TERMS OF REFERENCE
HELASIA project: Health, Education, Livelihood in Africa: a Sustainable Inclusion Approach
Direction of Operations and Technical Resources- CESAN division
Mission: Support in developing accountability assessment toolkit and plan for multi-country project and partners.
(Remote mission / or if travel allowed, country to be determined)
1. CONTEXT
The HELASIA project, that is housed under the CESAN (Central, Eastern, Southern and North Africa) division of HI, had the opportunity to apply for additional funds in June 2020. As there was the opportunity to develop further the HELASIA approach and also to invest on the regional aspects, it was decided to include the topic of accountability more explicitly.**
Not only is accountability one of the donor priorities on ‘working with civil society’, it is also part of HI’s project quality framework, HI’s guidance on partnerships (2008 and 2016) as well as HI’s 2016-2025 Federal strategy and it was noticed that most guidance available from HI side is not fully adapted to fit the structure of the HELASIA project which is an inclusive governance project. As the project has very little activities directly (or indirectly) with targeted population in the different partner countries, the tools for accountability are not yet adapted. HI’s current tools and guidance focus mostly on the direct accountability towards local communities and end targeted population. As the project works directly at policy level, working with OPDs and CSOs and services, rather than providing direct service provision it is difficult to establish a fixed framework of accountability throughout the project. The project ambitions indeed to develop the internal and organizational capacities of organizations, federations and networks to lead project autonomously and to fulfil their mandate of representative organizations for all persons with disabilities, including diverse disability constituencies – and notably underrepresented groups such as persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities – but also women and young people with consideration to intersectional factors. Top-down and bottom-up processes need to be implemented to ensure the participation of members in decision-making, promote sharing of knowledge between all and not always few leaders based in capitals only to favour sustainability of missions and structures and evidence-based advocacy messages able to capture the reality faced by persons with disabilities throughout the country, even in remote areas.
An additional challenge is the multitude of levels of organisations of people with disabilities in the project, that are interlinked but also all have different ways of functioning.
At the regional level, the African Disability Forum (ADF) takes the lead in the advocacy component and is linked to the national federations of OPDs in the five project countries : Benin, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique and Rwanda. And there is an additional regional partner, the Pan-African Network for People with Psychosocial disabilities (PANPPD) that is a member of ADF, but are still quite new as a network.
Each of the national federations of OPDs (HIs national partners in the different countries) also have a different way of working with their membership: through national OPDs per region or per type of impairment, with regional offices or not), support would be needed to define a tool and system that can be used and would suit the different countries and own characteristics of local disability movements.
Even if the project is not focused on the individual level, through the established system there would need to be more information sharing and accountability in relation to what the project is doing/achieving.
And finally at the international level, the activities of HELASIA are also linked with the activities of the International Disability Alliance (IDA), not only do both agencies share common activities (Bridge CRPD-SDG trainings) but the regional partner ADF is also a member of IDA and a board member in its operations.
Sustainability of the system after project end is essential.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE REQUIRED SERVICE PROVISION
Ø Targeted stakeholders
The targeted stakeholders of the consultancy would be all project partners of the HELASIA project itself and their different members.
Generally, there are different levels of accountability the consultancy and final tools should be looking at :
1) Accountability between national disability federations and their members up into the individuals in the communities we/they all wish to serve;
2) Accountability between national disability federations and the regional bodies they belong to and from the regional bodies to its members;
3) Overall accountability in terms of steering of the HELASIA project, at the regional level and towards all the stakeholders regionally and within the countries.
Finally, the support, framework provided would allow for a better accountability towards the groups, communities and individuals the project wishes to serve. HI also hopes that the tools developed will serve future projects as well, in regard to the Inclusive Governance quality framework and the work undertaken by 3I division on Accountability and Partnership
Ø Overall and specific goals
Overall goal:
- To have a workable and inclusive accountability system set up to fit the different needs and layers of HELASIA project
Specific goals:
- To have held a participative work that results in an accountability tool (or toolkit as in multiple tools) to meet the HELASIA project: accessible, multiple levels, multiple countries and different ways of working;
- The accountability tool(kit) that was tested in 1 or 2 countries of the project and provides recommendations on how to take the process forward in the other countries.
The tools should be accompanied by a guide on the use of the tool(kit). - Accountability framework set up for HELASIA project that can still serve the project stakeholders after project ends.
Ø Services requested
Based on existing tools available in the civil society sphere and HI protocols, the consultant will be asked to develop a toolkit in a participatory way to support the need for accountability analysis and creation of an accountability system within the project.
Sources /tools that can be considered:
- HI internal guidance on accountability
- HI’s 2008 Capacity development and partnership toolbox and partnership health check.
- Accountability self-assessment tool being developed of other disability actors if finalized and having received permission of the necessary bodies
- Civil society accountability toolkit: Sierra Leone by Commonwealth foundation
- Power Awareness tool develop by Protos
- Self-regulation Guide by CIVICUS
- Others proposed by the consultant
These documents will be shared by HI with the consultant.
It would be important that the proposed tool will be tested in one or two countries, in order to ensure that it is easy to use and accessible for partners at different levels of the project to use. Ideally, the toolkit would also allow for illustrating (auto-) progress.
