Request for Consultancy Services to develop a Strategic Plan for 2024-2028 for the Horn Economic and Social Policy Institute (HESPI)

Job Description

The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) is implementing the ”Strengthening African Leadership for Climate Change Adaptation” (SALCA) program, which aims to improve the performance of organizations working in the field of climate change adaptation for a sustainable climate change adaptation ecosystem on the African continent. The overall expected outcome of the program is to have a strong group of African-based and African-led organizations capable of shaping Africa’s response to climate change through effective policy dialogue, advocacy, and the use of a common voice to raise awareness and influence policy.

More specifically, the SALCA program will strengthen the capacity of selected organizations to play a leading role in climate adaptation by improving their efficiency, effectiveness, relevance, and sustainability, while enhancing their ability to develop an organizational culture of excellence, with the overall aim of improving the continent’s ability to undertake the actions needed to prepare for and adapt to the current and future impacts of climate change.

The program emphasizes a data- and evidence-based approach in its implementation, as well as gender sensitivity and social inclusion in the climate adaptation strategies of selected organizations. As part of its implementation strategy, the SALCA program supports target organizations including the Horn Economic and Social Policy Institute (HESPI), in implementing the customized institutional capacity improvement plans (CICIPs). These plans aim to address priority capacity challenges faced by target organizations working with marginalized African communities to develop sustainable and resilient climate adaptation strategies.

The Horn Economic and Social Policy Institute (HESPI) is focused on regional policy research and capacity development. It was established to support the formulation and implementation of effective economic and social policies, with a particular emphasis on the member states of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)[1], encompassing Africa and low-income countries more broadly. HESPI’s mission is to maintain its status as a premier regional think tank, actively engaging in pertinent and valuable research. Additionally, it aims to enhance the local capacity to rigorously tackle the challenges and opportunities faced by these economies.

As part of this 4-year program, ACBF is supporting HESPI to strengthen its capacity as a policy research institution contributing meaningfully to climate adaptation agenda in Africa. The specific objectives of the intervention are:

i) To enhance the organization’s systems and processes for effective delivery of its

mandate.

ii) To strengthen human capacity.

iii) To enhance capacity for sustainable operations.

As a first step to support HESPI, ACBF conducted a Capacity Needs Assessment (CNA) of the institution between September and November 2022 to understand its strengths and needs. The CNA of HESPI focused on the following ten key institutional capacity areas: Governance and Leadership, Strategic Planning and Innovation, Human Resource Management, Financial Management, Program Planning and Implementation, Results Management and Quality Assurance, Communication, Knowledge Management, Resource Mobilization and Partnership and Infrastructure. Out of the CNA, the need for a strategic plan to cover the 2024-2028 period was apparent considering the expiration of the previous strategic plan in 2022. HESPI’s motivation for crafting this new strategy is driven by the imperative to advance inclusive and sustainable economic growth. This initiative aims to reshape outcomes at the national, regional, and continental levels, ultimately enhancing living standards. The strategy will focus on eradicating food insecurity by modernizing agriculture to boost productivity and production, addressing the adverse impacts of climate change, and supporting the establishment of robust institutions and sound economic and financial management.

The 2024–2028 HESPI Strategic Plan of the Institute should carefully outline a comprehensive approach to foster regional engagement and expand the reach of its research projects and institutional capacity building activities throughout the five-year planning period. An essential aspect is to enhance the delivery of research-and-policy formulation through multi-year orientation support, embracing innovative methodologies to maximize relevance and impact. Build on its distinctive focus in the sub region, the Institute must also scale-up its services to fortify economic foundations in the public, private and civil society segments. This requires strong collaboration with policymakers and engagement with various institutions to achieve the Institute’s goals effectively.

The themes of the 2024-28 Strategic Plan will speak to the following key purposes:

i. Improving the capacity-building model by transitioning from one-off efforts to continuous technical assistance provision to maximize impact and improve research outputs’ quality. Collaborative research with a broader set of partner institutions will also expand thematic projects into vital social sectors.

ii. Ensuring the Institute’s sustainability plays an essential role in driving socio-economic transformation and informing national and regional policymaking.

iii. Expanding the Institute’s policy influence through knowledge sharing, dialogue, and collaboration with other think tanks to foster the uptake of economic policy research.

iv. Building a robust and sustainable financial resources mobilization base to meet the essential requirements of an effective monitoring and evaluation framework.

Unlike previous strategic plans, this new plan will draw its strength, guidance, and insights from the SALCA Program whose objective is to enhance the organizational performance of HESPI, positioning it as a recognized centre of excellence specializing in policy research and institutional capacity building within the IGAD and the wider African region. By working collaboratively with this program, HESPI’s strategic plan will benefit from valuable capacity-building resources and expertise, thus propelling the Institute’s progress and impact.

