terms of reference, and questionnaires for monitoring/assessment exercises
- Conducting descriptive data analysis using Excel
- Drafting reports showcasing key findings of data collection exercises (in French and English as required)
- Programming smartphones for electronic data collection
- Applying different methodologies to the elaboration and delivery of assessments and monitoring exercises according to need.
Contextually, the MEL intern will gain the following:
- Hands-on M&E experience with humanitarian and development projects covering a wide variety of sectors
- Good understanding of the operational and administrative challenges that INGOs need to overcome to implement successful programs in extremely complex environments.
- Working in a bilingual (French/English) environment.
- The final deliverables will be defined with the intern on arrival depending on the current context in country and the intern’s expectations.
Ideal Candidate Should Possess the Following Qualifications:
- Curiosity and an analytic bent.
- English and French fluency, spoken and written.
- Graduate study, complete or in progress, in international development, or other relevant course study.
- Experience conducting research and analysis from primary and secondary data sources.
- Knowledge of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) best practices.
- Demonstrated interest in humanitarian and emergency response programming and strong motivation.
- Experience in drafting or supporting report, communication and learning pieces.
- Strong writing and analytical skills required.
- Ability to respect Mercy Corps procedures, to meet deadlines, to work independently and cooperatively with team members is required.
- Patient, calm, and willing to come to work each day with a sense of humor.
- Demonstrated familiarity with the context of the DRC.
LIVING CONDITIONS:
This position will be based in Goma (DRC). Accommodation will be provided in Goma within group housing, with other interns or level 3 staff. Goma is a provincial capital of over 700,000 inhabitants. Living in Goma is comfortable, although water, electricity and use of Internet can be unstable. Mobile phones and cellular service are widely available. Internet is available in all Mercy Corps offices. There are a number of health services available with evacuation options for serious illnesses. There’s reasonable access to most consumer goods, although they can be expensive, and different restaurants and leisure activities are also available.
While conditions in the country are improving, there are still pockets of violence and insecurity. Moreover, in the current political context, presidential elections are expected to be conducted by the end of the year. But since it is probable that they will not happen, the situation may worsen in the next months. Mercy Corps’ sub-offices experience variable levels of insecurity, with the situation closely monitored by UN peacekeepers. Air travel is necessary to get from one end of the country to the other.
Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.
To learn more and apply, visit: https://jobs.jobvite.com/mercycorps/job/oYGh6fwL