Once the test has been completed and a final tool has been created, it will be accompanied by a user guide.
The guide will also take into account recommendations for rolling out acquired during the testing phase.
The use of the tool will feature in the setting up of the accountability framework of the project.
Ø Anticipated results and indicators to facilitate acceptance and validation of final outcomes
It is important to have a final tool(kit) that is accessible, easy to use and can be continue to be used after the project ends (2022). All these elements will contribute to the sustainability of the efforts and a better functioning of future projects and relations with future stakeholders. The toolkit would need to be aligned to international framework and ensure the inclusion of disability specific topics such as accessibility, reasonable accommodation, representation and intersectionality with other factors (ex. gender). The toolkit should also be easy to use (with help of the guide) by actors facing different limitations.
The aspect of meaningful participation is highly crucial.
The project covers 5 countries, who each have different specific characteristics and organisational/federal structures, the final developed tool should be able to be used in all 5 countries. In addition to the 5 different country contexts, the project also works at different levels: the African regional level (ADF, PANPPD), the national level (national OPD federations) and sub-regional levels up to the community level.
In order for the toolkit to be accepted and used, the needs of the different levels and contexts should be taken into consideration, participation is key to this.
3. CONSULTANT’S PROFILE
Ø Training, experience, references and grade required for each expert
- Background in social sciences.
- 7-year work experience in the development field: focus on participation, inclusion, disability field, accountability.
- Proven experience on participatory processes
- Proven experience in tool development
Ø Working languages
English and French is a must: 2 francophone countries, 1 anglophone speaking, 1 franco-anglophone speaking and 1 lusophone (but teams speak English or translator can be provided).
4. SERVICE DURATION AND LOCATION
Ø Start date
1st of May 2021
Ø Mission end date
31st of August 2021 (4 months)
Ø Estimated Consultancy timetable and number of days to be spent by the Consultant (specify whether a briefing and debriefing are scheduled at Head Office or elsewhere):
Step in the progress (some steps can be simultaneous)**
Number of days (estimation)**
1- Project briefings & further clarifications on expectations : 1 day
2- Desk review existing tools : 5 days
3- Further development of methodology idea and planning to be used : 3 days
4- Country and regional teams briefing and consultation : 5 days
5- Drafting of tools : 15 days
6- Restitution + feedback of coordination on tools developed : 2 days
7- Testing of the tool in 1 or 2 countries : 15 days
8- Development of draft accountability framework : 10 days
9- Presentation and feedback on accountability framework developed : 3 days
10- Feedback on field experience on tools and adaptations : 5 days
11- Presentation final toolkit and accountability framework to coordination : 2 days
12- Presentation final toolkit and accountability framework to project countries and partners : 2 days
13- Report and recommendation writing : 5 days
14- Debriefing : 0,5 day
The number of mission days corresponds to the number of days spent in the mission location, including week-ends and bank holidays, + the days required for briefings, debriefings and reports.
Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, briefings and debriefings will take place online.
Ø Service location(s)
Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, most of the work will be done online.
As written above, the tool developed will have to be tested in one or two countries (to be defined) and from these recommendations will be made for the other countries and different levels of the project.
5. WORK SCHEDULE
HI expects to receive:
- A Technical note explaining the methodology the consultant intends to use and the scope of work (s)he intends to apply. Further the technical note should also highlight the understanding of the consultant of the proposed assignment and clearly state the deliverables the consultant will provide at the end of the assignment.
- An operational note stating the precise planning and work schedule with applicable fees, overall budget, activity planning.
- Consultant’s CV and illustration of experience.
- REPORT
Ø Contents (schedule), language, format and quantity
To be provided in English:
- Final accountability tool (tested and validated) or multiple tools, depending on the relevance for the different levels of the project
o To consider accessible format
o Joined by user guide to facilitate the use of the tool(kit)
- Accountability framework for HELASIA project taking into account the different levels of the project.
The HELASIA project will translate the documents to French and Portuguese.
Ø Submission date
9th of April 2021
7. RESOURCE PERSON
Ø Within the framework of the service provision, the Consultant will be asked to collaborate with Handicap International’s teams and in particular with Ms Griet Van de Voorde and Ms Elena Garibaldi who will be the points of contact.
. Administrative and technical appendices
(List of contract documents, e.g. training plans, any communication media (DVDs, CD-ROMs, etc), price breakdown, methods, general purchasing conditions, etc.).
HI expects to receive:
- A Technical note explaining the methodology the consultant intends to use and the scope of work (s)he intends to apply. Further the technical note should also highlight the understanding of the consultant of the proposed assignment and clearly state the deliverables the consultant will provide at the end of the assignment.
- An operational note stating the precise planning and work schedule with applicable fees, overall budget, activity planning.
- Consultant’s CV and illustration of experience.
How to apply
Applications shall be sent to [email protected] before the 9th of April 2021, clearly mentioning in the subject of the email : “accountability assessment toolkit and plan for multi-country project and partners.’
In case of any questions, or need for clarification, regarding technical aspects of the TOR or proceedings of the assignment, please write to: Griet Van de Voorde.
