Request for Proposals: Training on Advocacy At Europe Foundation

Europe Foundation invites proposals from qualified organizations or individuals to conduct a training on advocacy for Georgian pro-democracy activists and civil society organizations (CSOs) with aim to equip them with methods and skills to wage more effective advocacy campaigns in the environment of increasingly shrinking civic space. The assignment will take place in May-June 2023.

About Europe Foundation

Europe Foundation’s mission is to empower people to effect change for social justice and economic prosperity through hands-on programs, helping them to improve their communities and their own lives. Its programs equip CSOs and civic activists to define and achieve positive outcomes for themselves and their communities. The Foundation employs a participatory approach, which allows civil society actors to determine the issues that are of importance to the right-holders and to develop interventions that will be effective in addressing identified needs – a critical factor in building a vibrant democracy. At the same time, Europe Foundation mobilizes communities and/or interest groups around specific issue areas to create demand for change. The Foundation also believes that substantive and sustainable democratic changes cannot be affected without issue-based partnerships between diverse groups of stakeholders. It is for this reason that Europe Foundation has made it its priority to nurture and promote public-private-NGO partnerships that contribute to consensus building and ensures participatory decision making.

Europe Foundation’s vision for civil society development is reflected in its operational and grantmaking interventions, which are guided by the following mandates and approaches: citizen monitoring, corporate and community philanthropy, evidence-based advocacy and policy making, cross-border/cross-community cooperation, cross-cutting gender policy, youth integration, public-private partnerships, and open door grantmaking.

Background

In the past 17 years, civil society actors around the world have been resisting the increasingly repressive policies of their governments. While autocratic governments have always tried to silence the dissenting voices of democratically minded organizations and citizens domestically, their recent success in stifling civil society voices on the international plane is alarming. Reports by various international NGOs, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Frontline Defenders, include multiple examples of how infiltration of international institutions by autocratic states has precluded human rights defenders and other civil society actors from voicing their concerns on the international plane and utilizing the already sparse international mechanisms to expose human rights abuses and to compel the offending governments to reverse their course of action. Equally alarming is the diminished interest in and appetite for the rule of law, democracy, and human rights among some of the Western democracies, which has led to significantly lower levels of international funding for these causes, as well as reduced strength and credibility of international institutions. The upsurge of right-wing populism and economic nationalism in mature democracies is further challenging the international human rights ideals, emboldening governments to accelerate their clampdown on civil society. These international trends have led to what CIVICUS refers to the double democratic deficit – “citizen who lack voice at the national level cannot look to international forums as an alternative; given the privileged role of state and large corporations, … national voicelessness is amplified at the international level” (CIVICUS Essay, 2015).

At the dawn of 2013, it seemed that Georgian civil society was insulated from the global phenomenon of shrinking space. Moreover, the initial years after the 2012 Parliamentary elections were marked with some of the successful examples of state-civil society cooperation, as reflected in the improvements in Georgia’s rankings in the Nations in Transit Report by Freedom House, which consistently upgraded Georgia’s scores during 2013-2017. However, with consolidation of power by the ruling party, the past several years have been very turbulent for the country’s civil society. This turbulence has been duly noted by Georgia’s international partners that closely follow the country’s development trajectory. For example, according to Freedom House, Georgia’s democracy score during 2018-2021 as a result of multiple verbal attacks on civil society organizations, their leaders, and human rights defenders by public officials, excessive use of force against peaceful protestors, concerns over judicial appointments and the functioning of the court system, changes in the law on broadcasting, politically motivated prosecutions, and multiple irregularities observed during the 2018 Presidential and 2020 Parliamentary elections. According to the RSF 2022 country report, Georgia’s press freedom dropped dramatically from 60 to 89, making this the worst performance year since 2013, when Georgia was ranked 100th out of 180 countries.

Given the above-mentioned, Europe Foundation’s programming aims to support CSOs and pro-democracy civil society actors that strive to defend and promote human rights and work toward promoting inclusive, transparent, and accountable public sector in the country, with capacity development and grant funds, so that they are better able to achieve their mission.

The Objective of the Training

The overall objective for this consultancy is to train Georgian pro-democracy civil society actors operating at local, national, and/or international level in lobbying, policy analysis and advocacy to scale up their program methodologies to design and implement effective advocacy campaigns effectively to counter closing of civic space and bring about tangible positive changes for their constituencies.

The consultant is expected to deliver a training on lobbying, policy analysis and evidence-based advocacy with specific focus on:

• Concrete methodologies and tools that would allow the participants to go beyond the mainstream citizen participation methods and to delve into the advocacy strategies, which are designed to counter shrinking civic space and demand from the GoG to fulfil, democracy and human rights commitments under the EU-Georgia Association agreement, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), European Convention on Human Rights, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD);
• Mobilizing citizens/constituents to play active and informed role in determining public policy agenda;
• Planning and implementing effective information campaigns to galvanize local, national, and international stakeholders to seek positive changes;
• Building effective partnerships with media outlets and other stakeholders.

Methodology

The consultant should apply various participatory methods to maximize participant involvement and learning while accommodating for diverse learning styles. Group work and brainstorming should be used for every conceptual session to ensure participants are fully engaged and their knowledge gaps are addressed. Simulations, role plays or other methods should be used to equip participants with practical skills. Peer review and constructive feedback should be utilized to facilitate peer learning and knowledge exchange among participants. The consultant shall discuss real life examples. A rapid self-assessment tool should be developed by the consultant and completed by the participants before and after the training.

Timeframe and Deliverables

Expected duration of the assignment is four weeks. The consultant(s) should produce the following deliverables:

• Design a training module which will take place over the course of maximum 3 days;
• Develop new training materials and handouts to be used during the training;
• Conduct an in-person training for up to 25 CSO and DPO representatives;
• Produce a final report, which will include the following sections:
  • Brief description of the goal and objectives of the training.
  • Expected key results and outcomes of the training, including reflections on the training methodology.
  • Recommendations (including recommendations on strategic advocacy actions and messages to be pursued by participating CSOs at both national and local levels).
  • Annexes, including the training program, materials etc.

The report will be the sole property of Europe Foundation, which will retain the right to use it for internal and external purposes.

The consultant is expected to complete the assignment by July 17, 2023.

Consultant Qualifications

Europe Foundation expects that the selected consultant(s) will have the following qualification:

• Relevant academic background in social sciences;
• Knowledge and experience in policy analysis, lobbying and advocacy;
• Demonstrated experience in carrying out similar assignment and with relevant evidence in running successful advocacy campaigns;
• Extensive work experience and proven record in capacity development, advocacy, organizational/institutional development;
• Strong analytical and excellent writing and reporting skills;
• Familiarity with the needs and priorities of pre-democracy civil society actors, CSOs, DPOs, etc.;
• Ability to work efficiently and deliver on committed outputs under the assignment within agreed timelines and deadlines.

Timeframe

Announcement date: March 22, 2023.

Proposal submission deadline: April 17, 2023, 18:00 Tbilisi time (GMT+4).

The deadline for the completion of the trainings and submission of the report: July 17, 2023

Budget

The consultant should provide a detailed budget to Europe Foundation for providing the training services. The budget should not exceed USD 4000.