Laos M&E Support At Adam Smith International

Required: M&E technical advice and implementation support for P4I activities in Laos

Duration: Until June 2024 with possibility of extension

Location: Laos (preferred)

Reports to: LACP Team Leader (in Laos)

Closing Date: 11:59pm (Bangkok time) on 31 December 2023

About P4I

Partnerships for Infrastructure (P4I) is an Australian Government initiative partnering with Southeast Asia to drive sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth through quality infrastructure. P4I partners with Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

P4I works with partners to strengthen infrastructure decision-making and practice across the transport, energy, utilities and telecommunications sectors. P4I’s focus is on the early stages of the infrastructure lifecycle, including planning and prioritisation, financing strategy, and procurement.

The four main services offered by P4I are linkages with Australian government agencies and other institutions, technical and policy advice, infrastructure project advice and knowledge-sharing and learning.

As the foundation of quality infrastructure, P4I also integrates gender equality, disability, and social inclusion, and disaster risk reduction and climate change considerations into all activities.

Delivered through a single team, P4I is led by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in collaboration with Ernst & Young, Adam Smith International, The Asia Foundation and Ninti One.

P4I has a head office in Bangkok, with other staff located around the region. More information about P4I is available at www.partnershipsforinfrastructure.org

Purpose

P4I has a program of work in Laos known as the Laos-Australian Connectivity Partnership (LACP). It is implemented in partnership with the Laos Ministry of Public Works and Transport and is linked to a major World Bank project.

The sub-components of LACP are:

• Support to redevelop cross-border facilities
• Support to develop logistics facilities
• Strengthening policy and capacity for intermodal transport governance

We are seeking an experienced Monitoring and Evaluation specialist to support the work of P4I in Laos. The purpose is to provide technical leadership and help coordinate M&E for LACP, in particular advise the activity teams on the planning and implementation of M&E. Some direct support in data gathering, analysis and reporting will be required. The goal is to ensure that the outcomes of LACP are accurately and comprehensively identified and recorded.

We are particularly interested in hearing from M&E specialists who meet some or all of the following criteria:

• Experience designing and leading the implementation of M&E programs on DFAT funded programs.
• Experience working in Laos or the region, as well as in the transport, infrastructure and/or governance sectors.
• Available to start work quickly, on a flexible basis and able to travel to Laos

Scope of Work

The consultant will support LACP in the following ways:

1. Finalise the overarching LACP M&E Plan (currently in draft form), and develop supporting guidance, templates and simple tools.
2. Simultaneously, work with LACP management and activity teams to plan and implement M&E. This will include support on: refining indicators; identifying the required M&E methods; ensuring teams have the knowledge and skills to gather and analyse data; and taking steps to address this where it is not the case.
3. Simultaneously, provide implementation support in situations where the planning process has identified specific M&E requirements that are outside the scope of activity teams or the LACP program management team to perform. This could include conducting surveys, interviews and focus group discussions, analyzing activity data to determine results, and preparing performance reports.

If appropriate opportunities are identified and agreed, some support could also be provided to other P4I programming in Laos (P4I also has a program focused on sustainable energy). The approaches to M&E being taken for the sustainable energy program may also provide a basis for aspects of LACP M&E.

All advice should be consistent with the P4I Program Logic and Performance Management Framework (to be provided), which includes the integration of three cross-cutting themes: partnerships; gender, disability and social inclusion; and disaster risk reduction and climate change. A focus should be on supporting activities to demonstrate their achievement of the LACP outcomes and the P4I End of Investment Outcomes.

Terms of engagement

A contractual arrangement will be established with the selected candidate to enable the ongoing provision of services. The volume of work will depend on the availability and experience of the selected candidate.

Suppliers will operate in accordance with Australia’s Commonwealth Procurement Rules.

Please note, all Intellectual Property created under the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) contracts or subcontracts is vested with the Australian Government (or its nominee) immediately upon its creation.