Terms of Reference for Facilitators of KNH Capacity Development Processes in Child Rights Programming with a focus on Advocacy 

Kindernothilfe, a Germany-based child rights organisation, is looking for an experienced facilitator with an expertise in (policy) advocacy to enlarge our “pool” of facilitators who want to support us in conducting capacity development processes for our partner organisations on topics of child rights programming, such as Human Rights and Child Rights Approach, Child-Rights Situation Analysis, Theory or Change, Project Planning, etc. For the upcoming training in quarter 4 of 2026, KNH is looking specifically for a facilitator with a strong expertise on advocacy in connection to the Child Rights Approach. We aim at working together with facilitators ideally for a longer period of time and at cooperating closely in the capacity development with different training modules, which were developed by Kindernothilfe e. V.

1. Kindernothilfe

Kindernothilfe e. V. (KNH) is a Non-Governmental Organisation founded in 1959 (see www.kindernothilfe.org). KNH works with non-governmental organisations and their networks in 36 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe to realize and protect children’s rights. KNH reaches out to 2.2. million children to help them access sustainable opportunities to grow and to develop to their full potential. In Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxemburg KNH engages in awareness raising, education, training & consulting and advocacy relating to development policies and particularly to the implementation of the Child Rights Convention. 

KNH's strategic direction and engagement is based upon Christian values. KNH's vision is a world, where all children enjoy their rights regardless of their social, economic, political and religious background.

1.1 The KNH Programme and Coordination Structure in Rwanda

KNH has been actively cooperating with partner organisations in Rwanda since 1994. Currently, KNH works with three partner organisations in direct partnership who are implementing projects in different provinces. The projects have different focus areas of work, such as Education, Health and Nutrition, Prevention of Sexual violence and Women Empowerment for Child rights protection through Self Help Group Approach (SHGA). KNH also works with four indirect partner organisations who are in sub granting partnership with the SHGA National Coordination Officer in Rwanda. The Rwanda programme is coordinated by the In-Country-Coordination team and colleagues based in Germany. 

1.2. The KNH Child Rights Programming Strategy and its Objectives

In 2019 KNH took the decision to elaborate and implement a Child Rights Programming (CRP) Strategy. It is our understanding and conviction that the application of the child rights approach in projects can make a difference by achieving significant changes in the living conditions of children and the exercise of their rights. For KNH Child Rights Programming (CRP) is the way for partners of putting the child rights approach into practice in their programme and project work by using specific and adapted methods and tools within each phase of the project cycle, for example a child rights situations analysis. Thus, KNH understands CRP for itself in the following way: “Child Rights Programming means the application of child rights principles in the planning, implementation and monitoring of projects and programmes, with the overall aim of improving the situation of children, so that they can fully enjoy their rights and live in societies where children's rights are recognised and respected.” 

1.3. KNH Child Rights Programming Capacity Development for Partner Organisations

The focus of the capacity development is to empower and support partner organisations in Africa, Asia and Latin America/Caribbean to plan and implement even stronger child rights-based projects and programmes. This capacity development programme implies a combination of workshops and practical application within the programmatic processes of the partners after the workshops.

KNH has so far developed seven modules along the project cycle which are:

• Human Rights & Child Rights Approach to Programming (HR&CRA) 
• Meaningful Participation
• Child Rights Situation Analysis (CRSA)
• Theory of Change (ToC)
• Project Planning and Design (PD)
• Monitoring (with submodules SM1, SM2, SM3)
• Advocacy 

With this specific call we are looking for a facilitator for the module on advocacy for capacity building ofthree direct partner organisations in Rwanda with possible participation of two to three partners from Uganda and Burundi. The module is implemented as a pilot training in Rwanda and KNH is expecting a detailed reflection of the module materials in order to improve them for future trainings.

The workshop will be conducted in-person by trained facilitators with a background in child rights programming and advocacy. Where needed, a second facilitator may be recruited to bring a full complement of knowledge, skills and expertise and to ensure smooth delivery and participant support. Where two facilitators are involved, responsibilities will be shared and planned in advance to ensure consistency, complementarity and a seamless training experience.

