Strategic Planning Expert

at ICE Ethiopia
Location Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Date Posted August 24, 2021
Category Business Administration
Consultancy
Management
Job Type Contract
Currency ETB

Description

Call for Submission of CVs from Individual Consultants to assist in:
Strengthening the Institutional and Financial Capacity of the newly established Civil Society Organisations’ Council
BACKGROUND
ICE International Consulting Expertise (Belgium) has been contracted by the European Commission to operate a Technical Assistance Unit (TAU) to support the implementation of the third phase of its Civil Society Fund (CSF-III), which runs from November 2018 to November 2022. The overall objective of the programme is ultimately to increase the contribution of citizens and CSOs in the development and democratisation process of the country.
Following the overall nationwide reforms in Ethiopia since April 2018, the Organisations of Civil Societies Proclamation No. 1113/2019 was enacted in March 2019. This recognises the importance of non-state actors in the development agenda, and more importantly, the right of citizens to have a voice in their national affairs. The new proclamation has removed the restrictive conditions of its predecessor and is creating an enabling environment for the operation of non-state actors, allowing them to engage in any lawful activity, including democracy, human rights, elections and peace building, etc. Article 85 of the Proclamation allows for the establishment of a Council governed by the full participation of all CSOs.
The Federal Agency for Civil Society Organizations (ACSO) – which was also created under the new legal framework- convened and coordinated the founding meeting of the Council. The first General Assembly (GA) of the Ethiopian CSOs’ Council (ECSOC) was held on 31 December 2020. The GA has now democratically elected twenty-one Executive Committee (EXCOM) members who are responsible for coordinating and leading the Council in fulfilling its mandates.
The EXCOM has already begun to function by conducting regular meetings, mainly related to its structure and the division of roles. In addition, the drafting of the necessary working documents has commenced, such as its by-laws and the CSOs’ code of conduct, and an annual work plan. The Committee is also in the process of identifying the resources needed for its operations; establishing its secretariat office, and consulting potential partners who could support the Council to put its internal operational systems in place and assist with some start-up programmatic activities. The recruitment process for appointing an Executive Director is also ongoing.
Given EU CSF-III’s concern with the creation of an enabling environment for the operations of CSOs, the EXCOM of the CSO Council has requested Technical Assistance to support its efforts in strengthening the Institutional & Financial Capacity of the CSO Council; enhancing its recognition nationally, and increasing the contribution of CSOs in policy dialogue. The expected outcome of this support is to establish an independent, influential, accountable and transparent Council with the
capacity to lead, implement and manage the mandates, responsibilities and functions vested in it by the appropriate laws.
POSITIONS REQUIRED
The European Union and Technical Assistance Unit for CSF-III have already agreed to use some of its current team of short-term experts to support the Council and its Executive Director (once appointed) in areas such as Communications and Visibility; Policy Dialogue, and Resource Mobilisation. However, to provide the full range of support required to assist the EXCOM to operationalise its Secretariat, ICE Belgium and the CSO Council wish to recruit the following Short-Term Consultants:
SCOPE OF WORK –
The Strategic Planning Expert, working closely with the Management Expert and Executive Director (ED), shall support the EXCOM in formulating the CSO Council’s Strategic Plan, based upon the existing draft and the organisation’s mandates. The expert shall also advise on the most effective and efficient organisational structure for delivering the contents of the strategic plan, in consultation with the Human Resources Expert. In order to meet these objectives, the incumbent,
under the guidance of the EXCOM’s President, ED and the TAU’s Team Leader, will carry out the following tasks:
  •  Design the overall (participatory) strategic planning process and agree the details with the EXCOM.
  • Recommend the operational structure, timeframe and methodologies required to take forward the strategic planning process, including the establishment of a Task Force and the identification of required inputs for each step.
  • Undertake an internal and external environmental scan through desk top research and stakeholder consultations, and identify the key strategic issues to be addressed, in consultation with the EXCOM or any Task Force established by the latter for this purpose.
  • Review and facilitate the sector’s validation of ECSOC’s values, vision and mission.
  • Formulate and agree a series of goals describing the organisational status of ECSOC over the next three years.
  • Devise key strategies to reach the identified goals and to address key strategic issues.
  • Develop an integral M&E system to measure the progress and impact of the Strategic Plan.
  • Draft the overall Strategic Plan according to a template to be agreed in advance with EXCOM and present this to a validation workshop.
  • Incorporate feedback, finalise the Strategic Plan, and develop activity plans (in the form of three costed annual work plans) to guide the roll-out of the Strategic Plan, the resources required, and the assignment of responsibilities across ECSOC’s secretariat and its membership.
  • Facilitate the design, publication, infographics, and dissemination of the finalised plan.
  • Provide appropriate orientation to EXCOM members and the ECSOC secretariat on implementation of the Strategic Plan.
  • Advise on an appropriate organisational structure to deliver the plan’s objectives (in consultation with the Human Resources expert).
  • Undertake any other related tasks as assigned by the Executive Director, EXCOM president, or TAU TL or their representatives.
DELIVERABLES-
  • An Inception Report within 7 working days of commencing the assignment, describing the expert’s understanding of the ToR (including any suggested changes), proposed approach (covering points I and II above) to accomplish the tasks required, and a detailed work plan showing activities and milestone dates. The Report should be no more than 10 pages long, excluding annexes. Following a review and approval of the Inception Report by the EXCOM of ECSOC and TAU/EUD, and quality clearance by ICE HQ, the report will be considered final.
  • A Final Progress Report (maximum 20 pages excluding annexes) at the end of the assignment describing the tasks planned and completed, the outputs produced, including any problems encountered, solutions found and detailed recommendations and guidelines for the EXCOM of ECSOC to take forward the implementation of the Strategic Plan. All finalised deliverables (Inception Report, validated Strategic Plan, annual work plans and other implementation modalities and proposed organisational structure, as detailed in the scope of work section above) required under these ToRs shall be attached to the final report as annexes.

