Southern Africa Civil Society Regional Expert, Civil Society Organization (CSO) Sustainability Index

MSI is an international development firm in the Washington, D.C., metro area with a 30-year history of helping to deliver results across the developing world. In 2008, we became part of Coffey International Limited. Since that time, we have greatly expanded our ability to respond seamlessly and flexibly to client needs with Coffey's international development offices in the United Kingdom and Australia. We operate in some of the most challenging political and economic climates in the world, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and South Sudan. MSI currently employs 800 development experts in the fields of public sector management, monitoring and evaluation, governance, and anticorruption. For more information on MSI, please visit our website at www.msiworldwide.com.

Project Summary:

USAID awarded Management Systems International (MSI) the Civil Society Organization (CSO) Sustainability Index for 2010-2015. This five-year task order extends the Index into the Middle East and North Africa region, covering seven MENA countries, thirty-one (31) African countries, and seven Asia countries. The index measures CSO sustainability based on seven dimensions: legal environment; organizational capacity; financial viability; advocacy; service provision; infrastructure and public image. Each of the seven dimensions is rated along a seven-point scale with 1 indicating a very advanced sustainable CSO sector and 7 indicating a fragile, unsustainable sector with a low-level of development.

MSI contracts with a local CSO in each of the nine Southern African countries covered by the report. Each implementer is responsible for producing a country report examining the state of the above-listed seven indicators. Once the draft report is submitted, it is edited and then reviewed by the Editorial Committee (EC). This process is explained more in depth below.

Position Summary:

The consultant will review the CSOSI country reports on the state of civil society in nine countries in Southern Africa, provide written notes, and participate remotely in an editorial committee meeting to review the country reports.

As a final step in the CSO Sustainability Index process, all country reports are reviewed and discussed by an Editorial Committee (EC) composed of regional and sector experts in Washington, DC, Africa, and abroad. This committee is chaired by a USAID Civil Society Advisor and includes rotating members from USAID (past members have included experts from the USAID Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance's Office for Democracy and Governance (DCHA/DG), USAID/Office of Development Partners and Private and Voluntary Cooperation (ODP/PVC), and from USAID Democracy and Governance foreign service officers). The committee also includes civil society experts representing MSI and ICNL. MSI also contracts an independent regional expert to participate in the editorial committee meetings for Southern Africa. The Southern Africa Regional Expert is responsible for reviewing reports from seven Southern African countries, providing written comments, and participating in the Editorial Committee meeting.

Responsibilities:

Read and review each of the nine Southern African country reports for accuracy, completeness, and regional comparisons. Reports will include: Angola, Botswana, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Write up a set of report notes to share with other Editorial Committee members prior to the Editorial Committee meeting. The notes (no more than one page per country report) should comment on the accuracy and thoroughness of each report for publication, and consider each report in the context of the other countries in the sub-region.
The notes should be sent 5 work days before the Southern Africa Editorial Committee meeting to the contract's Project Manager who will circulate the notes to the other members of the Editorial Committee.

Qualifications:

Advanced degree preferred.
Demonstrated research, writing and analytical background assessing the strength of civil society organizations.
Strong understanding of civil society in Southern Africa.
Experience working in CSOs in Southern Africa, preferably in a leadership position.
Broad regional experience in more than one of the seven countries listed above.

Only candidates who have been selected for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls, please.

MSI is an EEO/AA/ADA Veterans Employer.