All modules consist of a comprehensive toolkit including pre-reading lists for partners, facilitator plans, information and worksheet handouts, powerpoint presentations, etc. Of course, all modules need to be contextualised and adapted by the facilitators for the respective group of participants and country context. 

After each training workshop the participating organisations will enter into an application phase to make use of the training in their work. The facilitator(s) will accompany the organisations in this phase by face to face visits or online support depending on the specifics. 

The target groups of the trainings are the staff of KNH partner organisations at management, programme and field work levels. 

1.4. Purpose and Expected Results 

The participating partner organisations from Rwanda and possibly Uganda and Burundi will already have successfully participated in many of the modules within the Child Rights Programming Capacity Development process. This module is planned to take place in September or October 2026 in Musanze or comparable location in Rwanda. The partners will use the learnings of the workshops to develop a project-specific advocacy strategy and implement it during the ongoing KNH-funded projects. 

2. The National Facilitator

KNH is looking for a professional with local expertise in advocacy (at community, national, regional and international level), who is interested in accompanying partner organisations throughout the capacity development process of the advocacy module. This encompasses preparation and implementation of contextualised module training including individual mentoring of partners during the workshop as well as planning and implementing the post

workshop backstopping phases for all partners (individually and/or in small groups) for supporting and facilitating the elaboration of an Advocacy strategy and action plan on project level as well as the first steps of implementation after the training. 

2.1. Specific Tasks for the facilitation of the advocacy module: 

• Participation in an orientation session on the advocacy module conducted online by KNH
• Thorough familiarisation with the Facilitator’s Guide, Module slides and Resource Pack
• Preparatory meeting between facilitators and KNH country teams (Country Coordinator and other ICC/ in-country coordinator, Country Desk and technical working groups at KNH headquarter)
• Contextual adaptation of workshop content in consultation with the country team
• Sharing of preparatory documents with the participants
• Guiding participants through the face-to-face training sessions using the facilitator’s guide, the slide pack for each workshop day and the tools provided in the resource pack. The material offers clear instructions, participatory methods and tools to ensure consistent, effective and engaging sessions for the delivery of the Advocacy Capacity Development Module. 
• Delivering interactive and participatory sessions during the face-to-face training that foster engagement, dialogue and peer learning.
• To support the development of an advocacy strategy at project level during the workshop and through post-workshop backstopping support. 
• Applying adult learning principles, ensuring content is relevant, practical and grounded in participants’ real-life advocacy experiences.
• Adapting to group dynamics, pacing the sessions appropriately and responding flexibly to different learning needs.
• Elaboration of progress and or final reports on implemented capacity development integrating training assessment, including specific recommendations to KNH on partners and recommendations for future programming with partners.
• Reporting to KNH about successes and challenges and supporting KNH to improve the module content and materials for future training. 

2.2. Methodology and Timeframe

• The preparation meetings, orientation on the materials and preparation of the workshop will commence after signing of the contract, planned for mid-August 2026.
• The face-to-face workshop on Advocacy is planned for the second half of October 2026 (exact dates to be confirmed with facilitator) 
• The backstopping period and reflection with KNH is planned a for a period of approx. 9-12 months after the training, with specific number of days dedicated in the workplan.

• The agreements with partners on participation in the trainings, the basic structure and program of the trainings, etc will be provided by KNH. As mentioned above, KNH will provide all corresponding documents and PowerPoint-Presentations for the inputs, instruments for participatory activities and handouts related to the workshops´ issues. 
• KNH will provide information about the partner organisations in the respective countries, their projects and about their status quo regarding working with the child rights approach respectively child rights programming as basis for the contextualisation of the trainings. 
• Depending on the respective training, different partner documents will be provided for adequate preparation. Hence, based on the basic structure and program of the trainings the facilitator is expected to adjust according to the environment. The facilitator is expected to revise the existing training materials and propose adequate methods to be employed e.g. for group work, experience sharing among partners, presentation of own practices etc.
• Generally, partners shall use the knowledge gained in the workshops for their own projects and organisational growth and improve aspects of them in the course of the process, which means that individual counselling will have to be provided in most of the module trainings (if partners want to change objectives, targets or add new interventions they should develop this during the workshop but will have to discuss this with KNH).

