Organization: NEAR (Network for Empowered Aid Response), (Hosted by Adeso – African Development Solutions)
Reporting To: MENA Regional Representative
Duration: Up to 6 days total Level of Effort (LOE) between October 1, 2025 – November 15, 2025
Starting Date: As soon as possible
Duty Station: Remote & Doha
ABOUT ADESO
NEAR is currently hosted by Adeso, an expanding and vibrant African based international development and humanitarian organization. Adeso and NEAR both aspire to prevent and overcome situations that adversely affect community well-being by: Influencing policy change and enacting systemic change through innovative solutions led by local and national actors.
ABOUT NEAR
NEAR (Network for Empowered Aid Response) is a movement of Global South civil society organizations with a bold ambition – to reshape the top-down humanitarian and development system to one that is locally driven and owned, and is built around equitable, dignified and accountable partnerships. NEAR’s vision is a world where local communities have the resources and agency to address the challenges that impact them. NEAR is currently hosted by Adeso, an African based international development and humanitarian organization. Adeso and NEAR both aspire to prevent and overcome situations that adversely affect community well-being by: Influencing policy change and enacting systemic change through innovative solutions led by local and national actors.
PURPOSE OF CONSULTANCY
This consultancy aims to support NEAR’s MENA Localisation Labs and their members in developing tailored advocacy strategies through a 5-6 -day structured programme to help them understand how to identify key barriers to change, select appropriate advocacy tactics (e.g. lobbying, coalition building, media and stakeholder engagement, evidence-based research), do the necessary stakeholder mapping, come up with long-term advocacy plans and break them into SMART sub-objectives (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic/Resourced, and Time-bound). The output will be actionable advocacy plans integrating these elements for sustained engagement and impact.
Through online and in-person engagements, the selected consultant is expected to support NEAR by:
- Developing and delivering a highly interactive three-day online workshop that will help participating organisations build a foundational understanding of advocacy principles and strategic planning and equip participants with tools to identify barriers and select effective advocacy tactics.
- Provide participating organisations with the individualised, targeted support they need to develop tailored advocacy plans with clear measurable goals and outcomes**.**
- Facilitate peer learning and individualised coaching to ensure advocacy strategy implementation readiness.
- Assist with the development of internal (e.g. templates for newsletters, meeting briefs, and crisis response protocols) and external (e.g. social media kits, press release templates, and low-tech solutions like SMS-based outreach) advocacy tools.
How to apply
For the full scope of work and how to apply, please refer to this link: https://www.near.ngo/s/TOR-Advocacy-Consultant.pdf