Consultancy-WROs' Policy Advocacy Capacity Strengthening

Deadline Date ‎2022-‎06-‎30TERMS OF REFERENCE*
Workshop and training with women and gender advocates on policy advocacy
capacity strengthening
‎1. Background
The intervention entitled ‘Women and Girls Rebuilding New Iraq’ implemented by
Oxfam in Iraq contributes to shaping policy, decision-making mechanisms and
peacebuilding processes at multiple levels with the specific objective to
ensure women and girls play a significant role in the new rehabilitation and
development agenda. The initiative is working with women and girls in Kirkuk
and Diyala governorates, both of which have endured a protracted conflict. The
project seeks to engage ‎9,000 vulnerable women and girls in Iraq. Part of the
project also takes place at the national level involving public policy and
advocacy for women and girls' rights.
The project is implemented in cooperation with Women Rights Organizations
(WROs) promoting transformative leadership in formal and informal governance
structures. In particular, the project includes a Leadership Programme
dedicated to strengthening the capacity of WROs to advocate and campaign for,
and policy-makers to formulate and implement, gender-transformative policy.
‎1. Purpose
Within the Leadership Programme, this consultancy is to provide capacity
strengthening for selected WROs in Federal Iraq to increase their
competencies and engagement in policy advocacy. It will be carried out in a
flexible approach building on the existing strengths and ongoing advocacy work
of Oxfam’s partner WROs and looking into opportunities for a common campaign
for more gender-transformative policy-making.
It will look in particular into three aspects:
‎1) policy analysis and development for gender-transformative change, looking
into existing efforts;
‎2) advocacy strategies for policy change and accountability, and
‎3) collaborative action and networking to improve collective influencing on
policy issues affecting women and girls.
It will contribute to strengthening WROs’ capacities to do evidence-based
advocacy and lobby with government, parliamentarians, public officials and
policy-makers to work toward ensuring the existing and future policies are
more and more gender-transformative.
‎1. Scope and methodology
Scope of the capacity strengthening programme:
‎1. The capacity strengthening programme should build on the existing and as much as possible be an effort of facilitation rather than top-down knowledge-sharing. To that end, it is suggested to start with a workshop bringing together Oxfam’s key partner WROs involved in policy advocacy across different projects. The workshop can aim to map out and assess their current experiences, achievements, challenges and capacity gaps , and serve as the basis to inform further trainings. Questions to address in the workshop can include for instance the following: (i) What are the ways WROs are using to engage with policymakers in the country? (ii) How do WROs hold policymakers accountable for the existing policies and laws? (iii) How effective are their current approaches, what gaps and opportunities can be identified?
‎2. The workshop can also aim to encourage closer cooperation and collective action, from experience-sharing to alliance-building. In particular, the workshop could be the opportunity to encourage WROs to join their forces in a common advocacy strategy or campaign on gender-responsive policy-making that can be the subject of hands-on training in the subsequent steps.
‎3. The capacity strengthening should then include tailored training for participating WROs on Policy, Advocacy, and Influencing.
‎4. The development of the training outline, materials, and tools should be implemented based on assessed experiences and gaps, and according to an understanding of the Iraqi context and where the gaps and opportunities for change exist.
‎5. The training itself should be as practical and hands-on as possible, building on the existing and aligned with the ideas and willingness of participant WROs to join their forces in a common advocacy strategy or campaign on gender-responsive policy-making.
‎6. Following the training, the consultant is expected to provide coaching and mentoring with WROs to guide the development and implementation of the advocacy strategy.
‎7. The outcome of the capacity strengthening programme, in addition to the increased capacity of WROs and individuals, should be a tentative advocacy strategy or campaign on gender-responsive policy-making. To ensure this, the consultant will be working closely with the Oxfam teams (Gender Justice Programme and Policy, Advocacy and Communications) and the projects’ WROs partners to identify the needed outcome.
