Skip Navigation

Terms of Reference – Consultancy Support to document Initiatives to scale up Open Local Governments

Background

The Open Government Partnership (OGP) gathers 75 countries and 150 local governments sharing the idea that an open government is more accessible, more responsive, and more accountable to citizens, and that improving the relationship between people and their government has long-term, exponential benefits for everyone. OGP is a broad partnership that includes members at the national and local levels as well as thousands of civil society organizations. Through the Partnership, its members collaborate to co-create action plans with concrete steps – commitments – across a broad range of issues. This model ensures that civil society organizations and direct citizen engagement have a role in shaping and overseeing governments. Collectively, more than 4,000 commitments have been made globally.

During the OGP 2023 Summit in Estonia, a selected number of countries shared plans to scale up local open governments and expressed interest in peer learning from other experiences. The participating countries are: Morocco, Mexico, Spain, Philippines, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia.

Based on this interest, OGP has organized three peer learning webinars to share the experiences of Mexico, Spain and Morocco.

This consultancy will document and analyze projects or programs that promote the adoption of open government reforms by local governments at scale and provide recommendations based on the findings for the development and implementation of similar initiatives.

This consultancy is part of the PAGOF program and funded by AFD.

Objective of the consultancy services

OGP is looking for a consultant(s) to document and analyze different initiatives within countries that aim to promote the adoption of open government reforms by local governments at scale and provide recommendations to design and implement similar initiatives, in close coordination and with the assistance of the OGP Support Unit.

The consultant is expected to:

  1. Study the general national context in relation to the national-local collaboration.
  2. Describe and analyze the initiatives’ design and practices.
  3. Identify success factors, challenges, and results to date.
  4. Distill recommendations for designing and implementing similar initiatives.

Scope of Work

OGP is looking for a talented, motivated and organized individual or team (association or firm) to work with the OGP Support Unit on the following deliverables:

Deliverable 1: Country specific report (about 5 pages per country)

Study the contexts and the practices via literature reviews and stakeholders interviews to explore the following questions:

For each of the targeted countries:

  1. What is the country context in relation to multi-level governance? This covers the nature and type of government; nature and type of decentralization; and the political and administrative system in the country
  2. What are the stated objectives or goals of the initiative to promote open local government at scale? [e.g. standardization and compliance, delegated implementation, policy coherence, promoting innovation, so on and so forth]
  3. What is the scope of the program? [level of government/administrative unit targeted, geographical coverage, types of entities covered]
  4. What is the coordinating body and its mandate?
  5. Who are the different actors involved? What are their responsibilities and obligations? [e.g. roles of national government, local government, national and local civil society, associations of local government, partners etc]. What, if any, governance arrangements exist?
  6. How are participants selected for these initiatives? What is the target participation coverage? (Demographic and geographic coverage)
  7. What is the policy focus of the initiative? [general programs to promote open local government, and/or with focus on specific themes or policy areas]
  8. What are the incentives for participation for local governments and other stakeholders?
  9. What are the mechanisms in place for regular communications and coordination?
  10. What are the requirements and processes around co-creation, reporting, monitoring? As well as any other requirements.
  11. What are the support mechanisms in place, including mechanisms for peer exchange and learning?
  12. If co-creation is required, who is participating in these co-creation processes? What have been the benefits to date of such co-creation?
  13. What are the interfaces with national OGP/open government processes and plans?
  14. How do convenors of the initiative evaluate progress and success?
  15. What have been the tangible results to date of these initiatives? Document 4-5 most compelling results for each case.
  16. What are the main challenges/obstacles countries face to scale open government at the local level?
  17. What are the costs of the program, how are they covered, and by whom?
  18. What are the plans for the generalization of this initiative to other local governments?
  19. What are the plans for the sustainability of this initiative?
  20. How does this initiative align with national strategies and plans?

Targeted countries:

  1. Argentina
  2. Brazil
  3. Cote d’Ivoire
  4. Estonia
  5. Germany
  6. Italy
  7. Kenya
  8. Mexico
  9. Morocco
  10. Nigeria
  11. Philippines
  12. Spain
  13. Tunisia
  14. Ukraine

Deliverable 2: Key challenges, success factors and recommendations (report)

Based on the collected insights from different countries, the consultant will summarize key challenges, success factors and recommendations and share any emerging recommendations with the OGP Support team to help draft guidelines to other countries on National-Local Scale up.

Terms of the Consultancy

The contract will be set up as a deliverables-based:

  • Signature of the contract (10%)
  • Delivery of the first deliverable (60%)
    • Option to be split into two batches of case studies at 30% each
  • Validation of all deliverables (30%)

Invoicing will be done by cluster according to delivery of the services requested and will be up to a total of 50 days spread over 3-4 months at a rate of €300/day, taxes included. The ideal start time for this consultancy is at the end of July 2024.

Qualifications, requirements, and skills 

  • Familiarity with and prior work in the social impact and nonprofit sector
  • Demonstrated ability to work with international and multi-disciplinary teams, and across time zones
  • Experience working with a think-tank or non-profit advocacy organization working on issues of transparency and accountability is a plus
  • Expertise in remote interviewing methods, document reviews and case study documentation
  • Familiarity with the theory and practice of public sector reforms inspired by the principles of good governance, of the open government movement is a plus.
  • Familiarity with the open government ecosystem both at the national and local levels.
  • Proficiency in English required, familiarity with French and/or Spanish highly desirable.

How to Apply

  • Please submit:
    • a cover letter, detailing your qualifications and skills and how you meet the above requirements
    • current CV,
    • a 1 page project plan outlining your approach to the deliverables required,
    • any examples of previous work that demonstrate fit for the assignment, and address desired qualifications, requirements and skills

    to consultancy@opengovpartnership.org

  • Please add ‘Consultancy Support to document Initiatives to scale up Open Local Governments’ to the subject of your email.
  • Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis, so applicants are encouraged to submit their materials as soon as possible. The deadline for applications is 15 July.
Open Government Partnership