2.3. Deliverables

The following outputs and reporting requirements are expected: 

a. For the onboarding phase:

• Review of important KNH documents, policies and guidelines
• Zoom-Meetings with KNH representatives to clarify questions etc.

b. For the trainings: 

Although the focus areas of the modules are different, there are various deliverables common to all of them:

• Draft of adapted trainers plan (at least 2 weeks before training) and final training design including facilitation guide for each training to be discussed and approved by KNH. Note: all materials are being provided by KNH and only require context-specific adaptations. 
• Final version of trainers plans and draft workshop presentations and handouts (at least 1 week before training)
• Statement of observations, conclusions on the training/workshop and recommendations for the backstopping during the application phase by partners and the follow-up workshop (not later than 10 days after training)
• Design of backstopping process with topics and methodology to be discussed with and approved by KNH (not later than 2 weeks after training)
• Report on backstopping activities and results structured by partner and overall recommendations for next workshop / training (not later after 10 days after last activity)
• Written feedback to documents to be elaborated by partners during backstopping phase.

3. What KNH Offers

Depending on the specific competencies, we offer 

• Introduction to KNH as organisation and guidance/orientation concerning the CRP capacity development process
• Overview on participating organisations in the specific country and their collaboration with KNH
• Participation in online or face to face workshops for new facilitators (“training of trainers”) for introduction into specific modules by existing facilitators who have developed the modules together with KNH (possibly during the period of end of August and beginning of September)
• For further introduction into topics and trainings, where possible and necessary, participation of new facilitators in module trainings held by facilitators already cooperating with KNH
• Interesting capacity development and learning on child rights programming through possible long-term cooperation and learning with KNH including exchange in international teams
• Consultancy contracts – preferably to be signed with ICC in respective country - with payment of consultancy fee (related to average national levels), middle to long-term cooperation envisaged
• In case of a positive evaluation of the first trainings, a longer period of cooperation with various assignments is strived for. The scope of cooperation depends on the facilitator´s expertise on the content of the modules and the concrete planning of capacity development trainings of KNH.

4. What We are Looking For - Facilitator Requirements 

As the seven training modules have different focus areas, we look for facilitators with proven expertise and knowledge in the above described module contents. Expertise in the topics of advocacy will be specifically expected. The following qualifications/competencies with proven experience in conducting such or similar exercises are required: 

• Proven expertise in in Human Rights and/or Child Rights, Child Protection issues and participatory project planning, 
• Specific experience with advocacy (including lobbying and policy advocacy, campaigning, strategic litigation, UN reporting and other advocacy approaches) at community, national, regional and international level,
• Deep understanding of global governing bodies such as the UN and the African Union
• A Bachelor or Master’s Degree in a relevant field such as Pedagogy, Education, Social Dev. Sciences, Development Studies or similar professional background
• Proven experience in the facilitation of workshops applying interactive and participatory methods 
• Very good oral and written communication skills
• Intercultural sensitivity and background
• Proven experience in working closely together with local NGO teams especially in mentoring/advising organisations (e.g. in backstopping phases)
• Proven experience of working with/consultancy for NGOs implementing projects for and with children and youth 
• A genuine commitment to supporting meaningful participation of children and young people
• Good skills and experience in contextualising trainings for partners
• Fluent spoken and written English and Kinyarwanda; French is an added advantage 
• Proven experience of working with children and youths will be an added advantage
• Willingness to travel within areas across Rwanda. 
• Knowledge in the use of digital and online platforms, experience in facilitation of online-workshops and mentoring

5. Application 

A technical proposal should be submitted. The proposal should include:

• CV of the facilitator
• Letter of interest including your reflection/comments on your understanding of capacity development, the described capacity development process and the indicated module on advocacy and the development of advocacy strategies specifically (max.0,5 – 1 page) 
• References and information on daily consultant fee
• Sample Work (e.g. Trainers Plan) of applicant in function as facilitator from the last three years

6. Closing Date

Please send your application via email until 19.07.2026 to Obed Rugara (obed.rugara@rumacpa.com) with copy to Ernestine Uwamwezi (ernestine.uwamwezi@kindernothilfe.com). Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interviews. Apart from resume and copies of work certificates and references candidates are encouraged to attach certificates of good conduct.