Sri Lanka: Consultant Research Support Increased Demand and Engagement for Accountability (IDEA) Activity, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Consultant Research Support

Increased Demand and Engagement for Accountability (IDEA) Activity,

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Project Summary:

Increased Demand and Engagement for Accountability (IDEA) is a 3-year USAID funded activity to strengthen the civil society sector in Sri Lanka with an emphasis on working in all regions of Sri Lanka. Its objective is to support CSO work on national and local governance and rights issues and to build capacities of CSOs and networks towards this end.

*Please note: Only local Sri Lankan citizens may apply**

Summary of the Consultancy Assignment:

IDEA plans to award small grants to Sri Lankan civil society organizations working in the areas of governance, rights protection and womens empowerment. These grants will aim to bring about reforms in chosen sub themes under the above mentioned broad thematic areas. The reforms will range from advocating for legal and policy changes as well as to effective implementation of existing laws and policies at national and local levels.

The overall purpose of these grants will be to enable Civil society organizations in Sri Lanka to be more effective in advancing democratic values of citizen participation and government accountability on targeted reform issues and rights protection. To achieve this one of the outcomes that IDEA project will aim for is to Increase civil society data generation and data utilization related to key governance processes and reforms.

To address gaps in evidence, particularly in relation to the prioritized issue areas IDEA will include components in the grants to CSOs to conduct and disseminate research at national and local levels and will link the two together. Research/Studies will be targeted to provide policy and program relevant data for dialogue with the government and stakeholders and to inform outreach for citizen awareness and engagement. Research and studies supported by IDEA grants will be demand driven and participatory, involving regionally-based and smaller CSOs. Already some studies in the areas of transitional justice, campaign finance, land rights, independent commissions, sexual and gender based violence, disappearance, torture, minority rights, freedom of religious belief, personal law reforms, rights of persons with disability, womens political participation have been included in grants. These range from basic documentation and studies that support specific projects to more in depth and rigorous research aimed at creating an evidence base to inform advocacy

IDEA supports the CSOs in this work and is looking for a consultant who will provide assistance to grantees in improving the quality of their research and documentation work.

Responsibilities

• Improve quality of grantee led and conducted research/study/documentation by reviewing and providing feedback on methodology, analysis and firsts draft.

• Assist the grantee with literature review and secondary data on selected research/study work and in structuring the report to gain maximum advocacy mileage.

• Develop synthesis reports when research/documentation on similar issues (e.g. torture, SGBV, disappearance, etc.) are done by multiple grantees.

• Providing training and mentoring support to grantee staff and consultants retained to do specific studies and documentation.

• Assist grantees in dissemination and communication of research to multiple stake holders and in linking them up with individuals in think tanks and universities pursuing similar work.

• Help CSO organizations and networks to develop research agendas in support of their advocacy work.

Qualifications:

• Minimum of a masters degree in a related field (Law, Economics, Political Studies, Public Administration).

• Minimum three years of experience conducting research work in Sri Lanka on issues related to governance, human rights, womens empowerment.

• A good understanding of the political context and policy environment in Sri Lanka

• Command the confidence and respect of civil society partners in general through past engagement and track record.

• Shared values with IDEA project goals and objectives

• Fluency in English and one national language required; proficiency in a second national language desired and will be a distinct advantage.

• Willingness to travel as required. It is expected that CSOs selected will be based in different parts of the Island and supporting them would require some travel.

• A good understanding of and commitment to gender and diversity/youth considerations.

• Conversant with MS Office applications and statistical software

Proposed Period of Performance and Level of Effort

August 20, 2019 - February 19th, 2020. This is a short term technical assistance role and the level of effort will be determined once the candidate is selected.

Candidates who are interested, please upload your CV and at least 2 non-related CSO references

Only candidates who have been selected for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls, please. Individuals who are currently attached to any institutions and have obligations to them with regard to taking up consultancies please notify that in the cover letter.

PI112670424

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