Call for applications: Africa consultancy roster

Photo ID 557871 UN Photo/Tobin Jones (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED)

Are you passionate about upholding Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IP&LC) rights and supporting the protection of forests and biodiversity and the governance of IPLC land and forests in the African continent?  

Do you have the expertise and experience to support IP&LC and organisations working directly with IP&LC on strategic programmatic documents and analyses to advance collective land and forest tenure rights and governance, while also advancing gender equality, human rights, social inclusion, climate change mitigation, conflict resolution and contributing to halting deforestation in Africa? Are you based in any of the listed countries, are you from an IP&LC group or do you have experience of close collaboration from working directly with IP&LC organisations in this region?  

If your answer is yes, then we invite you to apply for becoming part of this Africa consultancy roster.  

THE CONSULTANCY ROSTER FOR AFRICA 

Tenure Facility is expanding the roster of consultants in the Congo Basin, Southern- and Eastern Africa, to support IP&CL projects in these regions.   

POSSIBLE TASKS AND ASSIGNMENTS FOR CONSULTANTS TO SUPPORT TENURE FACILITY AND ITS PARTNERS 

These Terms of Reference (ToR) describe the general procurement for a consultancy roster for Africa and a call for consultancy applications to this roster.  After assessing the incoming applications, Tenure Facility will subsequently conduct a selection of well-qualified consultants/consultancy companies in the countries listed in these ToR and sign consultancy roster contracts with selected consultants. For each upcoming assignment within Tenure Facility, specific ToR for the assignment will be elaborated and “call-off contracts” will be signed with a selected consultant.  This roster aims to serve as a knowledge base and cannot guarantee an assignment.  

The needs for consultancy assignments are continuously upcoming within Tenure Facility. Being part of the consultancy roster could mean assignments for areas such as country and/or context assessments, project evaluations, thematic or methodological support to Tenure Facility and its partners, project learning and/or performance evaluations or evaluations of a specific issue in a country or a project, research, technical support to the Tenure Facility partners, support for development of strategic alliances with different stakeholders. More specifically the following assignments are plausible:   

• Draft country assessments: analysis of a country’s political, legal, and social context, identification of possibilities for working with IP&LC, identification of major risks and opportunities for Tenure Facility.  
• Develop on-site verifications of information, and assessments of the feasibility, eligibility, risks, social acceptability, and environmental relevance of potential projects and partners.  
• Conduct learning-, and performance evaluations of projects (different kinds of methods might be required). 
• Support the Tenure Facility presumptive project partners with writing, developing and accessing concept notes and project proposals submitted to Tenure Facility.  
• Provide support to the Tenure Facility project partners with technical assistance and competence development related to project implementation, results management, and reporting practices. 
• Provide support to Tenure Facility and its partners in competence development such as gender equality, conflict sensitivity, land defenders’ security and organisational development.    
• Continuously share relevant information and updates (including updates from partners) from Tenure Facility with stakeholders and provide continuous updates advice to our programme team.   
• Identify stakeholders and initiate and develop dialogue and collaborations with potential strategic allies to create synergies with the Tenure Facility’s projects. 
• Support logistic organisation and plan agendas for Tenure Facility staff and board visits to the region/country and participation in those visits. 
• Support the Tenure Facility and partners in developing “post-project” exit strategies. 

Tenure Facility aims to create a roster of experts with the following competences:  

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS:  

• The consultant should have a university degree and/or equivalent practical experience and knowledge in relevant fields such as, but not limited to, land and forest rights and administration (with focus on collective land and forest rights), anthropology, natural resource management, ecology, food security, finance, public policy, international development studies, law, human rights, gender studies, organisational, project management or equivalent. 

 TECHNICAL AND CULTURAL COMPETENCIES:

The consultant shall have: 

• Significant expertise and experience in collective land and forest tenure rights, human rights, gender inclusive approaches, collective rights and natural resource management, specifically in the African regions listed above.  
• A minimum of six years of professional experience working in at least one of the countries in the African regions listed above, related to IP&LC collective land and forest tenure rights, IP&LC legal empowerment, IP&LC capacity building and training, natural resources and/or rural development, work together with IP&LC gender equality and social inclusion or other relevant projects. 
• A minimum of four years of relevant experience working with the design, implementation, oversight or evaluation of development projects and programmes. 
• Experience in working with indigenous or local communities and with IP&LC based organizations.  
• Knowledge of local/national policies and laws on collective forest and land rights in support of the IP&LC tenure security in the countries listed above. 
• Knowledge and skills regarding the Tenure Facility cross-cutting issues: gender equality, conflict management, human rights, environment, and climate.  
• Good writing and speaking skills in French, English or Portuguese (for Mozambique), both written and spoken language. A good level of English will be required for some assignments. 
• Experience of working with Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Office system.  

DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:  

• Knowledge in IP&LC language(s) is an asset. 
• Being part of an indigenous community or local community is an asset.  
• Prior experience of working directly with IP&LC or IP&LC based organizations and related alliances in some of the African countries listed.  
• Experience in developing and implementing FPIC (Free prior and informed consent) protocols/guidelines for IP&LC. 
• Knowledge of land administration policies and practices, community mapping, community monitoring, GIS, and land conflict management and resolution. 
• Knowledge in relevant land and forest legislation, relevant international human rights and gender equality frameworks. 
• Demonstrated experience in project planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and learning.  
• Demonstrated skills of working with cultural sensitivity.  
• Expertise in one or more of the Tenure Facility cross-cutting issues: gender equality, conflict management, human rights, security of human right/land defenders, environment, and climate.  
• Experience of organisational strengthening and capacity building to IP&LC and CSOs.  
• Very good analytical and problem-solving skills, including ability to identify and address problems and risks in a constructive manner. 
• Experience of working collaboratively with or in dialogue with donors, private sector or government actors on issues relevant to the Tenure Facility mission (land rights, administration and governance and cross-cutting issues). 
• Excellent communication skills. Consultant is expected to contribute to active and close communication between the Tenure Facility, partner organisations and in many cases interact directly with IP&LC.

OTHER INFORMATION

The Tenure Facility secretariat is registered and based in Sweden and governed by Swedish laws which will also apply to the consultancy contracts.  Being part of this consultancy roster will facilitate for Tenure Facility to sign a “call-off” short term or long term timebound contract with any consultant included in the roster according to need and without further procurement process. The consultants will work in close coordination with the Tenure Facility staff and might occasionally coordinate travel together with Tenure Facility staff.  

A consultancy assignment does not carry any guarantee of work or expectation of future employment, extension, or conversion to another type of contract. Consultants are expected to use their own computer, cell phone, etc. Likewise, it is important to note that selected roster consultants are not guaranteed to be contracted for assignments and will only be called to apply when specific necessities in the region arise.  

PROPOSAL AND DEADLINES

Interested candidates are requested to fill in this application form (Application form for the Africa consultancy roster, max 2 pages),  attach it to your CV and send it to the email address: procurement@thetenurefacility.org by 15th of February 2024. Applications can be submitted in English, French or Portuguese (for Mozambique). 

Please send your application by e-mail and named as: [Name Surname] – [Country of Residence] – Africa Roster Application 

If you have any questions regarding the process, please contact Josine Kanamugire (jkanamugire@thetenurefacility.org). Questions will be answered between 8 to 23 January 2024. 

ABOUT TENURE FACILITY 

The International Land and Forest Tenure Facility (Tenure Facility, www.thetenurefacility.org) is an international foundation and financial mechanism established in 2017 focused on securing collective land and forest rights of IP&LC across the developing world in Africa, Latin America and Asia.   

Tenure Facility offers grants and technical assistance directly to IP&LCs in achieving land and forest tenure security, also with the aim to mitigate climate change, reduce poverty and conflict and promote gender equality. Tenure Facility enables initiatives that scale up implementation of collective land and forest tenure reform policies and legislation and gives priority to countries where there is legal support and a political willingness to scale this up.    The focus is on implementing collective land and forest tenure, by harnessing the power of IP&LC initiatives and by using their strategies, skills, and drive.  

Tenure Facility seeks to provide the technical expertise required to implement collective land and forest tenure rights and governance within existing legislation in partner countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Tenure Facility currently supports projects in these regions and the project portfolio is expanding. The Tenure Facility secretariat is based in Stockholm and consists of a mixture of staff based in Stockholm and consultants based internationally, amounting to over 50 positions.  Tenure Facility has an international board. 

The Tenure Facility programmes fall broadly in four phases: Source, Secure, Sustain and Share.  

• The phases “Source, Secure and Sustain” imply identifying IP&LC alliances, initiatives and potential partner organisations to provide project support. This support includes financial and technical contributions to existing local initiatives and movements that work to advance implementation of land legislation to securing collective land and forest tenure rights of IP&LC. The secured land needs to be sustained through support to the growth and maintenance of cultural, social, economic, and political capital of IP&LC.   
• The fourth phase “Share” includes knowledge sharing and learning to facilitate and promote knowledge sharing and learning to positively influence and increase support for IP&LC land and forest rights, as well as to inform others on proven best practices for supporting IP&LC to secure and sustain land and forest rights through a comprehensive rights-based approach.