Senior Consultant - Digital Rights and Civic Space Advocacy

Terms of Reference (TOR) for Senior Consultant on Digital Rights and Civic Space Advocacy

Overview

The Digital Democracy Initiative (DDI) team at CIVICUS is seeking a highly experienced Advocacy Specialist to strengthen the capacity of Regional Support Mechanism host partners in six regions -Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, East Asia, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa- to protect and expand digital civic space.

The Advocacy Specialist will collaborate with partners to design and implement advocacy strategies, plans, and products that promote and protect civic space and inclusive democracy in the digital era, while driving coordinated advocacy efforts targeting national governments, the United Nations, multilateral institutions, and donor agencies.

Location: Global/Remote

Duration: 9 months

Start Date: Immediate Start.

Application Deadline: 20 February 2026

About CIVICUS and the Digital Democracy Initiative

CIVICUS is a global alliance of civil society organisations and activists dedicated to strengthening citizen action and protecting and expanding civic space worldwide. Through research, advocacy, mobilisation and public engagement, CIVICUS works to expose threats to civic freedoms, influence policy and practice, and support collective civil society responses across diverse contexts.

The Digital Democracy Initiative (DDI) emerged from Denmark’s Tech for Democracy initiative in response to the shrinking democratic and civic space, with the objective of promoting and protecting inclusive democratic space in the digital era. The initiative is implemented by a consortium of partners comprising Access Now, CIVICUS, Digital Defenders Partnership, Global Focus, European Partnership for Democracy, Fondo de Mujeres del Sur, WITNESS, and IWGIA.

Within this framework, CIVICUS leads the DDI Enable & Amplify project in partnership with Global Focus, supporting local civil society actors in restrictive contexts in the global South to strengthen their use of digital technologies for civic engagement, advocacy and influence. As part of its role in DDI, CIVICUS also facilitates collaboration, learning and coordinated advocacy among Regional Support Mechanism host partners, with the aim of strengthening their collective advocacy capacity and impact in advancing digital rights, inclusive democracy and open civic space.

Background

Digital technologies have significantly reshaped the democratic landscape. The internet and related tools have become crucial for fostering civic participation, enhancing transparency, and advocating for human rights. Civil society organizations (CSOs) are at the forefront of this digital democracy movement, using technology to empower citizens, ensure government accountability, and strengthen civic communities.

Despite these advancements, the benefits of digital democracy are not evenly distributed. In regions with restricted democratic space and limited political freedoms, CSOs face considerable obstacles in promoting digital democracy. These challenges include regulatory restrictions, inadequate access to digital resources, and personal security threats.

The inception phase of the Digital Democracy Initiative involved regional explorations and co-design of financial and non-financial support mechanisms to help local civil society actors promote inclusive democracy and protect civic space in the digital age. Implemented across six global majority regions: Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and East Asia. This process produced context-specific, needs-based mechanisms designed by local actors.

In the current phase, these mechanisms are being tested and implemented at the regional level, offering sub-grants, learning resources, technical accompaniment to strengthen organisational capacities and digital skills for action on civic space, both online and offline. Six regional host partners have been selected to lead the launch and implementation in collaboration with diverse local civil society actors.

As part of their responsibilities, Regional Support Mechanism host partners are expected to coordinate targeted policy and advocacy efforts at regional and global levels, aimed at influencing civil society actors, donors, enablers and allies to strengthen the ecosystem supporting local pro-democracy civil society organisations. The consultant will work closely with host partners to support the design, development and implementation of advocacy strategies at the regional level, and to ensure that regional priorities, narratives and actions are coherently articulated and fed into a coordinated global advocacy agenda for the DDI.

Related advocacy activities may include the development of policy position papers, joint statements in response to specific events or policy decisions, bilateral and multilateral meetings and events, direct engagement and lobbying of decision-makers, and the amplification of civil society voices and perspectives within regional and global policy forums and multilateral processes.

Objectives

The primary objective of this consultancy is to support host partners in designing and implementing targeted advocacy actions directed at national governments, the United Nations, other multilateral institutions, and donor agencies, as well as ensuring strategic alignment and articulation of advocacy across all six regions. These actions aim to safeguard and expand an enabling environment for local civil society actors.

Host partners and their local collaborators will contribute insights and evidence to CIVICUS research and advocacy products, while also leveraging these products to advance agendas that promote civic space and inclusive democracy.

