About Sawt

The Strengthening Civil Society and Media Systems (Sawt) Activity is implemented by Internews in partnership with Mercy Corps and the International Center for Non-Profit Law (ICNL). Sawt aims to foster sustained civic engagement in Jordan through civil society and digital media innovations through two objectives: 1) Good, Trusted Knowledge-Building Resources: Citizens and civil society build knowledge through accessing and engaging critically with accurate and fact-based information and 2) Participation & Advocacy: Citizens and civil society organizations (CSOs) in Jordan effectively participate in civic spaces and advocate for policies through knowledge-based collective action.

About Internews

Internews is an international nonprofit operating in 100 countries. At Internews, we believe everyone deserves trustworthy news and information to make informed decisions about their lives and hold power to account. We train journalists and digital rights activists, tackle disinformation, and offer business expertise to help media outlets become financially sustainable. For more information about the organization please visit: www.internews.org.

About Sawt Advocacy Partners Program

Sawt Advocacy Partners Program targets CSOs and will encompass capacity building, technical assistance, and financial support with objective of bringing about measurable improvements in the performance and capacity of CSOs to serve their constituencies, build sustainable networks, and lead impactful advocacy and citizen engagement efforts.

Summary

Internews is seeking a qualified organization to provide technical assistance on advocacy for organizations participating in Sawt Advocacy Partners. The contracted organization will be instrumental in strengthening the advocacy institutional capacity for the 45 CSOs enrolled in Sawt Advocacy Partners Program enabling them to effectively integrate and improve advocacy work within their organizations.

Objectives

The contracted organization will be responsible for undertaking the following tasks:

• Designing and developing a high-quality mentorship plan focused on advocacy skills and strategies, tailored to meet the needs and context of CSOs in Sawt Advocacy Partners Program building on the results of conducted assessments. The organization providing advocacy organizational capacity expertise will be required to review results of advocacy capacity assessment conducted by Sawt, further probe into needs and priorities of each organization and create a comprehensive support plan based on their evaluation.
• Launch co-design sessions for advocacy development plan with each of the 45-organizations based on the selected priority areas (3 areas per organization). this can include:  
  • Providing guidance and support for CSOs on strategy development and implementation.
  • Engaging with partners on how to conduct evidence-based advocacy especially with regards to gathering evidence, generating evidence as well as its utilization and dissemination.
  • Introducing partner organization to policy research basics and its utilization for advocacy and influencing purposes. This includes mentorship on policy advocacy for partners with existing traction in this area.
  • Following up with partner organizations in creating advocacy communications plans and providing support during their implementation. This includes providing support for the creation and implementation of communication plans for advocacy campaigns. 
  • Enhancing the capacities of organizations to create partnerships, participate and lead coalitions, as well as network effectively. This includes support in stakeholder mapping and building engagement plans with organizations and supporting efforts in this area.
  • Supporting partner CSOs in developing fundraising strategies to support and sustain advocacy interventions.
  • Supporting CSOs in developing monitoring and evaluation frameworks and tools to assess and measure the impact of advocacy efforts.

Scope of Work

The contracted organization’s scope of work encompasses a range of duties and interventions aimed at empowering partner organizations to better integrate and improve the advocacy portfolio within their organizations.

The contracted organization will be engaged in identifying specific support and organizational needs based on the results of conducted advocacy and institutional assessments and working with organizations to identify specific areas of intervention within the assessment deduced priorities. The expert will also plan and execute interventions that aim to build the capacities of partner organizations through providing mentorship and coaching on advocacy.

The organization providing advocacy organizational capacity expertise will also provide ongoing support and mentorship to the CSOs to ensure institutional practices that maintain and sustain advocacy efforts, and effective in achieving organizational advocacy goals.

Noting that CSOs scope of work cover the areas of civic space, including freedoms of association, assembly, expression, public participation, and academic freedoms; environment and climate change; marginalized groups focusing on women, youth, and persons with disabilities (PwDs); and community development. The contracted organization is expected to identify and engage experts with expertise in the four mentioned areas. Sawt will support the identification and selection of the contracted experts to ensure alignment of their profiles with program priorities.

Deliverables

1. A detailed plan and timeline for the implementation of the proposed scope of work and below mentioned deliverables.
2. A baseline report verifying and validating the results, findings and documentation collected under the conducted advocacy and institutional assessments. (based on assessed areas – please check the assessment framework for more information)
3. Proposed experts’ profile with expertise in the four focus areas of Sawt including: civic space, climate change, community development, and marginalized communities.
4. Meetings and field visits to 45 partner CSOs to communicate with the focal persons from 45 organizations to discuss the findings of the conducted advocacy and institutional assessments to agree on priority areas tackled during the lifetime of the technical assistance.
5. Advocacy development plans including a detailed report with the intended support, priorities, and response measures for the 45 partner CSOs.
6. A monthly report on mentorship activities conducted, highlights of partner CSOs achievements, and upcoming steps.
7. Endline advocacy assessment to measure improvement of areas tackled in the development plans.
8. Final Report outlining efforts carried out by the expert and the progress achieved by the enrolled partners. 

