Senior Consultant Conflict Sensitive & LLD Strategic Planning

Senior Consultant Conflict Sensitive & LLD Strategic Planning

Project: Just Future – Capacity Strengthening / Exit Strategy

Location: Home based / Travel to Just Future Countries (2x).

Start date : 1 September 2024

Total number of working days : 32 days spread over a maximum of 6 months

• Mission background

The “Just Futures” programme is a multi-partner consortium initiative that seeks to support civil society networks advocacy, influence, and engage in 1) People-centred security; 2) Access to justice; 3) Inclusive political decision-making and peace processes at country and regional level. The programme is focused on supporting civil society actors in Afghanistan, Burundi, DRC, Mali, Niger, and South Sudan to link local efforts to national, regional, and global policy frameworks and elevate the advocacy of marginalised groups at the relevant levels to improve the responsiveness of the security and justice providers to the needs of the people. More than half way through the five-year programme, there is a renewed focus on strengthening the cohesiveness of civil society networks at country level, with a view to ensure coherent and impactful engagement both in the remainder of the programme period, and beyond.

The civil society networks established under the programme are facing a number of opportunities and challenges which face civic movements and coalitions in other conflict-affected and fragile settings (and indeed more generally). In such circumstances, providing civil society actors with space for facilitated discussion and reflection, together with advice informed by comparative experiences and lessons learned, can help to shift dynamics related to “how” civil society actors work and “what” they are seeking to achieve together in terms of influencing and engaging in people-centred security, access to justice, and inclusive political decision-making and peace processes.

Throughout the first half of the Just Future programme, Search For Common Ground has been delivering conflict sensitivity trainings to Just Future CSO partners in the six target countries. These trainings have laid a solid foundation for the partners to monitor the context and adapt the project’s activities to ensure they do no harm and contribute to positive peace outcomes. The trainings curriculum did not however cover the exit strategy phase, noting this is a necessary step to ensure the programmes’ sustainability and transfer the outcomes and assets of the programme to representative and legitimate groups in the eyes of the local communities they serve.

More so, giving the multi-level strategy of engagement of the Just Future programme to positively influence security, justice and governance actors, while at the same time strengthening the capacity of its local partners, the International Secretariat – in consultation with the international and local partners – has deemed it necessary to reinforce the strategic planning capacity of national partners to effectively position themselves in their contexts (vis-à-vis conflict actors, the government, security forces, other civil society actors, etc), identity catalytic opportunities and entry points to build on the progress achieved, and engage other potential financial and technical partners in supporting their future work.

To this end, Cordaid is seeking to engage an external consultant with expertise in conflict sensitivity, strategic planning processes, and civil society accompaniment in fragile and conflict affected to develop a Guidance Note and deliver a Training of Trainers on participatory conflict sensitive and locally led strategic planning in Fragile and Conflict Affected States.

These deliverables will complement an Exit and Sustainability Strategy which is being developed for the Just Future Programme in each of the six countries of intervention and at the global level.

The Conflict Sensitive & LLD Strategic Planning Consultant will work closely with and report to Cordaid’s Localization and Triple Nexus Expert to complete this assignment.

• General objective of the mission

The main objective of the consultancy assignment is to strengthen ’(national CSOs and their INGO partners) capacity to conduct joint strategic planning to strengthen the collective leverage to influence positive political changes relating to peace, security & justice, and governance. The aim is to support the Just Future Alliance partners to secure the gains made during the first phase of the programme, in terms of knowledge & skills acquired, networks established, and trust built, by gearing up the national CSO partners to develop their own national strategic plans as a means to engage other potential technical and financial partners in supporting their work in the mid and long term.

Through a strategic planning process, as part of the exit strategy, it is assumed the JF national CSO partners will enhance their capacity to continue working as a collective (strength in numbers) and gain more agency to set priorities for their country’s long term future. The methodology developed through this assignment can be used by the beneficiary organizations individually or as part of a group of CSOs. Government, humanitarian and development actors, often via the UN, develop strategic plans – in which CSOs are consulted – but CSOs, as a collective do not develop their own analysis and plans. It is also assumed that by having coherent strategic plans, National CSOs working on peace, security & justice, and governance, will have a greater means to built unity amongst themselves and accountability with their constituencies.

• Specifics objectives of the mission

The specific objectives of the assignment are to develop a practical guidance document for CSOs/INGOs to conduct joint strategic planning in Fragile and Conflict Affected Settings, in a conflict sensitive manner, to pursue long term political changes needed to build stability and peace. The guidance document will be developed based on consultations with Just Future Alliance members, a 1-day workshop on conflict sensitive and locally led strategic planning in FCAS as part of the JF planning annual planning workshop, an analysis of current practices of conflict analysis and planning in the programme, and the exit strategy plan of the JF programme. This assignment will also produce a report with concrete recommendations how:

1. To overcome challenges for building trusted spaces where local and international alliance partners can conduct joint and share conflict/context analyses,
2. Local partners and international partners, inside the Just Future Alliance and in their wider national contexts can combine their comparative advantages to advance longer term transformational change,
3. How local and international partners should jointly identify opportunities, develop interventions and mobilize political support to operationalize these strategic plans.

• Methodology and technique to use

The methodologies to be used for gathering information during this assignment are a combination of desk review, key informant interviews, country office piloting, and a 1-day strategic planning session during the Just Future 2024 annual planning workshop. The methodologies to be used for producing deliverables during this assignment are a combination of report writing, development of a training of trainers curriculum and participatory conflict sensitive and locally led strategic planning tool, as well a briefing with recommendations to Just Future Alliance partners at Global and Country level.

