Making Advances to Eliminate Child Labor in More Areas with Sustainable Integrated Efforts (MATE MASIE)

Terms of Reference

Consultant Position:    Private Sector Engagement Specialist

Reports to:                   MATE MASIE Project Director

Location:                     Kumasi, with travel elsewhere within Ghana

Duration:                            Up to 41 days of LOE within a period of 3 months (between October and December 2021).

Background: Winrock International is a nonprofit organization that works with people in the United States and around the world to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity, and sustain natural resources. Winrock is implementing the four-year, Making Advances to Eliminate Child Labor in More Areas with Sustainable Integrated Efforts (MATE MASIE) project. The project is funded by the United States Department of Labor (USDOL) and will strengthen capacity, connections, and accountability across child labor enforcement and monitoring within cocoa cooperatives in Ghana and will build the capacity of cooperatives to support vulnerable member households directly and by linking their members with other service providers.

Summary of Assignment: The MATE MASIE project focuses on strengthening the capacity of cocoa cooperatives to monitor child labor and to provide social protection, child labor remediation, and other services to their member households. As part of this, the project will identify and build partnerships with private sector companies (i.e. buyers, manufacturers, input suppliers, processors, and international and domestic traders) and support linkages between cooperatives and private sector partners in order to strengthen access to child labor remediation services by vulnerable households.

Winrock is seeking to engage an individual or firm/organization to:

1. Conduct an analysis of private sector companies in Ghana’s cocoa landscape to understand opportunities for collaboration
2. Based on the analysis, develop a private sector engagement plan, including identifying actions to be taken to facilitate partnerships between cooperatives and private sector partners
3. Train MATE MASIE staff on implementing the private sector engagement plan and partnership-building training guide/manual.

Detailed Description of Duties

1. Conduct an analysis of private sector companies in Ghana’s cocoa landscape to understand opportunities for collaboration that will facilitate improved access to child labor remediation services by vulnerable households. The analysis will include a particular focus on identifying potential actors in the cocoa supply chain interested in supporting child labor reduction initiatives as part of a sustainable value chain. This will include desk research, as well a review of findings from previous interviews the project conducted with private sector stakeholders. The specialist will conduct additional interviews with private sector stakeholders (i.e. buyers, manufacturers, input suppliers, processors and international and domestic traders) to identify the relevant activities of each entity; linkages between different stakeholders; their capacities and constraints/issues; and identify areas where support can be solicited for further collaboration. The specialist will also conduct interviews with NGO and government stakeholders with experience collaborating with the private sector to further assess best practices and opportunities for private sector collaboration.

1. Based on the analysis, develop a private sector engagement plan, including identifying actions to be taken to facilitate partnerships between cooperatives and private sector partners.
2. Private sector engagement plan: The plan will identify a number of key private sector stakeholders to involve in the implementation of the MATE MASIE project, outline how to best engage them and how strategic alliances can be developed. It will also include a description of the types of support the project will need from local government partners and other stakeholders and development partners in Ghana’s cocoa sector, as well as recommendations and best practices for private sector engagement. The plan will also identify practical partnership support actions, including training and resource mobilization needs, of cocoa cooperatives to be implemented over the life of the project.

1. Train MATE MASIE staff on implementing the private sector engagement plan. Deliver a training of trainers (ToT) on partnership for the MATE MASIE field team, including the Project Director, M&E Officer, Capacity Building Specialist, and the Project Field Officers to ensure that the follow up and execution of partnership at the district and cooperative levels.

Deliverables:

Qualifications:

• Minimum of five years professional experience in government relations, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, business and human rights, and/or private-sector social compliance programs.
• Proven experience in stakeholder engagement, coalition building, and public-private partnerships to address social issues, including labor rights, and provision of remediation services.
• Knowledge of labor laws and remediation resources and services in Ghana is preferred
• Understanding of key labor issues within cocoa supply chains, including child labor.
• Experience liaising with public and private sector officials and familiarity with Ghanaian government structures
• Strong interpersonal skills, cultural awareness, and sensitivity

• Fluency in English is required

• Evidence of delivering similar assignment
• Strong analytical, research and presentation skills
• Excellent report writing skills

Applicants should submit the following documents, referencing MATE MASIE Private Sector Engagement Specialist. Applications should be submitted by August 25, 2021.

• CV
• Proposed workplan
• Narrative proposal (3-5 pages) describing how the consultant will achieve the objectives of the assignment
• Financial proposal in MS Excel (including labor costs, anticipated travel, per diem, and other task-related expenses)