Consultancy at Irish Aid

The Vietnam Civil Society Facility (VCSF) was established at the Embassy of Ireland in Vietnam to support grant funding to short and medium term interventions which have a demonstrated poverty impact or an influencing or testing value, and which are compatible with the Irish Aid Country Strategy Paper’s objectives for the period 2011-2015.

The overall objective of the Civil Society Facility is to strengthen the engagement of civil society organisations in support of specific poverty issues and policy formulation processes. The Civil Society.

Facility will support competitive proposals that contribute to the following objectives:

1) To strengthen the voice of poor communities and community-based organisations in local governance and accountability, oversight of public investment programmes and increased economic integration.Particular attention will be paid to ethnic minority populations;

(2) To promote acceptance and empowerment of people with disability by increasing their social and economic integration;

(3) To promote the development of the civil society sector in Vietnam through capacity building and networking and collective action in research and advocacy and public.Irish Aid is currently recruiting a consulting partner to conduct monitoring and organizational support for Irish Aid funded projects under the Civil Society Facility. Irish Aid is currently recruiting consultant(s) to conduct documentation of Irish Aid Civil Society Facility in Vietnam

Objective
The objectives of the consultancy are to:
1. Document Irish Aid programme under the Civil Society Facility.
2. Produce “stories” of personalities and models as successful examples and drivers for changes.
The consultant(s) should approach the assignment from an investigative journalism point of view and ensure that the story is written in an open and accessible style, that stimulates interest and targets a general non-expert readership.

Specific Tasks
The consultant(s) will:
- Prepare a template for summary of profile of the project, and the case studies.
- Review the story-line proposals prepared by Irish Aid partners, and interview Irish Aid grantees (direct or by telephone) to clarify and flesh out the information provided in the story-line
proposals;
- Recommend on selection of stories and edit selected stories;
- Visit and/or interview those directly involved in the stories (where appropriate);
- Present the draft stories to Irish Aid and representatives of the groups interviewed for comments;
- Finalize the stories incorporating relevant comments;
- Provide and/or collect a good quality photo for each of the stories.
Where appropriate, the consultant(s) shall have to conduct informed consent protocol with the interviewees

Deliverables and Due Dates
- Final product of high quality in English for publication.
- Programme profiles are written under CSF themes or objectives
- Five to six development stories on CSF grants are developed
- Draft report for IA’s and partners’ comments by 10 February 2013
- Final report, incorporating IA and partners comments by 30 February 2013
- Contract completion by 15 March 2013
Rates
Consultancy rates and expenses should not exceed the UN/EU Cost Norms 2012 for Vietnam. Any assumptions in the methodology related to the use of unpaid staff, volunteers to be explicit.
The costs of travel and accommodation (if any) will be reimbursed to the consultants by Irish Aid at standard rates;
Qualifications of Consultants
The following are the desired qualifications of the consultant(s):
- Graduate degree from a recognized institution relating to social science, development studies, journalism;
- Minimum 5 years relevant work experience in the development/NGO sector;
- Experience of working with government agencies and donors;
- Excellent writing skills with published works on social and community development with proven ability to undertake investigative work and, through interviews, gather and represent the
opinions and experiences of diverse groups
- Fluency in English;
- Professional references relevant to the position required.
Submission of Proposal
Interested partners are invited to submit expression of interest and proposals to [email protected] by COB 20 December 2012.
The proposal should provide the following information:
a) Outline of methodology and work plan to undertake the assignment.TORs – Documentation of programme profiles
b) Profile of consultant(s) proposed for the assignment describing qualifications and relevant [email protected] periences.
c) Detailed quotation for the tasks, showing days and costs.

Job Details
Organisation Name: 
Irish Aid
Application Deadline: 
Thu, 2012-12-20