Eligibility Criteria

• The organization must be legally registered and has permission to operate in Jordan.
• The organization must have a documented record of employed staff with university degrees in law, international development, or a relevant field of study or relevant certification.
• The organization must have proven recent experience of designing and implementing impactful advocacy technical assistance, including trainings, organizational assessments, and , showcased through recent case studies, project reports.
• The organization must have a proven experience of delivering trainings and mentoring initiatives Arabic and produce reports on them in English, showcased through samples of recent training materials, project reports, or testimonials.

*All deliverables require review and approval by Sawt prior to acceptance.

Milestone	Description	Deliverable	Number of Days	Submission Timeline
Preparation and planning	Planning of the overall effort and validating assessment findings	Detailed plan and timeline for the implementation of the proposed scope of work and below mentioned deliverables.	3	June 30, 2024
		A baseline report verifying and validating the results, findings and documentation collected under the conducted advocacy and institutional assessments. This will require communicating with partner CSOs through conducting field visits and/or online meetings when needed.	45	July 11, 2024
Preparing development plans	This phase includes the creation of advocacy development plans in partnership with partner CSOs	Advocacy development plans (Please check the advocacy assessment framework for more information) for the 45 organizations with 3 priority areas to work on with the partner CSOs during the lifetime of the technical assistance tackling three of the following: Advocacy goals, plans, and strategies. Research, evidence generation, and use. Partnerships, coalition building, networking, and negotiationsAdvocacy communications and outreachLegislative and policy advocacyMonitoring and evaluation for advocacy	25	July 25, 2024
Mentorship Implementation	This phase entails the provision of mentorship for the 45 partner CSOs as per the priorities in the development plans.	Provide mentorship for 45 CSOs.	180	April 30, 2024
Reporting	This milestone includes reporting efforts occurring throughout implementation.	Monthly report on mentorship activities conducted.	12	Monthly (June- April)
		Interim Report on mentorship activities conducted.	5	August 29, 2024
		Endline Assessment Report utilizing the advocacy assessment tool provided by Sawt.	30	May 15, 2025
		Final Report outlining efforts carried out by the expert and the progress achieved by the enrolled partners.	4	May 30, 2025

Required Qualifications

• Experience in Advocacy Organizational Capacity building: demonstrated understanding and knowledge of organizational advocacy capacity development.  Ability to design and implement plans to develop organizational capacities and processes to implement evidence-based advocacy interventions.
• Experience in Advocacy Campaign Design and Implementation: Possesses strong understanding and knowledge of advocacy campaign design and demonstrated experience in implementation of advocacy campaigns in Jordan based on clear need identification and understanding of local context and supporting organizations with varying capacities in doing so. Demonstrated ability to build consensus and buy-in among local organizations and local or national governments.  
• Professional Experience: Possesses professional experience in working with community and advocacy initiatives and organizational development. Ability to design organizational advocacy capacity-building plans and strategies based on clear need identification and understanding of operating context, and experience working with CSOs, NGOs, or CBOs
• Local Advocacy and Policy Landscape: Understanding of legislative and political processes in Jordan, local and national advocacy context, and public policy influencing methods. Demonstrated understanding of civil society, rule of law, human rights, governance, gender, and vulnerable populations.
• Networking Abilities: Capacity to build relationships with CSOs, local partners, and stakeholders to encourage collaboration and support ongoing capacity-building efforts.
• Coaching and Mentoring Abilities: Capacity to provide mentoring and coaching to organizations to enhance their performance and deliverables. This includes strong skills in issue identification, goal setting, constructive and effective feedback provision, and following up throughout the process.
• Communication Skills: Strong communication and presentation skills to effectively convey complex concepts and engage partners from diverse backgrounds.

Application Instructions

Interested service providers are invited to submit their technical and financial proposals, addressed to: [email protected] by Thursday, June 30^th, 2024 at 17:00, hour Amman time making sure to write “Sawt Advocacy Partners Technical Assistance, Sawt Activity” in the subject of your e-mail.

Duration

• The duration of this program is from June 30^th, 2024 – June 25^th, 2025, subject to extension if needed.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be evaluated based on the below criteria.

Evaluation criteria	Score
Technical proposal Clearly explains how the service provider will meet the objectives outlined in the scope of work. Demonstrates understanding of the advocacy landscape including challenges and enablers. Outlines sound process and plan to work with partner CSOs to achieve enhanced progress in advocacy capacities.	50%
Qualifications and Experience Team composition with relevant expertise in advocacy, organizational development, and capacity building.   Experience of team members in conducting advocacy capacity assessments. Experience of team members in creating organizational development plans. Experience in mentoring and coaching activities for advocacy with clear results.  Experience in collaborating with civil society organizations of diverse capacities and mandates as well as other relevant stakeholders.	30%
Financial Proposal The financial proposal is competitive and demonstrates good value for the proposed services. The financial proposal clearly outlines the breakdown of costs and justifies the proposed expenses.	20%