Networking and Logistical Consultants – Nigeria Governance at Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI) – 5 Openings

Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI) is an international development company. For more than 45 years, we have worked on the frontlines of international development, tackling fundamental social and economic development problems caused by inefficient markets, ineffective governance, and instability. Currently, DAI is delivering results that matter in some 80 countries.

Our development solutions turn ideas into impact by bringing together fresh combinations of expertise and innovation across multiple disciplines. Our clients include international development agencies, international lending institutions, private corporations and philanthropies, and national governments.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Networking and Logistical Consultant – Nigeria Governance

Locations: Adamawa, Bauchi, Ebonyi, Gombe and Sokoto

Description

• We seek networking and logistical consultants to facilitate successful engagement with key stakeholders at the state level, one lead in each of the following states, respectively: Adamawa, Bauchi, Ebonyi, Gombe, and Sokoto
• Each Consultant will provide networking, logistical, and administrative support to a small team of technical experts.

Project Overview

• The purpose of the “State Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness” (“State2State”) Activity is to increase the accountability, transparency and effectiveness of selected state and local governments (LGAs) in Nigeria
• This will be achieved by: strengthening governance systems (with a focus on public financial management [PFM] and procurement, as well as monitoring and evaluation) related to the delivery of services in key sectors (basic education, primary health care, and water, sanitation and hygiene [WASH]); increasing government responsiveness to citizen needs and priorities; and improving government and civil society capacity to manage conflict (through work on prevention, mitigation and reconciliation with the same sectoral partners, not stand-alone assistance to the police or judiciary)
• State2State will achieve this purpose by facilitating the strengthening of subnational governance systems in a sustainable manner, supporting the efforts of local reformers and building on locally-derived solutions including, to the extent possible, reforms already working in other parts of Nigeria.

State2State is designed to increase the accountability, transparency and effectiveness in targeted states and local governments (LGAs) in Nigeria. State2State will be implemented in the partner states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Ebonyi, Gombe, and Sokoto, to start. This will be achieved by:

• Sub Purpose 1: Increased Efficiency of Sub National Government Operations: strengthening governance systems (with a focus on public financial management [PFM] and procurement, as well as monitoring and evaluation) related to the delivery of services in the key sectors of basic education, primary health care, and water, sanitation and hygiene [WASH]);
• Sub Purpose 2: Improved Sub National Government Responsiveness to Citizen / CSO Engagement: increasing government ability to respond to citizen needs and priorities; and
• Sub Purpose 3: Improved Sub National Capacity to Manage Conflict: improving government and civil society capacity to manage conflict through work on prevention, mitigation and reconciliation with sectoral partners.

Critical services, including education, health care and WASH, are the responsibility of state and local governments. These subnational units are confronted by a host of challenges in carrying out their mandate, which are of three fundamental types: governance capacity constraints; financial resource constraints; and sectoral technical capacity constraints. State2State will address primarily the first type of constraints through governance and PFM interventions. State2State will also help to address financing constraints through enhancements to internally generated revenue. These governance reforms will support the other sector-specific USAID/Nigeria interventions health, education and WASH activities.

State2State governance reforms are intended to achieve measurably improving delivery of basic services in the key sectors, thus reducing extreme poverty in Nigeria. Conflict mitigation, citizen participation and gender and social inclusion are core State2State principles. Improved governance and public services, coupled with a Do-No-Harm approach and conflict mitigation strategies and tools, will also contribute to reducing conflict associated with service delivery and resource allocation.

The Role

• The State2State project seeks a more thorough understanding of the context in which governance and public finance management impacts quality of service delivery in education, health and WASH in each of the five project states is key for the implementation of the project
• DAI therefore, will engage a small team of PEA experts for meetings, research, and analysis on multiple aspects of state and local governance. This effort will include meetings with key public, private and civil society actors
• The Networking and Logistical Consultant will be a partner in this effort, contributing their own expertise and arranging meetings with other stakeholders
• The consultant will support the successful administration of the PEA, and should have a familiarity in one or more of the following areas: good governance/ public administration; public finance management; accountable service delivery in education, health and WASH sectors, in the respective state
• This undertaking will be dynamic, evolve as the consultant and PEA experts gain insights and expand their network
• As such, the consultant will require a high degree of creativity to identify promising stakeholders and new avenues of inquiry.
• The Consultant should be skilled in high-level logistical arrangements, including identifying, establishing and managing a calendar of meetings with key stakeholders in close collaboration with the PEA lead and State2State federal project staff
• There will be five parallel data collection efforts in each target state, culminating in a unified report.

Specific Tasks

• Arrange key stakeholder meetings (individual, or possibly small focus groups), and manage schedule.
• Provide support for travel within the state.
• Assist in gathering secondary research materials.
• Participate in two weeks of key informant interviews in a target state, whereby the PEA lead will interview stakeholders from government offices, parliament and civil society organizations (CSOs), and private sector groups that support improved governance and service delivery in education, health and/or WASH.
• Take meeting notes.
• Participate in PEA framework development and training sessions.
• Support the lead expert(s) to identify key stakeholders and their contacts in that state, based on the specific research topic(s).

Requirements / Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree required in Political Science, Law, Development Studies, Public Policy or another related field.
• Familiarity with counterparts at the state government level and understanding of local governance issues (ideally related to public financial management, budgeting, and resource allocation) required.
• Residence in, or deep experience working in, one of the following states: Adamawa, Bauchi, Ebonyi, Gombe, and Sokoto.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience working related to good governance or sectoral project.
• Experience working on qualitative, contextual research activities idealExperience with USAID or other donor funded projects preferred.
• Fluency in English and a relevant local language required.

Application Closing Date
4th December, 2020.