It is in this regard that the HESPI, in collaboration with ACBF, seeks to commission an individual level consultancy to develop a new strategic plan for 2024–28.

[1] The current IGAD member countries are Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda

About the Organization

The objective of the assignment is to develop a comprehensive HESPI strategic plan for the period of 2024-2028. This plan will guide the organization's activities, projects, programs, and initiatives, serving as a roadmap for its strategic focus, direction, and interventions. The assignment entails working with a team of multi-sectoral experts to identify key issues and challenges and justify the strategic priorities for the plan.

The consultant will be responsible for undertaking the tasks outlined below:

3.1. Produce an inception report.

This will be based on this TOR outlining a robust methodology for a participatory strategic planning process in cooperation with HESPI staff, management, board, partners, etc. The inception report will include clear and achievable plans and strategies, with defined deliverables, indicators and tools for developing the strategic plan.

3.2 Conduct background review and preparation of draft HESPI Strategic Plan by

1.1.a.1. Conducting a thorough analysis of the organisation's current status, including its mission, vision, goals, core values, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, stakeholder analysis, and the external environment. Identify key challenges and areas for improvement.

1.1.a.2. Develop a clear scope for the strategy.

3.3. Conduct stakeholder consultation

1.1.a.1. Engage with key stakeholders, including board members, management, staff, beneficiaries, donors, and partners, through interviews, surveys, and focus group discussions. Gather their perspectives, insights, and feedback to understand their expectations and incorporate their input into the strategic planning process.

1.1.a.2. Facilitate a visualization of the strategy by HESPI stakeholders.

3.4 Conduct a comprehensive situation/context analysis and stakeholder mapping, and consultations to identify constraints and opportunities for HESPI’s growth and transformation.

3.5 Review HESPI’s Mission, Vision, and Core Values

a. Review and refine HESPI’s mission, vision, and core values to ensure they reflect the organization's purpose and aspirations clearly and concisely.

3.6 Goal Setting

a. Develop specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals that align with the mission and vision of HESPI. These goals should address the critical issues identified in the situation analysis and be consistent with HESPI's capacity and available resources.

3.7 Identify strategic initiatives and develop action plan.

a. Propose strategic initiatives and action plans that will enable the organization to achieve its goals effectively. Each initiative should include clear objectives, activities, timelines, responsible parties, and performance indicators.

3.8 Develop a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework

a. Develop a robust monitoring and evaluation framework to track the progress of the strategic plan's implementation. Define key performance indicators (KPIs) and milestones to measure the Organization’s success over time.

3.9 Develop a risk management framework.

a. Identify potential risks and challenges that may hinder the successful execution of the strategic plan. Recommend risk mitigation strategies to address these challenges and ensure the Organization remains resilient in its operations.

3.10 Identify staff capacity building needs.

a. Provide recommendations for capacity building initiatives that will strengthen the skills and capabilities of the Organization’s management, staff, interns, and volunteers to effectively carry out the strategic plan.

3.11 Present of the draft strategic plan

a. Compile all findings, analyses, and recommendations into a comprehensive strategic plan document. The document should be presented in a clear, concise, and visually engaging format to facilitate understanding and buy-in from HESPI staff and all stakeholders.

b. Present the strategic plan to HESPI’s management, staff and stakeholders, allowing for feedback and incorporating any essential revisions before finalizing the document.

3.12 Present a final draft of the strategic plan.

a. Facilitate and document stakeholder consultations and workshops.

b. Compile inputs from stakeholders.

c. Review the draft HESPI Strategy based on the stakeholder inputs.

d. Finalize and present the revised draft to HESPI board and staff.

e. Participate in the HESPI presentation to stakeholders for final approvals.

4.0 Deliverables

Key deliverables of the consultancy are:

· Inception report detailing the approach/methodology that the consultant will follow in developing the KMC strategy, and details of timeline and logistic requirements.

· Reports on the results of the desktop/literature review

· Reports of the stakeholder consultations

· Outline of the HESPI Strategic plan

· Draft strategic plan report that covers operating environment/context analysis, overview of HESPI’s achievements, lessons learnt from the previous strategic plan period, guiding principles of the new strategy, core elements of the HESPI business model, strategic priorities during the new strategic period, the theory of change, delivery modalities, organizational enablers, risks and mitigation measures, MEL approaches, well-crafted log frame that shows results chains and indicators, required resources to implement the strategic plan.

· Presentation of a draft Strategic plan to HESPI Board Members, Management, Staff and other stakeholders

· Provide validation workshop report(s)

· Incorporate all comments from the review process; and produce final strategic plan to help effectively communicate HESPI’s ambitions and guide its interventions in the coming five years (2024-28)

· At least a master’s degree in a field related to strategy development (planning, public policy, institutional development, development studies, etc.).

