Request for Expressions of Interest - Consultant to support EITI communications in Ghana 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 Ghana 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 Ghana 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 Indonesia.
Proposals must be delivered by email to skasimova@eiti.org by 31 December 2019.
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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 committed to implementing the EITI in 2003. The EITI Board announced in February 2019 that Ghana had made meaningful progress in implementing the 2016 EITI Standard. There are three CSO representatives on the GHEITI MSG, representing the local Publish What You Pay coalition, the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) and the Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM). A key objective of GHETI’s activities is to ensure citizen participation in decision-making around resource extraction, building on its experience in regularly organising workshops at the subnational level, including in the Eastern and Western regions. A key challenge resides in more effectively reporting on the disbursement of ground rents and shares of mining royalties to local governments. A representative of the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL), which works to enhance revenue mobilisation of such revenues, sits on the MSG. EITI reporting has contributed to increasing the total amount of disbursements and improved guidelines put in place to earmark shares of mining revenues to investments that would benefit local communities. Concerns remain around significant arrears and irregularities in the payment of these revenues, which negatively impact budget planning and management at the subnational level. In addition, there is strong demand to develop reporting on the ASM sector with the aims to formalise it and increase its contribution to the economy. Stakeholders engagement has been broadly encouraging, including on behalf of CSOs, which benefit from an enabling environment for their participation.
Objectives of the assignment:
To help inform how to maximise the impact of EITI disclosures and encourage local debate around extractives in Ghana, 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 English and knowledge of the relevant local languages.
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 March 2020. The assignment is expected to require a total of 25 working days. The proposed schedule is set out below:
Singing of contract | By 15 January 2019 |
Initial consultations on the scope of work | 2 days |
Desk review | 5 days |
Consultations with the EITI International Secretariat and local stakeholders | 7 days, including travel-time |
Submission of the draft report | 7 days By 1 March 2020 |
Submission of the final report | 4 days By 31 March 2020 |
About EITI
We believe that a country’s natural resources belong to its citizens. Our mission is to promote understanding of natural resource management, strengthen public and corporate governance and accountability, and provide the data to inform policymaking and multi-stakeholder dialogue in the extractive sector. By becoming a member of the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), countries commit to disclose information along the extractive industry value chain – from how extraction rights are awarded, to how revenues make their way through government and how they benefit the public. Through participation in the EITI, more than 50 countries have agreed to a common set of rules governing what has to be disclosed and when – the EITI Standard. In each country that has joined the EITI, a multi-stakeholder group, composed of government, companies and civil society, supports implementation of the EITI Standard.