Consultancy Service – Advocacy Training for Community Driven Advocacy

Background – Scope of the Consultancy

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has been operating in Myanmar since 2009 and is currently supporting operations in four different states (Kachin, Northern Shan, and Rakhine). DRC aims to provide immediate relief and protection to displaced people and vulnerable host communities in an impartial, inclusive and neutral manner, through a comprehensive, holistic response-approach to displacement that adheres to DRC’s Code of Conduct and core Humanitarian Principles. The DRC programme in Myanmar focuses on four core sectors; General Protection, Child Protection, GBV, Livelihoods, CCCM, and Humanitarian Mine Action (Danish Demining Group- DDG) activities

In recognition of the changing landscape due to COVID-19 restrictive measures and the events on and since the 1^st February 2021, DRC continuously seeks to strengthen its community level advocacy efforts in Northern Shan, Kachin and Rakhine State as part of its Protection programming. DRC seeks to continue to work communities affected by displacement and conflict to identify their priority protection concerns and to build capacity to advocate directly to influence policy and practice to address these concerns. The aim is to continue to enhance community members capacity for community driven advocacy towards strengthening the overall protection environment for conflict and displacement affected populations.

Objectives of the Consultancy

This consultancy will support equipping DRC staff, partners and existing community protection structures with relevant and updated technical and technological skills to identify, position and implement advocacy initiatives. The approach calls for an ability to provide context specific support for adaptable advocacy and policy engagement starting from a local level.

This consultancy will build the capacity and awareness of DRC protection staff, partners and community protection structures to engage in advocacy initiatives of their own design at community, State or national levels.

Duties, Responsibilities and Deliverables

Through this consultancy DRC protection staff, partners and community members would have increased capacity and theoretical awareness of what advocacy is and how to conduct advocacy. The consutancy provide support and guidance on how to use innovative technologies for ensuring the training and advocacy itself can be conducted remotely.

The training would include, firstly, how to identify and prioritise key issues for advocacy, with a focus on community level advocacy. Secondly, forms or types of advocacy can be used and whom to advocate towards. This should include practical exercises to map key stakeholders. Lastly, the consultant will to work with the training participants to develop small scale advocacy initiatives that can be put into practice.

The consultant will develop all tailored training materials and deliver these remotely to DRC staff, partners and community members. These training materials will also be adapted by the consultant to become a core module of DRC’s CBP approach (module on community driven advocacy) that can be delivered by DRC protection staff and partners remotely to community protection structures.

Lastly, the consultant will provide an Advocacy Training of Trainers (ToT) that would allow staff and partners to train community protection structures on advocacy as well as coach or facilitate community-based protection structures to implemented advocacy strategies.

Deliverables and outputs:

1. Inception report

2. Engage with key DRC staff to understand how protection issues are identified for potential advocacy

3. Develop digitalised advocacy training materials with a focus on raising issues from a community level. The training will include components on;

a. What is advocacy, what is community driven advocacy

b. How to identify protection topics and concerns for advocacy (this will link in with DRC protection monitoring, community-based protection and partnership approach)

c. Who are the advocacy targets and how to identify them (mapping of stakeholders)

d. How to advocate and develop an advocacy plan or strategy (this will include risk analysis and mitigation)

e. How to track or follow up on advocacy initiatives

1. Deliver a remote 5-day training (this can be divided into half days)

2. Develop adapted digitalised remote training materials on community driven advocacy that will become a core module for DRC’s CBP approach

3. 2-day training of DRC staff and partners to enable them to deliver the above training on community driven advocacy to community protection structures

4. Completion report with materials

Duties:

Consultant

• The consultant will sign the code of ethics and will ensure full respect of humanitarian principles when approaching community members.

• The consultant will sign DRC’s ‘confidentiality form’.

• Prepare a detailed technical and financial proposal detailing how the consultancy will be carried out, timelines as well as the methodology to be used in undertaking the assignment.

• Present the reports as listed under Key deliverables of this Consultancy.

• Organize meetings in consultation with DRC staff for consultation on the design of the tailored training materials (to ensure they a complimentary to DRC approaches and principles) **

DRC:

• Provide the consultants with relevant information for purposes of designing and delivering the tailored outputs

• Organize for availability of relevant staffs for meetings and discussions pertaining to the consultancy

• Organize and coordinate the participants for the trainings

Timeframe and duration of the consultancy:

The expected number of working days is an estimated to be 22 days. However, the timelines for the consultancy will be defined and agreed with the selected consultant upon delivery of an inception report and successful contracting between the two parties. However, DRC envisages that the consultancy should be completed in two months upon contract signing.

Profile of the Candidate

Your experience will include:

· Knowledge of the context in Northern Shan, Kachin, and/ or central Rakhine State and particularly the humanitarian and protection response, policy and advocacy.

· Demonstrated experience in carrying out similar assignments in relation to advocacy training in and advocacy with/ to CSOs and networks at different levels; planning and strategy development for advocacy engagements

· Strong analytical, facilitation and communication skills;

· Good understanding of community driven advocacy as well as a good understanding of the human rights space in Myanmar.

· Proven ability to work efficiently and deliver on the key deliverables within agreed timelines and deadlines

· Strong English and Burmese verbal and writing skills or the ability to work well with a translator if necessary, while knowledge of local language is an asset.

· Ability to work with minimum supervision.

Procedures for submission of quotation:

The Consultant is expected to submit the following as a part of the application process:

1. Current resume

2. Detailed work plan

3. Detailed budget

4. Proposal of how you would achieve the objectives of this consultancy

Primary contact point in DRC

The consultant will report to DRC Protection Coordinator- [email protected]