Consultancy Opportunities

Duty station: Home-based / remote

Type and duration of contract: Consultancy contract, approx. 8 months, 15-20 hours/week

Preferred dates: 21 August 2023 to 26 April 2023

Closing date for applications: 28 July 2023

Background

ClientEarth has been engaging in Liberia since 2015 through a strong partnership with an in-country associate (ICA), Heritage Partners & Associates. Over this time, ClientEarth’s work has focused on strengthening the design and implementation of national forest legal frameworks, supporting civil society engagement in the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) process, and community legal capacity-building. Together with ClientEarth’s ICA, three Liberian civil society organisations (CSOs) and an in-country coordinator, ClientEarth commenced a five-year project funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), working together as a consortium to strengthen legal foundations for sustainable forests and livelihoods. The Norad project focuses on raising awareness and strengthening the implementation of legal frameworks to improve sustainable and equitable governance of community forests in specific communities identified by Consortium Partners.

In August 2023, ClientEarth requires support on the following tasks related to our work in Liberia.

Tasks for the consultant:

1. Support ClientEarth’s ICA to provide support to partners and communities, as requested. Depending on requests received this could include:

a. Review of contracts;

b. Providing support to resolve conflicts, following alternative dispute resolution techniques;

c. Developing trainings for communities on new topics, such as carbon offset projects;

d. Conducting research and preparing briefings on emerging challenges such as forest risk commodities and mining operations.

2. Draft chapters for an upcoming Liberian environmental law textbook on topics such as international environmental law obligations, mining law and community rights

3. Support ClientEarth’s ICA to draft a “Community Roadmap” which sets out ways to facilitate coordination and collaboration between the two-three primary community governance structures, to cultivate greater integration and collaboration.

4. Support the development of 2024 workplans and review renewal contracts for 2024 regarding Norad Consortium partners (ClientEarth Programme Manager will lead the contract renewal process);

5. Monitor and inform ClientEarth of developments regarding community needs for legal support (including, but not limited to, contracting, negotiations, dispute resolution support and development of training materials) and identifying opportunities to deliver community support in an innovative manner;

6. Monitor and inform ClientEarth of important developments in forest and environmental governance & legislation, including, inter alia, the VPA Process, voluntary carbon markets, the REDD+ framework, the Global Biodiversity Framework and Indigenous Persons and Local Communities’ rights.

7. Input into funding proposals as they relate to Liberia – in collaboration with ClientEarth’s ICA and ClientEarth staff.

Biweekly reports or meetings should be sent to or held with ClientEarth staff to update on ongoing work and results of monitoring activities.

The consultant will not be asked to represent ClientEarth. The location for this consultancy is home office. The consultant is expected to provide their own office space, accommodation, transport, IT equipment (including email address) and working materials.

The consultant will be expected to keep a timesheet and bill based on hours worked on a monthly basis (open to discussion).

Profile and experience

· Working knowledge of one or more of these areas: natural resources governance; human rights law and policy; environmental governance; forest governance; land tenure; legal reform processes (essential)

· Experience working on, or knowledge of issues relating to forest governance, international forest policy processes (such as FLEGT VPAs, or REDD+), community rights and land tenure (desirable)

· Good understanding of common law legal systems (essential)

· Experience delivering projects in partnership with CSOs in an international setting (essential)

· Experience delivering projects in an international development context (desirable)

· Knowledge of and or experience in West Africa and/or Liberia (desirable)

Skills

· Excellent legal and policy analysis skills

· Ability to explain complex legal information in a simple language and to adapt language, content and style to different audiences

· Critical thinking, highly creative, flexible and solutions-oriented

· Fluent in English (CEFR level C1) with outstanding written and oral communication skills

· Well-developed interpersonal communication style and ability to work collaboratively with partners from a distance

· Excellent organisational and planning skills, and ability to manage competing work priorities effectively

· Willingness to undertake visit(s) to Liberia both solo and together with ClientEarth staff, for up to 2 weeks. The trip(s) could take place between September and December 2023. Please note that travel to Liberia is dependent upon available budget & rolling security assessments, to be undertaken by ClientEarth.

Timeframe

The consultancy should start by 21 August 2023, at the latest.

We suggest the following key dates for this consultancy (to be adapted to the consultant’s availability).

· 21 August 2023: 2 weeks of preparation with ClientEarth staff to go over the scope of the consultancy, plan for activities, share the latest updates & make the relevant introductions to staff at ClientEarth and in-country associates in Liberia.

· From 4 September 2023 to 12 April 2023: completion of consultancy tasks, including possible travel to Liberia.

· From 15 April 2023 until 26 April 2023: 2 weeks of debriefing with ClientEarth staff, to hand over any unfinished activities and share updates.

The consultant will hold frequent (at least fortnightly) check-ins with ClientEarth staff to discuss progress and next steps.

Fees

Consultancy of a maximum of 105 days / 840 hours (spread over 8 months), up to a maximum fee budget of £39,375.

ClientEarth will pay all expenses related to travel.

How to apply

Send your CV, including a proposed fee rate, and a short concept note to Caroline Haywood (chaywood@clientearth.org) and Babette Tachibana-Brophy (bbrophy@clientearth.org) before 28 July 2023, however please note that applications will be considered on a rolling basis.

Interviews will take place in August 2023.