CONSULTANT OPPORTUNITY: Political economy researchers

Transcription

1 CONSULTANT OPPORTUNITY: Political economy researchers Oxfam is an international confederation of 17 organizations working together in 94 countries and with partners and allies around the world to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice. In Vietnam, Oxfam is recognized as one of the leading international NGOs, especially in rural development, disaster risk reduction and humanitarian response, civil society development, ethnic minorities, and women s empowerment. We are seeking 4 experienced Vietnamese researchers to participate in a team to update of the Coalition Support Programme s political economy analysis (PEA) in April- May The Programme conducted initial PEA of the country level and six sectors in Oxfam expects to recruit 1 Vietnamese researcher to participate in the country-level update and 3 researchers for the sectoral updates. Each of the sectoral researchers will have responsibility for interviews and data collection in two or more sectors. The researchers will be paired with international team members from Oxfam and Oxford Policy Management (OPM). All researchers are expected to participate in an initial training and orientation from 7-11 April. Most interviews and research will be conducted in the second half of April. 1. Background The Coalition Support Programme (CSP) is a part of the Vietnam Empowerment and Accountability Program - VEAP of the UK Department for International Development (DFID). This is an initiative designed to increase opportunities for Vietnamese citizens to participate in decision-making, by supporting issue-based coalitions to engage in policy advocacy, monitoring the implementation process to ensure that the policies are relevant and responsive to people s needs and expectations. Oxfam was selected to implement the Programme from July 2012 to the end of 2015, when DFID will close its Vietnam office. The Programme supports six coalitions engaging in multi-stakeholder cooperation among Vietnamese NGOs, state agencies at different levels, universities and research institutes, the private sector, and media, bringing together influential elites and community perspectives. A second phase of CSP, extending from 2016 to 2018/19, is currently in preparation. During the inception phase of CSP (July-December 2012), Oxfam and consortium partner Oxford Policy Management (OPM) undertook a participatory process of political economy analysis (PEA), designed to move from a broad understanding of the governance context in Vietnam to identification of key themes and sectors and finally

2 to the identification of specific issues and coalitions within these themes and sectors (see below figure). One PEA report was completed on the country-level context, followed by six sectoral reports and a summary report covering the entire process. Research was conducted jointly by Oxfam, OPM, and Vietnamese research consultants, with peer reviews provided by Vietnamese and international experts. Sectoral PEA results served as the basis for coalition selection and strategy development in the subsequent implementation phase (beginning in March 2013), whilst country-level results became the basis for an Inclusive and Accountable Governance Index updated annually by the Programme management team since Political economy analysis has thus been central to the CSP s design, ensuring that the programme is based on a realistic choice of and support to issue-based coalitions and projects, based on a thorough understanding of the political economy of a particular issue. CSP s political economy perspective emphasises the importance of context, power, institutions, actors, relationships and processes. Understanding the interests and influence of different stakeholders and how their power is exercised within a particular institutional context is therefore central to both effective and equitable policy design and successful policy implementation. A powerful application of PEA is in testing the explicit and implicit assumptions about the influence and interests of stakeholders (and the way that power is exerted in a specific institutional context) that underlie policy development and implementation or particular issues. This analysis should lead to approaches to supporting coalitions that are both more likely to succeed and that can more effectively monitor and address potential implementation risks. Six sectoral topics were selected for PEA during the inception phase (see table below). CSP has since identified and supported coalitions on aspects of four of these topics. (On one topic, land tenure, two coalitions were selected.) One coalition was selected in 2013 on an additional topic, agriculture. Members of the agriculture coalition in formation carried out a separate sectoral PEA report at that time, with review by Oxfam and OPM but no direct external involvement.

