Request for EOI for a Short Consultancy to Develop a Strategic Plan for the African Association of Veterinary Statutory Bodies (2A-VSB)

Introduction

The 2A-VSB was launched in Cairo in July 2018. Its purpose is to tackle the widespread inadequate or absence of regulation of the veterinary profession in some Member States of the African Union, which has been shown to be one of the major causes of a failure to comply with OIE Guidelines on veterinary standards, hefty medical and veterinary bills for Africa, and a lock out of the African products of animal origin from the global market. Specifically, it is meant to address the disparity in the training, categorization and regulation of the practitioners and the profession in the Member States.

Background

Veterinary Statutory Bodies (VSBs) in Africa face various challenges, including inadequate or lack of legal recognition and weak legal structures in the states where they exist, scarcity of resources for operations, lack of, or insufficient autonomy, insufficient technical capacity and insufficient resources to develop the technical capacity of the VSBs and their employees. The intervention opportunities include the OIE PVS and Gap Analysis for various Member States, OIE Twinning Programs, MRAs at the regional levels, the enactment of legislation where they do not exist, and reviews where they are weak. At the Member State level, VSBs ought to register and license practitioners; inspect, license and accredit facilities, and to take disciplinary measures against culprits.

Strategic Objectives of the 2A-VSB

1. To become a data repository for the VSBs in Africa
2. To support the establishment of VSBs in all AU Member States
3. To enhance institutional capacities of VSBs
4. To provide technical and institutional support to VSBs in AU Member States
5. To promote networking among VSBs in Africa

Context of the Consultancy

The 2AVSB does not have a strategic plan, which necessitates the development of one to give the prioritization of our strategic direction. Our programmatic environment is likely to constantly change with the rapidly evolving policy and political environment within Africa, growing stakeholder numbers and expectations, evolving staffing structure and capacity, amongst other factors. Additionally, this is a transition period for the 2AVSB with most of the founding Executive Committee (EXCO) members exiting as new country VSB members in the Member States get introduced into the boards/councils. At secretariat level, some major developments will happen as the 2AVSB establishes its own Secretariat, with weaning from the AUIBAR’s support as its Secretariat. It is thus a good time for the organization to reflect and think through the most effective way to capitalize on the new governance and other programmatic realities.

Scope of the Assignment

The main objective of this consultancy is to develop a strategic framework for 2AVSB that takes into account the current internal and external operating environment in order to enhance 2AVSB’s effectiveness and sustainability in the area of policy and legislative advocacy in the Veterinary Statutory Bodies of Africa. At the end of this consultancy, we expect that 2AVSB will adopt the strategic framework, building on the achievements brought forward as part of the establishment of the inaugural EXCO and General Assembly and cognizant of Africa’s ever-changing operating environment.

To achieve this, the consultant will review the 2AVSB’s Constitution and guide it in clearly defining:

1. Our Vision, Mission, strategic areas and objectives; including priority focus areas for the strategic period
2. Our situational context, through a SWOT, PESTEL and other relevant analysis
3. Sustainability plan; including proposals for effective financial and human resource strategies
4. Our stakeholder map and identify relevant strategies to engage them to advance stated objectives
5. Risk analysis and management approaches
6. Functional organizational & leadership structure
7. Monitoring and reporting framework to enable effective tracking of the strategic plan
8. Budget for the Strategic Plan

This assignment will involve close engagement with the internal 2AVSB Strategic Planning Team (comprising of the President of the 2AVB, an EXCO Member nominated by the EXCO and a Member of the Operationalization Team of Experts) and entail a participatory process, including, but not limited to:

• A review of internal documents and benchmark with similar institutions/ organizations
• Consultations with 2AVSB Members, selected members of the General Assembly [VSBs] and selected partners/ stakeholders to review the current plan and set priorities for the strategic plan
• Facilitation of a strategic planning workshop for EXCO, GA representatives and selected stakeholders to further build on the Strategic plan
• Drawing up of a final draft Strategic Plan for the next phase and incorporating input from 2AVSB EXCO, GA reps and selected stakeholders and partners

Expected Deliverables

• An inception report detailing the methodology/ approaches and timelines associated with this consultancy assignment
• A needs assessment report highlighting the current status and gaps in 2AVSB strategic direction, covering both internal and external factors relevant to the organizational operating environment
• A two day strategic planning workshop for the EXCO, GA Reps and selected partners
• A consultancy report that includes the major activities of the consultancy, the highlights of the strategic planning workshop and an evaluation of the workshop
• Final Draft Strategic Plan & Budget for the 2AVB

Profile of the Consultant

In order to be selected for this assignment, the Consultant must possess the following among other Academic and Professional qualifications:

1. A minimum of a post graduate qualification in the field of Administration, Organizational Development and/ or management or in a related field
2. Minimum of 10 years of experience in strategic planning;
3. Experience in organizational and change management
4. Good knowledge of the policy/ legislative advocacy field;
5. Excellent communication skills and fluent in English and or French.
6. Highly motivated and committed to 2AVSB’s values of professionalism, accountability, integrity and teamwork

Selection Criteria

The consultant will submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to 2AVSB; including the following:

• A suitability statement; including commitment to his/her availability for the entire assignment;
• Updated curriculum vitae that clearly spells out qualifications and experience in relation to this assignment including the Consultant’s team and or a firm/consortium;
• Proven experience in conducting similar experience

Supervision

This consultancy assignment will be supervised by 2AVSB’s President, with the support of the 2AVSB’s Strategic Planning team

Confidentiality

All documents and data collected in the process of the consultancy will be treated as confidential and used solely to facilitate the consultancy assignment. All information to which the consultant shall receive access to shall at all times be treated as the property of 2AVSB and shall not be disclosed save for where express permission has been granted as such.

Consultancy Duration

The consultancy will be for 15 days from the signing of the contract spread over a period of one months.

Remuneration

The Remuneration will be a lump sum amount of USD 4,500$