Caritas Internationalis, a confederation of over 160 Catholic relief and development organizations, represents a global force for humanitarian aid and social justice, operating tirelessly in almost every country worldwide. Guided by its Catholic faith, Caritas addresses critical areas such as disaster relief, healthcare, migration, human trafficking, and poverty alleviation.

Since 2008, Caritas has spearheaded Crises Response globally through its Emergency Appeal (EA) system—a cornerstone for mobilizing resources and delivering impactful assistance during humanitarian crises. Launching an average of 35 appeals annually, this mechanism ensures ethical, effective, and timely support aligned with Caritas’ values. Beyond immediate relief, it champions resilience-building, enabling communities to prepare for and withstand future challenges.

With significant updates in 2014 and 2017, and large-scale appeals across 40 countries since 2019, Caritas has continually adapted to the shifting humanitarian landscape. In the face of the current humanitarian reimagining and aid sector massive funding cuts and operational challenges, Caritas now seeks bold and innovative adjustments to optimize its humanitarian response through a reassessed and improved EA mechanisms and empower National and Diocesan Caritas as leaders and first responders on the ground.

Join this transformative journey as a consultant to:

• Analyze the Emergency Appeal mechanism’s relevance and efficiency in meeting its objectives: The Emergency Appeal mechanism is designed to mobilize resources swiftly during crises. Its relevance lies in addressing immediate needs, such as food, shelter, and medical aid, while also laying the groundwork for long-term recovery. Efficiency is measured by the speed of response, resource allocation, and the ability to meet objectives. Challenges like delays in funding or logistical hurdles can impact efficiency, but continuous monitoring and evaluation help refine the process.
• Assess alignment with Caritas’ core values—ethical practices, impartiality, cultural sensitivity, and inclusivity. Caritas’ Emergency Appeals are deeply rooted in its core values:
  • Ethical Practices: Ensuring transparency and accountability in all operations.
  • Impartiality: Aid is provided based on need, regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation.
  • Cultural Sensitivity: Programs are tailored to respect local traditions and practices.
  • Inclusivity: Special attention is given to marginalized groups, ensuring no one is left behind.
• Alignment with Caritas Modus Operandi, Localisation, and Partnership Principles: Caritas operates through a decentralized model, empowering National and local Caritas to lead responses. This aligns with its Subsidiarity and Localisation Principles, which emphasizes the importance of local leadership, expertise, decision making and ownership. Partnership Principles ensure collaboration with diverse stakeholders, including governments, NGOs, and community leaders, fostering a united approach to humanitarian challenges.
• Assess Stakeholder Engagement in Emergency Appeals: Stakeholder engagement is a cornerstone of Caritas’ approach. Local communities are involved in needs assessments and program design, ensuring interventions are relevant and effective. Partnerships with local organizations enhance capacity-building, while donor engagement ensures sustained funding. Transparent communication and regular updates strengthen trust among all stakeholders.
• Identify actionable opportunities to enhance impact, complement other Caritas humanitarian funding streams, and ensure accountability.
  • Expand Training Programs: Equip local partners with skills in disaster management and resource mobilization.
  • Integrate Technology: Use digital tools for real-time monitoring and reporting.
  • Diversify Funding Streams: Reformulate the Emergency Appeals as a framework to include all humanitarian funding streams, such as institutional grants or private donations (in addition to members flexible emergency funding)
  • Strengthen Feedback Mechanisms: Establish channels for beneficiaries to share their experiences and suggestions.
  • Promote Cross-Sector Collaboration: Work with other humanitarian actors to avoid duplication and maximize resources.

The consultant will lead a dynamic mixed-methods approach, including:

Document Analysis
This involves a systematic review of key documentation to establish a solid foundation for understanding past practices and outcomes. Key aspects include:

• Guidelines: Review existing protocols and procedural frameworks governing Emergency Appeals to assess their clarity, relevance, and adherence to best practices.
• Reports: Analyze Real-Time Evaluations (RTEs), Final Reports, and External Evaluations to identify patterns, recurring challenges, and areas of excellence.
• Case Studies: Examine documented examples of past appeals to uncover valuable insights, innovations, and context-specific successes or issues. This analysis aims to provide a baseline of evidence that can be cross-referenced with feedback from stakeholders.

Interviews and Focus Groups
These are essential for capturing diverse perspectives and obtaining qualitative insights into the mechanism’s functioning.

