Consultant: Policy brief on the political participation of persons with disabilities

Terms of Reference: Policy brief on the political participation of persons with disabilities

Background

Established in 2005, Demo Finland is a co-operative organisation of all Finnish parliamentary parties. The mandate of the organisation is to support multi-party democracy in new and developing democracies. Demo Finland has a special role in the Finnish foreign, security and development policies, complementing the external action of Finland with its contacts with political parties in partner countries. Demo Finland’s inclusive multi-party focus is unique in the international democracy support field. The strategic objectives of Demo Finland link to the increased ability of political parties to co-operate across party lines and to be responsive and inclusive.

Democracy support is support for peace, development, equality, and human rights. These elements exist more often in pluralistic multi-party democracies than in other forms of government. In a functioning democracy, everyone will get their voice heard and no-one is excluded.

Demo Finland is the only Finnish organisation implementing democracy support from a multi-party perspective. Demo Finland’s work is human rights based, with support specifically towards civic and political rights – where political party members have a dual role as rights holders, but also as duty bearers ensuring that these rights are respected. From 2020, Demo Finland has supported the capacity building of political parties in the inclusion of persons with disabilities (PWDs) and has strengthened the civil and political rights of PWDs in its programmes in Kenya and Zambia as well as in Finland.

Purpose of the service

The purpose of the service is to produce content for a policy brief on the political participation of PWDs highlighting the experiences and success stories of Demo Finland’s projects. The policy brief should first and foremost encourage political parties and government officials to increase disability inclusion by offering examples and good practices. The target group of the policy brief is political party members and government officials, especially in Demo Finland’s programme countries. The text should also be accessible to the broader public, which means that the style of the text should be more actionable communication material than scholarly study.

The policy brief should present the framework of international human rights treaties concerning the civil and political rights of PWDs as well as outline the status and key challenges related to the political participation of PWDs in three countries: Finland, Kenya and Zambia. The policy brief should present evidence based on latest studies, highlight Demo Finland’s in-country experience as good practices, provide policy recommendations as well as highlight policy commitments. Material should be gathered e.g. by interviewing Demo Finland’s programme partners and staff. Demo Finland has produced a report on the participation of PWDs in the activities of Finnish parliamentary parties, which can be used as background material.

The ideal length of the final policy brief (including any images, graphs, references etc.) is between 4-6 pages. The language of the policy brief is English.

Deliverables

• Draft text for the policy brief, including references.
• Final text based on comments from Demo Finland.

Proposed timetable

• The first draft of the policy brief by mid-September.
• The final text two weeks after receiving comments from Demo Finland.

Expertise required

• A minimum of seven years of professional experience related to the assignment is required, including experience in inclusion in decision-making and democracy support.
• Proven experience of similar assignments is preferred.
• Fluency in English.
• Master’s level education of relevant field.

Budget

The total maximum cost of the assignment is 5 000 EUR (including VAT).

Proposals

The proposal including an outline of the policy brief, a timetable with proposed days and proposed fee should be submitted to anna.juhola@demofinland.org latest on 5 June 2023.