External Review of ACF USA’s MEAL Function

**TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR)**

**External Review of ACF USA’s MEAL Function**

**REF; RLC/CON/MEAL/05/001**

**Background**

Action Against Hunger leads the global movement to end hunger. We innovate solutions, advocate for change, and reach 28 million people every year with proven hunger prevention and treatment programs. As a non-profit that works across 55 countries, our 8,990 dedicated staff members partner with communities to address the root causes of hunger, including climate change, conflict, inequity, and emergencies. We strive to create a world free from hunger, for everyone, for good.

Action Against Hunger USA is part of the Action Against Hunger International network. As an independent NGO, Action Against Hunger USA currently manages operations in 8 countries: Kenya, South Sudan, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia and Haiti. Action Against Hunger-USA has over $100 million in programs, and approximately 1,800 permanent staff based in New York City, Washington D.C, Nairobi, and country offices. Additional growth is anticipated.

**Rationale**

Action Against Hunger USA (ACF USA) continues to invest in strengthening its Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) systems at both headquarters/HEARO and country office levels to support evidence-informed decision-making, accountability to affected populations, adaptive project/program management, donor compliance, and organizational learning. As part of these efforts, ACF USA has conducted two internal/self-led MEAL system reviews in recent years:

- A **Country Offices MEAL Capacity Self-Assessment (2024)**, covering eight country offices across 13 MEAL thematic areas, which highlighted uneven maturity, with persistent weaknesses in data systems, data safety and security, budgeting, and system-wide standardization.
- An **ACF USA MEAL System Diagnostic (2025)**, which provided a comparative synthesis of self-assessment findings, identified systemic risks (notably around data protection, staffing, and individual-level data systems), and explicitly noted the limitations and subjectivity inherent in self-assessment methodologies.

Both reviews relied on a standardized internal tool, the MEAL Capacity Assessment Tool **(MEALCAT),** covering functional domains such as human resources, MEAL planning, data collection and management, data quality assurance, accountability, learning, evaluation, leadership, and budgeting.

While these internal reviews have generated valuable insights and informed several improvement actions, ACF USA leadership now seeks an external, independent review to:

- Validate and triangulate existing findings through an objective lens;
- Assess effectiveness of our MEAL systems and infrastructure/architecture and the extent to which they are fit for purpose (including the ability to respond to ACF Network measurement needs)
- Identify blind spots and systemic risks that internal processes may not fully capture;
- Benchmark ACF USA’s MEAL system against international best practice;
- Provide prioritized, actionable, and costed recommendations to guide the next phase of MEAL system strengthening.
- Assess existing ACF US compendia indicators (including outcome indicators) and how these are utilized for project designs, monitoring and evaluation?
- Assess data quality assurance protocols (accuracy, completeness, timeliness) and extent of adherence to those protocols at all levels (base, country office, regional office, and global).
- This engagement will focus on how we can improve the MEAL function fundamentals around project design, start up, implementation (including Monitoring and Evaluation), and closeout, including alignment between program portfolios and country strategies.

1. **Purpose and Objectives of the Review**

**Purpose**

The purpose of this consultancy is to conduct an independent, organization-wide assessment of the ACF USA MEAL function;

1. Benchmark it against best practice,
2. Determine gaps, and
3. Provide recommendations to address the gaps.

**Specific Objectives**

The consultant will:

1. **Assess the design, coherence, and functionality of the ACF USA MEAL system across all organizational layers,** from bases to country offices, regional and global structures; including the architecture, governance, and interrelationships between these levels.
2. **Evaluate the extent to which the MEAL system is fit for purpose**, including its ability to:
- Support program design, implementation, and closeout
- Meet ACF Network measurement and reporting requirements
- Enable coherent data flows, aggregation, and decision-making across levels
3. **Validate, triangulate, and integrate findings from previous assessments**, including:
- The 2024 and 2025 internal MEAL self-assessments, and
- Earlier ELA-led MEAL assessments,
identifying areas of convergence, divergence, and potential bias.
4. **Assess capacities, competencies, and skill gaps of MEAL staff across all levels**