Consultancy: Decolonial Framework and Strategy Review

– 4-6 days’ work
– Commencing no later than 6 May 2022
– To be completed by 10 June 2022

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

IWDA is a minority world/global north feminist development agency working in and with majority world/global south feminist movements in the international development sector. We are also an organisation based within a settler colonial nation state (Australia), where our staff live and work on stolen land.

In recognition of the problematic power dynamics of these positionalities, and as part of IWDA’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism, IWDA is currently developing an IWDA Decolonial Framework and Strategy.

This framework aims to serve as:

  1. A conceptual guide, establishing a common language and understanding for how we think about whiteness, modernity, coloniality and decolonisation
  2. A practice paper identifying the various sites of transformation necessary within IWDA, and our commitments within each
  3. An accountability mechanism, outlining how we will measure our progress and be accountable for continual learning

We intend this to be a living document that will evolve with our organisational understanding and analysis as well as the literature.

CONSULTANCY BACKGROUND

Drawing on the wealth of literature on decolonisation, our 35+ years of experience, feedback from our partner organisations across Asia and the Pacific and an organisational wide consultation process, IWDA has developed a ‘zero draft’ of an IWDA Decolonial Framework and Strategy.

The reason we have developed a zero draft of the framework is because we wanted to ensure that we were doing our own work, as settlers and as minority world/global north actors, to assess how IWDA could apply decolonial principles to our organisational practice, before requesting majority world/global south and First Nations actors to provide critical feedback, and accompaniment.

At this point we are now requesting reviews of the zero draft Decolonial Framework and Strategy from the following actors:

  1. 1 to 2 IWDA current or former grantee partner reviewers
  2. 1 to 2 decolonisation and/or decolonial ‘expert’ (self defined) reviewers
  3. 1 to 2 Australian First Nations decolonial ‘expert’ (self defined) reviewers

CONSULTANCY OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this review process are to:

  1. Elicit critical feedback on the draft Decolonial Framework and Strategy from a diversity of reviewers with cultural fluency of a majority world / global south culture and experience of colonisation

Elicit key recommendations to strengthen or overhaul the Decolonial Framework and Strategy and IWDA’s approach to decoloniality

CONSULTANT REQUIREMENTS

The individual should possess the following skills and experience:

Essential

  1. Have cultural fluency of a majority world / global south culture and experience of colonisation and/or neo-colonial paradigms such as international development
  2. Demonstrated experience engaging with decolonisation and decolonial theory and practice
  3. Demonstrated experience applying decolonisation and/or decolonial theory in the context of international development and/or the feminist/women’s rights sector

Desirable

Demonstrated experience working with International Non-Government Organisations (INGOs) on issues of anti-racism and decolonisation.

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

Candidates are invited to submit expressions of interest addressing the following:

  1. Statement addressing the criteria as set out in the ‘consultant requirements’
  2. An outline of the proposed process and timeline to complete all outputs
  3. A quote for the review

Decolonial_Framework_Review_TOR_FINAL.

Expressions of interest that do not cover these requirements will not be considered. Expressions of interest are required by 11.59pm Monday 18 April 2022 AEST and should be sent to btilbury@iwda.org.au