‎8. The capacity strengthening programme should also include in the end recommendations for follow up actions for the participants at the individual and institutional level as well as what Oxfam and other actors need to consider moving forward.
Participants:
The capacity strengthening programme includes up to ‎30 participants.
The project envisions continuous learning and the process of engagement with
the selected participants from Kirkuk, Diyala, Anbar, Mosul and Baghdad/Erbil.
Oxfam will select the participants through ‎2 channels: ‎1) current involvement
in advocacy under Oxfam projects, and ‎2) a call for the application currently
rolled out by Oxfam in coordination with our partners. Applications will be
assessed based on agreed criteria to settle for participants who demonstrate
passion and dedication to the course. We anticipate having the selected
applicants on board by early-June ‎2022.
Formats:
Training should be done based on a blend of face-to-face methods of learning
(in Erbil or Sulaymaniyah for instance), as well as utilising online tools. In
compliance with Oxfam’s COVID19-related protocols, face-to-face events can
have a maximum number of ‎15 participants per event (excluding the consultant
staff, Oxfam’s and partner staff).
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Guidance on the scope/content of the capacity strengthening:
The content of the capacity strengthening programme should be adjusted
building on the existing and following the initial assessment, and tentatively
cover the following topics (the consultant is encouraged to modify/add as
needed):
* Audience/targets analysis and identifying opportunities can include:
* Identifying gaps and opportunities for advocacy and policy change, including safety and security for women’s advocacy and political engagement in a conflict/post-conflict context;
* Mapping and analysis of targets and audiences, power analysis;
* Building coalitions and alliances between, individual women rights activists, leaders, WROs;
* Networking and negotiation with decision-makers.
* Policy, Advocacy and influencing can include:
* Difference between awareness-raising and advocacy, and increased knowledge of advocacy toolbox.
* Advocacy strategy development and implementation with clearly defined activities, approaches, and messages.
* Persuading, Influencing & Negotiation skills.
* Principles of evidence-based advocacy with a focus on gender-related issues.
* Generation and dissemination of policy and advocacy tools such as position papers, policy briefs, petitions, testimonies, and media and social media products to facilitate advocacy and lobbying at different levels[‎1].
* Community mobilization, outreach, and empowerment
* Monitoring and evaluations of advocacy and policy implementation processes through a gendered lens.
Sequencing:
Phase ‎1 (early June): Preliminary workshop (or another suitable format to
be suggested by the consultant) to bring participants together, map out and
share their experiences and priorities, and assessment of the participants'
capacities around policy, advocacy and influencing.
Phase ‎2 (mid-June-July): Training(s) on Policy, Advocacy and Influencing,
and coaching/mentoring.
Phase ‎3 (July - August): Evaluation, documentation, and reporting.
‎1. Deliverables
The assignment seeks the following deliverables:
‎1. Inception report in English outlining the methodological approach and detailed understanding of the assignment (max. ‎5 pages).
‎2. Phase ‎1-Draft agenda and materials for the workshop (or other formats), reviewed by Oxfam, and rolled out by the consultant. Upon review and conclusions, the materials will be translated into Arabic.
‎3. Phase ‎1-Analytical report of the workshop with the summary of the results and the recommendations (max. ‎5 pages).
‎4. Phase ‎2-Tailored training plan, agenda and materials. The materials will be translated from English to Arabic. The plan will also detail how the training will be delivered through the blended approach and how the Arabic-speaking trainers will moderate the session(s).
‎5. Phase ‎3-Monitoring tool measuring the effectiveness of the capacity strengthening plan.
‎6. Phase ‎3-Final report and/or debriefing session with Oxfam.
‎1. Supervision and Management
Oxfam’s Project Manager (Women and Girls Rebuilding New Iraq) in coordination
with the Gender Justice Programme Manager, the Gender and Policy Coordinator
and the Policy, Advocacy and Communication team will provide technical and
practical supervision of the assignment.
