TERMS OF REFERENCE TO HIRE A CONSULTANT /POLICY ADVISOR FOR RWANDA CIVIL SOCIETY PLATFORM

BACKGROUND

RCSP and member CSOs are increasingly becoming important actors in several policy spaces including Sector Working Groups (SWGs), Joint Action Development Forums (JADFs), elaboration of imihigo, and be involved in other invited or CSOs created spaces to influence policy and development agenda. Currently, RCSP represents its member CSOs in national and regional policy fora.

RCSP in its continued commitment of not only attending policy-influencing spaces but also meaningfully participating with thoroughly analyzed and substantive inputs to policy and to have citizens centered programs

To realize this, RCSP is in the process of implementing 7-month capacity strengthening programme ineffective policy influencing and advocacy to its umbrella CSOs and few affiliate CSOs to be able to meaningfully contribute to the policy process and with effective policy advocacy skills and engagement with Government stakeholders.

RCSP wishes to hire a Policy Advisor to support the implementation of the learning programme. The Policy Advisor will provide technical assistance to RCSP during the implementation of this learning programme which will majorly focus on; I) effective policy influencing and advocacy II) Policy research and evidence generation III) Organizational Strengthening and Fundraising

The overall responsibility of the policy advisor is to provide technical support to RCSP and its participating member CSOs throughout the learning period.

The policy advisor will provide up to 60 days or more where it necessitates for technical advice and facilitation to RCSP and CSO members over the period September 2019 to February 2020 throughout the learning period.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities

  • The Policy Advisor/ Consultant will support RCSP to organize the action-oriented learning activities under the overall coordination of RCSP Executive Secretary
  • The Policy Advisor will provide technical support to RCSP to develop case study topics for practical learning during the programme.
  • S/he will offer technical backstopping to RCSP member CSOs who will participate in this programme to implement skills learned.
  • S/he will provide technical support to RCSP during the bidding process of a small grant competition to CSOs that will participate.
  • The policy advisor will also help successful CSOs for practical planning of policy advocacy engagement with decision-makers.
  • Ensure documentation of the learning outcomes and processes by RCSP members
  • S/he will perform any other duties assigned to him/her by the RCSP Executive Secretary in line with this programme.

Reporting and deliverables

  • The Policy Advisor will report to the Executive Secretary on progress achieved against the agreed action plan for the entire assignment, and against periodic work plans. The Advisor shall be required to submit the following deliverables:
  • A work plan at the beginning of this assignment indicating expected outputs and planned activities to achieve these outcomes
  • Monthly brief reports including progress against the implementation of the action plan, challenges encountered with recommended solutions, planned activity for the following month, knowledge and skills transfer, lessons learned and recommendations;
  • End of assignment report which should include:
  • Progress updates, results and lessons learned;
  • Challenges, and how the challenges have been addressed; and
  • Recommended actions including an indicative map for RCSP’s future options for continued learning on policy processes and actions
  • Reflection of the experience obtained as the result of the technical support.
  • In addition, the Advisor will develop particular documentation relating to focus areas of policy development, data, evidence, analysis, and especially public consultation, as well as policy briefs and reports/presentations to higher-level authorities, and training materials and presentations, as required.

Duration of the contract

The execution of this assignment is planned for 60 days spread over 6 months and will be implemented under 2 key phases. The first phase (40 days) will be implemented from mid-August to October 2019 and the second phase (the remaining 20 days) will be implemented from November 2019 to February 2020. The second phase will be contingent on the availability of funds to support the application of learning processes.

Qualifications:

General

Advanced university degree or Master’s degree in economics, finance, public administration, development studies, Political Science, law and other related fields.

Required skills and Experience:

  • A minimum of 10 years’ experience in policy advisory and analysis research, advocacy, and policy development processes.
  • Previous work experience and knowledge of Civil society landscape in Rwanda
  • Proven ability to operate effectively at very senior levels;
  • Proven ability to manage diverse and complex tasks;
  • Possess a strong monitoring, evaluation, and analytical skills, with proven experience of having worked with Civil Society Organizations, is an added value;
  • Have an excellent knowledge and understanding of Rwanda Policy and legal environment is preferred
  • Be fluent in English and Kinyarwanda, working knowledge of any other language used in Rwanda would be an asset.
  • Excellent oral communications
  • Exceptional written communications skills across a range of formats;
  • Excellent presentation skills.

Other competencies include:

  • Display sound judgment that enables independent work;
  • Be creative, pro-active and able to tap information from various sources;
  • Be able to work effectively under tight deadlines;
  • Possess the capacity to adequately approach the population and to advise the management team;

How to apply

Interested candidates are required to submit the following documents: I) Technical proposal II) Financial proposal III) CV  IV) Academic credentials V) Letter expressing interest addressed to Rwanda Civil Society Platform Executive Secretary.  Application documents should be submitted not later than 19th August 2019 mid-day

Applicants are required to hand-deliver their application documents physically at the front desk of Rwanda Civil Society Platform or at the e-mail: rwandacsplatform@gmail.com

The office of Rwanda Civil Society Platform is located in Kicukiro District at KK371 right next to house number 4. For more information and direction, please contact 0788355437

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