Advocacy Consultant

Overview

Counterpart International is currently seeking a short-term Advocacy Consultant for the Civil Society Strengthening Program (CSSP), a five-year initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Haiti. As a sub-partner, Counterpart is supporting Papyrus, a local Haitian non-governmental organization, to implement CSSP. The project goal is to strengthen the capacity of Haitian civil society organizations (CSOs), including faith-based organizations, local groups, and those working with the diaspora that are registered and operating in Haiti. Through this initiative, participating CSOs will be better equipped to develop, implement, and monitor their advocacy and service-delivery activities to the highest quality standards. Counterpart is working across the project objectives to provide technical support to the CSSP program and consortium partners as needed in the areas of thinking and working politically, advocacy, and media. Prioritizing localization, Counterpart is conducting all activities with an eye to transfer skills and mentor our Haitian-based partners to support local ownership and sustainability.

Under Objective 1 (Strengthen the advocacy and administrative capacities of both citizen-support and service-provision civil society organizations), Counterpart will work to strengthen advocacy and administrative and organizational management capacities of Haitian CSOs. We are seeking an Advocacy Consultant to provide short-term technical assistance and lead the advocacy-focused interventions throughout the life of CSSP, as described below. At this time, we expect the consultant will fulfill the scope of work remotely, communicating virtually with Counterpart and our partners in Haiti. We will reassess the possibility of travel as the project progresses and the conditions in Haiti evolve.

Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Counterpart’s Senior Governance Advisor, the Advocacy Consultant will lead CSSP’s advocacy-focused activities throughout the life of the project, including:

Advocacy Capacity Assessment: In partnership with the CSSP Capacity Development Coordinator (Papyrus), assess the capacity of the 10 (4 initially) target CSOs to identify their strengths and weaknesses to conduct innovative advocacy initiatives. The consultant will adapt Counterpart’s existing advocacy assessment tool to the Haitian context and CSSP objectives as part of this process. The assessments may evaluate each CSO’s previous advocacy efforts and their impact as well as identify potential promising practices, gaps, and areas for improvement. The assessment will serve as a baseline from which to measure program impact and progress on various advocacy indicators throughout the life of the project. Counterpart will lead the assessment while training the CSSP Capacity Development coordinator in how to administer the methodology, transferring knowledge and tools to the CSSP team for wider reach in subsequent years.

Illustrative tasks

• Adapt the methodology and associated tools to conduct the Advocacy Capacity Assessments and ensure the tools are appropriate for the Haitian context and CSOs. The consultant will incorporate feedback from Counterpart, Papyrus, and USAID, as applicable.
• Carry-out the relevant desk research as needed.
• Collaborate with the project team to organize, coordinate, and carry out assessments.
• Prepare periodic reports updating Counterpart on progress made, challenges and proposed solutions, next steps, and recommendations.
• Prepare a comprehensive report that presents the results of the assessments per CSO and recommendations for enhancing their advocacy. The consultant will incorporate feedback from Counterpart, Papyrus, and USAID, as appropriate
• Conduct a presentation(s) of the findings and recommendations for Counterpart staff, USAID, and individual organizations, as applicable.

Advocacy Action Plans: Use the assessment findings and results to develop tailored advocacy action plans with the 10 CSOs through close collaboration that includes mentorship and coaching in one-on-one sessions. If local conditions allow, the project could also convene a collaborative workshop(s) in which a group of CSOs collaborate with the consultant and one another to finetune their plans. The action plans will set forth two years of activities with a strong emphasis on community engagement mechanisms, research, and data collection to support evidence-based advocacy and leveraging social media platforms for wider dissemination. The action plans will also include possible partnerships amongst CSOs and think tanks, ideas for grant proposals, and coordinated outreach events. In subsequent project years, the Advocacy Specialist will meet with the CSOs for review and analysis of achievements and the baseline advocacy assessment data. Counterpart and the CSSP Capacity Development Coordinator will facilitate design sessions to brainstorm and plan adjustments and realignments to ensure they are reflective of the political and social context, and that their objectives are achievable. Once the advocacy plans are finalized, CSSP will support the CSOs with developing grant proposals for funding under the project’s Advocacy and Media Grants Program.

Illustrative tasks

• Design and create a methodology, materials, and tools to support the CSOs to develop Advocacy Action Plans.
• Facilitate, with the help of the CSSP team, the development of the Advocacy Action Plan with the CSOs in a multi-session collaborative workshop.
• Provide one-on-one support and expertise to the CSOs and CSSP team as the organizations create and finalize their plans.
• Review the products created by each CSO under their individual Advocacy Action Plans.
• Provide technical assistance and support as organizations initiate implementation of the Advocacy Action Plans developed.

Advocacy Capacity Building The Advocacy Specialist will coordinate a full suite of advocacy capacity building services, beginning with five foundational modules with the 10 (4 initially) CSOs that will cover the essentials meant to build off the initial assessment. In the course of creating the Advocacy Action Plans, the consultant will work with the CSOs to incorporate capacity building interventions into the planned activities. Capacity building activities will emphasize the development of strategic alliances to crowd-in supporters to help achieve their action plans. CSSP will host virtual sessions, in-person sessions (in three regions), small group sessions (in three regions) and one-on-one coaching with CSOs/think tanks that are interested in similar advocacy themes or overlapping audiences to support new and diverse coalitions for collective action. Counterpart will tailor capacity building activities to the identified CSO partner’s needs and strengths. Activities will balance the needs for both hard and soft skills required for effective advocacy initiatives such as strategic communications, building an evidence base, analyzing power maps to target decision makers, and how to strategically work with coalitions.

Illustrative tasks

• Design and create the methodology, tools, and materials to conduct advocacy capacity building for Haitian CSOs based on the Advocacy Capacity Assessments and Advocacy Action Plans.
• Facilitate Advocacy Capacity Building interventions for the CSOs.
• Provide one-on-one support, virtually or in-person, as restrictions permit, as the organizations implement their action plans.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in political science, public policy, international studies, statistics, or related field or Bachelor’s degree with at least 10 years of experience.
• Experience working on governance development projects, including supporting civil society advocacy
• Experience working on development projects in Haiti
• Knowledge of the CSO environment in Haiti
• Excellent research, analytical, writing, and presentation skills.
• Proven ability to engage constructively with a variety of stakeholders.
• Experience working on donor-funded development projects, preferably USAID.
• Excellent organizational, and written and oral communications skills.
• Ability to work both independently and in a group setting.
• Fluency in French and English

Note: Only qualified candidates will be contacted for an interview and to provide details on approach and cost, and discussions of timelines.

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