Democracy and Governance Program Design Consultant at CAMRIS International

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has contracted through ZemiTek partnered with CAMRIS International, to recruit and hire qualified individuals for the following position:

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/ Kenya and East Africa

With more than 30 years’ experience providing information technology (IT) and management consulting services worldwide, Rosa Caldas, formed ZemiTek in 2007. Based in the Washington, DC metro area, ZemiTek delivers solutions to the federal government by supporting agencies such as USAID, US Patent and Trademark Office, US Department of Justice, US Department of Agriculture, and Department of Homeland Security, among others; and internationally to their missions in Africa, Asia, Europe and Eurasia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East.

BACKGROUND:

During 2019 and 2020, most of the major programs implemented by DGC under the USAID/KEA 2014-2020 Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) will come to an end. At the same time, the mission has embarked on a new country-wide strategy development process that is likely to result in new program directions and new cross-cutting ways of doing business. In particular, USAID recently announced an Annual Program Statement (APS) for Kaunti Kuimarisha Uendelevu - Strengthening County Sustainability. Through this APS, USAID will support the development of Local Development Organizations (LDOs).

LDOs are county-wide umbrella organization that will serve as a foundational pillar to unite civil society without partisan politics, and with the mandate to foster community-led, community-managed and community-owned development. The LDOs, which are rooted in USAID/KEA’s vision of Kenya’s Journey to Self-Reliance, must be inclusive for all county voices and stakeholders to advocate for real accountability, to carry out investment programs, to mobilize resources, to engage with county government, to collaborate and learn about what can work to develop the county, and especially to improve the lives of the vulnerable.

In late 2018 and early 2019, DGC began to consult with key stakeholders to plan for modifying existing activities and begin to design new Kenya activities that would be responsive to emerging issues (including Kenya’s fluid political environment), align with the Journey to Self Reliance (J2SR) and provide flexibility to adapt to the new USAID/KEA CDCS. While significant progress was made to realign existing programs, very little has been done on new program designs.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

USAID/KEA’s Office of Democracy, Governance and Conflict (DGC) is seeking TDY support to conduct strategic planning and program design in the areas of countering violent extremism (CVE), accountable governance and devolution, anti-corruption and civil society.

Reporting to the DGC Office Director or his designee, the DGC Program Design Consultant will support the office to complete the process of re-aligning its portfolio, with particular emphasis on new program designs. The consultant will receive technical direction from the cognizant senior DGC FSN technical officers. In carrying out his/her tasks, the consultant will emphasize evidence-based programming while utilizing collaborating, learning and adapting approach.

DELIVERABLES AND ACTIVITIES:

Activities include:

• Review of existing data, analysis and consultations held and synthesizing what is most relevant for DGC programming.
• Support DGC in telling its story, including identifying, drafting and disseminating best practices, successes and lessons learned from DGC programming under the 2014-2020 strategy.
• Internal and external consultations as needed.
• Drafting of key documents such as Results Frameworks, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) plans, activity designs, Project Appraisal Documents (PADs), concept papers program descriptions, climate risk assessments, gender analysis or other related documents needed for new programming.
• Support DGC office with drafting narratives for performance monitoring and reporting as needed.
• Contribute as needed to mission-wide CDCS process.

Key Deliverables:

• A work plan for the duration of the TDY that includes a timeline for major tasks and deliverables. Due two weeks after TDY assignment commences.
• A DGC strategy alignment paper that provides a strategic framework and identifies specific programming that DGC will carry out in support of a Mission-wide strategy. This paper, once approved by the USAID Front Office, will inform the design of new DGC programs.
• 2 or more new activity designs for new CVE and governance/anti-corruption/civil society activities (or other areas that may be deemed a priority) which includes supporting documentation.
• A summary document of DGC’s most important successes and lessons learned (with evidence to back it up) from the 2014-2020 strategy.

CERTIFICATIONS, LICENSE, PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS OR OTHER EXPERTISE REQUIRED.

The contractor must have:

• Master degree or bachelors plus three additional years of experience.
• Excellent writing and communication skills.
• Prior experience designing or implementing democracy, governance & CVE programs and a track record in program design for USAID.
• Africa experience, specifically Kenya, is preferred.