Research Consultant

Terms of Reference (TOR)

Conduct a comparative anthropological study to generate evidence on young people’s experiences, behaviours, and barriers in accessing essential services and participating in governance processes.

Position: Research Consultant
Terms: Temporary (Approximately 21 days)
Availability: January – February 2026

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Contextual Analysis

Phase Two of the project identified persistent challenges affecting young people’s access to basic services, including national identification, healthcare, education, and security, despite progress made through Kenya’s constitutional devolution framework and the establishment of relevant government offices and service delivery structures. These challenges continue to create barriers to young people’s social, economic, and political participation. Kenya has also made significant progress in strengthening democratic governance through devolution and public participation; however, this progress has not been fully realized. For instance, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has faced challenges in meeting voter registration targets, while difficulties in obtaining national identification cards continue to affect young people’s ability to register as voters. Access to identification varies significantly across counties, with reported processing periods ranging from two weeks to more than 24 months. Given that young people constitute a significant proportion of Kenya’s population, these barriers have important implications for their participation in governance and democratic processes.

The barriers to youth participation are not only technical or administrative but are also social, cultural, economic, and institutional. These include mistrust in political institutions, exclusion from identity systems, gendered power relations, poverty, and perceptions that voting does not lead to meaningful change. Similarly, many young people continue to experience inadequate access to healthcare, education, and security, limiting their opportunities for meaningful participation, development, and engagement in governance processes. These challenges highlight the need for a comparative anthropological study to examine young people’s behaviours, experiences, and participation in accessing essential services and engaging in political and governance processes. Particular attention will be given to the social, institutional, and structural factors that facilitate or hinder access and participation, as well as the extent to which government offices and service delivery structures influence youth behaviours, perceptions, and engagement across different contexts.

The consultancy is therefore expected to generate in-depth, context-specific, youth-centred qualitative evidence on the status of youth participation in Kenya. The study will identify the political, administrative, social, cultural, economic, and structural factors that enable or constrain youth engagement and access to essential services. The findings will generate evidence to guide youth stakeholders, duty bearers, political actors, and development partners in developing targeted advocacy actions and strategies to improve the accessibility, responsiveness, and inclusivity of essential services and strengthen meaningful youth participation. The evidence will also provide practical guidance on interventions that can address identified governance and service delivery challenges at both national and county levels.

To support the uptake and utilization of the evidence generated, the project will facilitate national dissemination and policy engagement processes involving youth stakeholders, duty bearers, civil society actors, development partners, and other governance actors. This will include a national dissemination forum to share the research findings, key insights, and recommendations; promote evidence-informed dialogue; strengthen stakeholder understanding of youth priorities and experiences; and build consensus on actions required to address barriers to youth participation and access to essential services. The forum will be convened in collaboration with Build-up, the National Youth Council, UNDP, UNICEF, UN Women, and other Youth Joint Programme partners. The dissemination process will also provide a platform for young people and youth-led organisations to advance evidence-based recommendations, strengthen accountability, and promote responsive policy and programmatic interventions, ultimately contributing to more inclusive and youth-centred governance systems.

1.2 Overview of the UNDP Project

The UNDP project sought to respond to some of the challenges and gaps highlighted in the preceding section. The project targets youth with more focus on first time voters in Kenya, through existing organized community-based groups. The project intended to work with both national and county duty bearers in addressing the civic and governance challenges affecting young people at the local level.

1.3 Organisational Background

Siasa Place is a youth-led and youth-focused civic-tech organization that is building confidence, skills, competencies and institutional structures necessary for meaningful and dignified participation of young people in politics, governance and civic life. Inspired by the Constitutional promise of the right to public participation, convinced of young people’s interest, potential and capacity to influence decisions that affect them, Siasa Place is leveraging technology to expand the reach and quality of young peoples’ engagement in the social, economic, civic and political life of their communities. Our three programme pillars cover themes such as Devolution and local accountability; Politics, tech and rights; Equality; as well as Youth Employability, skilling and mentorship.

1.4 Purpose, Objectives and Scope of the Assignment

With the above considerations in place, Siasa Place seeks a qualified and experienced consultant to conduct the study in Kenya, with the aim of assessing the drivers and barriers influencing youth behavior toward political participation, with specific reference to social, political, and economic factors, as well as national identification acquisition, voter registration, and voting.

