https://devbusiness.un.org/content/development-cso-policy-manual-%E2%80%9Cmonitoring-and-advocacy-ratification-african-union-policy
SECTION I: LETTER OF INVITATION     REF: DEVELOPING A CSO POLICY MANUAL ON “ MONITORING AND ADVOCACY ON THE RATIFICATION OF AFRICAN UNION POLICY INSTRUMENTS IN MEMBER STATES 1. The Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) an advisory organ of the African Union wishes to recruit highly qualified African experts to undertake the above assignment.  The ECOSOCC now invites interested Individual Consultants to submit CVs for the assignment as per attached Terms of Reference (TORS).    2. The Consultant will be selected under the fixed budget Selection method and the pass mark shall be 70%.    3. The EoIs must include the following:   A Cover Letter outlining the understanding of the assignment, methodology, and work plan. CV demonstrating experience with similar assignments   4. The EoIs must be submitted to the following e-mail address:  [email protected]   5. The title of the Procurement must appear as the subject of e-mail submissions.   6. The Deadline for submission of EoIs is on 31st October 2021 at 1500 hours Lusaka (Zambia) Time.  Late submissions will not be considered.    7.  This call for Request for Expressions of Interest comprise of the following:            Section I – This Letter of Invitation            Section II- Terms of Reference            Yours sincerely,     Head of Administration, Finance and Procurement Department.         1.0       Background The Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) is an advisory organ of the African Union, established during the third Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2004 under the provisions of articles 5 (i) and 22 of the AU Constitutive Act. The organ is mandated to actively engage civil society in the processes and work of the Union, particularly with regards to Africa’s integration and development. ECOSOCC comprises various social, private sector and professional groups of member states of the Union, and the African diaspora (Assembly/AU/ Dec.48 (III)) and functions primarily as a bridge through which the African Union can partner and engage with civil society organizations on the continent. ECOSOCC’s mandate includes: Contributing, through advice, to the effective translation of the AU’s objectives, principles and policies into concrete programmes, as well as evaluating those programmes Undertaking studies and making recommendations Contributing to the promotion and realization of the AU’s vision and objectives Contributing to the promotion of human rights, the rule of law, good governance, democratic principles, gender equality and child rights Promoting and supporting the efforts of institutions engaged in reviewing the future of Africa and forging pan-African values in order to enhance an African social model and way of life Fostering and consolidating partnership between the AU and CSOs Assuming functions referred to it by other AU organs. CSO members include but are not limited to: Social groups: e.g. those representing women, children, youth, the elderly and people with disabilities and special needs Professional groups: e.g. associations of artists, engineers, health practitioners, social workers, media, teachers, sport associations, legal professionals, social scientists, academia, business organizations, national chambers of commerce, workers, employers, industry and agriculture, and other private sector interest groups Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs) and voluntary organizations Cultural organizations Social and professional organizations in the African Diaspora (in accordance with the definition approved by the Executive Council) As part of the organ’s efforts to continuously execute its mandate of promoting and strengthening the institutional, human and operational capacities of the African civil society, ECOSOCC seeks a qualified consultant (s) to develop a policy manual on “ Monitoring and Advocacy on Ratification of African Union Policy Instruments in Member States ”. 2.0       Objectives The overall objective of this consultancy is to develop a policy manual is to enhance the capacity of African CSOs to monitor and conduct advocacy on the ratification of African Union policy instruments in member states. The specific objectives of the policy manual will be to enhance the capacity of CSOs to: Create a standard manual that will guide the CSOs to track and assess the ratification of African Union policy instruments in member states. To carry out a needs assessment; and based on the assessment develop a comprehensive 101 manual with specific strategies and tools on how  monitor and conduct advocacy on the ratification of African Union policy instruments in member states.   3.0       Scope of the Services The consultant is expected to perform the following services/duties/activities within the context of the assignment: Prepare an inception report providing the following: a detailed description of the methodology that will be used; schedule of activities; a list of all data sources that will be used; description of the data collection tool(s) that will be used, and a proposed outline of the contents of the toolkit/ manual. Construct the data collection tool(s) and present the tool(s) to ECOSOCC for validation before embarking on the data collection exercise. Upon validation of the data collection tool(s), t he consultant/s will conduct a desk review of existing toolkits and best practices on the conduct of advocacy for CSOs, to inform the consultancy process. Undertake desk research and analyze all the necessary documents/training modules, training materials to fully understand the ground situation and existing training material available. Carry out stakeholder analysis to bring out the roles and responsibilities of key players and institutions.  Carry out a “Gap” analysis to identify gaps and identify possible strategies.  Map out the issues and identify the priorities in line with the objectives of this assignment. This should include consultations and meetings and key informant interviews with relevant stakeholders Prepare a Draft report based on the comprehensive analysis and synthesis of collected data. This draft should be accompanied by a facilitator’s guide which includes training objectives, content, methodologies, timing, guides, tools, exercises and case studies to be used per module, in accordance to the standard acceptable to ECOSOCC. The draft report will be reviewed by a technical team from ECOSOCC. Prepare the Final report manual (toolkit) that will combine and refine the recommendations from the review of Draft report. Furthermore, consultant is expected to make a power point presentation to selected groups of high level stakeholders for final validation. The approved document (final report) should be submitted to ECOSOCC within five (05) days after its presentation and validation. 