Introduction/Background

The ACT programme strengthens feminist advocacy, coalition-building and multi-stakeholder action to end violence against women and girls (VAWG) across West and Central Africa. HOPE Liberia and the Smart Women Collaborative (SWC), Ghana are engaging one firm to deliver two linked activities under the Regional Advocacy Framework: a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Plan (Activity 2) and an Advocacy Tracking Tool (Activity 3) that operationalizes it. Together, these will help regional and national partners track how conventions and commitments translate into national laws, policies, budgets and implementation, and use that evidence for adaptive management, joint advocacy and cross-country learning.

Assignment Description

Overall Objective: A simple, standardised system for tracking the implementation, results, learning, and reporting of EVAWG interventions across the six pilot countries, supporting timely data collection, analysis, decision-making, accountability, and programme improvement.

Specific Objectives

• Track progress against EVAWG activities, performance indicators, targets, and timelines.
• Capture and analyse programme results and beneficiary reach.
• Identify implementation gaps, challenges, and corrective actions.
• Support timely and evidence-based reporting and decision-making.
• Document key lessons, good practices, and emerging learning.
• Strengthen data quality, consistency, confidentiality, and safe management of EVAWG-related information.

Assignment Purpose

The MEL Plan and Tracking Tool will provide the HOPE–SWC partnership and national partners across the six pilot countries with a shared, standardised system to plan, monitor, learn from, and report on EVAWG advocacy interventions, and to generate credible evidence for regional advocacy, cross-country learning, and future resource mobilization. The outcome of this assignment feeds into the regional ACT advocacy framework which clearly defines the regional advocacy strategy to ending violence against women and girls, through Advocacy, Coalition Building and Transformative Feminist Action.

Scope of Work

Activity 2: MEL Plan

• Review key documents and consult stakeholders across the six pilot countries.
• Confirm the results framework/Theory of Change.
• Develop an indicator dictionary covering definitions, disaggregation, baselines, targets, data sources, frequency, and responsibilities.
• Establish reporting, review, feedback, and adaptive-management mechanisms.
• Develop templates for country, quarterly regional, and donor reporting.
• Validate the MEL Plan with HOPE, SWC, and country focal points.

Activity 3: Advocacy Tracking Tool

• Assess user, connectivity, device, language, and data-sensitivity requirements across the six countries.
• Develop the tool around four modules: (A) Conventions and Commitments, (B) Domestication and Implementation, (C) Advocacy Actions and Outcomes, and (D) Issues, Cases and Learning.
• Develop a cloud-based, offline-capable platform with validation workflows, dashboards, exports, and role-based access.
• Embed data protection and safeguarding measures, including no personally identifiable survivor information.
• Conduct prototyping, piloting, user testing, training, and phased rollout.
• Hand over the complete tool, data, configuration, and documentation to HOPE–SWC.

Scope

Geographic

Six pilot countries: Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo, with the system designed to be scalable to the wider ECOWAS / West and Central Africa region.

Thematic (minimum)

• Convention and commitment tracking (ratification and domestication status)

• Domestication and implementation of laws, policies, and budgets addressing EVAWG

• Advocacy actions and outcomes, including coalition and multi-stakeholder engagement

• Issue/case documentation and learning (excluding personally identifiable survivor data)

• Data quality, confidentiality, and safeguarding across all six countries

Methodology and Approach

The assignment will combine document review, multi-country stakeholder consultation, and participatory tool design and testing.

Desk Review (minimum)

• ACT programme proposal, Theory of Change, and Regional Advocacy Framework

• Existing country-level MEL frameworks or tools, if any

• Relevant regional and national EVAWG conventions, laws, and policy instruments

• Prior reporting templates, data-sharing agreements, and safeguarding policies

Consultation and Co-Design (minimum)

• Key informant interviews with HOPE, SWC, and country focal points

• Consultation workshops (in-person or virtual) with national partners in each of the six countries

• User requirements sessions with intended tool users (connectivity, device, language, data sensitivity)

• Prototype walkthroughs and user acceptance testing prior to rollout

Data Quality, Ethics and Safeguarding

The consultant/firm must apply strong ethical and data-protection safeguards throughout design, testing, and rollout, consistent with international data-protection good practice.

• No personally identifiable survivor information will be collected, stored, or displayed by the Tracking Tool at any stage.
• Role-based access controls will govern who can view, enter, or export data.
• Informed consent and confidentiality protocols will apply to all consultations and pilot testing involving staff or partners.
• Alignment with any applicable national data-protection laws in the six countries.

The proposal and inception report should adequately address the following tool Management, sustainability, and Data Use concerns.

1. a) How will the tool be managed (locally, or regionally)?
2. b) What incentives can be leveraged on to ensure continued use of the tracking tool?
3. c) Data interpretation and use: Who/how will data collected using the tool be interpreted and disseminated?

Deliverables

The table below sets out the indicative deliverables, structured by milestone, aligned to the September– October 2026 indicative period.

Indicative Workplan and Timeline

Management and Coordination Arrangements

• The consultant/firm will be contracted by HOPE Liberia on behalf of the HOPE–SWC partnership.
• HOPE and SWC will facilitate access to documentation, country focal point contacts, and coordination support for scheduling consultations, testing, and training across the six countries.
• A Joint Technical/Steering Committee (HOPE, SWC, and country focal point representation) will review and approve the inception report, MEL Plan, Tracking Tool design, and final deliverables.
• The consultant/firm is responsible for the technical delivery, quality assurance, and documentation of both the MEL Plan and the Tracking Tool, and will present progress and products to stakeholders for validation at each milestone.

Quality Assurance

• Approval of the inception report and indicator dictionary prior to full MEL Plan drafting.
• Structured review and sign-off of the MEL Plan by HOPE, SWC, and country focal points before Tracking Tool design begins.
• User acceptance testing and a documented pilot report prior to production deployment.
• Final quality checks of the handover package for completeness (tool, data, configuration, and documentation), data-protection compliance, and usability.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Firm/team with 5+ years’ experience in MEL systems design and digital MIS platforms for advocacy or accountability tracking.
• MEL/Advocacy Specialist with expertise in indicators, adaptive management, contribution analysis, and learning systems.
• Systems/Technical Lead experienced in requirements, system architecture, and offline/low-bandwidth platforms, preferably in West or Central Africa.
• EVAWG policy knowledge of ratification, domestication, and African regional frameworks.
• Data Security/Safeguarding Specialist with experience in data protection and safeguarding.
• Professional English required; French strongly preferred.
• At least two comparable assignments and 2–3 client references.

Application/Proposal Submission Requirements

• Technical proposal covering the methodology for both activities, MEL approach, tool architecture, offline functionality, data security, training, and rollout.
• Work plan with key milestones, timelines, and team roles.
• CVs of key personnel and evidence of relevant/comparable assignments.
• Financial proposal with separate costs for professional fees, hosting/licensing, training, travel, and warranty/maintenance.
• Company documentation, including registration, tax documents, and client references.

Submission deadline: September 3, 2026

Submission email: info@hopelib.org

Email subject line: “MEL Plan and Advocacy Tracking Tool – Proposal”

Proposal Evaluation Criteria

A minimum technical threshold of 70% will apply before financial proposals are considered.

Indicative Payment Schedule

Ownership, Data Protection and Key Risks

Ownership

HOPE–SWC owns the MEL Plan, all datasets, indicators, dashboards, configurations and outputs produced under the contract. No personally identifiable survivor information is collected; safeguarding is applied from design through handover.

Key Risks and Mitigation

Expected Result

By completion, HOPE–SWC will have an approved MEL Plan with clear indicators and adaptive-management feedback loops for the regional advocacy framework, and an operational Advocacy Tracking Tool built on that MEL Plan, enabling country validation, regional aggregation, and evidence-based learning that can be sustained and expanded beyond the project period.

Primary Intended Users

• HOPE Liberia and SWC Ghana leadership and MEL/programme teams
• Coalition Country focal points and national implementing partners across the six pilot countries
• ACT programme regional coordination structures and donors
• Government and coalition counterparts engaged in EVAWG convention domestication and implementation