About the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation
The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation (DHF) is a non-governmental organisation established in 1962 in memory of the second UN Secretary-General, that aims to advance dialogue and policy for sustainable development and peace. The foundation’s headquarters is located in Uppsala, Sweden. The foundation has over the past several years supported and advanced implementation – at global, regional and country level – of the UN’s Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda. [1]
About Investing and Partnering with Youth for Peace (IPYP)
Despite increasing policy recognition of the important roles young people play in building and sustaining peace, youth-led organisations face limited, inaccessible, un-predictable and inflexible funding. For example, it is estimated that 49% of youth-led organisations operate on less than US$5000 annually. Moreover, while data is limited, funder dialogues indicate that the demand and need for investments in young people’s role in peacebuilding is far beyond existing resources. Young people are rarely meaningfully involved in investment decisions and there is limited or no investor guidance for engaging with young people in a peacebuilding context.
Within this context, the Global Coalition for Youth Peace, and Security Financing Taskforce launched in 2021 a working group to explore the role of the private sector in supporting the YPS agenda. In December 2022, the working group launched a steering committee made up of governments, multilateral bodies, private sector actors, and civil society, launching the Investing and Partnering with Youth for Peace (IPYP) initiative. For more on the IPYP structure, see Annex A.
The purpose of IPYP is twofold:
- To identify, research and recommend potential options for additional resource mobilisation and partnerships with the private sector to advance the role of young people in peacebuilding; and
- To mobilise resources and partnerships and help strengthen knowledge management and advocacy through coordination.
IPYP is currently supporting projects within an innovation portfolio, with a pipeline of different private-sector partnerships, funding and financing opportunities to advance the role of young people in peacebuilding. For more details on the innovation portfolio, see Annex B.
The IPYP project team provides capacity support to members to develop initiatives as part of the innovation portfolio. The project team also facilitates the community of practice, by organising quarterly steering committee meetings and public events to engage partners and by supporting the development of blogs, publications and other material. The project team is intended to be flexible and adaptive to member needs and maintain a light footprint.
As part of the project team, the Portfolio Manager leads on the innovation portfolio by providing advisory and technical support to partners in incubating early-stage projects. The consultant also supports the project team in strategy design, project planning and management, outreach and community of practice.
Terms of the Consultancy
This consultancy will support the advancement of this initiative, and in particular lead the work to further develop the innovation portfolio.
The consultant’s main tasks will be:
- Oversight over the strategic development of the innovation portfolio.
- Project lead, planning and development to advance a micro donation fund for youth-led peacebuilding.
- Technical support to partners in the integration of youth-lenses into existing initiatives.
- Technical support and advice to and coordination of partners in advancing the different projects within the innovation portfolio.
- Technical support to partners in the research, ideation and design for feasibility of new initiatives.
- Advise on advancing the IPYP programme of work, including on strategic direction, priorities and resourcing and strengthening the initiative’s governance and community of practice.
- Partnership building with IPYP partners, in particular in advancing the innovation portfolio.
The consultant will be paid on a daily rate to allow for flexibility to adapt tasks to arising opportunities. However, there are a few expected focus areas:
- Advisory support and steering on the disemmination of and advocacy around youth peace finance taxonomy and principles.
- Oversight and support to projects led by independent consultants on exploring innovative financing strategies to address young people’s peacebuilding, livelihoods and education priorities in Sierra Leone and the Mano River Union.
- Lead the finalisation of a pre-feasibility study on a micro-donation fund, outlining progress to date and recommendations on the different ways forward.
- Support outreach to the Swedish Games Industry to secure a cornerstone partner for a micro-donation fund to support youth-led peacebuilding.
In collaboration with independent consultant, support outreach to the tele- communications sector to secure cornerstone partner for a micro donation campaign to support youth-led peacebuilding.
- Support to IPYP project manager in strengthening governance of the Steering Committee and developing a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning framework.
- Support to IPYP project team in strengthening the community of practice, including through events and platforms where the work of IPYP is promoted and discussed, blogs, publications and other communications products.
- Strategic design support to the IPYP project team on the overall IPYP strategy, project planning and management, budget and forecasting, outreach and Steering Committee management.
These deliverables may be adjusted according to opportunities and circumstances. Any adjustments will be determined through conversation between the project manager and the consultant.
Timeframe and deliverables
The consultant is expected to start in January 2025. The exact start date will be agreed upon once a selection has been made.
The consultancy is expected to be completed by December 19, 2025. It is expected that the consultant will work for a total of 112 days spread out over 45 weeks throughout the year, with an average of 2.5 days per week.
The consultant will work under the supervision of a Program Manager within the Peace and Security Team of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation.
Budget
The consultancy has a total budget of $72,800. The fee is calculated to cover 112 working days spread over 12 months. Payments of $18,200 will be made on a quarterly basis.
Required Experience
- The consultant should have substantial experience (10 years) within at least one of the following areas: impact investing, development finance, blended finance, innovative finance, cross sector partnerships, or fundraising. The consultant should have networks within these groupings to complement the network of the working group.
- It is a plus if the consultant has experience mobilising private sector investment for social impact and has up to date knowledge of current trends within the field.
Applications
Applicants should send their CV to sarah.smith@daghammarskjold.se by 6 December 2024. Interviews will be conducted online on 11 and 12 December.
Click here for more information on IPYP
Contact person
The primary contact for questions or clarifications on this tender is:
Sarah Smith, Programme Manager, Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and IPYP Project Manager
Email: sarah.smith@daghammarskjold.se
[1] The Youth, Peace and Security agenda is made up of Security Council resolutions 2250, 2535, 2419.