Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance – Mid-Term Review
Description
Project/Consultancy Title: Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance – Mid-Term Review
Project Location(s): Nepal, Indonesia, Jordan, and HQ
Finance Department Code: 91647L501
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.
The Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance (ZCRA) is a multisectoral collaboration working to build resilience to climate hazards in rural and urban contexts, and at local, national, and international levels. Formerly the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance, it builds on more than a decade of evidence generation, community programming, and policy engagement to deliver systems change at scale. Mercy Corps is a core member of the Alliance, implementing programmes in Jordan, Indonesia, and Nepal and leading global influencing activities.
Purpose / Project Description:
This consultancy will conduct the Mid-term Review (MTR) of ZCRA Phase 3a (2024–2027). The evaluation will assess progress towards the Theory of Change in each country and for global influencing, review relevance and effectiveness of the activities conducted so far. It will also provide recommendations to strengthen the implementation, alignment, and synergies of the activities, and identify strategies for scaling and sustainability. These recommendations and strategies will feed into a strategic review of the programme (May 2026) and into the proposal for ZCRA Phase 3b (2028-2032)
Consultant Objectives:
The Consultant will:
- Assess progress of ZCRA Phase 3a towards its intended outcomes on resilience building, DRR/CCA systems change, and inclusive approaches.
- Evaluate relevance, effectiveness, and sustainability of interventions at community, national, and global levels.
- Identify lessons learned and make actionable recommendations for adaptive management and strategic design.
- Strengthen cross-country synergies and coherence between country and global influencing components.
- Provide strategic recommendations to inform Mercy Corps’ ZCRA Strategy Refresh (2026) and the next programme phase (2028–2032).
Consultant Activities:
The Consultant will:
- Conduct a desk review of programme documentation, MEL data, logframes, and ToCs.
- Develop an inception report with a detailed evaluation framework for each country and for global influencing.
- Oversee and coordinate qualitative data collection (KIIs, FGDs, case studies) in Jordan, Indonesia, and Nepal, and with global stakeholders, conducting one in-country field visit and remotely supervise data collection in the remaining two.
- Facilitate validation and sensemaking workshops with country and global teams.
- Consolidate findings and prepare draft and final reports for each component and a synthesis report.
- Prepare a presentation deck, summarizing key findings and recommendations.
Consultant Deliverables:
The Consultant will deliver:
- Country specific evaluation ToRs, and a Global level evaluation ToR outlining the specific questions, methodology and the process that will be followed for each of the four components of ZCRA program
- A consolidated logic model, clearly outlining commonalities across the three country programmes and the global program, and if possible, common program framework to bring all four interventions under one programming umbrella
- Inception report: This includes a detailed evaluation framework, selected evaluation questions, selected key interventions and indicators, scope, proposed tools, desk review, and data collection and analysis plan
- Country reports (Jordan, Indonesia, Nepal), including 2-page summaries for each country
- Global influencing report, including a 2-page summary
- Synthesis report (Covering the overall findings across the countries and at global level, including areas of synergies and collaboration), including a 2-page summary
- Lessons learned brief, either as a separate document or a clear section in the country and global reports that can be called out as a separate product. A brief document that can be used with partners, donors, outlining both positive and constructive lessons and the journey of adaptive management for ZCRA for interventions that were improved and adapted for better results, and for the interventions that need attention and adaptation
- Presentation deck with voice over recording: summarising findings and recommendations from the evaluation, with detailed notes for each slide and voice over presentation
Timeframe / Schedule:
The consultancy will run from October 2025 to June 2026, following this indicative schedule:
- October 2025: Consultations with programme teams and inception meetings.
- November 2025: Submission of draft inception report.
- December 2025: Validation of inception report.
- Dec 2025 – Feb 2026: Data collection (fieldwork in Jordan, Indonesia, and Nepal). Note that country-level data collection will have to be completed by mid-February 2026.
- February-March 2026 Data analysis and validation workshops (country, global, and cross-cutting).
- April 2026: Draft country, global, and synthesis reports.
- May 2026: Presentation of key findings at ZCRA Strategy Refresh workshop.
- June 2026: Submission of final reports and presentation materials.
The Consultant will report to:
Barbara Rosen Jacobson, Senior Advocacy Advisor
The Consultant will work closely with:
- ZCRA global team
- ZCRA country teams in Jordan, Nepal, and Indonesia
- Mercy Corps MEL team
Required Experience & Skills:
- Minimum 15 years of experience in evaluation, including as principal evaluator for large, multi-country programmes.
- Proven expertise in resilience, climate adaptation, and systems change programming.
- Strong knowledge of both qualitative and quantitative evaluation methodologies, including mixed methods design.
- Demonstrated ability to synthesize complex data and generate actionable recommendations.
- Excellent communication and facilitation skills, including leading participatory workshops.
- Experience with policy and advocacy evaluations in multi-stakeholder settings is strongly preferred.
- Strong understanding of GESI-sensitive evaluation approaches is preferred.
- Experience in the ZCRA target countries (Jordan, Indonesia, Nepal) is preferred.
Team Engagement and Effectiveness
Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work.
We recognize that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process, and we remain committed to learning, improving, and growing together.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.
Safeguarding & Ethics
Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.
Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.