Senior advocacy consultant

Title : Senior advocacy consultant

Number of Consultants : 1

Location : Geneva or home-based

Period : Up to 100 days between September/October 2024 – August 2025

Summary

The EiE Hub is recruiting a senior advocacy consultant to support the development of an EiE Hub advocacy strategy, which will build on the strengths, functions and mandates of the EiE Hub members through complementary and collaborative action. The consultant will also develop up to five event-specific advocacy strategies for key moments held in Geneva and beyond, linking to international fora such as UN Climate Change Conference processes and the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in 2025.

Background

The EiE Hub 2022 – 2025 Strategy outlines the goal to catalyse joint action and strengthen integrated approaches across the humanitarian-development nexus and with other sectors. Faced with the under-prioritisation and underfunding of education in emergencies (EiE), and given the magnitude of the challenge of 224 million crisis-affected children who need educational support, the 52 EiE Hub members came together to form a strong alliance of diverse entities to step up visibility, political and operational commitment, and funding for EiE.

Considering the continued under-prioritisation and underfunding of EiE, and the implications linked with “boundary setting” in the UN-led Humanitarian Programme Cycle, there is much untapped potential and a need to unite distinct advocacy efforts among EiE Hub members to achieve stronger results together. Building on successful prior advocacy within the EiE sector and learning from these experiences, the senior consultant will assist the EiE Hub in reinforcing its advocacy efforts.

Scope of work

The senior consultant will undertake several tasks to support the EiE Hub to enhance the importance of EiE within the international humanitarian – development system and beyond. The consultant will develop an advocacy strategy for the EiE Hub. This comprehensive plan will aim to elevate the priority of EiE within International Geneva and beyond. It will include outlining key messages, identifying stakeholders, detailing tactics designed to influence both policy and funding decisions. The plan will also include benchmarks for measuring contributions to progress and outline how to include more diverse and crisis-affected voices in advocacy activities.

Additionally, the consultant will identify key opportunities and create up to five event-specific advocacy strategies for global events in Geneva and beyond in 2024 and 2025, as for example related to UN Climate Change Conference processes, the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in 2025, and other relevant international forums and conferences per the inception report and based on consultations. Each strategy will be tailored with specific SMART objectives, target audiences, key messages, engagement tactics to maximize impact, and benchmarks to track progress.

Engaging stakeholders is essential to achieve the above tasks. The consultant will collaborate closely with the EiE Hub Technical Working Group (TWG), EiE Hub members, and other stakeholders to ensure the strategies are actionable and count with sector-wide buy-in. This will involve consultations to gather input and build consensus among the involved parties.

Finally, the consultant will plan the implementation, including outlining the steps required to mobilise these strategies. She/he will develop a plan to ensure the advocacy messages reach their intended audiences effectively and at the right time.

Deliverables

• Inception report: a succinct inception report outlining the strategic approach, plan of action, and timeline for the consultancy.
• Overarching advocacy strategy for the EiE Hub: a detailed document presenting the overarching advocacy strategy for prioritising EiE in Geneva and beyond.
• Implementation plan: a plan detailing how to effectively implement the advocacy strategy jointly with relevant stakeholders.
• Up to five (5) event-specific advocacy strategies: up to five tailored advocacy strategies for key events in 2024 and 2025 in Geneva and beyond, each including objectives, target audiences, key messages, engagement tactics, and implementation plan. It is envisioned that these key events will link to global advocacy opportunities such as UN Climate Change Conferences, UNGA, the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, and up to two additional relevant international conferences per agreement and based on consultations.

Requirements – skills and qualifications

• Significant experience in humanitarian advocacy and policy either within an NGO, UN agency, donor or policy think tank.
• Strong understanding of current humanitarian processes (boundary setting, nexus, etc.).
• Demonstrable experience of contributing to inter-agency processes/coordinating different agencies in joint processes.
• Experience in leading the creation and implementation of influencing strategies, demonstrating the ability to identify the necessary steps towards an ambitious goal.
• Proven ability to network and build relationships with partners that add value.
• Excellent writing skills and the ability to translate complex material and data into coherent narratives that resonate with policy makers and peers.
• In-depth knowledge of EiE and prior field level EiE experience within a humanitarian organisation in complex crises an asset.
• Professional fluency in English (both written and verbal).
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing and negotiation.
• A collaborative and solutions orientated approach, with strong diplomatic, analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent planning, management and coordination skills.
• Highly developed cultural awareness and ability to work well in an environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.