Consultancy to Support the Development of the African Regional Advocacy Strategy Process, Power Map and Action Plan

Forus is looking for a consultant or consultant team to support the development of African regional advocacy strategies. The consultancy will support Forus members in Africa through a facilitated member-led process to develop practical sub-regional advocacy strategies and a continental advocacy vision that translate the Forus Strategy 2026–2030 into clear priorities, influence opportunities and concrete next steps across five African sub-regions: West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and North Africa.

• Conduct inception meeting with Africa Regional Steering Committee and Forus Secretariat to confirm scope, methodology, timeline and deliverables,
• Prepare inception note and detailed workplan covering both phases of the process,
• Review relevant Forus documents, member inputs, sub-regional advocacy processes and complementary civil society evidence,
• Conduct political economy and institutional influence analysis for each sub-region,
• Design and facilitate participatory member engagement process structured around five sub-regions,
• Consult national platforms and regional coalitions across all five African sub-regions through dedicated sub-regional consultation processes,
• Conduct power mapping to identify key decision-makers, allies, pressure points and advocacy spaces at sub-regional and continental levels,
• Synthesise sub-regional consultation findings and develop 2–4 priority advocacy tracks per sub-region,
• Draft five sub-regional advocacy strategies with accompanying action plans,
• Develop continental advocacy vision identifying shared priorities and opportunities for collective action,
• Facilitate validation processes in each sub-region and at continental level,
• Finalise five sub-regional advocacy strategies, continental advocacy vision, power maps, action plans and monitoring markers,
• Provide handover note with suggested next steps, source list and update recommendations

• Proven expertise in civil society advocacy, civic space, and/or enabling environment issues with strong knowledge of African regional and sub-regional context,
• Good understanding of sub-regional and continental governance dynamics relevant to civil society advocacy in Africa, including regional economic communities, African Union, AU ECOSOCC, African Development Bank, development finance actors and EU–Africa engagement frameworks,
• Demonstrated experience with participatory, mixed-methods research and strategy development processes,
• Experience facilitating participatory, member-led processes across diverse geographic and linguistic contexts,
• Ability to work across five African sub-regions with cultural competency and contextual sensitivity, including in contexts of peace and security challenges,
• Strong bilingual capacity in French and English (written and spoken) – essential,
• Proficiency in additional African languages – asset,
• Experience working with civil society networks in linguistically and culturally diverse settings,
• Knowledge of development finance, Agenda 2030/post-2030 processes, EU–Africa engagement frameworks and civil society enabling environment,
• Strong preference for African-led or Africa-based consultant/team or team with demonstrated long-standing experience working with African civil society networks,
• Ability to support tailored consultation approaches in sub-regions where Forus coordination structures are absent or limited,
• Familiarity with Forus or similar global civil society networks

Submit application in electronic format to recruitment@forus-international.org with subject line 'Consultancy – Africa Regional Advocacy Strategy'. Application should include: motivation letter addressed to Africa Regional Steering Committee and Forus' Advocacy Coordinator; technical proposal (max 12 pages); risk matrix; financial proposal with day-rates and number of days per phase; CV(s) of consultant(s)/team members (max 2 pages each); two writing samples (at least one in French and one in English); and two to three references from comparable assignments.