Inclusion Ghana (IG) Invites Job applications

Inclusion Ghana (IG) Invites Job applications

Job Title: Consultant

Company Profile

Inclusion Ghana (IG) is an Organization of Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (PwIDDs) and their families (parents/caregivers). Established in 2009 with a Secretariat in Accra, IG works from national through to community level to promote the inclusion of PwIDDs in society, through awareness-raising, advocacy, and other targeted interventions.

Our vision: Equal opportunities and full inclusion for all PwIDDs in Ghana.

Our mission: To reduce stigmatization and ensure full inclusion of PwIDDs and their families in Ghana by advocating for their rights and needs.

Job Description

Organizational Structure: IG is governed by an elected 13-member National Council and supported by Regional and District Councils (each composed of 6 elected members). The organization has a 3-tier membership, namely, persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, parents/caregivers of PwIDDs, and Member Organizations (MOs). MOs are local non-profit organizations that provide direct services or technical support to PwIDDs and their caregivers/parents.

At community level, PwIDDs and their parents/caregivers are registered into groups referred to as Parent Self-Help Groups (PSHGs). Each PSHG may have up to 15 parents/caregivers, with members living in the same community or members may live in two or more nearby communities. PSHGs are led by Parents/caregivers.

The leaders of all the PSHGs in one district come together to elect a 6-member IG District Council (district leaders). The 6 members are made up of 5 parents/caregivers and 1 PwIDDs. Similarly, the District Councils (leaders) in each region come together to elect their Regional Council (Regional leaders). Again, the Regional Council is composed of 5 parents/caregivers and 1 PwIDDs.

While the MOs play vital role in the formation and mobilisation of the PSHGs, they are only represented in the National Council with a maximum of 3 representatives out of the 13 members. Also, there are 3 professionals as national council members, 5 parents/caregivers and 2 PwIDDs as members of the national council.

Financial Sustainability and Empowerment through Employment

Since its establishment in 2009, IG has relied largely on donor support to cover both administrative and project costs. Over 90% of administrative and project costs are donor-funded, with DANIDA being the organization’s major donor from 2009 to present.

DANIDA funding comes through the Danish Disability Fund, administered by Disabled Peoples Organization Denmark (DPOD) in line with IG’s Bilateral Partnership with LEV – Inclusion Denmark. LEV as a bilateral partner and technical advisor had expressed serious concern over IG depending so much on project funding to cover administrative costs and called on IG to diversify its sources of funding administrative cost.

Following Ghana’s attainment of middle-income status, and decision by DANIDA to substantially reduce its funding for development project in Ghana, it became an important issue to Inclusion Ghana to look to other sources of funding for its administrative and project costs. Furthermore, there is increasing trend amongst major donors on significantly reducing the proportion of administration costs funded by project budget lines.

This is in line with major donors requiring that organizations seeking funding for project must also contribute component funding to project implementation. Based on very poor outcomes from corporates roundtable events that we have had in the past, it seems that corporates in Ghana are reluctant to push funds from their corporate social responsibility allocations into supporting disability projects, let alone funding administrative costs.

Taking all the above into perspective, IG decided to make fundraising a major component of the current project (IG Sustainability Project) that began in March 2020 and expected to end in February 2023. In fact, 2 out of the 4 project outcomes relate to fundraising to support IG’s sustainability at district and national levels.

Unfortunately, the negative impact (both social and economic) of COVID-19 pandemic seriously hindered all the fundraising initiatives. In this final year of project implementation, it is for sure that expected results from the fundraising components of IG Sustainability Project will not be achieved by the end of the project, and for that matter, Management Team at IG is looking to continue the fundraising efforts in future project(s).

Towards the fundraising efforts, Inclusion Ghana is now looking to undertake a large-scale Income-Generating Activity (IGA) in a future project to help raise substantial unrestricted funds to sustain the organization at national level.