Scope of Work

The scope of work includes, but is not limited to, the following tasks:

• National Governments: Close collaboration with the host partners and/or local collaborators to design and implement 48 advocacy actions across the 6 regions (8 per region) targeting national governments to safeguard and/or enhance an enabling environment for local civil society actors.
• UN/Multilateral Institutions/Donor Agencies: Close collaboration with the host partners to design and implement 6 advocacy actions across the 6 regions of implementation targeting the UN and other multilateral institutions and donor agencies. These advocacy actions can focus on specific processes such as SDG 16 and supporting campaigns/coalitions for locally led development and effective enabling environments for civil society.
• Donor Agencies: Close collaboration with the host partners to design and implement advocacy actions targeting donor agencies to strengthen local civil society support infrastructure in the global south, including expanding scope, reach and sustainability of these mechanisms, plus the adoption of similar mechanisms in further locations.
• CIVICUS: Close collaboration with the CIVICUS regional advocacy leads and UN Advisors at New York and Geneva hubs to ensure their inputs in the design and implementation of the advocacy actions. Contributions from host partners and local collaborators will reflect in CIVICUS research and advocacy products.

The ideal candidate should possess the following qualifications and skills:

• A post-graduate degree in Political Science, International Relations, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Information Technology, Digital Policy, or a related fieldDemonstrated track of 5+ years of progressive professional experience providing strategic leadership on digital democracy, digital rights, civic technology, or technology governance, including at regional and global levels.
• Demonstrated senior-level experience leading the design, coordination and delivery of high-impact advocacy strategies on technology and digital rights, engaging national governments, multilateral institutions (including the UN system), and donor agencies.
• Proven track record of advising or coordinating multi-regional and multi-stakeholder advocacy processes on complex digital policy issues, preferably within international NGOs, human rights organisations, or global development initiatives.
• Deep understanding of the political, regulatory and technological dynamics shaping digital civic space across diverse regional contexts, with the ability to translate regional priorities into coherent global advocacy agendas.
• Strong working knowledge of UN and multilateral digital governance and human rights processes, including mechanisms relevant to civil society participation, norm-setting and policy influence.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to convey complex ideas and findings in a clear and compelling manner.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to engage and collaborate effectively with diverse stakeholders, including civil society actors, digital experts, and policymakers.
• Fluency in English is required; proficiency in additional languages relevant to the regions (e.g., Spanish, French, Arabic) is highly desirable.

Award Criteria

Professional experience - 55%

Evaluated based on the candidate’s demonstrated expertise and experience as outlined in the TOR.

Proposal and Methodological Approach - 35%

Evaluated based on how well the candidate understands the ToR's objectives, scope, and requirements. Points are awarded based on clarity, relevance, and completeness of the proposal.

Cost allocation - 10%

Evaluated based on realistic allocation of cost

Reporting Requirements

The consultant will report to the Programme & Network Coordinator - DDI. Regular progress updates and milestone reviews will be conducted to ensure alignment with project objectives and timelines.

Deliverables:

1. Advocacy workplan and strategy for the 6 regions encompassing detailed plans for advocacy campaigns, including goals, target audiences, tactics etc.
2. Support to 6 regional partners towards the achievement of 48 advocacy actions (well-structured advocacy briefs/meetings/events) to national governments in the 6 regions (8 advocacy actions per region) including key messages, data-driven insights, and strategic recommendations.
3. Support to 6 regional partners towards the achievement of 6 advocacy actions (well-structured advocacy briefs/meetings/events) tailored for the UN and other multilateral institutions and donor agencies engagements, including key messages, data-driven insights, and strategic recommendations (1 advocacy action per region).
4. A report of the assignment detailing the forms of support provided, gaps, lessons learned, evidence of improved advocacy capacities for regional partners and strategic recommendations for further action.

Application Procedure:

Interested candidates are invited to submit the following documents to digitaldemocracy@civicus.org :

• A cover letter (1-2 pages) introducing yourself and explaining your interest in and suitability for the consultancy.
• A high-level proposal (max 5 pages) outlining your approach to conduct advocacy strengthening for the 6 regions to engage national governments, UN and other multilateral institutions and donor agencies.
• A detailed budget proposal, including a breakdown of costs such as consultant fees and any other relevant costs. (Travel, if required, will be covered by CIVICUS, this does not need to be reflected in the budget).
• A current CV highlighting relevant experience, qualifications, and language proficiencies.
• A sample of previous work on advocacy to national governments, UN and other multilateral institutions and donor agencies. This may include policy position papers, joint statements in response to specific events or decisions, bilateral and group meetings and events
• Contact information for three (3) individuals or organisations that can attest to the quality and impact of your previous work.

Submission Details:

All proposals should be submitted in MS Word format in English to digitaldemocracy@civicus.org

The application deadline is 20 February 2026.

Selection Process:

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted and may be asked to provide further information or clarification on their proposals. Due to the high volume of proposals received, we are unable to provide detailed feedback on each application. However, we will notify all candidates about the status of their application.If you have any questions, please contact us at the above email address: digitaldemocracy@civicus.org