The role of the Consultant for Africa Advocacy and Policy Strategy Development is to create a robust, evidence-based, and actionable advocacy strategy for Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) tailored to the African regional context. This strategy must align with HFHI's Africa Regional strategy and focus on promoting access to decent and affordable housing for vulnerable communities across the continent, involving engagement with regional bodies like the African Union.
Specific Objectives
- Strategy Development: Develop an evidence-based, feasible, and time-bound advocacy strategy. This must include recommendations regarding the structure and operation of a regional advocacy platform that unites key stakeholders working on core advocacy priorities to coordinate joint efforts on access to decent and affordable housing for vulnerable communities.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Assess and provide recommendations on identifying, selecting, and effectively engaging key policymakers and rights holders at all levels, including civil society organizations across diverse sectors.
- Power Mapping: Conduct power mapping to analyze and distill decision-making bodies, gatekeepers, supporters/allies, opponents, and streamline key approaches necessary to achieve political wins that align with the respective countries' national priorities.
Scope of the Consultancy
The Consultant is required to create the advocacy strategy based on the HFH Africa Regional strategy and the outcomes derived from stakeholder interviews, document reviews, and analysis. Key tasks include:
- Develop workable guidelines to operationalize the advocacy plan, including a detailed Africa Union Engagement strategy and suggesting context-based areas of influence for the national offices across the continent.
- Develop a comprehensive advocacy strategy, detailing distinct objectives, clear targets, doable activities, potential allies, deliverables, indicators, clear advocacy messages, tactics, and a three-year implementation plan with a cost estimate.
- Conduct a thorough review (desktop research and individual in-depth interviews) of existing regional advocacy networks or platforms, exploring their mandate, structure, and functioning within the HFHI network (including National Organizations and partners), leading to recommendations for an optimal advocacy platform.
- Conduct rigorous review of experiences from similar engagement strategies if available from other international INGOs operating in the Africa region. This analysis must include a power analysis covering visible, hidden, and invisible aspects, specifically analyzing the governance and decision-making architecture of the AU and other key regional bodies such as ECOWAS, AFDB, ECA, EAC, and SADC.
- Highlight practical instances of housing successes and identify gaps in the National Organizations (NOs) where HFH Africa Office (AO) operates, as deemed relevant.
- Collaborate with important regional stakeholders to identify champions/supporters from various constituencies (e.g., political leaders, civil society, researchers, social media influencers, and media) who can be mobilized to support access to adequate and affordable housing in the region.
- Present a draft of the advocacy strategy at a validation meeting (to be held virtually or face-to-face).
- Finalize the advocacy strategy with a specific action plan, which will be presented to relevant policymakers, regional CSOs, including relevant AU, ECA, and AFDB departments, either virtually or physically.
Duration and Deliverables
This contract will be executed over 65 working days from the day of signing the contract. Key phases and durations are:
- Inception report outlining methodology and work plan (10 days)
- Situation analysis/Data collection/Research (20 days)
- Report and presentation on the analysis of current regional Housing and Human Settlement advocacy networks/platforms, and proposals for the operation of the Regional Advocacy Platform and Africa Union engagements (10 days)
- Develop Advocacy Strategy that includes implementation plan and key advocacy messages and tactics (12 days)
- Validate Advocacy Strategy (10 days)
- Presentations to relevant stakeholders within Habitat for Humanity International entities and accommodating reflections and feedback for submissions (3 days)
Expected Profile and Qualifications
HFHI seeks a consultant or consultancy firm meeting the following criteria:
- Experience (Firm): Consultancy firm must have more than seven (7) years of working experience developing continental advocacy strategy for INGOs, Multilaterals, bilateral organizations, etc.
- Experience (Individual Consultant): Minimum of seven years of experience working on/or managing land and housing policy development and human settlements in Africa, including the development of advocacy strategies.
- Qualifications: A graduate degree in the social sciences, politics, or Urban development and housing, land administration, and tenure security.
- Expertise: Track record of sound knowledge and experience in public policy and development frameworks, with a strong focus on Africa.
- Knowledge: Knowledge of key actors and stakeholders involved in land management and sector administration, housing, and human settlements in Africa.
- Research: Sound experience in descriptive research on relevant areas.
- Mapping: Knowledge of donors and stakeholders mapping for both development and humanitarian contexts.
- Strategic Planning: Prior experience in strategic planning, specifically including the development of advocacy strategies.
- Regional Familiarity: Must be familiar with regional processes and policy frameworks that address climate resilience, tenure security, the housing sector, and the water and sanitation value chain.
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