CALL FOR CONSULTANCY FOR RESEARCH ON STATUS OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS AND RE-ENGINEERING THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN THE COASTAL OF KENYA

CALL FOR CONSULTANCY

RESEARCH ON STATUS OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS AND RE-ENGINEERING THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN THE COASTAL OF KENYA.

Type of contract	External research consultancy
Contractor	Kenya Community Support Centre (KECOSCE) and Muslims Women Advancement of Rights and Protection (MWARP)
Project Title	“Undertake Research on the Status and Contribution of CSOs in the Coastal Region to Social, Economic, and Political Development, and Develop a Position Paper on the same.”
Published date: 15th September, 2023	Deadline for submission 22nd September, 2023
Start date 26th September, 2023	End of project 30th October, 2023
Counties to be Covered	Mombasa with travel to Kilifi, Kwale, Lamu, Tana River and Taita Taveta

1. About Kenya Community Support Centre (KECOSCE)

Kenya Community Support Centre (KECOSCE) is a National Non-Government organization based at the Coast Region of Kenya. The organization is registered in Kenya as a Public Benefit Organization. KECOSCE is dedicated to promoting a just, peaceful, and democratically governed society in Kenya. KECOSCE is an implementing partner of Amkeni Wakenya (hereinafter Amkeni). Amkeni Wakenya is a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project/facility that was established in 2008 to promote democratic governance support to civil society mainly through capacity building, learning, knowledge management and grants making. 1.1 About Muslims Women Advancement of Rights and Protection (MWARP) Muslims Women Advancement of Rights and Protection is a National Women led not for profit organization. The organization is registered as a Company Limited by Guarantee. MWARPs focus has consistently been on women’s rights at the heart of everything we do. MWARP envisions a just society where women and girls realize, embrace and enjoy their full rights and dignity. MWARP is an implementing partner of Amkeni Wakenya (hereinafter Amkeni) with funding from the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands.

2. Project Scope

In line with the strategic focus of Amkeni, an agreement was signed between the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands (EKN) and the UNDP Kenya to support the implementation of the “Strengthening Civil Society and Citizen Voice for Realization of Sustainable Development Goals-SDGs in Kenya 2021-2024”. This project seeks to strengthen the role of civil society in making meaningful contributions towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly promoting the ability of CSOs in holding governments and the private sector accountable for the realization of SDGs. This call for proposal contributes to the programs. The project will contribute to the Outcome 3 of the AMKENI WAKENYA program – Improved enabling environment for civil society (Regulation of civic space aligned with the Constitution of Kenya 2010). This program’s key objective is:

To support development of position paper on the status of CSOs in the Coast region.
Support self-assessment by CSOs on their evolving environment and the need to establish self-regulation initiatives.
To support development and operationalization of County self-regulation framework for the CSOs in Kilifi and Kwale counties. iv. To improve capacities of local CSOs, grassroots and community-based organizations to participate in policy dialogues and monitoring processes related to recovery and reform at local and National level.

The project builds partnerships between county CSOs while at the same ensuring inclusion of all relevant CSOs in the formation of the self-regulation networks. The project seeks to promote the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 16 on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. Under this goal, the project seeks to contribute to targets: 16.6 Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels; 16.7 Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels; Through strengthened civic space, CSOs will be able to play important roles as actors to the development processes at the county and national levels.

3. Purpose of this Research study

As CSOs have grown in number and influence, their activities have been subject to greater scrutiny from diverse stakeholders including beneficiaries of their programs, the National and Local Governments. This scrutiny has pushed CSOs to come together to develop common norms and standards. Such sector level self-regulatory initiatives have become an important means of building public trust, protecting the political space for CSOs to operate, and sharing good practice and learning.
These exists diverse formations of CSOs including national, regional, county based, sector based and many other forms of platforms that bring CSOs in the Coast of Kenya together. There also exist diverse forms of legal registration for CSOs including registration as trusts, societies, NGOs, CBOs, welfare groups etc.

KECOSCE, together with MWARP (contractors) and with funding from the Amkeni Wakenya are inviting interested applicants (individuals or institutions) in this Call for Expression of Interest to: –

Conduct mapping of existing types and levels of CSOs in the six counties of the Coast region (Lamu, Tana River, Kilifi, Mombasa, Taita Taveta and Kwale counties) including existing sector level self-regulatory initiatives.
Undertake research on the status and contribution of CSOs in the Coastal region highlighting key thematic areas and not limited to social-economic development, blue economy, legal dynamics of children in conflict/contact with the law, sexual and gender-based violence, public participation, disasters and risk mitigation, religious extremism, human rights, CSOs civic space, green justice/environmental justice/ extractive industries and human rights nexus, among others.
Utilize the research study under (2) to develop a position paper to be submitted to development partners highlighting the status and the role of CSOs in responding effectively to contemporary governance issues. The position paper should also highlight the gaps, lessons learned and opportunities that exist.
The Research Study will be shared with CSOs and partners across the region while the Position paper will be shared with the development partners for supporting institutional efficiency and sustainability of the sector. UNDP/Amkeni will use its convening power to reach out to multiple donors to support this initiative.

