Request for Expressions of Interest - Consultant to support EITI communications in Indonesia to improve communities' participation in the oversight of extractives

Introduction

The deadline for this request for Expressions of Interest has now passed. 

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is seeking a consultant to support the EITI multi-stakeholder group (MSG) in Indonesia in improving its communications and disseminations activities to ensure the latter are citizen-oriented and strategic, with the aim of maximising the impact of EITI disclosures and encouraging local debate about the management of the extractive sector.

The consultant is expected to carry out a mapping of civil society organisations and actors engaged around mining activities in Indonesia at the local level, outline their information needs, and identify opportunities to improve the MSG’s communications and dissemination activities.

The final report is expected to provide recommendations for how the EITI and partners can better support local stakeholders in using extractive sector information and the EITI multi-stakeholder platform strategically participate in policy discussions on natural resource governance. The findings from this report will inform a cross-country study by the EITI International Secretariat which will bring together the findings of similar studies on Colombia and Ghana.

Proposals must be delivered by email to skasimova@eiti.org by 20 January 2020.

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Background

Objectives of the assignment

Consultant qualifications

Deliverables and timetable

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Background

Too often, local populations bear a disproportionate share of the costs linked to the extractive industries, while not being sufficiently represented in dialogue around its management and oversight. Poor management of the extractive sector exacerbates inequalities and social exclusion. This is one of the reasons the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the global standard for transparency and good governance of the extractive industries implemented by 52 countries, has sought to ensure that civil society organisations and representatives of local communities have an opportunity to participate in national debates on natural resource governance.

Local actors, from community representatives to associations and media, should be able to play a key role in overseeing natural resource investment and extraction and, ultimately, benefit from it. In each EITI implementing country, a multi-stakeholder group (MSG) consisting of representatives from government, industry and civil society oversees implementation of the EITI Standard, which aims to make information available in a timely manner to citizens. However, this information and data is not consistently used by communities and CSOs at the local level when raising concerns over natural resource extraction projects, due to lack of timely data, unavailability of relevant data, inadequate format for its dissemination, or gaps in the strategic use of information.

In light of the above, the EITI International Secretariat is seeking support for scoping out a communications and dissemination plan for broadening and deepening local civil society engagement in natural resource governance through the EITI. The outcomes of this scoping are also expected to inform further communications capacity building by the EITI for local communities and CSOs where there are opportunities and need for support.

In Colombia, Ghana and Indonesia, EITI implementation support and consultations undertaken in the framework of Validation have shown particular interest in issues related to the local impact of extractives. Despite many activities at the subnational level, including efforts to disseminate EITI data and engage local actors, the potential for positive impact by the EITI remains limited. There is scope to improve local actors’ engagement and capacity to hold governments and companies accountable in all three countries. These three countries are listed amongst the target countries of the Ford Foundation’s NRCC-I programme and are EITI priority countries.

The Government of Indonesia committed to implementing the EITI in 2008. To date, Indonesia has published reports covering the fiscal years 2009 to 2016. Its Validation under the 2016 EITI Standard is ongoing. PWYP, Article 33 and Idea are represented on the MSG and have been particularly active on issues related to subnational implementation. There are also representatives from the local governments of the East Java, Riau and East Kalimantan provinces on the MSG. Public debates about the impact of the extractive sector have centered on the environmental impact of mining, subnational transfers, including how cost recovery impacts shares of revenues from the oil and gas sector destined to local governments, and social expenditures. There is scope to increase local understanding of how computations are made in calculating revenues transferred to local governments and monitor overlaps between licenses granted at the central and local level and social expenditures based on “ad-hoc agreements” between companies and local governments. As of 2016, the contribution of the mining sector (including coal) stood at USD 18 billion, significantly contributing to producing regions’ workforce absorption and regional export compared to the national average. Despite a strong focus on subnational implementation, the Indonesia EITI has tended to function in a silo and not be involved in wider debates on issues of public interest, with too limited engagement from the government and companies.

Objectives of the assignment:

To help inform how to maximise the impact of EITI disclosures and encourage local debate around extractives in Indonesia, the EITI is seeking a consultant to:

• Map civil society organisations and other actors active on extractive resources governance at the local level and identify their information needs, with support from the national MSG and EITI International Secretariat. 

• Help identify opportunities and tools to improve the communications and dissemination activities of the national MSG. 

• Provide recommendations for how the EITI and partners can better support local stakeholders in using extractive sector information and the EITI multi-stakeholder platform strategically to participate in policy discussions on natural resource governance.

Consultant qualifications: 

The consultant must be a reputable firm/individual(s) that is/are perceived by the EITI International Secretariat to be credible, trustworthy and technically competent.

 The consultant will need to demonstrate: 

• Expertise in extractives governance and communications. Technical knowledge of the mining and oil and gas sector is highly desirable.

• Experience with transparency in the extractive sector and/or multi-stakeholder governance initiatives and working with civil society organisations, local community leaders and/or grassroots movements. Previous work experience in the region is a strong advantage.

• Proficiency in Bahasa and English is required.   

• A track record in similar work. Previous experience with EITI is not required but would be an advantage.

In order to ensure the quality and independence of the exercise, the consultant is required, in their technical and financial proposals, to disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest, together with commentary on how any such conflict can be avoided.

Deliverables and timetable: 

The assignment is expected to commence in January 2020 culminating in the finalisation of the assignment by April 2020. The assignment is expected to require a total of 25 working days. The proposed schedule is set out below: