Consultant, Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the DG ECHO Global Thematic Programmatic Partnership (GTPP)

The DG ECHO Global Thematic Programmatic Partnership (GTPP) is a global programme designed to strengthen National Society preparedness, resilience, and humanitarian action through coordinated implementation across five regions and 15 countries. The programme builds upon lessons and investments made through the previous DG ECHO-funded Pilot Programmatic Partnership (PPP) while fostering stronger collaboration and complementarity with other donor-funded initiatives.

The GTPP is a 24-month action (1 July 2025 – 30 June 2027) with a total budget of EUR 15.1 million. Its specific objective is that approaches for principled, effective and contextualized humanitarian action, led by local and national actors, are strengthened and harmonized. It is structured around four results: (1) enhanced disaster preparedness and response capacity; (2) strengthened epidemic and pandemic preparedness, and health and WASH capacity; (3) National Societies as trusted local actors with strengthened organizational capacity and service delivery; and (4) strengthened Red Cross and Red Crescent leadership, collaboration, coordination and alignment. Twelve of the 15 participating National Societies took part in the 2022–2025 DG ECHO–IFRC Pilot Programmatic Partnership (PPP), whose mid-term review (2024) and final evaluation (2025) informed GTPP design. A shelter cluster coordination component (Bangladesh, Indonesia and Madagascar) is being added under Result 4 through a modification request. Strategic oversight is provided by an Internal Steering Committee and an External Steering Group with DG ECHO.

The programme operates within a matrix management context involving IFRC Global, Regional, Country/Cluster Delegations, Host National Societies, and external stakeholders. Effective implementation depends on clear ownership, decision-making authority, programme management capability, and visibility of programme performance across all levels.

Programme monitoring to date has highlighted strengths in coordination structures, programme support mechanisms, financial and technical guidance, and stakeholder engagement. However, the following areas have been identified for strengthening, which the MTR should test and explain:

• Uneven ownership and accountability across contexts.
• Financial implementation rate and narrative reporting (Comparisons).
• Inconsistent programme management capacity.
• Weak follow-through on escalated programme issues.
• Incomplete visibility of implementation progress and expenditure.
• Insufficient sharing of good practices and learning across the programme.
• Delays in programme start-up (PGA finalization and fund transfers, e.g. banking constraints in Burkina Faso and Syria), compressing the implementation period in some countries.
• Contextual shocks requiring adaptation, e.g. the June 2026 earthquakes in Venezuela and concurrent Ebola and cholera outbreaks in DRC.

The MTR is therefore not intended as a compliance check of progress against plans. While progress towards results will be reviewed (Objective 4), the emphasis is on examining how the programme has adapted to challenges and whether effective course correction mechanisms are functioning as intended.

The Mid-Term Review (MTR) will assess the progress, performance, management arrangements, and emerging issues of the DG ECHO-funded Global Thematic Programmatic Partnership (GTPP) at the midpoint of implementation. The review will provide evidence-based findings and recommendations to inform course correction, strengthen programme delivery during the remaining implementation period, and generate lessons for future global programmes. It will also strengthen the evidence base and evaluability of the programme ahead of the final evaluation planned for mid-2027.

Please find here the detailed ToR.

Required

• Advanced university degree in Monitoring & Evaluation, International Development, Humanitarian Action, Social Sciences, Public Administration, or related field.

Required

• (for consultancy team) Team Leader: At least 10 years of evaluation experience within humanitarian and development programmes.
• Demonstrated experience evaluating complex multi-country and multi-stakeholder programmes.
• Proven experience evaluating organizational or institutional capacity strengthening, localization or National Society development initiatives.
• Experience in applying theory-based and participatory methods (e.g. contribution analysis, outcome harvesting) and designing and analysing surveys.
• Experience of remote data collection and of working in fragile and conflict-affected settings.
• Experience working with EU/DG ECHO-funded programmes, ideally including programmatic partnerships or multi-year, multi-country capacity-strengthening programmes.

Required

• Strong understanding of programme management, grants management, PMER and donor compliance systems.
• Strong qualitative and quantitative analytical skills.
• Excellent report writing and facilitation skills.

Preferred

• Familiarity with the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement is highly desirable (e.g. the auxiliary role, and National Society development approaches such as PER and OCAC/BOCA).

LANGUAGES

Required

• Fluency in English, French and Spanish.

Preferred

• Fluency in Arabic and Russian are an advantage.
• (for consultancy team) A gender-balanced team with knowledge of the five regions is an asset.

Application Instructions

• Please submit your application in English only.
• Please include the following documents in the application:
  • In one document:
    • A technical proposal (max. 10 pages) covering understanding of the ToR, proposed approach and methods, an outline evaluation matrix, sampling and case-study selection, workplan, and team composition with level of effort per member;
    • One or two comparable evaluation reports led by the proposed Team Leader;
    • Contact details of three references for similar assignments;
    • A separate financial proposal; and
    • A signed declaration of no conflict of interest.
  • In a separate document:
    • CVs of all proposed team members and confirmation of availability for the assignment period.

The closing date and time for this vacancy are based on Geneva time. Applications must be submitted by 23:59 (11:59 PM) Geneva time on the advertised closing date.