Terms of Reference Senior Non-Key Expert (SNKE) - Advocacy and outreach tools, mechanisms and strategies on Youth Policy issues [Task 2.1: Setting out the Youth Policy priorities and shared action plan] I- Background and Context: This set of terms of reference is for a short-term expert to provide technical assistance for the European Commission financed Technical Assistance to Support Youth Development in Lebanon project ( the project ). The overall objective of the project is to support institutional reform in Government and Civil Society which will improve their involvement in the public policy making process for youth development in Lebanon. The project is being implemented on behalf of the European Commission by the British Council and the American University of Beirut. It is a two years project, which started in July 2016 and due to be completed by July 2018. The project involves providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Youth & Sports and the Youth Forum in particular, along with other relevant stakeholders in government and civil society. The focus of the technical assistance is to support them to improve their effectiveness in the roles they can play to promote the priorities in the National Youth Policy. It is also to ensure that there is an improvement in coordination co-ordination, accountability, and scrutiny mechanisms for Youth policy. This includes increasing the means by which youth organisations are engaged on decision-making processes related to youth within government and parliamentary processes. The two specific objectives of the project are to: Enhance the roles of the Ministry of Youth & Sport and Youth Forum to progress priorities for youth and national Youth Policy Enhance co-operation, governance and accountability in relation to National Youth Policy and priorities for youth. In order to attain the objectives, the project will work on achieving the following results: Result 1: The organizational and institutional capacities of both the Ministry of Youth and Sport and the Youth Forum are enhanced Result 2: Tools, mechanisms and strategies for advocacy and outreach around National Youth Policy issues are put in place Result 3: A shared governance and accountability model is tested between youth stakeholders and government II- Scope of work and overall objective: The short-term expert will develop an advocacy strategy and plan, accompanied by materials and resources to design a training programme in advocacy in relation to the implementation, monitoring and scrutiny of the Lebanon National Youth Policy. S/he will also develop a monitoring and evaluation plan to measure the effectiveness of advocacy approaches. This term of reference relates specifically to Result 2; Tools, mechanisms and strategies for advocacy and outreach around National Youth Policy issues are put in place.
One of the findings from the inception phase of the project is that many of the Civil Society Organisations, and other youth actors are not aware of the existence of the National youth policy and its recommendations. Furthermore, there are no main priorities identified to advocate in relation to the youth policy and that organisations lack the skills and capacities to advocate on issues that concern them in relation to the Youth Policy. As such, the youth sector has a limited voice- at the level of individual organisations, as well as collectively. The tasks associated with this activity will work towards developing an advocacy strategy that aims at enhancing the understanding of youth development issues in relation to key priorities outlined in the National Youth Policy. The strategy will be accompanied by a realistic plan, accompanied by monitoring and evaluation measures to enable organisations to carry out advocacy work and to monitor the effectiveness of their staff in advocacy and the effectiveness of advocacy work they carry out. The task will also entail designing advocacy training, including resources for the training course to enable youth actors to develop soft and hard skills that are required for advocacy and to plan their own advocacy approach. The expert will work with the Youth Forum and the Ministry of Youth and Sports primarily, as well as with other entities such as the Youth Parliamentary Committee, Youth CSOs, individual youth leaders, and the media in order to assess their capacities in relation to taking the National Youth Policy s priorities forward and advocating for them. As a result of this assignment, representatives from those organisations will go through a capacity development / training program that will provide participants and their organizations with the core competencies for involvement in policy and decision-making processes. The expert will be expected to ensure that the advocacy strategy aligns with the overall communications strategy and the technical direction of the project and the logical framework. This includes ensuring that the priorities of the project in relation to scrutiny and monitoring (Result 3) are taken into account. III- Tasks In close coordination with the Team Leader and the communication key expert, the expert will perform the following tasks: 1. Carry out baseline analysis to ascertain the current ways in which advocacy is defined, how it is conducted within the youth sphere, stakeholders in youth policy, and capacity gaps and needs of different stakeholders likely to be involved or affected by advocacy work. This includes young people themselves as advocates and the role of key stakeholders in the project as potential advocates for youth. The expert s findings will be informed by analysis of the following: a. Identify the crucial players in terms of power, influence and level of interest b. Examine the levels of involvement and interest in the National Youth Policy amongst the main beneficiaries c. Ensure that we are targeting new groups through examining and identifying non-formal youth civil society organizations d. Identify the youth activists capacity needs that will help in developing a training and learning program, in addition to information and tools to advocate for the National Youth Policy 2. Conduct an action planning workshop to determine the priority areas from the National Youth Policy that we will be working on with different stakeholders and consequently determine what steps and strategies might need to be deployed with different
