Statement of Work (SOW) for Long-Term Governance/Legal Consultant

USAID/Liberia Civil Society Activity (CSA)

Background:

The Liberia Civil Society Activity (CSA) aims to strengthen Liberians’ ability to advocate for policy reforms, policy implementation, and service delivery improvements through multi-stakeholder coalitions that build feedback loops among the Government of Liberia (GOL), civil society organizations (CSOs), and citizens. The project seeks to achieve the following objectives:

1. Linkages Between CSOs with Shared Priorities Strengthened to Increase their Impact 2. Civil Society’s Ability to Serve as a Conduit for Information Between Constituents and Officials Enhanced
2. Supported CSOs’ Financial and Organizational Sustainability Enhanced
3. Ongoing Capacity Development Services Available on the Local Market

Position Objectives:

The Consultant will work under the supervision of the Chief of Party (CoP) and the Senior Policy Advisor of CSA and collaborate with other members of CSA team and USAID to provide overall legal technical guidance to grantees working in CSA technical sectors, including but not limited to, local governance, education, health and gender. As such, the consultant will identify key opportunities and most effective approaches that civil society organizations, and coalitions may take to support improved citizen services in Liberia.

Activities to be carried out by the long-term Governance/Legal Consultant include but are not limited to the following:

➢ Provide strategic direction and operational framework for CSA coalition partners. ➢ Provide high-quality legal technical support to coalition civil society organizations to plan, implement, and evaluate advocacy activities.

➢ Facilitates collaboration and fosters communication among coalition civil society organizations. ➢ Provide technical support to coalition members in designing and implementing advocacy training programs at national and subnational levels.

➢ Analyze and recommend adaptable solutions to improve civil society coalition advocacy initiatives. These may include developing policy reform and budget advocacy initiatives. ➢ Facilitate collaboration and coordination among coalitions and governance stakeholders. ➢ Willingness to travel to coalition operational counties and provide technical assistance and ability to work on different assignments simultaneously to meet the timeline for assignments.

➢ Undertake periodic visits to coalition partners to identify challenges and gaps including follow-up and advocacy capacity building support to coalition partners.

➢ Provide legal technical advocacy capacity support to civil society coalition partners to advocate for citizen`s participation in decision-making processes.

➢ Have an excellent understanding of the policies, regulations, laws, and protocols that govern public service delivery in Liberia as well as laws and policies that govern decentralization, citizen empowerment, and transparency in applicable technical sectors.

➢ Provide one-on-one mentorship and coaching to coalition partners to strengthen their ability to build community capacity to plan and take action to demand accountability in the provision of public services.

➢ Facilitate peer-to-peer learning conferences and experience-sharing sessions with coalition partners to support continuous learning and adaptation.

➢ Work closely with CSA staff and other technical consultants to design and implement technical advocacy support to education coalition partners.

➢ Review coalition partners milestone calendar and provide technical support in implementing milestone activities including meeting timelines of each milestone.

➢ Review program descriptions of each of the coalition partners to become familiar with the program strategy for advocacy.

➢ Provide legal technical support to CSA coalition partners in developing advocacy materials. These may include talking points, fact sheets, proposed legislation, policy briefs, advocacy briefs, and flyers in their engagement with the Government of Liberia Executive branch, Legislature, County Councils and other stakeholders.

➢ Co-lead and contribute to the update of CSA political economic analyses in health and education sectors.

➢ Any other duties assigned by the Chief of Party/Deputy Chief of Party/Senior Policy Advisor. Deliverables

At the beginning of each month, the consultant and the supervisor will agree on the tasks for the month including the LOE to complete those tasks. Following the execution of the monthly tasks, the consultant will submit a monthly deliverable report for all tasks accomplished including a timesheet stating the number of days worked in a month. The consultant will be paid only for the number of days worked in a month excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.

Level of Effort

The Governance/Legal Consultant will work for a period of up to120 days, excluding weekends and holidays. The CSA Technical Team will determine the scheduling of the Consultant’s level of effort to ensure effectiveness and efficiency.

Qualification and Skills:

▪ At least a first degree in Law, with experience in the the education, health, gender, marginalized community sectors. Master’s degree in Social Science, Political Science, Economics, Natural Resource Management/Governance, International Development, Education and other closely related fields, or equivalent experience would be added preferences.

▪ Minimum five years of assessment experience in public sector reform, public service delivery, political economy, or related fields.

▪ Demonstrated experience working with civil society organizations international development organizations and experience of working in an USAID assessment is preferred but not required. ▪ At least three years of research/consultancy experience working on the Local Government Laws and political participation.

▪ Sound experience of drafting/reviewing rules and laws.

▪ Strong knowledge of local government theories and best practices.

▪ Understanding of comparative international and regional analysis of laws of local government. ▪ Excellent analytical, communications and reporting skills with command of written and spoken English.

▪ Intra-personal skills and attention to details.

▪ Demonstrated ability to work as part of a team, including reliability and punctuality. ▪ Demonstrated ability to respond on short notice, multitask, meet deadlines consistently. ▪ Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite, including Word, Excel, Power point applications.

HOW TO APPLY: If you are interested, please send the following to CSA no later than January 2, 2024 to email address: LiberiaCSA@dai.com with the title Governance/Legal Consultant in the subject line:

• Detailed CV – outlining all previous professional experience.
• A cover letter that explains 1) why you are interested in the CSA program and the role of Technical Education Consultant, and 2) why you are best suited for this role.
• Name of three professional and academic references.

USAID CSA values diversity and inclusion and strongly encourages women and persons from marginalized groups to apply.