BACKGROUND
The Standardized Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transitions (SMART) is an inter-agency initiative launched in 2002 by a network of organizations and humanitarian practitioners. SMART advocates a multi-partner, systematized approach to provide critical, reliable information for decision-making, and to establish shared systems and resources for host government partners and humanitarian organizations.
The SMART Methodology is an improved survey method that balances simplicity (for rapid assessment of acute emergencies) and technical soundness. It draws from the core elements of several methodologies with continuous upgrading informed by research and current best practices.
The SMART Methodology is based on the two most vital and basic public health indicators for the assessment of the magnitude and severity of a humanitarian crisis:
- Nutritional status of children under-five.
- Mortality rate of the population.
These indicators are useful for prioritizing resources as well as for monitoring the extent to which the relief system is meeting the needs of the population, and therefore the overall impact of relief response.
SMART ensures that consistent and reliable survey data is collected and analyzed using a single standardized methodology. It provides technical capacity for decision-making, reporting, and comprehensive support for strategic and sustained capacity building.
The widely used combination of SMART and ENA software has improved data quality review and assurance in larger surveys (e.g. Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys- MICS and Demographic and Health Surveys- DHS) and has also been incorporated into many national nutrition protocols. Additionally, SMART survey results are now used in early warning systems.
SMART Methodology looks to reform and harmonize assessments of and responses to emergencies and for surveillance (if used at equal time intervals). It ensures that policy and programming decisions are based on reliable, standardized data and that humanitarian aid is provided to those most in need.
As the Global Convener for the SMART Initiative, Action Against Hunger has been involved for the past decade in providing global technical expertise and guidance for the collection of nutrition and mortality data using the SMART methodology. Specifically, the Initiative works closely with national nutrition clusters, nutrition information working groups, Ministry of Health (MoH) and humanitarian and development organizations (i.e. UN, INGO, Local NGO) to enhance capacity to plan, collect, analyse, and utilize nutrition data collected at sub-national and national levels using SMART methodology. In addition, Action Against Hunger has significant experience in developing and strengthening nutrition information and quality assurance mechanisms at country and global level. The SMART Initiative has been present in East Africa since 2013, where the Initiative has been providing technical support and building capacity of partners on nutrition assessments and information management. In 2017, the SMART initiative established a regional presence in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) through USAID BHA financial, supporting the set-up of the SMART Middle East project to address the most vulnerable populations in Yemen and Syria, Sudan, and Libya, respectively. Through its global mandate, the Initiative has experience supporting key humanitarian emergencies in Asia and is currently providing dedicated technical support for South-East Asian countries (e.g. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Myanmar and Pakistan) through provision of a SMART advisor based in the region since May 2019. By the end of 2020, the SMART Project trained a total of 838 people in the East and southern Africa region, 311 people in Asia, and 227 people in the MENA region (112 in Yemen).
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THE EVALUATION
- Carry out an evaluation of the project performance using the DAC criteria, or something similar used in the M&E sector.
- Assess the appropriateness of the design and strategies used, its effectiveness and efficiency, and adaptation of the project management structures and monitoring mechanisms in relation to the results and impact achieved, considering different HQs and country’ missions involved.
- Assess key factors (internal and external) that have contributed to or hindered the achievement of results.
- Provide findings, key lessons learned, and best practices, conclusions, recommendations for follow-up actions and future interventions, including conclusions that different stakeholder groups will develop based on their own recommendations and insights (including intended and unintended results).
Each of the outlined objectives should be analyzed in a participatory, collaborative and results-based approach using appropriate key informants and criteria. Cross-cutting issues need to be incorporated in each evaluation criteria and questions.
For more details about the evaluation consultancy, please refer to the full TOR here:https://smartmethodology.org/job-board/job/17675-2/
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SMART Program Evaluation - ReliefWeb
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