Hiring a Consultant to Conduct an Advocacy Capacity Assessment for Network Member Organisations

TERMS OF REFERENCE (TORs)

Network of key population service organizations LTD [UNESO] is an umbrella body for organizations led by sex workers for sex workers in their diversity. Network of key population service organizations LTD (UNESO) was established in 2015 with a countrywide mandate to provide a systematic and all-inclusive coordination structure for sex work organizations and support groups in order to play advocacy, policy, and decision-making roles in the sex work movement. This was after identification, acknowledgment, and recognition of coordination gaps among sex work initiatives in the sex work movement in Uganda. UNESO is mandated to bring together sex work-led organizations across Uganda to form a collective voice that will enable sex workers to advocate for their rights. It also exists to create safe spaces where sex workers can convene, discuss and find solutions to the unending challenges that they face within the communities in which they live and work in Uganda.

Introduction and Background to the consultancy

UNESO is implementing a two-year project financially supported by RED UMBRELLA aimed at strengthening the institutional capacity for UNESO and its member organization to be able to deliver to their mandates. One of the project activities is to conduct an Advocacy capacity assessment (ACA) for UNESO and its member organizations (sex worker-led organizations/groups) with the main goal of identifying the strength, gaps, as well as innovations that network members use in their interventions to enhance advanced sex work advocacy to influence policing and programming for the promotion of human rights for sex workers in Uganda.

The sex work movement continues to exist and operate in a shrinking civic space that guarantees doubtable future sustainability for the sex worker movement. The legal environment in Uganda which criminalizes and penalizes sex workers has worsened in a way that the country has continued to pass other punitive laws and policies that continue to encourage violations of the human rights of sex workers. Sex workers have continued to face the wrath of the communities with a new wave of stigma and discrimination, and poor attitude in all community settings.

To realize human rights for sex workers, both the successes and failures encountered during the struggle over the years have taught us that, we cannot overcome and merge success when we don’t tear down inequalities, promote inclusiveness, a rights-based approach, and more importantly, working together as a sex work community/family to reach everyone in need, and this can only be achievable with the existence of sex worker-led organizations/groups that have advanced advocacy skills and capacities to enable them to influence policies for the desired change.

The objective of the study

To enhance advocacy among network organizations in particular advocacy continuum, lobbying, methods of effective advocacy for change, identification and analysis of advocacy issues as well as stakeholders and spaces

Major tasks of the Consultant

  • Developing an inception report for the assignment: The consultant will draft an inception report detailing the structure and methodology of the study. The consultant shall discuss the report and show a way forward on how the assignment shall be accomplished.
  • The consultant shall need to conduct office-based consultative meetings among network member organizations.
  • Shall need to support each network member organization to develop an ACA action plan that is meant to support the organization to improve on the identified gaps.
  • Developing and submitting an ACA report to UNESO. The consultant will be expected to incorporate all submissions/findings as made by network members and submit a report

Expected Key Deliverables

  1. An inception report,
  2. ACA action plan for network organizations
  3. A final ACA report

Duration of work

The consultancy work is expected to be executed within 30 working days

Supervision

The UNESO –programs manager supported by the Advocacy and membership officer will be in charge of supervising the entire assignment and ensuring that all terms and conditions of this assignment are carried out as agreed

Required expertise, qualification, and work experience

  • Master’s degree, Postgraduate or other advanced university degrees (at least MSc. or equivalent) in the area of law, public health, social sciences, or any other relevant domain.
  • A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in conducting institutional reviews, research, and needs assessments with prominent institutions.
  • Demonstrated experience in capacity development initiatives, notably at the systemic and institutional levels
  • Extensive conceptual and practical knowledge of the sex worker movement and the situation of sex workers in Uganda
  • Experience in working and collaborating with stakeholders including governments; civil society organizations and sex worker communities in Uganda
  • Demonstrated ability in analytical and report drafting work

Application procedure

Interested individual consultants must submit the following information not later than Friday 1st July 2022.

Sex workers are encouraged to apply

  1. Personal CV detailing relevant past experience in similar tasks, and at least 3 references
  2. Expression of interest explaining why you are the most suitable person for the task and provide a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the task
  3. A technical proposal detailing the structure and methodology of the study
  4. A financial proposal broken down in line with the deliverables.
  5. Interested persons are encouraged to send their expression of interest with all the required documents to uneso2015@gmail.com

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted

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