Organizational and Management Review Consultant

The Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) is looking for an External Consultant to carry out an organizational and management review.

Period of Review is flexible – beginning approximately in July and ending by November 2022. Consultancy is for approximately 60 days at up to $500 a day depending upon experience.

I. Background

GCPEA was established in 2010 by a number of United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations who shared a concern about ongoing attacks on educational institutions, students, and educators, in countries affected by conflict and insecurity. Such attacks can cause death and injury and can have a devastating impact on the right to education. A core concern of GCPEA is military use of schools and universities by armed forces and groups. In addition to increasing the risk of attack by opposing forces, military use of educational institutions also makes students vulnerable to recruitment and violence, including sexual violence, and often prevents them from attending and disrupts their education.

Over the past ten years, GCPEA has played an instrumental role in creating and promoting the Safe Schools Declaration. This Declaration and its associated Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict (the Guidelines) have become a primary vehicle, nationally and internationally, for addressing attacks on education, and will continue to provide the foundation for GCPEA’s work.

Another critical stream of GCPEA’s work is research, including through its flagship publication, Education under Attack, which documents attacks on education globally. This research informs GCPEA’s advocacy and ensures that it is evidence-based.

GCPEA is a project of the Tides Center. The Tides Center is a fiscal sponsor that provides legal, financial, and human resources services to GCPEA.

II. Context

Over 10 years have passed since the Coalition was established, and the Safe Schools agenda, which refers to the wide range of action being promoted or taken to better protect education in armed conflict, has grown massively and rapidly. The time is due to review GCPEA’s organisational and management systems and make recommendations so that the Coalition is fit for purpose in the years to come to best support and contribute to efforts to better protect education from attack worldwide.

In developing actionable recommendations, the review must consider GCPEA’s status as a coalition rather than an independent organization, and offer advice on how to maximize the benefits of working within a consensus model, while minimizing the costs associated with this approach. In developing recommendations, the consultant should consider the experiences and lessons learned of other coalitions and similarly situated organizations.

III. Objective of the Review

To review GCPEA’s organisational, management and governance structures and processes in the context of recent rapid growth in the secretariat and in the Safe Schools agenda**,** including, a review of working process and the relationship between the Steering Committee and the secretariat, and an assessment of whether the current structure and job descriptions and criteria are fit for purpose**;** and

To offer analysis and recommendations on the above in order to best ensure effectiveness and efficiency in GCPEA achieving its mission and goals.

IV. Scope of the Review

The scope of the review is to examine the existing organizational and management structures, roles, and lines of authority within GCPEA and offer recommendations on how to change or modify structures and processes to ensure that these are fit for purpose for the future, ensuring continued and strengthened engagement and ownership from the various coalition members, and maximum impact from the Coalition’s advocacy. The focus of the review is forward-looking – intended to identify how to optimize achievement of the Coalition’s mission and goals for the future.

Examples of Lines of Enquiry*:*

• Structure and Roles and Responsibilities

1. Map out the current organizational, governance, and management structures of the coalition (provide an organigram) and assess to what degree the structure meets the needs of GCPEA today. How can the structure be modified to optimize functioning of the Coalition?
2. What are the current roles and responsibilities of, and technical skills needed, for the following roles:
   • Organizational representatives on the Steering Committee
   • Chair
   • Management Committee
   • Executive Director
   • Working group members
3. What are the strengths and challenges of each of the roles or structures listed above? Are there roles or structures missing?
4. How are each of the roles or structures listed above connected to each other and what are the strengths and difficulties of the way they function together?
5. What is the engagement of the different coalition member organizations as well as other stakeholders (including donors) in the activities and running of GCPEA, and how can engagement be optimized, perhaps through employing different models of engagement?

b) Human Resources

1. What are the roles and responsibilities of staff members and how do they interact with the structures/positions listed above?

2. What are the lines of supervision/oversight for the Executive Director and for the staff?

3. How is decision-making carried out within the organization and communicated, including to staff?

c) Professional management of the organization

1. What are the existing processes and support systems in place for planning towards, and effectively resourcing, the coalition’s goals and objectives, e.g. financial management; performance management; information management; feedback mechanisms from staff and member organizations; and financial controlling?

2. What are the processes related to tenure, recruitment, and human resources management?

d) Financial and organizational sustainability

1. What is the financial situation of GCPEA, and its sustainability going forward (attraction to donors, possibilities for other income sources etc)?

e) Recommendations

1. Based on the review of systems, structures, processes and roles and responsibilities described above, what are the changes or modifications that can be made in the following:

• Organizational and governance structures or processes?
• Management structures and processes?
• Competencies or job descriptions required for the Steering Committee members, Chair, Executive Director, and other key positions?
• Human resource systems and processes?
• Tools and technologies that could be adopted to help planning and decision-making (if any)?
• Funding strategies and structures?

V. Qualifications of the Consultant

• Documented experience of evaluating/assessing internationally operating NGOs and coalitions with a broad membership base
• Experience of carrying out organisational management reviews
• Knowledge of GCPEA’s area of work which includes protection, education in emergencies, international human rights and humanitarian law, and higher education.
• Experience working with remote projects and remote staff.
• Master’s Degree in a relevant field