Consultant – Digital Landscape Assessment Northern Triangle – Remote At Mercy Corps

Background:

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.

Humanitarian cash and voucher assistance (CVA) is a core response modality for Mercy Corps, guided by a COVID-19 Response Pillar Strategy (Cash Transfers, Social Protection And Resilient Households) and Global Compass Objective to “strengthen our technical excellence in cash programming” through adherence to Cash Minimum Standards and commitment to leverage financial service / technology providers more effectively. This includes conducting proper needs assessments / gap identification in order to determine the most relevant modalities, delivery mechanisms, financial service providers, and partnership models that will bolster quality CVA implementation at scale.

Purpose / Project Description:

Mercy Corps’ operations in The Americas are focused in the countries of Bahamas, Haiti, Guatemala, Colombia, Venezuela, US Territory Puerto Rico and The Pacific Northwest. Mercy Corps has been operating in Guatemala for over 15 years, and is known for innovative programming around cash, market-based livelihoods, and violence prevention among others. Mercy Corps Guatemala’s current programs build on our long experience in the highlands region. Our national office recently relocated from Guatemala City to Coban, Alta Verapaz. The Coban office allows us to draw on strong program leaders and support teams (finance, operations, human resources etc) who are representative of the communities where we work. As we are developing our strategy for the broader Northern Triangle, we envision cash programming to be at the forefront of our response, and set the stage for longer-term economic development.

The aim of this consultancy is to support the launch of a Northern Triangle response through a digital landscape assessment, which will then inform program design. They will support the design of the CVA response through mapping and identifying opportunities to leverage technology in the delivery and management of a cash and/or voucher-based response.

This consultant will map digital service providers and potential partnerships in support of a CVA based response and will evaluate participants’ levels of digital connectivity and usage across the potential response areas and target populations. This will range from access to formal banking infrastructure, to digital literacy, to mobile phone penetration and access to mobile financial services. The consultant will be expected to establish key areas of inquiry at launch stage.

Consultant Activities:

This consultant will lead a digital landscape assessment exercise to

1. Scope service providers to assess the relevancy of potential delivery mechanisms with an eye to delivering at scale and potentially linking into longer term financial inclusion goals.
2. Assess digital literacy, connectivity and digital usage across potential target populations to inform program design and identify opportunities to leverage technology.

Consultant Deliverables:

The Consultant will:

1. FSP scoping, assessment and coverage mapping, including determining the capacity of relevant individual FSP categories and providers (e.g. Mobile Money, MFI, etc.) and their ability to scale up or pivot for a response
2. Recommendations/roadmap for:
   1. Delivery mechanism(s) in the response
   2. Drafting and launching framework agreement negotiations with potential FSPs
3. Comprehensive regulatory review to identify opportunities and barriers for cash transfer delivery
4. Summary of strategic opportunities in line with Northern Triangle Response Strategy and any other relevant analysis to inform program policy and planning.

Timeframe / Schedule:

The anticipated length of this consultancy is 30 days. A final timeline will be developed in consultation with Mercy Corps at the beginning of the consultancy to establish deadlines for submission of the deliverables.

The Consultant will report to:

Guatemala Country Representative

The Consultant will work closely with:

The role will report directly to the Northern Triangle Response Director, with regular engagement with relevant technical advisors from the TSU, the Americas Regional Director and RPT.

Required Experience & Skills:

• At least five years of experience working with cash transfer programming.
• Master’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience
• Proven technical advisory skills, including prior project management experience. Direct work with different FSP categories strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with donors and compliance regarding CVA
• Fluency in Spanish and English needed.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.