Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Consultant for the Women’s Land Rights Initiative GESI Component in Liberia
Terms of reference
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Consultant for the Women’s Land Rights Initiative GESI Component in Liberia
Background
Landesa is an international nonprofit dedicated to ending global poverty by securing land rights for rural communities around the globe. Founded in 1981, Landesa has worked in more than 65 countries throughout the world, with central office staff in the U.S. (Seattle, Washington and Washington, DC) and regional programming in China, India, Liberia, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand. Landesa partners with governments, civil society, and companies to develop pro-poor and gender-sensitive laws, policies and programs that have helped strengthen land rights for more than 720 million people since 2019. The organization is supported by NGOs, foundations, donor agencies, world leaders, educational institutions, and individual supporters around the world. Landesa has been consistently ranked one of the top 10 international NGOs in the world and has received numerous awards for its work (e.g., 2015 Hilton Humanitarian Award). Landesa’s annual budget of $14 million is supported by private foundations (e.g., Ford Foundation, LGT Venture Philanthropy, Skoll Foundation), public sector donors (e.g., GIZ, FCDO, FAO), individuals (including MacKenzie Scott) and corporate contracts.
Landesa leads the GESI capacity building component of the Women’s Land Rights Initiative (WLRI) in Liberia. The component seeks to comprehensively transfer knowledge and skills on gender equality and social inclusion to the institutions and actors who shape land governance, particularly Community Land Development and Management Committees (CLDMCs), Community Forest Management Bodies (CFMBs) and traditional leaders, so that they take account of the interests of women, youth and persons with disabilities in their community-facing interactions. By embedding GESI capacity in CLDMCs, CFMBs, traditional authorities and county offices, the WLRI helps the institutions responsible for customary land represent all members of their communities and deliver land administration services equitably. The GESI component consists of GESI training for County Land offices and Forestry Development Authority (FDA) county offices; GESI training for CLDMCs and CFMBs; GESI training for women, youth, and persons-with-disabilities (PWD) leaders; and grievance and dispute training and help desk setup. The WLRI began in June 2026 and ends in June 2027. It targets 24 customary communities from eight counties in Liberia.
Landesa is seeking applications from consultants to support Monitoring & Evaluation of the Landesa-led GESI component of the WLRI. Assessments of changes in duty-bearers’ knowledge due to the trainings will be conducted over the course of the WLRI. Qualitative research activities will be conducted in the last quarter of the initiative to assess changes in duty-bearers’ capacities to advance the rights and interests of women, youth, and persons with disabilities in community land and natural resource governance and to identify lessons learned and recommendations for similar future initiatives. The qualitative research activities will also include a small number of questions to be developed by the WLRI partners on a separate project component piloting Residential Area registration in the communities.
The Consultant will have primary responsibility for: quantitative analysis of data collected before and after trainings for the knowledge change assessments; design, conduct, and data-analysis of the qualitative research activities; write-up of a learning synthesis report; and facilitating learning & reflection discussions with the WLRI-Landesa staff over the course of the work.
Main responsibilities
Become familiar with the training interventions and knowledge change assessment tool.
Ensure secure storage of all data collected through the knowledge change assessment tool.
Quantitative analysis of data collected through the knowledge change assessment tool.
Design the qualitative research activities, including sampling and data collection tools, with review and feedback from the Landesa Liberia team and the Sr. Research and Evaluation Specialist.
Coordinate travel logistics for the qualitative fieldwork.
Coordinate with the Landesa-Liberia team to schedule and identify/confirm sites for carrying out the qualitative data collection activities.
Carry out in-person qualitative data collection, ensuring quality control and safe, secure storage of all data collected.
Analyze the qualitative data collected.
Ensure that all activities related to data collection and management follow Landesa’s Ethical Guidelines for Research.
Prepare a MEL assessment and Learning Synthesis Report, summarizing findings from the knowledge change assessments and insights and lessons learned from the qualitative research activities, with review and feedback from the Landesa Liberia team and the Sr. Research and Evaluation Specialist.
Facilitate 1-2 reflection & learning discussions with the WLRI-Landesa staff over the course of the work.
Deliverables
Data collected through the knowledge change assessment tool stored in a secure online folder provided by Landesa.
Design of qualitative research activities.
Detailed field notes from the qualitative research activities stored in a secure online folder provided by Landesa.
MEL assessment and Learning Synthesis Report (12-15 pages, excluding annexes). The report should focus on the following assessment questions:
How have duty-bearers’ capacities to apply GESI principles in land administration and governance changed as a result of training interventions?
How have women, youth, and PWD leaders’ capacities to participate meaningfully in community land governance changed as a result of training interventions?
How have community capacities for inclusive grievance handling and dispute resolution changed as a result of project interventions?
Additionally, the report is expected to include a separate section on insights from a Residential Area registration pilot that is part of the WLRI project.
Anticipated timeline and level of effort (LOE): November 2026 to June 2027 with anticipated total LOE of 40-50 days. The Consultant should expect to spend 3-4 days per month from November to March on onboarding, accompanying select training interventions, quantitative analysis activities, and facilitation of reflection & learning discussions; and 25-30 days over April to June on the qualitative research activities and report write-up.
Preferred qualifications
Candidates with minimum 5 years’ experience conducting Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning of rural development projects in Liberia will be given high preference.
Strong skills in qualitative research methods (i.e., facilitation of key informant interviews and focus group discussions, analysis of rich qualitative data)
Proficiency in quantitative analysis, particularly as it concerns entering and analyzing data in Excel.
Familiarity with gendered livelihood, governance, and tenure concepts
Strong writing skills
Current knowledge of Liberia’s customary land governance context, including community land formalization processes, CLDMCs, CFMBs, traditional authorities, county land offices, and gender equality and social inclusion considerations affecting women, youth, and persons with disabilities.
Application instructions
Application instructions
Qualified, Liberia-based consultants may submit proposals by September 21st, 2026, to Dr. Tatiana Gumucio [email protected] with copy to Gmasonah Toga Aboah [email protected] and Catherine Macharia [email protected] . Applications should include the following information:
CV, including contact information of clients for at least two past projects
Letter of interest describing relevant experience and expertise
Proposed approach to obtaining informed consent, protecting confidentiality, managing sensitive data securely, and conducting accessible and inclusive interviews or focus group discussions in appropriate local languages, with translation or interpretation support where needed.
Writing sample