Conflict Governance Consultancy

Aug 11, 2022 | Pact

Pact is the promise of a better tomorrow for communities challenged by poverty and  marginalization. We serve these communities because we envision a world where  everyone owns their future. To do this, we build systemic solutions in partnership with  local organizations, businesses, and governments that create sustainable and resilient  communities where those we serve are heard, capable, and vibrant. On the ground in  nearly 40 countries, Pact’s integrated adaptive approach is shaping the future of  international development. 

Background 

As part of Pact’s Governance programming portfolio, Pact implements a range of projects that advance conflict prevention and peacebuilding objectives through a  combination of strategies and interventions: 

• We develop tailored approaches to implementing cross-border peacebuilding  programs, including training and mobilizing networks of change agents to monitor  and mitigate conflict tensions and design community-level messaging campaigns  to mitigate violence. 
• Our civil society partners work with governments and other authorities to  establish mechanisms and processes that enable dialogue and conflict  resolution, and we support national and regional institutions to develop conflict  early warning systems. 
• We recognize that women and youth are critical stakeholders who meaningfully  prevent conflict and build peace, and we prioritize their engagement and  leadership in formal and informal community structures. 
• We support conflict-affected communities to cope with the effects of trauma by  creating opportunities for them to openly discuss their experiences, increase  trust, and work together toward common visions for the future. 

Over the past year, Pact has sought to document the major traits, trends and  stakeholders in the peace and conflict program implementation community and distill  Pact’s areas of comparative advantage. The Governance team would like to supplement those sector-level insights by clarifying and communicating Pact’s overarching approach to conflict prevention and peacebuilding. The program hopes to  leverage this analysis to more robustly analyze program results, and to inform thought  leadership on conflict prevention and peacebuilding internally and externally.  

Importantly, while Pact implements a wide range of activities (including socioeconomic  and resilience-focused activities) in contexts that are fragile or conflict prone, the scope  of this anticipated work is focused on peacebuilding and conflict prevention  programming. The consultant will hold a dedicated inception meeting with the  Governance team to discuss which Pact projects will be analyzed. 

Objectives 

The selected consultant will lead research and analysis to synthesize the key  approaches and related evidence within Pact’s conflict prevention and peacebuilding  portfolio, as differentiated from or similar to other implementers. The inquiry will:  

• Review evidence from Pact and other implementers and literature on  peacebuilding approaches and conflict resolution frameworks 
• Synthesize key examples of Pact’s past work on conflict prevention and  peacebuilding and related evidence on efficacy of approaches  
• Based on the internal and external evidence, distill core approaches that  underpin Pact’s programming and differentiate from competitors in the field
• Recommend what frameworks are available in the literature on conflict  prevention and peacebuilding to ground and contextualize Pact’s approach 

Duties and Responsibilities 

• Hold inception meeting with Pact staff to determine appropriate scope and  boundaries of study 
• Review external documents from other implementers and funders (evaluation  reports, other reports) and review other relevant literature (to be referenced in the  synthesis document) 
• Review key project documents and consult with a limited set of staff from Pact  conflict prevention and peacebuilding projects and US-based Governance team 
• Provide a synthesis of Pact’s conflict prevention and peacebuilding portfolio that  identifies the key elements of Pact’s approach and compares/contrasts them with  other approaches 

Deliverables 

• 2-page inception report, including: proposed methodology, work plan, and a description of the data collection methods and limitations
• 5-7 page synthesis of Pact’s conflict prevention and peacebuilding portfolio approaches and evidence for their efficacy (all based on framework grounded in  external evidence which can be referenced throughout and/or as endnote  citations) 

Payment Schedule  

Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s Degree or higher in peace and conflict studies, international development,  public policy, organizational development, or a related field  
• Experience with qualitative research methods  
• Prefer experience working with peacebuilding and conflict organizations and/or  democracy, rights and governance programs or organizations  
• Prefer experience leading learning reviews or similar exercises with practitioners  • Strong planning and inter-cultural communication skills  
• Excellent writing skills  
• Fluency in English  
• Prefer knowledge and experience with approaches to addressing gender inequality  and social exclusion 

Application Instructions 

Applications must be submitted to Caroline Brazill, Governance Officer (cbrazill@pactworld.org) by August 26^th, 2022  

Documentation required for application:  

• Resume/CV  
• Biodata Form (https://www.usaid.gov/forms/aid-1420-17) 
• Relevant 3-5-page writing sample  
• Proposed daily rate 

Evaluation Criteria 

Pact will evaluate applicants (individuals or firms) using the following criteria:

Terms and Conditions 

Disclaimers 

• Pact reserves the right to modify by written notice the terms of this solicitation at  any time in its sole discretion. Pact may cancel the solicitation at any time.
• Pact may reject any or all proposals received. 
• Issuance of solicitation does not constitute award commitment by Pact.
• Pact reserves the right to disqualify any quotation based on applicant’s failure to  follow solicitation instructions. 
• Pact will not compensate applicants for their response to the solicitation.
• Pact reserves the right to issue an award based on initial evaluation of applications  without further discussion. 
• Pact may choose to award only part of the scope of work in the solicitation or to  issue multiple awards the scope of work. 
• Pact reserves the right to waive minor proposal deficiencies that can be corrected  prior to award determination to promote competition. 
• Pact may contact applicants to confirm information and that the proposal was  submitted for this solicitation.  
• Pact may contact listed past performance references without notice to the  applicant. Pact also reserves the right to contact other past performance  information sources that the applicant did not list in the proposal. 
• By submitting a proposal, the applicant confirms they understand the terms and  conditions. 
• Information pertaining to and obtained from the applicant as a result of participation  in this solicitation is confidential. The applicant consents to the disclosure of the  documents submitted by the applicants to the reviewers involved in the selection  process. Please note that all reviewers are bound by non-disclosure agreements.