Consultancy Opportunity: Institutional and Context Analysis at Mercy Corps

Purpose / Project Description:

Based on experiences from past elections, the political landscape is likely to change as we approach August 2017, with possible new alliances, and defections after the party nominations/ primaries.

To support flexible programming and quick response including the facilitation of multi-stakeholder dialogues based on proper understanding of shifted dynamics since November 2016, Mercy Corps plans, jointly with IESCs to conduct a rigorous institutional and context analysis to understand new relationships and the processes that would have changed after the political party nominations/primaries.

The analysis will help the program determine new political interactions including any changes in the distribution of power and resources between groups/political parties and individuals, and the processes likely to create, sustain and transform these relationships over the election period

Illustrative Consultant Activities and Timeframe:

Detailed activities and exact dates will be refined based on consultant skills and a more specific scope of work presented during hiring negotiations. The institutional and context analyst (ICA) will commit to approximately
30 days starting May 5, 2017.

• Work with Mercy Corps and Champions of Peace staff to identify appropriate individuals with peace committees and integrated electoral security committees for interviews and FGS.
• Conduct a thorough literature review of the institutions and political dynamics of the four counties.
• Conduct a dissemination workshop to share the outcome of the findings
• Analysis and synthesis of existing information on local capacities for electoral violence mitigation
• Recommendations for key actors within sub counties including key election related points of conflicts, potential hotspot areas, and specific strategies or interventions Mercy Corps and its partners should consider, and areas where additional resources might be required.

The Consultant will report to:

KEVP Chief of party

The Consultant will work closely with:

The KEVP Deputy Chief of Party, Champions of Peace Program Manager, and members of the assessment team
Consultancy Opportunity: Institutional and Context Analysis

Profile of the Consultant:

The consultant shall have the following skills and experiences:

• Highly knowledgeable of election conflicts and violence in Kenya and specifically in the counties of Nairobi, Kisumu, Nakuru and Nandi.
• Highly skilled researcher with demonstrated past research work on conflict and stakeholder analysis
• Experienced negotiator/mediator with proven past experience
• Minimum 5 years work experience in related field
• Strong analytical and writing skills

1. Expression of Interest

Qualified persons interested in undertaking this assignment should send an Expression of Interest consisting of:

• A short proposal on how the assignment will be undertaken (The proposal must be concise and straight to the point adhering to the timeframe)
• A clear work plan
• Budget
• Curriculum vitae of the key personnel
• Applications by organizations to include a brief history of the organization and relevant experience

Assessment Criteria

• All proposals will be assessed on the following criteria:

Criteria Detail Points

Experience of Applicant

• Combination of organizational or individual experience, profiles of key individuals on the project, and provided demonstrations of work
• Technical proposal Quality proposals will provide detail of the approach, training methodology, duration of training activities, examples of negotiation/mediation curriculums
• Value for Money Cost of work, compared to quality of anticipated products being provided