Request for Proposal – Mapping Exercise to Update the State Ranking of CSOs Regulatory Environment in Nigeria Full Time

Scope: Mapping Exercise to Update the State Ranking of CSOs Regulatory Environment in Nigeria

Location: Nigeria
Application Close: 21 December 2024

Global Rights is a foremost human rights and governance capacity-building non-governmental organization (NGO). The organization works at the intersection of the protection, promotion and fulfilment of human rights through good governance. We provide technical assistance and training to enable local partners document and expose human rights abuses, conduct community outreach and mobilization, advocate for legal and policy reform, and provide legal and paralegal services.

Background:
Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Nigeria face a challenging operational environment characterized by numerous and often restrictive regulatory requirements. These burdensome regulations, compounded by overlapping state and national frameworks, significantly hinder their effectiveness and sustainability. At the sub-national level, CSOs encounter an array of state-specific requirements, including mandatory registration with multiple state-level agencies, imposing additional financial and administrative burdens.
Despite the existing legal frameworks governing CSOs, a persistent narrative among regulatory agencies suggests that CSOs are inadequately regulated. This perception has led to the introduction of laws that further constrain civic space. A notable example is Part F of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020, which grants extensive control to government authorities over non-profit organizations, thereby stifling their autonomy.
In 2023, Global Rights developed a protocol and conducted a mapping exercise that ranked the level of responsiveness of each state’s regulatory environment for CSOs across the 36 states of Nigeria. That result was translated into a dashboard which can be accessed via https://cso.globalrights.org/.
To further this objective, Global Rights is therefore seeking to engage a consultant to conduct a comprehensive mapping exercise to evaluate and rank the responsiveness of each state’s regulatory environment for CSOs across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to update the state ranking dashboard with relevant data from 2024

Objectives:

1. Review the existing protocol developed to assess the operational environment for CSOs within states and update it to include indicators that may not have been previously captured and seek its validation with key stakeholders.
2. Conduct a mapping exercise to identify each state’s responsiveness to improving the CSO regulatory environment across the 36 states and the FCT. This mapping will use the updated protocol developed.

Scope of Work:
The consultancy will involve the following tasks:

• Review the existing protocol for state mapping of CSOs’ operational environments across Nigeria and validate it with CSO input. The methodology should include ranking states based on efforts to improve or repress civic space, considering factors such as:

○ Strength of legal and regulatory frameworks.
○ Level of harassment and intimidation faced by CSOs.

○ Degree of support provided to CSOs by state governments.

• Conduct a state-based mapping of the CSO regulatory framework, examining the operational environment and state responses to CSO regulations across the 36 states and the FCT.
• Produce a publishable report based on agreed criteria. The report should:

○ Include recommendations on useful data to periodically collect to update the state ranking dashboard.

○ Outline suggestions for useful components and compartments for the dashboard.

○ Provide strategies for improving legal and regulatory frameworks to create a more enabling environment for CSOs.

• Provide actionable recommendations on enhancing legal and regulatory frameworks to improve CSO operations effectively in each state.

Deliverables:
The consultancy will deliver the following outputs:

• A publishable report providing state rankings with detailed recommendations for periodically updating the dashboard. The report will also include actionable suggestions for improving the legal and regulatory environment for CSOs in Nigeria.

Intellectual Property Rights:
All intellectual property rights arising from the consultancy will be the property of Global Rights. The research team will not disclose or use any confidential information obtained during the consultancy for any other purpose without the written consent of Global Rights.

Confidentiality and Ethical Considerations:
The research team will ensure that all data collected during the consultancy is treated with the utmost confidentiality and in accordance with ethical principles. In particular, the team will obtain informed consent from all participants before collecting any data and will ensure that data is stored securely and only accessible to authorized personnel. The team will also comply with relevant legal and ethical standards and report any ethical concerns or violations to Global Rights immediately.

Expected Qualifications:

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in conducting mapping exercises and baseline assessments.
• A good understanding of CSOs’ regulatory environment in Nigeria.
• Excellent analytical and report writing skills.

Timeline: The consultancy will be conducted over a period of 8 weeks.

Reporting: The research team will report to the Executive Director and Program Manager.

Proposal Submission:
Applicants are encouraged to clearly indicate their level of experience and qualifications in the relevant area(s).
Interested qualified consultants are invited to submit a proposal that includes the following:

• An understanding of the requirements
• Methodology and work plan for performing the assignment
• Project delivery plans
• Budget
• Relevant services undertaken in the past with a detailed reference list indicating the scope of similar assignments
• 2 writing/report sample

Tagged as: Global Rights, Nigeria