3 Sectoral PEA topics Coalitions supported C 1. Extractive industries 1. Mining 2. Health care quality and transparency 2. Health 3. Labour rights (none) 4. Land tenure 3. Land policy 4. Forest land 5. Pollution 5. Water Pollution Control 6. Urban planning and governance (none) 1 6. Agriculture (separate PEA in 2013) 3. Scope of the work In April-May 2015, CSP will carry out a re-appraisal of the 2012 PEAs as part of an end-line programme assessment leading to the closing of the DFID CSP contract and preparation of CSP phase 2. The PEA review will be a single research process covering country-level and sectoral aspects. As the baseline analyses have already been conducted, the update will be a lighter touch exercise aiming to identify changes in the political economy context since the start of CSP. The PEA update is not intended as an evaluation of coalition selection decisions, CSP contributions to change, or documentation of coalition advocacy outcomes; these tasks will be conducted independently through other activities in the 2015 work plan. At the same time, the PEA will provide important inputs into the evaluation of the programme, as well as the CSP documentation study. Country-level update The country-level PEA update will return to the questions posed in the initial countrylevel PEA conducted by Oxfam and OPM in August Country-level analysis aims to provide a broad overview of Vietnam s governance situation and the main political economy drivers, including socio-economic, political, cultural and historical characteristics and contexts, and macro-level opportunities and constraints for change. The inception phase analysis also presented a set of criteria for coalition selection, including level of public concern about the issue/sector, potential for policy reform, and existing commitments of stakeholders. The key research questions for the update will be: 1. Are the six key political economy drivers identified in the 2012 analysis (and used as the basis for the Inclusive and Accountable Governance Index) still valid? What should be changed or added to the analysis? 1 CSP began working with a prospective urban coalition but discontinued support at the end of 2013 when the group did not submit a common strategy and action plan.

4 2. How has the overall space for coalitions to influence and effect change processes changed since the inception of CSP? 3. What impact do the shifts and changes identified in questions 1-2 have on the assumptions in the VEAP logframe (prepared by DFID) and CSP s model of change? 4. What are the key issues of public concern in 2015? Are shifts in public concern noticeable since 2012? Do the inception phase selections of key issues and coalitions remain valid? Should the criteria used for coalition selection be adjusted accordingly? Country-level research will base on available CSP documents, secondary literature and media coverage, and a small number of individual in-depth interviews. CSP documents to be reviewed include PEA sections in semi-annual reports, the Inclusive and Accountable Governance Index, research on civil society space (including initial findings of the CS space assessment being carried out by isee), and CSP Powerpoint presentations on PEA. Secondary literature and relevant media articles will be collected by the research team. Approximately interviews will be organized using a semi-structured interview guide. Interview respondents will include government officials, CSP advisory panel members, and Vietnamese and international experts consulted during the 2012 PEA research. Media coverage on several coalition issues (land, mining, and health) has been monitored by coalitions themselves and in the series of researches on public awareness completed in These findings should be used in the analysis to update the media survey conducted in August 2012 to identify issues of public concern, with care to distinguish increases in media coverage that have resulted from coalition media outreach with increases due to a higher level of public concern about coalition issues. Sectoral updates Sectoral political economy analysis aims to provide an understanding of the interests and incentives operating at the sector or thematic level, and how these affect space for increased coalition voice and influence. It also seeks to understand the following issues: history of the sector and policy reforms; why particular sectoral reforms or policies have been successful or less successful; what incentives and constraints influence politicians, civil servants and other actors in these sectors; how coalitions might engage to facilitate policy change or public dialogue within a sector or theme; and specific barriers and opportunities within particular sectors. It is important to emphasise again that PEA review should focus on the broad sectoral level (the left column in the table on p 2), not specific coalition issues, and that the PEA review is not primarily an evaluation of coalitions work or results. The sectoral research questions below ask about change in particular PE areas, which should lead to reflection about why or why not any changes have occurred and whether the CSP and coalitions have contributed to this change. Sectoral analysis will be built on understanding of three political economy aspects: stakeholders; institutions; and processes. Stakeholder analysis identifies key stakeholders, their links and relationships to each other and to other economic and political elites, and their interests and incentives to support (or block) policy changes. Institutional analysis aims to understand the rules of the game that shape and

5 constrain relations and behaviour of stakeholders within the sector (e.g. in policy decision-making processes, implementation and impact/outcomes). Institutions can be both formal sets of rules (e.g. a constitution, codified laws) or informal rules the political, social and cultural norms, practices or habitual ways of doing things that frame social behaviour and interaction and that encompass social hierarchies, patronclient relations, and various forms of rent-seeking. Thirdly, process analysis considers information flows, voice and public debate, coalition building, participation, transparency, and communication over time. Processes also include more formal political and policy processes and the budget process within the sector, together with the assumptions that underpin sector policy making and investment, and how and why it was developed. This will include looking at involvement of government and civil society, and of community and national level actors. Key research questions for sectoral updates are: 1. How have the composition, influence, interests and incentives of stakeholders in the sector shifted since the CSP inception phase? 2. Has the formal institutional context changed (through new laws and regulations or organisational realignments)? 3. Have informal rules of the game and processes shifted? 4. As a result of the above questions, has the overall space for coalition engagement in policy reform in the sector expanded, shrunk, or remained the same? Do the conclusions of the 2012 sectoral report remain valid, or should they be amended? 5. As much as can be determined, why have any of the changes identified in questions 1-4 occurred: because of CSP/coalition actions, or for external reasons? Sectoral PEA reviews will be conducted in 6 sectors: extractive industries, health, land governance, industrial pollution, urban planning/governance, and agriculture. A review of the labour sector will be conducted in parallel together with the Oxfam Workers rights programme. Research methods will consist of key informant interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs), secondary data, process mapping and tracing. At least one FGD should be organised with core members of existing coalitions. Individual interviews should be selected from 2012 respondents, CSP advisory board members, and a range of government officials, including those believed to be sympathetic/allied as well as others. To the extent possible, researchers should interview a broad range of stakeholders from varying sectors. Process maps, diagrams and analyses from the 2012 sectoral reports can form the basis for interview questions and group discussions. Researchers should aim to complete 1-2 FGDs and 5-10 individual indepth interviews in each sector.

