Consultant – Policy Training for Community and Government Stakeholders at Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps has been present in Nigeria since 2012, focusing its interventions on humanitarian assistance, economic development, and conflict mitigation. With the ongoing insurgency in Northeast Nigeria, causing the displacement of millions of individuals, Mercy Corps started its humanitarian response in 2014 to address the rising humanitarian needs. As the crisis has persisted, Mercy Corps’ strategy has also expanded to address the root causes of the conflict and seek to build the long term resilience of communities with integrated programs focusing on governance, the recovery of markets and livelihoods, social cohesion, and social protection, youth empowerment, and local conflict management.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Consultant – Policy Training for Community and Government Stakeholders

Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Employment Type: Contract
The Consultant will report to: Program Manager, NE-CMS
The Consultant will work closely with: Governance and Advocacy Coordinator, NE-CMS

Background
The Northeast Conflict Management and Stabilization (NE-CMS) Program is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to improve security and reduce support for violence in Borno State in Northeast Nigeria. Following two previous phases of the program starting in August 2016, the NE-CMS program entered Phase III in August 2019 for an additional two-year implementation period, which is expected to result in:

• Citizens are more civically engaged, and civilian government are more transparent and inclusive in addressing community needs around service delivery
• Communities demonstrate improved trust and social cohesion within and between actors at the local level
• Local decision-making spaces and peacebuilding processes are equitable and inclusive of marginalized social groups, especially youth and women.

The consortium aims to achieve these by building government counterparts’ capacity, supporting traditional leaders and communities to conduct advocacy and accountability activities, encouraging dialogue and psychological trauma healing among stakeholders to generate trusting relationships, nurture reconciliation, and mitigate potential future crises. The program is also establishing parallel safe spaces for women and youth to contribute to peacebuilding effectively. NE-CMS operates in five targets LGAs, namely: Maiduguri Municipal Council (MMC), Jere, Dikwa, Damboa, Gwoza. As stated above, a key output expected of Outcome one of NE-CMS is Capacity Building for Participatory Governance. This assignment will contribute significantly to delivering on this output, hence the actualization of Outcome 1 of the NE-CMS program.

Consultancy Objectives:

• The overall objective of this consultancy is to strengthen the policy capacity of government officials and empower the Good Governance Committees (GGC) Women Council (WC) and Youth Support Network (YSN) in NE-CMS-supported LGAs with policy engagement and influencing skills.
• Through theoretical work and practical exercises, the training will empower government participants with a combination of skills required to evolve data-driven and gender-responsive policy development, review, and implementation approaches.
• Community participants will also be empowered with the knowledge, skills, and attitude to influence policy development effectively. These include the policy process, policy content and impact.

Specifically, for community members, the training will focus on:

• GGC advocacy priorities and related policies
• Why policy engagement is important and how it can strengthen GGC advocacy efforts
• Elements in a policy engagement strategy
• Engagement for gender-responsive policy formulation
• The role of networks and alliances in policy engagement
• Mapping policy processes and identifying those with power and influence

For Government participants, the training will focus on:

• Evidence-based policy formulation and implementation
• Visioning and goal setting in policy design and implementation
• Gender and Social inclusion in policy formulation and implementation
• Participatory governance implications of different approaches to policy engagement
• Community participation and stakeholder engagement strategies
• Policy appraisal and review process

Deliverables and Timeframe: (February 22 – March 26, 2021)

• For effective Policy Refresher training, the consultant will be expected to develop separate training modules for government officials and community members.

Methodology

• The trainings will adopt a combination of direct presentation, syndicate group work and presentations/ Brainstorming exercises, question and answer sessions and case studies will also be used to ensure the full participation of all participants.
• The consultant will develop handouts and reference materials for participants. Take home assignments will also be given to participants to ensure that they continue to practice and implement learning.

Key Deliverables and Billable days

Skills and Experience Required of the Consultant
The consultant is expected to have the following skills and qualifications:

• Advanced Degrees in Economics, Development Studies, Social Sciences or related discipline;
• A minimum of five (5) years’ experience in conducting and supporting capacity building activities in public policy and related fields;
• Demonstrable experience in working with communities in Borno State.
• An understanding of the socio-political and economic context of Borno state;
• Excellent writing and communication skills in English
• Ability to facilitate training in Hausa; Kanuri language a must;
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate and work well with diverse people.
• Must be resident in Borno state.

Application Closing Date
28th February, 2021.