Life & Peace Institute Terms of Reference: Social Network Analysis and Knowledge Sharing for Civil Society Collaboration Assessment Jobs in Ethiopia

Life & Peace Institute Terms of Reference: Social Network Analysis and Knowledge Sharing for Civil Society Collaboration Assessment Jobs in Ethiopia

Job Id: 204703

Category: Consultancy and Training
Location: Addis Ababa
Employment Type: Contract
Salary:

Job Description

Introduction: Life & Peace Institute

Founded in 1985, Life & Peace Institute (LPI) is an international centre based in Uppsala, Sweden, that supports and promotes nonviolent approaches to conflict transformation through a combination of research and action.

In the Horn of Africa and Great Lakes regions, much of LPI’s work is carried out through engagement with, and support to, civil society and academic institutions, building strategic partnerships with national, regional and international organisations and networks.

LPI brings a range of participatory approaches and methodologies that have proven to be effective tools for creating space for dialogue and action across Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Sudan in the Horn of Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi in the Great Lakes Region, as well as in Sweden.

Summary of the programme

Through its Addis Ababa-based Horn of Africa Regional Programme (HARP) is seeking to link the local peacebuilding initiatives and structures in its country programmes across the Horn of Africa (Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya) with policy debates taking place at regional level – in particular with the African Union (AU) and with the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

In the 2017-2020, LPI seeks to contribute to improved policies and actions on strategic regional issues affecting human security in the Horn of Africa.

This happens through advocating for human-centred, participatory and evidence-based regional responses along three specific thematic areas: Borderlands, Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism and Post Conflict Reconstruction & Development. All three are policy and practice areas in the Horn of Africa, which are in need of greater infusion of human security perspectives while also aligning with LPI’s mandate, experience, and capacity.

The programme works towards changes in five inter-connected outcome areas:

Outcome 1: Enhanced capacity of relevant civil society organisations to participate in regional policy engagement geared towards human security responsive policies and actions that are evidenced based

Outcome 2: Established and fostered increasingly collaborative relationships and coalitions among diverse relevant actors

Outcome 3: Enhanced awareness of the need for policies and actions that are responsive to human security priorities in the Horn of Africa demonstrated by relevant policy actors and implementers

Outcome 4: Increased political will and support to improve existing and/or develop new policies for increased human security from relevant policy actors and implementers.

Outcome 5: Improved policies and actions on the regional issues affecting human security in the Horn of Africa

HARP employs six main strategies to catalyse policy changes in the three thematic areas outlined above:

Advocacy capacity enhancement of civil society & coalition building

Research & building the evidence base for human security approaches

Awareness-raising & communications
Advocacy

Technical & implementation support to Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) & African Union (AU)

Innovation and Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL)

Purpose, users and intended use of the assignment

Throughout the project period, LPI and its co-implementing partners are conducting a variety of activities with the aim (amongst others) of enhancing and fostering increasingly collaborative relationships (Outcome area 2 above) that are a precondition for these organisations to ultimately undertake successful policy engagement.

With the aim of assessing the extent to which these relationships have been established or strengthened over the project period, LPI and its partners have designed a tool for collection of social network data from 26 of its civil society organisations (CSOs) across the borderlands of the Horn of Africa Region.

The purpose of this tool is twofold: firstly, to assess the ways in which diverse actors involved in policy change are connecting and

secondly to understand how they are collaborating. The data is to be collected at three instances: at baseline, midline and endline.

By understanding these aspects LPI hopes to be able to better understand how the network is functioning and to test two assumptions:

1. The more a network of organisations connect with each other the better the information sharing and the more likely that they will form a coalition around common interests

2. The better the collaboration between actors, the more likely that common goals will be achieved in positive policy change.

This approach has, thus far, collected the following information at baseline and midline:

Changes in the density of relationships in the network over time. The density of a network can be calculated using the following formula (can also be expressed as a percentage)

Density = No of current connections in the network

Maximum no of possible connections in the network

Changes in frequency of relationships - How often do the different organisations in the network interact with each other

Changes in the nature of those interactions.

Specific assignment/deliverables


LPI is seeking a firm or individual to carry out analysis and build LPI staff capacity on social network analysis within the organisation with specific envisioned outputs:

1) Data visualisation template: A template or method of analysis that is usable for the three stages of data collection (baseline, midline, endline), which visualises data over time and with disaggregation as appropriate.

2) SNA Software: provision or recommendation of appropriate software(s) for the specific assessment tool and overall organisational needs and means of acquisition.

3) Data analysis: visualisation outputs and collaborative production of narrative analysis for the (already collected) baseline and midline data.

4) Knowledge exchange on how to enter, employ and interpret data using analysis and visualisation tools; capacity building for LPI staff on the analysis software/template and method. This could have many forms so we can agree based on LPI needs and recommendation of consultant.

Implementation information


Time-line: Data entry and analysis as well as data visualisation outputs should be complete (with intensive consultation with LPI) by 25 April while knowledge exchange/capacity building portion should be completed by 30 May. A proposed timeline should be included in the technical proposal.

Locations and travel: Data entry and analysis will take place in consultant’s home base. As deemed appropriate, capacity enhancement may take place in person in Addis Ababa or electronically.

Activity planning: The detailed activity plan and budget for this work will be agreed upon based on the methodology proposed in the technical proposal.

Budget / fees and evaluation process


LPI will pay a daily fee for an agreed number of payable days. The suggested number of days is five (5) days for data input and analysis and two (2) days for knowledge exchange. The number of days will be agreed upon informed by the technical proposal of the individual/team.

If recommending software options, please include these in the budget as well. The fee will be subject to negotiation. Financial proposals shall include all applicable taxes.

The CVs and technical proposals will be assessed on: qualifications and experience in SNA, quality of examples of data analysis and visualisation outputs, and cost effectiveness (value for money).

How to Apply

Please send a CV, along with a technical and financial proposal (describing your capability and previous experience relevant to the needs of the project as well as examples of previous SNA outputs), detailing methodology for analysis, activity schedule and a budget outline including daily rate and cost for recommended software to applications.addisababa@life-peace.org, by 15 April 2019. Please use the subject: SNA Consultant.

Life & Peace Institute Terms of Reference: Social Network Analysis and Knowledge Sharing for Civil Society Collaboration Assessment Jobs in Ethiopia