Terms
of Reference
The position will conduct a preliminary political assessment and advise on issues
of inclusive governance and constitutional reform.
TCC is seeking to recruit a short-term consultant to travel to Guyana in the
coming weeks (perhaps first week of December) to conduct a round of meetings
with key political stakeholders in Guyana including: senior members of
political parties, civil society group leaders, religious leaders, members of
the civic and legal communities, and others. The purpose is to assess the
positions and readiness of key political forces to genuinely engage in
discussions on governance questions and constitutional reform, and to gauge the
attitudes of civil society, religious, and other societal groups to play appropriate
parallel / supportive roles. The mission is envisioned as a precursor to
other anticipated TCC work and project activities on constitutional reform
(e.g., analyses of the constitutional provisions and technical workshops on
constitutional reform topics), as the success and meaningfulness of the latter
depends on having a firm understanding the politics, political perspectives, and
incentives of key groups. The Expert should have in-depth knowledge and
experience with Guyanese politics, including about key political and societal
leaders.
Related Background: TCC will be launching an EOM around the same time, or perhaps an advance team for an EOM (depending on the timing of an anticipated formal invitation). The consultant who does the “political assessment” would liaise with the TCC EOM team, as appropriate, in a manner to be determined in consultation with the EOM team and TCC HQ staff. (There may be both pros and cons to having the Political Expert work closely with OR keep some distance with the TCC team. This would be assessed in the interim period between now and mission).
The aims of the mission are:
(1) Most importantly, to assess the degree to which
key political leaders/ parties are interested in engaging in genuine dialogue
on political issues connected to constitutional reform and other steps toward
more inclusive/shard governance in Guyana, in the months PRIOR to the March
2020 elections. The most optimistic goal would be to assess and set the stage
for subsequent activities (TBD) that would facilitate key actors agreeing to
some benchmarks regarding a framework, process, and timeline for constitutional
reforms that would be enacted after the elections. Less optimistic goals would include
identifying areas for limited agreements, but which might still lead to more
inclusive governance, and possibly some limited pre-election reforms.
(2) Briefly review the content and
status of past efforts to advance constitutional reform, and where possible, do
a mapping exercise of key issues and recommendations, and the relative
positions of major political and social and economic groups regarding these
issues and recommendations.
(3) Explore options re processes,
formats, and participants for possible follow-on activities that TCC and/or
others could organize to try to advance constitutional reform. This could
include partnering with local civil society actors and other international
NGOs. (Such activities might go beyond the current scope and budget of
current TCC grants in Guyana, and this could necessitate additional funding).
Assuming interest among Guyanese political leaders and other key groups, the
team would discuss these options with these leaders, and if appropriate develop
a roadmap for next steps.
This position will require travel to Guyana. Interested applicants should fill out the form found at this link: https://airtable.com/shrQKXVpli6ICEIu6.
The deadline for application is November 20.
If you encounter issues or have questions, please direct them to GuyanaEOM@cartercenter.org. Given the high number of expected applicants, the Carter Center will be unable to respond personally to unsuccessful applicants.