Terms of Reference : Consultant to Support the Dominican Republic Civic Space National Strategy

The Open Government Partnership Support Unit (OGP-SU) is seeking a consultant to support the Government of the Dominican Republic to draft and co-create a National Strategy to Strengthen Civic Space in 2024.

Background and Overall Objectives

The Government of the Dominican Republic has requested support from the OGP-SU to develop a National Strategy to Strengthen Civic Space. Early work has been completed by OGP and the General Directorate of Ethics and Government Integrity (DIGEIG for its acronym in Spanish) to scope out the strategy. We are now seeking a civic space consultant to complete the following deliverables in order to finalize the strategy in partnership with the Government of the Dominican Republic and OGP-SU.

Deliverables

1. Agree a process for defining and finalizing the strategy

The consultant should work with the General Directorate of Ethics and Government Integrity and OGP-SU to develop and agree a methodology for developing the civic space strategy. This should include clear milestones and consultation moments.

2. Engage key stakeholders

In collaboration with the DIGEIG and OGP-SU, the consultant should identify and engage key stakeholders from government, civil society organizations and OGP-SU in order to identify and define SMART objectives and activities to be included in the strategy. This engagement should happen through a combination of public events and targeted interviews.

In engaging stakeholders and identifying objectives for the strategy, the consultant should consider the following topics:

Enabling environment for civil society
Online civic space
Data protection / privacy
Media freedom
Gender-based violence

3. Lead draft the civic space strategy

The consultant should produce a full draft of the civic space strategy based on the consultation and engagement with key stakeholders for review by the DIGEIG and OGP-SU and respond to comments via two rounds of feedback to finalize the strategy for approval.

The final strategy should include a brief analysis of the current institutional, legal and policy framework for civic space; a description of the agreed SMART objectives; activities to be delivered towards these objectives; key stakeholders to be engaged; and an estimate of necessary human and financial resources.

4. Language

The working language will be in Spanish.

The full draft of the civic space strategy should be delivered in Spanish.

The final strategy should be delivered in Spanish and English.

Timeline

Approximate date	Activity
April	Recruiting process of the consultant.
May (1st week)	Consultancy starts.
May (3rd week)	Public announcement of the methodology for developing the civic space strategy.
May (5th week, Open Gov Week)	Public event or engagement session as a part of the consultation process to inform the strategy draft.
June	Continue strategic consultations to inform and adjust the draft.
July	Socialization of the first draft with stakeholders for feedback.
August (1st week)	Socialization of the final draft for final feedback and to inform the co-creation of specific commitments for the 6th NAP.
August – Sept	Internal validations for government approval.
September	National presentation before or during the 6th NAP high-level launch event & submission of related Open Gov Challenge commitment on civic space
December (1st week)	High-level participation at America Abierta in Brasilia to launch and promote the strategy internationally.

Requirements

The consultant should meet or exceed the following requirements:

Be a recognised expert on civic space and have a demonstrable track record of delivering similar work
Have a good understanding of the key issues impacting civic space in the Dominican Republic
Have worked in the Dominican Republic or a similar Latin American context on civic space issues
Experience of engaging with a range of government and civil society stakeholders on issues related to civic space
Be able to work in Spanish and English
Be willing to travel, if necessary

Agreement and payment

OGP and the Consultant will enter into a contract for services as listed in this Terms of Reference. The total contract amount will not exceed USD 15,000, not including travel.

Payment Schedule

Deliverable	Payment	Approximate Timeline
Contract signing and agreement of methodology for development of the strategy	20%	3rd week May 2024
First full draft of the Civic Space Strategy	30%	July 2024
Final draft of Civic Space Strategy	30%	August 2024
Participation in national launch events and America Abierta	20%	December 2024

Where costs may be associated with travel and accommodation of the consultant, these will be covered by the OGP Support Unit upon approval.

The expected start date of this contract is 1st May 2024. The expected duration of this contract is until 6th December 2024.

Interested consultants should submit a proposal which includes their qualifications for this role, hourly fees and any supporting evidence of relevant experience to consultancy@opengovpartnership.org by 30th April 2024.