4.0       Transfer of Knowledge/Training The consultant in liaison with ECOSOCC will organize for a forum to present the reports to internal and external stakeholders and discuss the recommendations made and the action plan for their implementation. 5.0       Deliverables The final deliverable shall be a comprehensive policy manual to enhance the capacity of CSOs in Africa to monitor and conduct advocacy on the ratification of African Union policy instruments in member states. The consultant (s) shall however have process deliverables including: An inception report following the signing the contract. This report is aimed at showing the consultant’s understanding of the assignment. It should provide a detailed description of the methodology that will be applied including a work plan for the consultancy period, data collection tools, and a proposed outline of the contents of the toolkit. A draft report shared with ECOSOCC for review and comments after the initial collection and analysis of data for the study. A draft manual with the facilitators’ guide. ECOSOCC will provide comments on the draft facilitators’ guide and the consultant will finalize the guide in view of these comments; Final manual kit and facilitators guide: The tool and guide should be logically structured, contain evidence-based findings, conclusions, lessons and recommendations, and should be free of information that is not relevant to the overall analysis. Both documents should respond in detail to the key focus areas described above. It should include a set of specific recommendations formulated, and identify the necessary actions required to be undertaken, who should undertake those (If any) 6.0       Assignment Reports and Schedule of Reports The consultant is expected to prepare and present the following reports to ECOSOCC within the set timelines: ACTIVITY Timeline Inception report Four weeks (4) after signing the contract. Draft report Seven weeks (7) after signing of the contract. Final report One week (1) after submission of the Draft report   7.0       Facilities, Services and Resources to be provided by the Client The client (ECOSOCC) shall facilitate the use of a premium Zoom platform for the consultant to engage with the various stakeholders with sufficient notice. The client shall also submit a list of past and current General Assembly members, past ECOSOCC leadership and a repository of key AU decisions regarding ECOSOCC through its cloud based server for the consultant’s reference. The client will further facilitate communication with external stakeholders to bring to their attention the undertaking of the exercise; this will include preparation and administration of introduction letters as well as pass/passes for the consultant where necessary. In the eventuality, physical meetings are required between ECOSOCC and the consultants in the course of the assignment; the client will facilitate it in entirety (venue, stationery and equipment). 8.0       Assignment Period The consultant is expected to undertake this assignment within a period of 8 weeks after the signing of the contract. The breakdown of the period within which the various activities for this assignment are expected is as presented in the table below. 9.0       Assignment Management & Administration 9.1 This assignment will be managed by ECOSOCC. This includes servicing the consultant, support with setting-up appointments with stakeholders, ensuring that payments are made on time, facilitating meetings and tracking the work plan of the consultant. 9.2 Desk Officers of the Secretariat will be assigned to help in increasing expert opinion in the process. The consultant will also report to the designated focal point on all matters pertaining to the assignment. 10.0    Selection Criteria and Qualifications The consultant (s) to undertake the assignment is expected to have the following qualifications: Preferably a master’s degree in social sciences or any other related discipline Proven and substantial experience designing and developing training manuals/ Policy tool kits to finalization. Experience and sufficient skills in facilitating interactions with principal heads of large public institutions, Government ministries and intergovernmental organizations will be an added advantage. A good understanding of the operations framework of ECOSOCC and the AU in general will be an added advantage. Must be an African, from the continent or Diaspora Must have proven experience in interacting and dealing with civil society organizations Fluency in spoken and written English. Knowledge of French will be an added advantage 11.0    Budget and Payment The total cost of this assignment shall be a fixed lumpsum of   fifteen thousand United State Dollars ($USD 15,000). 12.0    Duty station and Travel requirements The assignment will be 80% home based and 20% travel to conduct the face-to-face and consultative interactions with the relevant stakeholders in cases where virtual interaction prove impractical. Travel will only be approved if there is a motivated reason where virtual engagements are impractical or insufficient. In any eventuality, that the Secretariat feels the need to have an in-person working session with the Consultant or any other travel requirements; a DSA (daily substance allowance) and economy class travel ticket will be covered by the former in accordance with AU rules and regulations. 13.0 Language: Fluency in spoken and written English will be the language requirement for conducting this task however Knowledge of French will be an added advantage. Also the bid, as well as all correspondence and documents relating to the bid shall be written in English language. Supporting documents and literature furnished by the Bidder may be in another language provided they are accompanied by an accurate translation of the relevant passages in the English language. 14.0 Selection Criteria and Qualifications General qualifications and experience 10  Specific experience of the consultant relevant to the assignment   35 Adequacy and quality of the proposed methodology, and work plan in responding to the Terms of Reference (TORs)-Technical approach and methodology-Work plan             30 15 Language 10 Total Weight 100   African Union Commission Zambia Not cancelled Request for Expression of Interest Consulting Services- Individual Sunday, October 31, 2021- 09:00 AU-P850139-10/21 ECOSOCC/03/11/236.21 General- Miscellaneous Monday, October 18, 2021 English Monday, October 18, 2021- 10:05 African Union Commission