4. Scope of Work

I. The study envisions employing mixed research methods that include quantitative and qualitative approaches. This will entail: a review of the literature, a desk review of secondary data, a survey, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions.

II. The research will be conducted in all six counties of the Coast Region and consultations will be both in-person meetings and online.

III. The study samples will be representative of the various types of civil society organizations in the region.

IV. The consultant will be required to lead on the following tasks in consultation with KECOSCE and MWARP

Framing and understanding of the research scope.
Developing research approach for approval by KECOSCE and MWARP
Conducting literature review.
Designing research instruments for approval by the contractors
Collecting data and analyzing the data.
Developing research report and submission of the initial draft for review and feedback.
Presentation of initial findings from the research to the contractors
Reviewing and submitting the final research report.

5. Deliverables

The consultant will deliver the following outputs.

Inception report
Data collection tools
Draft report- to include methodology, context, results, analysis of findings, recommendations and conclusion.
PowerPoint presentation- on main findings, conclusions and recommendations of the research study for dissemination and debriefing purposes.
Final Research study and a position paper)
Delivery of cleaned data sets (in SPSS or Excel, interview transcripts; and the Syntaxes in Word) from the administration of quantitative questionnaires- database of participants included in the research together with contact details, quantitative data received through surveys/questionnaires, qualitative data received through interviews and focus groups (recordings/transcripts if available in English).
Delivery of summarized qualitative data from administered qualitative interview protocols.

6. Reporting relationships

The Consultant will report to the Executive Director of Kenya Community Support Centre (KECOSCE) or the designated officer who shall be introduced to the consultancy on the contracting day and closely collaborate with the Executive Director of Muslims Women Advancement of Rights and Protection (MWARP).

7. Required expertise and qualifications.

The Consultant should have the following qualifications and experiences:

A post-graduate or equivalent qualification/ degree in Law, Social science, Sociology, Development Studies, Humanities or any other relevant discipline.
Expert knowledge of civil society sector and its regulatory frameworks with at least 3 years of prior work experience in social development and human rights consultancy at the national level.
Demonstrated knowledge and experience in undertaking research especially in the area of civil society.
Previous experience in conducting similar studies.
Experience in qualitative and quantitative research methods.
Experience in research / policy analysis
Excellent analytical and report writing skills.
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to facilitate focus group discussions (FGDs), conduct expert interviews and work in a multidisciplinary team.
Experience working in the Coast regional context for at least 3 years.
Working knowledge in Kiswahili is an advantage.

Core Competencies:

Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
Treats all people fairly without favoritism; and
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

8. Language requirements

Reports will be submitted in English, Times Roman Font 12

9. Research timeline and expected outputs

No.	Deliverable/output	Estimated duration	Deadline
1	Notification of Successful Consultant		26h September, 2023
2	Inception meeting with the Consultant		27th September, 2023
3	Desk-based analysis: Review of documents and other sources of information	1	28th – 28th September, 2023
4	Plan, design, and coordinate the interviews/data collection process. i. Identification of key CSOs ii. Selection of representative sample of groups to be interviewed on the basis of agreed criteria. iii. Agreeing on the type of information to be collected – Preparation of checklists and other tools for data collection	1	2nd-3rd October, 2023
5	Conducting Key interviews	4	45h – 12th October, 2023
6	Sorting, analyzing and collating information collected	2	13th – 16th October, 2023
7	Draft consultancy report and draft knowledge product	1	18th – 19th October, 2023
8	Validation Meeting	1	21st October, 2023
9	Final Consultancy Report and Final Knowledge Product	1	22nd – 24th October, 2023
10	Final research report received	2	30th October, 2023
	Total number of days	12

Consultancy Fees

Consultancy fees will be paid as follows: –

30% on delivery of inception report
40% on presentation of draft report
30% on submission of final report and final knowledge products

Application process

The consultant should submit: –

A technical proposal and budget demonstrating understanding of the scope of work and detailed methodology for the study (maximum of five pages using Times Roman font size 11 and single line spacing).
The proposal should include timelines and the roles and capacity of the research team.
The timeline should detail the workflow from the project start date to the end date.
The proposal budget should have sufficient details to allow for the evaluation of elements of costs proposed.
Budgets should be submitted in Kenya Shillings and include the cost breakdown per deliverable.
Applicants should also indicate the inclusion of a 5% tax on the budget.
Submit samples of previous research work conducted.
Submit CVs of principal researchers.

Qualified agencies/individual(s) are invited to apply by submitting an expression of interest with detailed profiles, updated CVs and a financial proposal to with a copy to [email protected] and send copies to [email protected], [email protected] on or before Friday 22nd September, 2023 at 4:00p.m. East African Time.

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