Terms of Reference: Developing an online tool for legislative oversight
Purpose
Elected officials are expected to conduct oversight visits, but often have relatively little background in either monitoring and evaluation, or the sectoral area they are overseeing. Support staff can provide guidance, but are often overburdened, and are faced will challenges gathering and synthesizing data and navigating the politicized oversight process, leaving them with little capacity to structure well informed oversight processes that speak to fundamental principles of M&E. This app is designed to support elected officials and support staff prepare for oversight visits.
Features
The mobile app to provide M&E in oversight (still to be named) is essentially a large survey tool with skip logic. It should first allow users to select the sector of the oversight visit. We will begin with at least:
• Health (clinic/hospital)
• School
• Safety (Police Station/community safety)
• Park
• Housing
• Transport
• Community Development
• Home affairs
The administrator will be trained to add any additional fields as the app is applied in field and as we develop the capacity for its use as an oversight tool.
Within sectors, it will allow the user to select both the “result level” for oversight, such as:
• activity monitoring,
• output verification,
• outcome analysis, and
• impact contribution
It will also allow the user to map stakeholders, selecting:
• service users
• affected community members
• direct implementers
• facility managers
• administrators
• procurement or account holders
• professional association/policy norms and standards
• technical experts
The app will prompt the user with a few basic questions about the programme design, to allow an identification of the key result levels to focus on. It will then aid the user to identify relevant questions targeted at the right stakeholders, at the right result levels.
Phase One
In the first phase of app development, the tool should work like the paper copy of a workbook, with the online interface making it easier for the user to identify the correct questions. It should be openly available to anyone, does not require user logins, does not store information, etc. and be able to be used offline when in-field.
Phase Two
In the second phase of the app development, the tool should allow users to log in, and also allow them to store responses to questions. There should be a geolocation feature, allowing them to identify the specific facility in question, and there should be the option to upload supporting pictures and reference documents. They should then be able to recall this information if needed, providing an oversight journal for the representative in question.
Phase Three
The third phase of the app development will only happen in conjunction with a technical assistance (TA) exercise. The tool should allow for “groups” to work together simultaneously inputting planning targets, starting with SDG’s, national development goals, drilling down to municipal level targets and indicators. There should be an option of sharing information between users (i.e. between elected representatives and support staff), helping the app to track progress against different targets, as well as alerts.
Technical specifications
We would like a proposal that covers phases 1 and 2 of app development. The proposal should include a comprehensive gannt chart with specific milestones as well as three proposed mock ups in terms of design. We would like the possibility to build on the app to phase 3, but don’t have immediate plans for building in that direction.
1. Develop an app policy regards administrator rights this will include auto uploading of csv files for users.
2. The app to be available with a stylus (PDA fashion)
3. All IP belongs to CLEAR AA
4. Troubleshooting for a period on 12 months whilst using the app
5. Training to the team
6. Lastly, a comprehensive User acceptance testing in alignment with PMBOK procedures to be followed before final sign off on the design and application abilities.
7. BI reports (mobile app analytics to be produced on a monthly basis
8. Ability to export the backend data captured into the full MS suite of packages
Please send a detailed proposal for the development of a mobile app to [email protected] by 10 June, 2017.
Service providers will be selected by 30th June. Content for phase 1 will be workshopped in mid-July, with finalization anticipated in September.
Terms of Reference: App development
The Strengthening Legislative Oversight team at CLEAR-AA are looking to build an online tool for parliamentarians to use on oversight visits. Having no coding expertise themselves, they are looking to pay someone to help them with this exciting project.
The Terms of Reference for a consultant/team/organisation can be found here.
Proposals are due by the 10th June, to [email protected]
Peer learning strengthens African evaluation methods
The African Evidence Network (AEN) recently published a short article on the work of Twende Mbele, with a specific focus on our peer-learning model and our work at the AfrEA conference in Kampala, Uganda earlier this year.
“There was a widespread recognition of the value of peer learning to ensure the SDGs reflect an African context, and that the tools for measuring context are appropriate. There was also a call for a strengthening of multi-stakeholder approaches, and stronger collaboration to ensure that supply and demand for evaluation in the region are better matched.“
“Monitoring and evaluation practitioners across the region are struggling with the fact that the tools, systems, and approaches to monitoring and evaluation have largely been created in a very different context of management and governance. Decades of implementation have demonstrated that they are not always appropriate to an African context. However, huge strides have been taken in the last decade to build regionally effective approaches. Peer learning, collaboration, and network development is offering a way of expanding appropriate tools and methods in the region, and making sure that good practices are captured by the growing systems in the region…“
Read more about Twende’s work on the AEN here.
Call for Proposals – SAMEA
The South African Monitoring & Evaluation Association (SAMEA) takes pleasure in inviting you to take part in its 6th Biennial SAMEA Conference to be held at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa from 23-27 October 2017.
The theme for this year’s conference is: ‘Purpose-driven Monitoring and Evaluation’
This Conference is a key pillar of the SAMEA strategy to broaden the evaluation community and to increase commitment amongst evaluation users and decision-makers to use quality evidence for informed decision-making. Abstracts are due 15th June 2017. For more information, go here.
MPAT Gets Started in Uganda
First MPAT Workshop Held in Uganda
To kick start implementation of the Management Performance Assessment Tool (MPAT) adaptation in Uganda, the National MPAT Task force developed a work plan based on the overall MPAT concept note. The plan is to undertake the adaptation and introduction of MPAT in Uganda in five stages;
- Develop a briefing note, which was completed by a team of 6 people.
- A consultation stage with political principles and other senior officers who are involved in reform in the public service.
- Undertake a situational analysis and needs assessment of the performance management policy and system in the Uganda Public Service with the view to understanding the performance status.
- Dissemination workshop to present to the MDAs, the design, implementation and management of MPAT.
- Implementation of the MPAT tool