Strategy Development (SD) consultant

The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is launching a strategy development process in preparation for its next Congress due to take place in June/July of 2022. It is looking for an experienced consultant(s) that can support it with participatory process design and facilitation.

Scope, structure and tentative timeline

The process will be designed to be highly participative and include:

• A review and adaptation of WILPF’s strategic outcomes, as a call for action for the movement at large that can inspire member activism in multiple contexts. This overall strategic framework is to then be operationalised in more detail to guide the programmatic work of the organisation.
• A broad dialogue to further articulate and operationalise a feminist organisational model that meets WILPF’s unique needs and multiple identities and delivers on its commitment to building an inclusive and diverse feminist movement.

  The process is envisaged to be iterative yet have two distinctive phases: 1) Programmatic priorities (what), 2) Organisational model (how)

The facilitator, or facilitating team, will be responsible for steering the process developed with – and validated by – a Core Group that will also ensure that existing consultation mechanisms and organisational bodies are integrated within it. The Group will remain small and include members of the Board, the International Secretariat and the membership. The content will be provided by a broader Reference Group that will engage the different constituencies and enable consultation at the national and regional level.

There will be on-going communication between the different groups to ensure that all stakeholders understand the process and find ways to participate that are adapted to both their interests and constraints. The overall process will have WILPF’s mission and Constitution at its centre and its outcomes are to be adopted by at its next Congress.

Required Background:

• Feminist and creative approach to organising and consultation processes, including nonviolent communication skills
• Strong Organisational Development background and demonstrated experience in designing and facilitating complex strategic planning processes.
• Commitment to anti-racism, and credible experience in facilitating multi-cultural, transformational change processes with a decolonial and intersectional lens.
• Experience working with large international networks and/or women’s organisations.
• Language skills beyond English are a plus (in particular French, Spanish, Arabic)

  Reporting line: The Consultant will report to the Core group made up of representatives of WILPF’s International Board, International Secretariat and membership.

  Duration: The full process will unfold over the next 18 months, with varying degrees of process design, facilitation support and advice required over that period. It is expected that this consultancy will amount to an average of 4-5 days/month (subject to variation based on more detailed planning).

  Based in: Flexible location.

  Background information

The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is made up of women activists from around the World who are united in their determination to study, make known and help abolish the causes and legitimisation of war and to advance feminist peace for equality, justice, and demilitarised security. Our global programmes focus on Disarmament, Human Rights, Women, Peace & Security, and Crisis Response. Our current areas of work across these programmes are to:

• Build the movement for feminist peace: maintain and grow our global network of sections, groups, partners and coalitions, as a safe and inclusive space that advances ideas and creates momentum for change.
• Leverage feminist perspectives on peace: highlighting root causes of conflict and strategies for building lasting peace, and promoting them on international and national policy agendas.
• Redefine security: rejecting the idea that security is synonymous with military strength, we call for a different political economy with investment in environmental protection, social and economic rights, moving money from the machinery of war to the foundations of peace.
• Promote socio-economic justice: analyse, raise awareness, and advocate for alternatives to neoliberalism, proposing fairer economic systems and protection of people and planet.

  WILPF is a membership-based organisation. We have 32 National Sections and 12 Groups, in addition to international members and dedicated partners. The main organs of WILPF consist of the International Congress, the International Board (IB), National Sections and the International Secretariat. The Congress is the highest decision-making body of WILPF. It is composed of all members of the IB and delegates elected by the National Sections.

  See:

  https://www.wilpf.org/vision/
  https://www.wilpf.org/work-areas/ https://www.wilpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/WILPF_Constitution-and-…