Summary
Date Posted: Wednesday, June 15, 2022 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
Position – Policy Brief Consultant Position
Period of Performance – July 1, 2022 up to September 30, 2022
Base of Operations – Lusaka, Zambia
Position reports to Chief of Party
1. Project Background
The five-year (2020-2025) United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Local Impact Governance Activity (Local Impact) project supports the Government of the Republic of Zambia’s (GRZ) decentralization agenda by strengthening local governance and service delivery and by supporting transparency and responsiveness to citizen needs. Local Impact is implemented by Development Alternatives International (DAI) Global, and is partnering with national and sub-national authorities, along with local businesses and civil society organizations (CSOs), to achieve the following objectives:
• Citizens improve their collective skills to effectively assess service delivery needs and performance and constructively engage with government
• The sub-national governance system becomes more responsive to citizen needs, generates, and accountably expends revenue, and improves service-delivery outcomes
• The program generates learning and facilitates problem solving that supports the development of an effective, financially viable sub-national governance system for devolved services, capable of being scaled up throughout Zambia
Local Impact is initially working in eighteen districts in Central and Muchinga provinces to expand the capacity of district authorities to perform core functions, including strengthening the delivery of essential services, deepening citizen and private sector involvement in development planning and monitoring, improving public administration and public financial management, and increasing locally generated revenues. In the third year of implementation, the project will work in nine additional districts in a third district to be determined in consultation with USAID and the GRZ.
2. Scope of the Assignment
Under Objective 3, Local Impact will generate learning and facilitate problem solving that supports the development of an effective, financially viable sub-national governance system for devolved services, capable of national scale. This includes conducting operational research to inform learning and adaptation of both GRZ and cooperating partners’ initiatives.
Local Impact seeks to develop a series of policy briefs to raise awareness of key issues relating to the enabling environment and systems for decentralization with particular attention to own-source revenue, transparent public financial management and citizen engagement in local governance.
The purpose of the policy briefs is to concisely explain topical issues that impact decentralization, present evidence and insights, and ask questions that would assist policymakers in determining future approaches to address key issues. Policy briefs need to respond directly to the economic and social context of Zambia and be readily accessible to a wide range of stakeholders, including members of parliament, senior government officials, civil society and the public.
The consultant will work closely with Local Impact Learning Lab partners under the technical oversight of the Collaboration Learning and Adaptability (CLA) Director to agree on the topical issues, timing of the policy briefs, format of dissemination and a division of labor. The consultant will also support Mulungushi University as part of the Chalimbana Local Government Training Institute (CLGTI) consortium to expand their policy brief development capacity. The Learning Lab will host the final policy briefs in their repository on the one-stop resource hub.
3. Tasks
• Work with the Local Impact team, specifically the CLA Director, to
o Identify the topical issues which may include sector devolution; inter-governmental fiscal decentralization; citizen empowerment, local economic development and better private sector engagement
o Decide whether an advocacy brief (arguing in favor of a particular course of action) or an objective brief (giving a balanced information for the policymaker to make up his or her mind) is the most appropriate
o Conduct desk research on reports, articles and news-clips and conduct key informant interviews to g draw evidence from various sources
o Analyze the got from desk research, questionnaires and interviews data
o Prepare three briefs over the consultancy period
• Work with the Learning Lab partners to disseminate the briefs
4. Deliverables
• • A research outline explaining the proposed methodology and timeline for the policy series.
• Prepare a series of three clear, concise and user-friendly policy briefs (and executive summary) on agreed topical issues
• All policy briefs should
o Be a maximum of four pages
o Draw on clear evidence
o Use examples of regional good practice where this is appropriate
o Focus on questions and solutions that consider the contributions of the government, civil society and cooperating partners
o Include direct reference to the gender inclusion and social inclusion dimensions of the issues and the impact of issues on vulnerable groups where appropriate to do so, and
o Be written in plain English
5. Timeframe
The proposed series should begin by August 2022 and end by September 2022. The timing of the briefs will coincide with identified windows of opportunity to influence the situation in ‘real-time’ as much as possible.
6. Required Qualification and Experience
The potential consultant should possess the following qualifications and experience:
6.1. Academic Qualification
PhD or master’s degree in political science or social science or similar fields
6.2. Experience
Must be a researcher with a proven track record of undertaking similar assignments
Must have produced or contributed to published research work in renowned journals or has written inputs for policy development

Job Experience: No Requirements

Work Hours: 8

Level of Education: Postgraduate Degree

Job application procedure
Applications should be submitted via email to LocalImpactBid@dai.com with ‘Application for Consultancy’ in the subject line.
Applications must include only:
• A detailed company profile or CV (In case of an Individual) with a short cover letter detailing your suitability and relevant experience for the assignment
• A roadmap on how you intend to conduct the research and deliver the policy series
• Include the expected consultancy fees
• Closing Date: Monday 20th June 2022 at 17:00hours
Note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

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