6 4. Activities The PEA update will have three phases: preparation/training, data collection, and analysis/report writing. The main tasks for Vietnamese researchers will include: Preparation and training Participation (in whole or part, depending on team members) in a 3-day PEA training planned as part of the CSP Cross-Learning Fund Participation in a 1½ day research team orientation and preparatory meeting, in which team members will present their research plans and interview guides, and the whole group will take part in a participatory exercise about the political economy context, drivers and hindering factors. This will ensure common understanding of the approach, research questions and methods among all team members. Contribute to development of semi-structured interview guides for the country level and sectoral review, plus specifically targeted questions for each sector Contribute to development of specific lists of interview respondents for the country level and each sector (cross-checked to ensure that no one is interviewed more than once) Field research and data collection Interview key informants in the relevant sector 2 (may include limited travel to provinces outside of Hanoi) Conduct focus group discussions and/or interviews with secondary stakeholders (including policy makers, government officials, public sector and private sector providers) and primary stakeholders (citizens) as appropriate to the sector / issues Review relevant media articles (in Vietnamese) Analysis and report writing Participate in a one-day participatory analysis workshop following data collection for all sectors and the country level, to review results and compare findings Synthesise findings and provide written notes and feedback to the PEA coordinator (in English preferred) Contribute to process maps, other figures and tables for inclusion in the PEA update report as needed Provide detailed input and comments to relevant sections of the PEA report 2 Interviews and FGDs will be in Vietnamese. International researchers who cannot speak Vietnamese will have their own translators. The Vietnamese researchers are not expected to act as translators.

7 5. Team composition and timeline The PEA will be carried out by a team comprised of (a) the CSP Senior Technical Adviser (Andrew Wells-Dang); (b) 2 OPM experts; (c) 3-4 coalition members / external experts; and (d) 2 Oxfam programme support staff providing logistics support for the team. The estimated level of effort for the Vietnamese researchers is as follows: Country-level researcher: 10 days, plus participation in 3-day PEA training before research begins Sectoral researchers: 12 days each, plus participation in PEA training Dates Activities # of days (countrylevel researcher) # of days (each sectoral researcher) 7-9 April PEA training for coalition members (OPM researchers participate on 3 rd day) (3) (3) April (Fri-Sat) Launching workshop for PEA: teams present research plans, joint reflection on context April Country-level PEA research April (incl weekends) Sectoral research April (Sat) Reflection and data analysis (whole team) May Review draft report 1 1 Additional days for field research may be added if needed by the agreement of the researcher and Oxfam. 6. Researcher qualifications Applicants should: Be an active participant (preferred) or being expert with good knowledge in an issue-based coalition (six issues listed in page 3) Have previous experience in field research, monitoring and evaluation Be open to conducting research on their own coalition topic as well as other related topics

8 Having knowledge on governance and social political environment of Vietnam is an advantage Have a working knowledge of English 7. Budget Vietnamese researchers (coalition members) will be contracted by Oxfam and compensated according to CSP cost norms for resource persons. Travel costs and per diem will be covered. Participation in the PEA training workshop, a cross-learning event open to all coalitions, will not be included in the researcher contracts. The closing date for application: 27 th March 2015 How to Apply: To apply, please send a CV and cover letter (in English or Vietnamese) explaining your interest in joining the PEA research to: Nghiem Viet Nga, CSP Programme Assistant, nvnga@oxfam.org.uk by 27 March at the latest. We regret that only short-listed applicants will be contacted. Oxfam is an equal opportunity employer