Consultancy Service: Assessment of Integrity Action’s Partnership with NORAD-funded Partners 29 views0 applications

Background

Integrity Action enables citizens to improve the delivery of essential services, infrastructure projects and humanitarian aid in some of the world’s most challenging environments.

We do this through the promotion of integrity. We believe that, rather than top-down finger pointing, the bottom-up promotion of integrity creates an environment where corruption and mismanagement are simply not tolerated.

What do we mean by integrity? It’s a combination of being accountable for one’s actions, being competent in one’s job, and behaving ethically – all without corruption. It can more easily be captured as: “doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.”

Our approach has three core elements:

· Monitoring: citizens monitor the delivery of essential services and projects in their own community – such as schools, clinics, or new roads.

· Technology: these community monitors use our easy-to-use and award winning mobile app DevelopmentCheck (www.developmentcheck.org)). Whatever monitors find is displayed openly and promptly on the DevelopmentCheck website. This lets anyone see how services and projects are performing.

· Solutions: when monitors find problems, they bring stakeholders together to find solutions. When problems are fixed it can have a real impact on the ground.

One of our current programmes, funded by NORAD, is SHINE (Students acting for Honesty, Integrity and Equality) which aims to establish 550 Integrity Clubs in secondary schools in Nepal, OT Palestine, Afghanistan, Kenya and DR Congo through ten local, grassroots organisations. This project aims to achieve a stronger civil society in all five countries strengthening their ability and capacity to fight corruption in the education sector and introduce and/or develop transparency measures. In an Integrity Club, students aged 14-19 come together to discuss integrity, how a lack of integrity impacts on their community, and how any effort to uphold integrity must be inclusive. Students also put their learning into practice by acting as community monitors. They monitor projects and services in their community, including their own schools, using our technology tool Development Check (https://www.developmentcheck.org/). Part of their role as monitors is to bring stakeholders together and find solutions to any problems they find – in this way, monitoring has a real impact, and can help ensure that public services, including schools, function better and serve the needs of everyone.

Under the SHINE project, since October 2017, Integrity Action has been working with seven organisations across DR Congo, Nepal, Palestine, Afghanistan and Kenya. Three additional organisations are currently going through a due diligence process which we hope to finalise by September 2018.

Project aims

Integrity Action is hosting a Partner Workshop for all ten NORAD-funded partners from Wednesday 19^th – Sunday 23^rd September 2018 in Ukunda, Kenya. We will spend four days together looking back over the previous year, sharing lessons learnt and looking forwards to the coming year and planning. The last day of the Workshop will be attended by the consultant and the partners but no members of Integrity Action. We hope that the absence of Integrity Action staff on this final day will lead to honest and open conversations between partners and the consultant. Integrity Action would like an external consultant to evaluate our partnership at the individual, organisational and operational level with NORAD-funded partners with a particular focus on these three areas:

1. Partnership with Integrity Action

· Communication – How well do we communicate? How clearly do we communicate? Are we communicating enough or too much? Are the ways we choose to communicate, for example, Skype and email enough?

· Timeliness of instalments

· Reporting timings and templates

· General challenges in partnership with Integrity Action

· General successes in partnership with Integrity Action

· Management of the partnership – Do partners feel they have a good relationship with partnership managers at Integrity Action?

· Openness and honesty in the partnership · Suggestions for future partnerships

2. Integrity Action’s Approach (please see the website for more information on the following
– https://integrityaction.org/)

· Development Check

· Community Integrity Building (CIB) · GESI Strategy

3. Feedback from Integrity Club Members

· What works well?

· What doesn’t work well?

· What could be improved?

· How supported do you feel?

· How safe do you feel when you are monitoring?

We expect the consultant to use creative and innovative ways of delving into these three main areas. Integrity Action’s Partnership and Approach can be done through participatory exercises during the workshop. Feedback from Integrity Club Members will need to be assessed before the Workshop and any findings compiled and analysed.

We want partners to feel safe to share how they really feel about their partnership with Integrity Action and that any information to come out of the session won’t lead to an abrupt end to the partnership. Therefore, it is important to highlight that any personal stories, data and information collected during the Workshop be kept confidential. The consultant will develop a report with action points for Integrity Action but no names will be shared. We, as a partnership organisation, want to strengthen the way we do partnership and therefore will take any feedback from this session very seriously.

Scope of the Consultancy

The consultant will take the lead in:

1. Preparing creative, participatory sessions for the last day of the Partner Workshop in September 2018 (Sunday 23^rd)
2. Preparing and sending out interview questions for Integrity Club members to complete anonymously
3. Receiving any feedback from both Integrity Club members and partners and developing a report with action points for Integrity Action
4. We ask that the consultant attend the Partner Workshop to ensure a proper understanding of Integrity Action and to build relationships with our partners in the lead up to the final day

The consultancy will take place in Ukunda, Kenya.

Due to limited funding, Integrity Action is looking for consultants who are based in Kenya. We will not be able to cover the costs of international travel.

Activities and Results

1. Detailed plan of implementation developed (including timeline, sign offs etc.) – 1 day in August
2. Preparation for Workshop – 1 day at the beginning of September
3. Preparation for Integrity Club members survey – 1 day in August
4. Attendance at Partner Workshop – 3 days – 19th -23rd September
5. Leading last day of Partner Workshop – 1 day on 23rd September
6. Collating findings and delivering a report for Integrity Action – 2 days – 5th-6th October

Lines of communication

The consultant will be managed by Integrity Action’s Partnerships and Training Manager.

If you have any questions on the Consultancy, please don’t hesitate to contact [email protected]

Experience and qualifications

· Previous experience and successful track record in leading participatory workshops

· Experience in providing guidance and/or recommendations on establishing high quality partnerships

· Previous experience in developing anonymous surveys and analysing and collating information into a report

· Flexibility to adapt to any subsequent changes in the terms of reference

· Willingness and ability to travel to Ukunda, Kenya

· Excellent English and French and/or Swahili speaking skills (two partners from DR Congo); excellent written English