It is expected that such an IGA will result in steady flow of incomes, enabling the organization to undertake its core functions with or without donor-funded project(s).  Such an IGA may either be run as an integral component of IG’s operations or as a social enterprise. IG is therefore looking to hire a consultant to help with identifying and planning a viable, self-sustaining IGA within the context of Ghana’s economy.

Scope of the Assignment

1. Conduct a scoping exercise on Income-Generating Activities (IGAs) being used by non-profit organizations to raise funds to help achieve their mandates and at the same time engage their target group.
2. Recommend a more suitable IGA, based on relevant analysis, that will suit IG’s context.
   1. Prepare a comprehensive business plan for the chosen IGA. This plan must include amongst others:

• Market analysis of the chosen IGA to support its economic case, including:
  • The expected investment and incomes in the short-term, medium-term and long-term
  • Adding value to the main/primary product and by-product, if relevant
• Key personnel to manage and support IGA implementation, including:
  • Roles and responsibilities of these personnel
  • Required technical and leadership skills
  • Reporting or communication lines
  • Renumeration or allowances, and how to fund these in the short-term (that is, the initial period when IGA is not expected to generate income)
  • The proposed IGA must have a focus on participation of persons with IDD and Parents/caregivers of persons with IDDs in the IGA implementation. This must be well highlighted and articulated in the consultancy report.

• Assess the interest of PSHG members (parents/caregivers) and persons with IDD towards the chosen IGA.
• What are their expectations of the kinds of support that an organizational IGA should provide the grassroot members?
• How will the IGA facilitate empowerment of persons with IDD?
• How will the IGA provide a source of income to persons with IDD and parents or caregivers through employment or job opportunities?
• How will persons with IDD and their families, who are represented by elected leaders at national, regional and district levels, be involved in decision making relating to the IGA and its overall management?

3. Explore what difference it will make (based on cost-benefit analysis) by running the IGA as an integral component of IG’s operation or as a social enterprise.

Deliverables

1. An inception report which will detail out the approach and methodology that the consultant will employ to undertake the exercise, including any desk reviews prior to field visits. This report would be reviewed and approved by both IG and LEV.
2. A draft report of the scoping exercise containing detail description of at least two recommended IGAs, to be presented by the consultant to IG and LEV reps. The parties will then agree of a chosen IGA which will be detailed in the final report.
3. A final detailed report on the IGAs scoping exercise. The report must clearly describe:

1. the recommended IGA,
2. the IGA implementation plan, and
3. a business plan for operating the recommended IGA

Timeframe of the Assignment

The consultant is expected to undertake this assignment within a period of 6 weeks from the date of signing the contract for the Assignment.

Budget for the Assignment

The total budget for undertaking the consultancy has a ceiling of Eighty-Eight Thousand Three hundred and Twelve Danish Kroner. (88, 312.00 DKK).

Management Process

The consultant will report directly to the National Coordinator of Inclusion Ghana. However, s/he will work closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Coordinator and the Finance and Administrative (FA) Manager. All relevant project and financial documents that may be required to aid the execution of this assignment will be provided by the MEL Coordinator and FA Manager respectively.

Either the MEL Coordinator, the FA Manager or both will participate in key informant engagements by the Consultant depending on the information required. The MEL Coordinator will lead field visits by the Consultant to engage the Parent Self-Help Groups (PSHGs) in suggested region(s)/district(s) where the IGA could be located.

It is expected that active participation of IG Team in this consultancy will provide some learning that will enhance the staff capacity-building for the benefit of the organization in future similar exercise.

Required Skills or Experience

• A minimum of master’s degree in social development or related field
• Demonstrated experience in effective fundraising to support non-profit organizations
• Have a very good understanding of the modalities relating to social enterprising or income-generating activities (IGAs) by non-profit organizations at national level.
• Previous experience of working with organizations of persons with disabilities (OPWDs) would be an advantage
• Demonstrated experience of qualitative research in social development
• Other relevant skills or experience