Strategic Planning Consultant At United Network of Young Peacebuilders

Agreement type: Consultancy
Position: Strategic Planning Consultant
Activity: Consultancy to support in the development of UNOY’s new Strategic Plan
Activity Location: Online mostly, with some in-person meetings (the Netherlands)
Activity Duration: May/June 2024 – October 2025

Background
UNOY Peacebuilders (UNOY) is a youth-led network of over 100 youth-led peacebuilding organisations from over 65 countries around the world, working towards peaceful societies shaped by young people. UNOY is coordinated by an International Secretariat based in The Hague, The Netherlands and six volunteer Regional Coordinators in Americas, Asia, East and Southern Africa, Europe, Middle East and North Africa and Western and Central Africa.

Eight years after the adoption of the first UN Security Council Resolution (2250) recognising the importance and role of youth in peacebuilding, UNOY has paved the way for critical developments in the Youth, Peace, and Security field. Our goal is to continue shaping the global agenda for Youth, Peace and Security, by supporting youth-led creative approaches to peace, to prioritise the protection of the civic space of young peacebuilders and leverage the solidarity in the network, and to better support our members’ resilience to emerging global developments.

About the development of UNOY’s new Strategic Plan
In January 2021 UNOY adopted its current Strategic Plan (2021-2025), which stemmed from a fully participatory and co-owned effort among UNOY members and teams. A complex process was designed to shift power to the regions, fostering the leadership of our regional teams, as well as members’ ownership. Overall, 79% of UNOY member organisations directly shaped the strategy.

In order to ensure ample time for a participatory process, in the second half of 2024 UNOY will kickstart the process for the development of its new Strategic Plan, to be launched in 2026 and serve as a guide for UNOY’s work until 2030.

Objectives
● Design a participatory process for the development of UNOY’s new Strategic Plan;
● Engage UNOY’s teams and member organisations in the development of the new Strategic Plan;
● Develop a new Strategic plan that is reflective of UNOY members’ needs as well as recent developments in the fields of peacebuilding and Youth, Peace, and Security.

Programme
The consultancy will take place between May/June 2024 and October 2025. The process for the development of the new Strategic Plan will be designed in collaboration between the external consultant and UNOY’s International Secretariat. As part of the process, the consultant will be responsible for facilitating two 2-3 days strategic retreats with UNOY’s teams, which will most likely be in the weeks of the 12th of August and of the 28th of October 2024, to gather insights and brainstorm on the development of the new strategy. The consultant will then analyse the insights coming from the retreats together with UNOY staff and support them in the development of the draft Strategic Plan and related documents.

The consultations with member organisations, to happen in 2025, will be carried out by UNOY staff and minimal support will be required from the consultant in the development of the consultation plan. Based on the consultations, UNOY staff with the support of the consultant will adapt the draft and develop a final version of the Strategic Plan by September / October 2025. Thus, while the project will span between 2024 and 2025, most of the work of the consultant will be happening in 2024.

Roles and Responsibilities
UNOY Peacebuilders is looking for a strategic planning consultant to carry out the development of UNOY’s new Strategic Plan. The task will be carried out between May/June 2024 and October 2025. Specifically, the consultant will:
● Co-design the process for the development of UNOY’s new Strategic Plan;
● Facilitate two 2-3 days strategic retreats in the Netherlands with UNOY’s teams;
● Analyse and compile, together with UNOY staff, insights coming from the retreats;
● Co-design the plan for online consultations with member organisations;
● Support in the drafting of the new Strategic Plan of UNOY and related documents.

Support from UNOY and coordination The UNOY Peacebuilders International Secretariat, and more specifically the Co-Director (Strategy) will provide support and guidance to the consultant in this assignment by:
● Providing background documents and briefings as needed;
● Overseeing coordination between the consultant and UNOY team members;
● Providing input and feedback through regular meetings and review of outputs prepared by the consultant.

Consultant Profile

Required:
● Demonstrated knowledge and experience of at least 5 years in strategic planning, monitoring, evaluation and learning;
● Experience of working in strategic planning processes in the peacebuilding field;
● Experience in facilitating in-person meetings and workshops;
● Excellent written and spoken English.

Desired:
● Experience in working with network and/or youth-led organisations;
● Previous knowledge of UNOY’s work and/or Youth, Peace, and Security.