Consultancy to develop a learning resource: Politically Smart Advocacy Playbook

Background

The Christian Aid Ireland Civil Society Partnership (ICSP) programme is a 5 year programme, started in 2023 and currently ongoing until 2027.
The ICSP programme empowers local actors and communities to drive their own agendas for inclusive change. The premise of the ICSP programme is that if we support civil society to be stronger, do more and relate better with rights holders and power holders at micro, meso, macro levels, and if rights holders and power holders at different levels can in turn engage better and more constructively with each other, then rights holders will take action to advance their rights and power holders at micro, meso and macro levels will take action to support these rights or will not further limit rights.
The programme is developed and implemented with 33 local civil society partners in Burundi, Colombia, El Salvador and Guatemala, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory (IoPt), Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe (supported by country offices for each location). Partners work on a wide range of context-informed issues related to governance and human rights, gender equality and social inclusion, peacebuilding and conflict prevention, and climate action.

Requirements

The ICSP programme prioritises an adaptive management approach which acknowledges that change is political, pathways to change are unknown in advance, and our operating contexts are volatile. As such, strong reflection on theory of change and a politically smart approach to advocacy are vital for the programme in driving change.
Amongst ICSP partners there is a varying picture of experience and exposure to politically smart advocacy that is strategic and responsive to opportunity, evidence-based and context and situation specific. Many national partners are experts in their field, working in contexts where they and other members of civil society are very actively advocating to influence decisions by power holders, from the grassroots level to the level of national policymaking, regional accords and at international level. Others have less experience of, or exposure to, politically smart advocacy and can gain from seeing examples of how to approach it. Similarly, Christian Aid staff who collaborate with partners, have a variety of exposure to and experience with politically smart advocacy.
The purpose of this piece of work is to devise a learning resource, referred to as a ‘Playbook’, of advocacy tactics and approaches that civil society partners employ, taking into account their contexts, their opportunities and their challenges. It should enable partners to gain ideas from others experiences of advocacy, drawing both from within the programme and more broadly.
The consultant should consult CAI and CA ICSP country programmes and a selection of partners to inform development of the playbook.

The playbook should:

• Help partners to build on existing gender, power and conflict analysis and to draw from programme learning emerging from monitoring and strategy testing, to devise politically smart advocacy tactics and strategies to implement them.
• Provide key considerations for preparation for advocacy actions and follow up
• Outline successful approaches / tactics and strategies for politically-smart advocacy, from within the ICSP programme and potentially more broadly.
• Present examples from a variety of case scenarios of politically smart advocacy in action. Highlight the key elements of their effectiveness that others can learn from. It could also include tactics that are relevant to our operating contexts but are not currently employed.
• Highlight common pitfalls and weaknesses in advocacy strategies and how to avoid them
• Include a tool (e.g. a checklist of key questions to consider) that partners can use to apply a politically smart lens to any advocacy plan, building on existing analysis and ToC resources used by CA.

The Playbook is not intended to be a resource on security and safety management, but will highlight potential risks and mitigation strategies, as relevant. The playbook will ensure that contributing partners’ safety is paramount, with identifying names or information excluded from case studies as relevant.

Scope and Deliverables

The consultant will be expected to:

• Provide an initial draft of the playbook document with key headings and case studies identified.
• Present a 1st complete draft, for review and revision.
• Provide a final accessible resource document, in plain English (document will be translated to other languages) aimed at civil society actors, meeting the requirements outlined above. The resource should be up to about 20 pages in length, with annexes as necessary.
• Make first draft of case studies will be subject to review and revision by relevant partners.
• Make a presentation of the final playbook to CAI, CA country programmes and partners

Timeframe

It is expected that this contract will be undertaken during October and November 2024, with conclusion and presentation of the final playbook no later than 30 November 2024.
The consultancy will be desk-based with any meetings happening primarily on MS Teams. There is potential for some in-person meetings if the consultant is Ireland-based.

Consultant’s requirement

• Experience supporting local civil society on politically economy analysis or advocacy in various contexts in relation to a relevant thematic area: governance and Human Rights; Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention; Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, Climate Change.
• Experience of supporting programme learning and capacity strengthening and development of accessible learning resources
• Excellent written communication skills in English required. Spanish and/or French language skills desirable.
• Available during the defined period.