US Leadership in Global WASH - Advocacy Strategy Consultant

WaterAid America and the Millennium Water Alliance are looking for a consultant to analyze the current U.S. political landscape for global water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and develop a five-year strategy to increase U.S. policymaker support for global WASH assistance. The work is remote and based in the United States. The final products are for internal use by WaterAid America and MWA, and will also inform discussions among the WASH Funders Group.

What you will do

You will work with WaterAid and Millennium Water Alliance staff to consolidate existing information and conduct up to twelve one-hour interviews with stakeholders you identify and WAA and MWA agree on. You will produce three deliverables.

Deliverable 1 — within 45 days of the agreement: a 2-3 page bulleted analytic overview covering:

• Recent changes in U.S. foreign policy and international development affecting global WASH, including reduced political championship, with views from non-WASH advocates and non-development political experts.
• Expected changes in the U.S. political context, Congress, and the Administration over the next five years and their impact on U.S. global WASH, including retirements, power shifts, policy, and legal trends.
• Current relationships and partners between the U.S. global WASH advocacy community and the U.S. Government.
• A snapshot and brief analysis of the advocacy community's current capacity, including strengths, weaknesses, and brief reference to comparative advocacy investment in similar development sectors.
• Views from decisionmakers at development organizations that implement WASH but rarely engage in WASH advocacy, including conditions under which they would engage.
• New partnerships that would benefit the advocacy work and the roles they would play, with a brief assessment of narratives that would entice collaboration and the likelihood of collaboration.

Deliverable 2 — within 160 days of the agreement: a 3-4 page bulleted strategy that:

• Identifies actions to expand the WASH advocacy community and 3-5 organizations or actors to approach, including private sector, non-profit, and security-focused entities; local communities and experts; international organizations; and partner-country representatives.
• Provides a roadmap with actions and potential benchmarks for increasing bipartisan U.S. policymaker championship of WASH now and over the next five years, identifying priority actors in the Administration, Congress, and related staffers.
• Identifies politically neutral language and framing for a diverse group of policymakers.
• Identifies topline themes or narratives judged less effective or harmful.
• Proposes narratives and data for various policymaker audiences.
• Identifies and estimates gaps in resources required to develop advocacy partnerships and execute the strategy.
• Highlights additional data or scope needed for a stronger strategy.
• Prioritizes key areas of work for further investment.

Deliverable 3 — within 185 days of the agreement: the source text ends here, so the details of this deliverable are not stated.

What they are looking for

The source does not list required qualifications, experience, or skills. The work requires conducting interviews, analyzing U.S. foreign policy and political trends, and writing concise strategy documents. The consultant will work in consultation with WaterAid America's Policy & Advocacy Team and MWA.

About WaterAid America and MWA

WaterAid is an international not-for-profit working in over twenty countries to make clean water, decent sanitation, and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere. WaterAid America's U.S. Policy & Advocacy team works to raise the priority of global WASH in U.S. foreign policy.

The Millennium Water Alliance is a community of nearly 30 member organizations, including implementing NGOs, research institutions, and private sector contractors. MWA was one of the key leaders in drafting and passing the 2005 Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act and the 2014 Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act.

Context

U.S. policy on global WASH is authorized by the 2005 and 2014 acts. The U.S. has been the largest global WASH grantor for more than a decade, and funding has a history of bipartisan, bicameral Congressional support. Polling across parties and regions shows WASH gets the highest support as an important component of U.S. foreign assistance. WaterAid recently worked with YouTube creators MrBeast and Mark Rober on #TeamWater, which raised $41.5 million in 31 days.

At the same time, fewer policymakers understand and support global WASH, and public political polarization has worsened. The analysis and strategy will inform immediate, mid-term, and long-term stakeholder planning. The products are not intended to be shared widely or made publicly available.