• Staff and Partners: Engage with key Caritas personnel and partners involved in planning and implementing Emergency Appeals to understand operational challenges, lessons learned, and areas for improvement.
• Donors: Solicit feedback from donors (primarily other Caritas Member Organisations) to explore their experiences with the appeal mechanism, including communication, transparency, and impact.
• Affected Populations: Conduct focus groups with communities who have benefited from appeals to understand their needs, perceptions, and satisfaction with the support received. The richness of these insights will complement quantitative findings, providing a nuanced view of the mechanism’s strengths and weaknesses.

Surveys
A broad-based survey can be used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data from a larger pool of stakeholders.

• Design: Develop a structured yet flexible survey that captures stakeholder views on various aspects of the Emergency Appeal mechanism, including efficiency, inclusivity, and relevance.
• Stakeholder Reach: Disseminate the survey across a wide array of participants, such as staff, local partners, donors, and community representatives, to ensure diverse perspectives.
• Data Insights: Analyze the data for trends, gaps, and areas needing attention. Quantitative data can provide measurable indicators, while qualitative responses can offer context-rich insights.

Case Studies
An in-depth evaluation of select appeals can offer a granular view of what works and what doesn’t.

• Selection Criteria: Choose appeals based on diversity in geography, scale, and type of emergency, ensuring a balanced representation.
• Process Analysis: Examine each step of the appeal process, from planning through closure, to identify best practices and operational bottlenecks.
• Highlight Successes and Challenges: Showcase innovations and successes as well as areas where the mechanism may have fallen short, offering concrete lessons for future appeals.

Validation Workshop
This step ensures that preliminary findings and recommendations are accurate, actionable, and grounded in stakeholder realities.

• Collaborative Review: Bring together key stakeholders, including regional and national Caritas, funding and supporting members to discuss and refine draft findings.
• Feedback Integration: Validate insights by integrating feedback to ensure recommendations are relevant, practical, and reflective of on-the-ground experiences.
• Engagement: Use this workshop as an opportunity to foster buy-in and alignment among stakeholders, which is essential for successful implementation of the review outcomes.

We are looking for an experienced professional with a robust background in humanitarian evaluation and emergency response mechanisms.

Below are the desired qualifications and attributes of the ideal candidate:

Qualifications

• Humanitarian Expertise: Extensive experience in conducting reviews, evaluations, or research in emergency response mechanisms, humanitarian aid, or related fields.
• Sector Knowledge: Familiarity with global humanitarian frameworks, such as SPHERE Standards, Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS), and the "Do No Harm" principles.
• Understanding of Caritas Values: An appreciation for and alignment with Caritas Internationalis’ mission, including its Catholic principles, ethical practices, and focus on dignity and social justice.

Skills

• Analytical and Methodological Rigor: Strong analytical skills to assess processes, frameworks, and outcomes and produce actionable insights.
• Communication Excellence: Ability to convey findings and recommendations clearly and convincingly to diverse stakeholders, both in written and oral formats.
• Cultural Sensitivity: Capacity to work collaboratively across cultures, religions, and contexts, respecting diverse perspectives and values.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Expertise in managing consultations with varied groups, from donors and partners to affected communities, ensuring inclusivity and participatory approaches.
• Language: apart from English, able to conduct interviews in at least another Caritas official language (French or Spanish)

Experience

• Evaluation Leadership: Demonstrated experience leading complex evaluations, reviews, or audits for large-scale mechanisms or organizations.
• Case Study Development: Experience in crafting detailed case studies that highlight best practices, lessons learned, and areas for improvement.
• Workshop Facilitation: Proven ability to organize and lead validation workshops with stakeholders to refine findings and gather feedback collaboratively.

Personal Attributes

• Objective and Impartial: Committed to conducting reviews with fairness and neutrality.
• Visionary and Solution-Oriented: Ability to identify transformative solutions and innovative practices to enhance mechanisms and processes.
• Collaborative Mindset: Thrives in teamwork and fosters constructive dialogue among diverse groups of stakeholders.
• Proactive: Self-motivated with a strong ability to navigate challenges and ensure project success.
  Additional Requirements
• Language Proficiency: English proficiency is mandatory, with additional languages being an asset (e.g., French, Spanish, or Italian).
• Availability: Able to commit to the review timeline and milestones outlined in the Terms of Reference.
• Travel Capacity: Willingness to travel as required for consultations, focus groups, or workshops.

For further details please click on this link.

How to Apply:

For more details, please download the document here.

Submit your proposal, including methodology, timeline, budget, and CV, by May 15th 2025 to emergencies@caritas.va mentioning “EA Review Application” in the email subject.

We shall undertake interviews with selected applications the week of the 26th May 2025.