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 high quality advocacy and service-delivery activities. 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 Specialist to provide short-term technical assistance and lead advocacy-focused interventions, as described below. The consultant will fulfill the scope of work remotely, communicating virtually with Counterpart and our partners in Haiti.
Responsibilities
Under the supervision of the Counterpart’s Director of Civic Engagement, the Advocacy Specialist will conduct the following activities:
- Deliver Advocacy training-of-trainers (TOT) session(s): The consultant will develop and deliver TOT in advocacy for the CSSP team and other actors Papyrus identifies. The TOT (currently planned for July) will build on a foundational session Counterpart conducted in April 2023 by imparting practical knowledge and skills for conducting advocacy. The consultant will work closely with Counterpart, particularly the Director of Civic Engagement, to develop and refine the TOT content and materials, including sharing the slide deck and related documents before the training for feedback and concurrence. Based on the training delivered in July, Counterpart may deliver additional TOT sessions to further build advocacy capacities of the CSSP team.
- Deliver Advocacy Capacity Building Services for Haitian CSOs: Counterpart and the CSSP team are in the process of completing advocacy assessments of 10 CSOs. Based on the findings of these initial evaluations, the consultant will deliver advocacy capacity building services for the CSOs, beginning with foundational modules. In collaboration with the Director of Civic Engagement, the consultant will draw from Counterpart’s existing advocacy capacity building tools to customize and finalize training materials and content specific to CSSP, the participating CSOs, and the Haitian context. Beyond these initial offerings, Counterpart will work with the CSOs to incorporate tailored capacity building interventions into their Advocacy Action Plans, as described below.
- Illustrative tasks:
- Review CSO advocacy self-assessments to determine capacity building needs of each of the 10 organization, develop capacity building curriculum and a timeline for delivering capacity building training. As appropriate, lead advocacy capacity building trainings.
- 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) as the organizations implement their action plans.
- Develop Advocacy Action Plans: Drawing from the findings and recommendations of the completed advocacy assessments, the consultant will collaborate with and support up to 10 CSOs to develop tailored advocacy action plans. The action plans will set forth two years of activities, including specific advocacy capacity building activities (as mentioned above), 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 could also include possible partnerships among CSOs and think tanks, ideas for grant proposals, and coordinated outreach events, as well as identify those activities that require STTA and/or resources for implementation (e.g. via a CSSP grant). If local conditions allow, the project could convene a collaborative workshop(s) using a hybrid modality, in which a group of CSOs engage with and one another and the consultant – who would participate virtually - to finetune their plans.
- Illustrative tasks :
- Design and create a methodology, materials, and tools to support the CSOs to develop Advocacy Action Plans
- Facilitate, with support from 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.
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.
- Ability and willingness to deliver trainings during Haiti business hours.
- Fluency in French and English.
Completed applications must include a CV with demonstrated performance of illustrative tasks, a cover letter, and a sample of advocacy training content the applicant previously delivered (to be uploaded with the cover letter).
Note: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview and to provide details on approach and cost, and discussions of timelines.
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