Framework- Consultants to Support the Management of the Civil Society Fund

The Civil Society Fund (CSF) is the Department’s main funding scheme for NGO overseas development projects. Applications are open on an annual basis from Irish NGOs – mainly small to medium sized organisations - and invited international NGOs. The Civil Society Unit (CSU) within the Development Cooperation Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs administers the CSF and is responsible for quality assurance and ensuring value for money and accountability. A focus on project cycle management is at the core of how CSU manages its grants and partnerships with NGOs. This includes the appraisal, approval, monitoring and evaluation of all programmes of work and partners. In order to support the quality assurance process and best practice, CSU is establishing a Framework of consultants to provide technical support for the management of partner’s approved projects under the CSF. The overall objective of this consultancy is to provide high quality technical input/support to ensure that best practice quality standards are coherently applied across all stages of the Civil Society Fund project cycle. This consultancy will encompass a range of specific skills to support the appraisal, approval, financial review, monitoring and evaluation of projects, as well as processes supporting the effective management of the funding to the NGOs in receipt of Civil Society Fund grants.