Internship within the Learning, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit of CTA

About CTA

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) is a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU). Its mission is to advance food and nutritional security, increase prosperity and encourage sound natural resource management in ACP countries.

It facilitates access to information and knowledge; supports evidence-based, multi-stakeholder development of agricultural policies and strategies; promotes inclusive value chain development and use of ICTs and strengthens the capacities of agricultural and rural development institutions and communities.

Background and main purpose of the internship

CTA has an opening for a young monitoring and evaluation professional. You will work closely with other team members in the Learning, Monitoring and Evaluation (LME) Unit and across programmes to play an active and integral role in meeting objectives designed to improve and accelerate our outreach and visibility. You will gain experience and exposure to tools and strategies, enabling you to better understand the dynamics of our sector and make a contribution to our organisation.

The LME Unit focuses its work in the following areas: (i) organisational learning and management information systems for decision-making; (ii) project review and planning support; (iii) monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment; (iv) project cycle management skills enhancement and (v) joint learning initiatives between CTA and partners. The Unit commissions independent evaluations and provides guidance for self evaluations undertaken by CTA’s programme teams and ACP partners.

Duties

Under the supervision of the Senior Programme Coordinator LME, while collaborating with other team members, you are expected to provide back-up and technical input in support of the Unit’s work. You will concentrate your efforts on the areas monitoring and organisational learning, and more specifically:

• Analyse quantitative data to assess programme/project performance to guide CTA’s project interventions.
• Assist with setting up external evaluation exercises and compilation of baseline data.
• Draft and edit reports and memos to make quantitative and qualitative data easily understandable to CTA staff and other defined audiences.
• Assist with data management, cleaning, inputting and quality control in CTA’s IT-based project management, monitoring and reporting system and other relevant databases.
• Assist in the production of regular analytical M&E reports based on feedback from CTA partners and beneficiaries.
• Assist with synthesizing and disseminating lessons learned and best practices and contribute to project reports, newsletters, summaries, presentations, evaluations and other materials.
• Provide administrative assistance to the LME unit as needed – including the preparation of PowerPoint presentations.

Academic qualifications, experience and skills

• Recent graduate, 22-29 years old maximum.
• National of one of the ACP or EU States signatory to the Cotonou Agreement (79 African, Caribbean and Pacific States – http://www.acp.int/content/secretariat-acp - and the European Union Member States).
• University degree in social sciences, agriculture, monitoring and evaluation or a related field with a strong background in quantitative methods.
• Experience with statistical packages for both qualitative and quantitative analysis.
• Strong background in IT and Internet applications.
• Familiarity with the DAC evaluation criteria, logical framework and logic model approaches.
• Competence in the use of the MS Office package (especially PowerPoint, Access and Excel).
• Good analytical, written, presentation and communication skills.
• Thorough knowledge of one of the Centre's two working languages (French or English) and a satisfactory knowledge of the other.
• Ideally familiar with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.

Benefits

• Participation in CTA activities will give you an invaluable experience at international level.
• Internship stipend (€ 800 per month for holder of a Bachelor’s degree, € 1,000 for holder of a Master’s degree).
• Payment of travel costs when joining and leaving the Centre.
• Medical coverage for emergency cases of sickness and accident during the internship.

How to apply

Interested candidates are required to send the documents listed below via email to Mieke Muijres (mieke.muijres@wur.nl). Please indicate in the 'Subject' of the email the title ‘Intranet Internship Application’.

• A letter of motivation (maximum one page explaining why you qualify for this position and what you expect to gain from the internship. The date of earliest availability should be specified as well);
• An up-to-date curriculum vitae, preferably EUROPASS format (http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/documents/curriculum-vitae);
• Copies of the highest diploma/degree as well as training certificates related to the position. Original documents are to be presented once you are selected.
• Two letters of recommendation and/or references.

Deadline for applications: 15 July 2014. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.