• Deliverables

The deliverables for this assignment are as follows:

1. Inception note (workplan and methodology).

2. Guidance Note on conflict sensitive and locally led strategic planning in FCAS.

   a) Assessment of current practices (KII, FGD, IP pilot in Niger).

   b) Facilitate 1 day workshop on participatory conflict sensitive and locally led strategic planning on the margins of JF annual planning workshop 2024.

   c) Drafting of guidance note and training curriculum.

   d) Training of Trainers curriculum & workshop on participatory conflict sensitive and locally led strategic planning in FCAS.

3. Final report.

Activities:

1. Review key Just Future documents, 2 days (Programme Document, Reports, Mid-Term Evaluation, SFCG Conflict Sensitivity Training Package).
2. Develop and agree on a methodology for the inception phase, 2 days:

   1. Key questions to answer

   2. KII and survey design

      Deliverable: Inception note

3. Assess through Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), 5 days:

• Current level of knowledge, capacities and demand for conflict analysis, conflict sensitivity and strategic planning contributing to peace
• The current use of tools and actual practice of conflict monitoring and analysis during strategy development and project management
• The current practice of engaging partners (and other stakeholders) in conflict analysis and conflict-sensitive programming, and participatory strategic planning
• Promising practices and practical barriers to operating in a more conflict-sensitive, adaptive, locally led-manner.

4. Review the annual strategic planning process and document for the Just Future programme in one of the programme countries, 5 days.

5. Facilitate a 1 day workshop on participatory conflict sensitive and locally led strategic planning in FCAS / margins of JF annual planning workshop 2024*, 2 days.

6. Draft Guidance Note on conflict sensitive and locally led strategic planning in FCAS, (including checklist for JF Alliance International and Alliance partners), & ToT Training Curriculum*, 10 days.

7. Training of ToT cadre 10-15 Just Future Alliance Staff on participatory conflict sensitive and locally led strategic planning in FCAS*, 3 days.

Deliverable of activities 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7: Guidance Note on conflict sensitive and locally led strategic planning in FCAS.

8. Final Report, 3 days:

Deliverable: final report with recommendations on:

1. To overcome challenges for building trusted spaces where local and international alliance partners can conduct joint and share conflict/context analyses,
2. Local partners and international partners, inside the Just Future Alliance and in their wider national contexts can combine their comparative advantages to advance longer term transformational change,
3. How local and international partners should jointly identify opportunities, develop interventions and mobilize political support to operationalize these strategic plans.

Total: 32 days

* The outputs of this consultancy (workshop facilitation, guidance note, and training curriculum will be translated into French and English. Costs associated with the translation and interpretation will be borne by Cordaid as the lead agency).

• Verification scope

This assignment is a combination of strategic advice on organizational change (advice to strategic plan review and recommendations for setting up a focal points system at Global Office and Country Office level) and the production of conflict sensitivity materials (operational guidance note, piloting phase and ToT training package), as well as the delivery of a first Training of Trainers (ToT).

This ToR describes three phases. As Phase I will include recommendations for Phase II, it is the intention that phase II can still be adapted accordingly, and based on mutual agreement after the finalization of Phase I. The same applies to Phase II and III.

[1] The piloting will be carried out by Inclusive Peace who will accompany Just Future Alliance partners in Niger for 16 months to increase their coherence, define the longer-term transformational changes they wish to continue working on and how to engage the international community in a politically savvy / conflict sensitive manner to achieve those. This consultancy will seek to document these outcomes to institutionalize the practice.

• Budget of the mission

The maximum overall budget for the mission is 24,000 Euros, excluding travel & health insurance costs (excluding VAT). Cordaid will cover the travel and travel insurance costs of the consultant. The consultant is expected to arrange his/her own medical insurance for this assignment. Two travels from the consultant’s place of residence are planned, one travel to a Just Future Programme Country and one travel to a regional location TBD are envisaged for the ToT. The outputs of this consultancy (workshop facilitation, guidance note, and training curriculum will be translated into French and English. Costs associated with the translation and interpretation will be borne by Cordaid as the lead agency of the JFA).

• Team Composition

This is an individual consultancy.

• Application process:

Interested applicants should:

1. Submit their CV highlighting how they meet the required Competencies and Experience :

• Graduate degree in conflict studies, political science, international relations
• Certification in conflict analysis, peacebuilding
• 15 years of experience in strategic planning, conflict analysis, peacebuilding and conflict sensitivity including in conflict affected countries.
• Proven track record of organisational capacity strengthening in strategic planning, CSO capacity strengthening & conflict sensitivity
• Experience in providing strategic advice to senior management of UN and/or INGOs as well as local NGOs on strategic planning, CSO capacity strengthening & conflict sensitivity.
• Skilled and experienced trainer
• Ability to work in English and French

2) Submit:

A) A technical offer outlining their relevant experience, examples of developing similar guidance notes, and the methodology, approach and workplan proposed for this assignment and

B) A financial offer with detailed budget and conditions of payment.

• Evaluation of offers:

1. Offers received will be assessed with the following weighting technical 70%, financial 30%.

2. Evaluation criteria are experience, competence, methodology, and value for money.

   Supervised by Mirjam Andriessen, Programme Manager