· Demonstrable working experience in strategy development, including working with Civil Society Organizations and research organizations and other stakeholders.

· A minimum of ten (10) years’ of relevant and demonstrable experience and understanding of organizational planning and programming, and organizational leadership and management.

· Relevant professional and work experience in strategic planning for a complex corporate & operating environment; and chart strategic path for an organization based on its organizational mandates

· Familiarity with international best practices in good strategic planning and sound knowledge of strategic planning approaches and processes

· Excellent and proven analytical and organizational skills with ability to prioritize, to lead and work independently with minimum supervision from the client

· Good understanding of participatory approaches to management and operations

· Demonstrable understanding and knowledge of organizational and institutional development of policy research and capacity building organizations operating in more than one country

· Demonstrated knowledge in institutional processes and procedures, including project planning, reporting, implementation, management and MEL – particularly in the IGAD or African context.

· Proven experience of mainstreaming gender, social inclusion and climate change

· Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate and work well with diverse people from diverse cultural backgrounds.

· Excellent writing and oral communication skills in English

· Ability to work with minimal supervision

· High level written and oral communications skills

· Must be result-oriented, a team player, exhibiting high levels of enthusiasm, tact, diplomacy, and integrity

· Demonstrate excellent interpersonal and professional skills in interacting with diverse stakeholders including government, civil society, and development partners

· Excellent skills in facilitation of stakeholder engagements/workshops

· Evidence of having undertaken similar assignments (attach three recent works and contact persons)

· Experience in research, policy and strategy development, management, and programming-related work

The start of the assignment is 7^th December 2023.

The outputs must match high quality standards. The text of the reports should be illustrated, as appropriate, with maps, graphs and tables. The consultant will be in charge of editing and proof-reading and is expected to work with ACBF Graphic Designer on the layout of the Strategic Plan. The final deliverable of the Strategic Plan is expected to be submitted by March 20, 2024.

The expected results and provisional timelines are presented in the table below.

Table 1. Delivery schedule

N°

Activities

Timeline

1

Presentation of Inception report, outlining the methodology and workplan

December 13, 2023

2

Outline of the HESPI Strategic plan

December 16, 2023

3

· Draft HESPI Strategic Plan

· Reports on the results of the desktop/literature review

· Reports of the stakeholder consultations

January 28, 2023

4

Feedback from ACBF & HESPI

February 8, 2024

5

Integration of comments and suggestions and production of the revised Strategic Plan.

February 16, 2024

6

Presentation to HESPI Board Management staff and other stakeholders.

February 25, 2024

7

Report validation workshop

February 26, 2024

8

Submission of final Strategic Plan

March 20, 2024

(i) This is a home-based consulting assignment. The consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment. The consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own working station (i.e., laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to reliable internet connection. This assignment may include some travel within Africa, and ACBF will cover the related costs. HESPI and ACBF will review draft reports for quality assurance and provide feedback on the deliverables. Approval of all deliverables and reports by HESPI will be a prerequisite before any payment are made to the consultant. Payment for this assignment will be made in a single instalment at the conclusion of the assignment. No additional benefits or per diems will be paid whilst working from home. The consultant is responsible for his/her own health insurance and accommodation costs.

(ii) The focal person for all communications will be the ACBF Program Coordinator. The consultations will mostly be virtual and therefore, availability during the working hours of ACBF Program Office in Accra, Ghana (0800 – 1700) is required. The consultant will seek inputs from and regularly liaise with the ACBF Program Coordinator for all important matters related to the assignment throughout the period of its implementation. ACBF will coordinate the review all deliverables for quality assurance and provide feedback within five working days. Approval of the documents and reports by the ACBF as deliverables will be a prerequisite before any payment are made to the consultant.

All documents and deliverables should be written in English, single spacing font size 11, Times New Roman and submitted as both word and pdf versions.

Qualified candidates are requested to submit the following documents:

a. A cover letter expressing your interest in the consultancy and outlining summarizing qualification and experience.

b. A maximum of 5 pages’ technical proposal to ACBF interpreting the terms of reference and elaborating the consultancy methodology and design, level of effort required to fully deliver the assignment, and with a work plan and budget (cost application) for undertaking the assignment.

c. Brief overview of consultant and/or the skills and experience they would bring to assignment.

d. The consultant Curriculum Vitae (CV).

e. Copies of three similar assignments undertaken in the last 5 years and contacts of the clients Contact details of three referees from organizations that have recently contracted the consultant to perform similar or related work for the last 2-5 years.

The proposal and Cover Letter with all requested supporting documents should be sent electronically to email address, Procurement@acbf-pact.org

Please quote Expression of Interest Process No.: ACBF/REOI/024/23/SALCA/BMGF in the subject line. Submissions are to reach ACBF on or before Thursday, 7 November 2023 at 1700 hours (local Harare time). Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

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