LOGISTICS AND TIMEFRAME

The operational base for the Strategic Planning Expert will be the CSO Council’s Secretariat Office, which is currently being provided by the Ethiopian Civil Society Forum in Addis Ababa. Office accommodation with basic furniture as well as access to telephone, internet, copying and printing facilities can also be made available as required at the TAU’s office in Bole. The Expert is expected to provide his/her own personal computer and cell phone.

The start date tentatively shall be mid November 2021. The performance period is currently set at 30 working days, to be delivered over a period of two calendar months.

Job Requirements

REQUIREMENTS
The Strategic Planning Expert should possess the following qualifications, skills and experience:
Required qualifications and skills
  •  At least a first degree (preferably a master’s degree) in Management, Business Administration, Public Administration, Organisational Development, Economics, or related field.
  • Previous demonstrated experience in strategic planning processes.
  • Excellent planning and organisational skills.
  • Excellent communication and presentation skills.
  • Fluency in written and spoken Amharic and English.
Required general professional experience
  • At least ten years’ working experience in relevant field.
  • At least three years of the above experience should be in an advisory position.
  • In depth knowledge of national and global development contexts.
  • In depth knowledge of various development tools.
  • Demonstrable experience in, and understanding of, Organisational Development.
  • In depth knowledge of the Civil Society sector in Ethiopia.
Preferred professional experience
  • Knowledge of, and experience with, a similar CSO council or network internationally.

Applying Instructions

Interested and eligible individual consultants should submit their CV in EU format (see following link EU CV Format .docx) to
info@csf3.org by Monday 30 August 2021.
ICE Belgium, for the European Union Civil Society Fund III
Tel. 0991 189 689
Addis Ababa
Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply
ONLY CVs SUBMITTED IN THE EU’s FORMAT WILL BE CONSIDERED
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