‎1. Logistics and Constraints
Considering the limitations of movements due to the COVID ‎19 pandemic and
access challenges, international consultants may not be able to travel to
Federal Iraq. Therefore, it is recommended to organize an in-person event(s)
in Erbil or Sulaymaniyah or to form a team including Iraq-based counterparts
and adopt a flexible work approach.
‎1. Time Frame
The consultancy is expected to be carried out as soon as possible from early
June ‎2022 to August ‎2022 for ‎20-‎25 working days. The timeline will be
refined based on the work plan submitted by the consultant.
‎1. Budget- Use the annexed template
A full financial plan should be submitted by the consultant for their fees
using the template attached with a detailed breakdown of costs:
* Per cost category (e.g. daily fees, equipment, …);
* Per Phase: Phase ‎1, Phase ‎2, Phase ‎3.
Oxfam will be responsible to cover the following costs:
* Transportation & accommodation for the consultant to travel to the country (if not in-country).
* Transportation & accommodation for the consultant and participants while in the country.
* The venue, meals, and other needs for the implementation of the programme.
The consultant budget should include, but is not limited to, all projected
costs for the assignment among them:
* The rates per day per individual in the teams with indicative LOE.
* The costs of translation of materials for the training (if needed).
* The costs of engaging local trainers (if needed) to support the delivery of sessions in Arabic.


[‎1] A separate training component not covered
under the present consultancy will focus on communication, media and social
media, digital campaigning. University degree in gender studies, political science, communication studies, sociology, or other relevant fields.
* Experience in advocacy strategy development, policy analysis and policy advocacy development, lobbying and influencing.
* Experience in appraising and building the capacity of local partners and specialized civil society actors especially WROs, on matters of advocacy and influencing.
* Demonstrated competencies in facilitation and participatory training. Previous experience in creating, conducting and evaluating advocacy training.
* High proficiency in understanding gender transformative and rights-based approaches.
* Experience in the context of Iraq and mentioned areas will be an asset.
* Familiarity with constraints and challenges encountered by civil society actors working on gender-transformative interventions in a conflict-prone and fragile context.
* Familiarity with issues affecting women’s participation in decision-making in a conflict-prone and fragile context.
* Full English proficiency by the lead consultant.
* Spoken Arabic in a team skill mix if not spoken by the lead consultant.Interested individuals or consultancy firms, with relevant experience and
skills based on the ToR, can submit their Expression of Interest (EOI),
including the following:
‎1. Cover letter of no more than ‎1 page introducing the consultant/company and intention to deliver the assignment. The cover letter should also indicate the consultants’ availability for the proposed period.
‎2. *The technical proposal should provide details on the proposed methodology responding to the ToR and the deliverables; capacity in line with the competencies required for the assignment, including references to experience with similar assignments; CVs of the consulting team directly involved in the assignment, including their specific roles; and three professional referees. A technical proposal should not be longer than ‎5 pages, excluding annexes.
‎3. The financial proposal includes a one-page budget of the offer, covering all major anticipated costs. An accompanying work plan must be submitted too.
‎4. Statement on the willingness to follow Oxfam’s Code of Conduct and guidance regarding safe programming**.
Please submit as soon as possible the EOI and other documents to
[email protected]
with WROs’ *Policy Advocacy Capacity Strengthening in the subject line.
EOIs will be evaluated on a rolling basis until the consultant is
selected.
All questions or clarifications of a technical nature are to be sent to:
[email protected]. Interested
applicants can collect the Terms of Reference (TOR) at Oxfam in Iraq Country
Office, starting from ‎29 th May ‎2022 (during working hours).
Alternatively, the Oxfam Logistics team can send the ToR via email upon
request .
TOR Link:
https://jobs.oxfam.org.uk/vacancy/‎17318/description
This invitation to tender has been issued for the sole purpose of obtaining
offers for the provision of the services requested against the TOR. Oxfam
reserves the right not to enter in or award a contract as a result of this
invitation to tender. Oxfam also reserves the right to terminate any contract
issued as a result of this invitation to tender as set out in the contract
terms and conditions.