stakeholders in mind in order to implement the activities involved in this component identifying methods and activities. 3. Design an advocacy strategy, along with monitoring and evaluation measures and tools for advocacy in relation to youth policy priorities. 4. Design an accompanying capacity building tool/ training to enable people s engagement at different levels and to different degrees in policy making processes. They will be designed for different audiences, according to the needs and potential role of different groups but will be based broadly around strategies to help people: a. Research and understand issues from multiple political perspectives b. Advocate and communicate c. Gain consensus and build alliances d. Plan interventions e. Lead or take part in policy initiatives f. Monitor and review how those policy initiatives work in practice g. Hold people to account 5. Develop a shared work plan that will identify the capacity building program that can be carried out in terms of advocacy and outreach. IV. Expected Deliverables: 1. Baseline report outlining the context in relation to advocacy on youth policy in Lebanon, analysis of stakeholders, capacity assessment of needs and skills gaps in relation to advocacy and outline of the priorities of different stakeholders in relation to advocacy for youth and advocacy with youth around the commitments set out in the Youth Policy. The baseline report should also take account of the technical direction of the project and, in particular, priorities in each of the results (1,2 and 3). 2. An advocacy strategy, along with a 12 months Action plan together with a monitoring and evaluation measures to assess the effectiveness of the advocacy strategy with clear objectives, target activities, timeframe, needs, deliverables, channels of communication, messages and indicators, risks analysis for the implementation of this strategy, clear milestones, and an estimated budget. 3. Outline of a training or capacity building strategy for stakeholders in youth policy, along with resources and materials designed for the purposes of the training (or signposted from other sources). The training/ capacity building strategy should include monitoring and evaluation measures to enable participants to measure what they have learned and how they can apply their learning in practice. 4. Summary report outlining the work undertaken, results produced recommendations and SWOT analysis. This report should be accompanied by a power point presentation to be presented to the relevant stakeholders in the project V. Timeline: The assignment is expected to take place in the period mid-february to end of April 2017 for 20 working days as per the below timeline: The expert will be expected to submit the 1 st deliverable; baseline report after one month from the start of the implementation The expert will be expected to submit the 2 nd deliverable; advocacy strategy report after one month of the submission of the 1 st deliverable The expert will be expected to deliver the 3 rd deliverable; design the training programme, after one month of the submission of the 2 nd deliverable
All deliverables to be presented along with a final report before the end of the assignment (30 April 2017). The final workplan will be drafted by the Expert and approved by the Team Leader. The following table sets out the maximum number of days that will be allocated to the expert Assignment Deliverable Tasks Days Baseline report Consultation 5 that includes: meetings Context analysis Data analysis Stakeholders analysis Identify priority areas and develop a shared action plan Develop a sixteen months Advocacy strategy and design an outline of an advocacy training programme Advocacy Strategy that includes: Needs assessment and identification of tools and, mechanisms to be used KPIs Advocacy training programme outline Develop a time binding work plan together with stakeholders and getting Team Leader s approval on it Identify KPIs for monitoring and evaluations Resources for designing the training course 10 5 VI. Skills and competencies 1. Qualifications and skills At least a Master degree in social sciences, law, public policy, public affairs or any relevant major related to the assignment A minimum of 5 years of experience in supporting capacity development, training and learning in advocacy and campaigning, in particular in relation to public policy areas such as youth 2. General Professional Experience A minimum of 8 years of general professional experience working on relevant Youth Policy issues, institutional development, and working with government institutions (ministries and public institutions) Excellent analytical and reporting skills Excellent writing skills Excellent communication and facilitation skills Fluency in Arabic and English both in writing and speaking
3. Specific Professional Experience A minimum of 5 years of experience in stakeholders mapping, advocacy, policy, strategic management, and needs assessment Proven experience in using different media forms, including digital as well as formal advocacy Experience in partner countries of the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) or European member states or other international contexts is an asset. VII. Reporting arrangements The selected expert will report to the Team Leader. The consultant will work to terms of reference agreed with the Communications Expert on the project. All deliverables are to be submitted to the Team Leader as agreed per contract and as a condition for completion of assignment.