Specific Objectives

1. To assess and document the experiences, behaviours, and lived realities of young people in accessing essential services and participating in governance processes, with particular focus on national identification, healthcare, education, security, voter registration, and other avenues of civic and political participation across selected counties.
2. To examine the social, cultural, economic, political, institutional, and structural factors that facilitate or constrain youth access to essential services and meaningful participation in governance, including the role and responsiveness of government institutions, service delivery structures, and governance systems.
3. To undertake a comparative analysis of youth experiences and participation across different county contexts, identifying similarities, differences, emerging patterns, and context-specific barriers and opportunities that influence young people’s access to services, engagement with institutions, and participation in governance processes.
4. To develop evidence-based, practical, and youth-centred recommendations to strengthen access to essential services and meaningful youth participation in governance, and support advocacy, policy dialogue, civic engagement, accountability, and stakeholder action at national and county levels.

1.5 Scope of Work

The Scope of Work under this consultancy includes the following:

1.5.1 Review of Youth Access to Essential Services: Assess young people’s experiences, behaviours, and barriers in accessing essential services, with particular focus on national identification, healthcare, education, and security. The assessment should examine differences across selected counties and consider how service delivery structures and government institutions influence access and responsiveness.

1.5.2 Assessment of Youth Participation in Governance: Examine the nature and extent of youth participation in governance and civic processes, including voter registration, public participation, engagement with government institutions, and other forms of political and civic engagement. The study should document young people’s perceptions, experiences, motivations, and barriers to meaningful participation.

1.5.3 Analysis of Social, Institutional, and Structural Barriers: Identify and analyse the social, cultural, economic, political, administrative, and institutional factors that enable or constrain youth access to essential services and participation in governance. This should include issues such as gender, poverty, exclusion, institutional trust, awareness of rights and services, and perceptions of the responsiveness of governance institutions.

1.5.4 Comparative and Youth-Centred Analysis: Conduct a comparative analysis across the selected study contexts to identify common and context-specific challenges, behaviours, experiences, and opportunities affecting young people. The study should generate qualitative, youth-centred evidence that captures the perspectives of diverse groups of young people, including those who may face additional barriers to accessing services and participating in governance.

1.5.5 Development and Validation of Recommendations: Develop practical, evidence-based recommendations and advocacy priorities for youth organisations, government institutions, duty bearers, civil society, and development partners to improve access to essential services and strengthen meaningful youth participation and accountability. The consultant will also support validation and dissemination of the findings through a stakeholder engagement or national dissemination forum to promote policy dialogue and uptake of the recommendations.

2.0 Deliverables

These include the following:

2.1 Inception Report: An Inception Report outlining the consultant’s understanding of the assignment, proposed methodology, analytical framework, study questions, sampling strategy, data collection and analysis approaches, ethical and safeguarding considerations, quality assurance measures, and a detailed work plan and timeline. The report should clearly demonstrate how the study will assess youth access to essential services and participation in governance across the selected study contexts.

2.2 Study Data Collection Tools: A complete and approved set of qualitative and quantitative data collection tools, including interview guides, focus group discussion guides, key informant interview guides, questionnaires and/or other relevant instruments. The tools should capture evidence on youth experiences and behaviours relating to access to national identification, healthcare, education, security, voter registration, voting, public participation, and engagement with governance institutions, as well as the social, cultural, economic, political, and institutional factors influencing access and participation.

2.3 Draft Study Report: A Draft Study Report presenting the methodology, fieldwork process, preliminary findings, comparative analysis, emerging patterns, and key insights on youth access to essential services and participation in governance. The report should highlight common and context-specific barriers and opportunities, including the perspectives of diverse groups of young people. It should also present preliminary recommendations for strengthening service accessibility, institutional responsiveness, youth participation, and accountability. The draft report shall be submitted in soft copy to the Contracting Agency within one week of completion of the fieldwork phase for review and validation by the project team and relevant stakeholders.

2.4 Final Study Report and Recommendations: A Final Study Report incorporating feedback from the Contracting Agency and stakeholders and providing a comprehensive, evidence-based assessment of the study findings. The report should include comparative findings, key conclusions, lessons learned, and practical and actionable recommendations for youth organisations, government institutions, duty bearers, civil society organisations, development partners, and other relevant stakeholders. The recommendations should identify opportunities to improve access to essential services, strengthen meaningful youth participation and accountability, and inform advocacy, policy dialogue, and civic engagement initiatives. The final report shall be submitted within one week of receiving consolidated feedback from the Contracting Agency.

2.5 Validation and Dissemination Support: The consultant will support the validation and dissemination of the study findings, including preparation of a presentation and/or summary of key findings and recommendations for a stakeholder validation or national dissemination forum. The consultant will present the findings, facilitate discussion on key evidence and recommendations, and incorporate relevant validated feedback into the final study report to support evidence uptake and policy engagement.

3.0 Proposed Methodology

It is recommended that the successful candidate shall ensure the consultancy is conducted in a consultative and participatory approach that is both context-sensitive and responsive to the complexity of youth participation in civic and electoral processes.

The consultant should consider the use of a mixed-methods approach, drawing on both primary and secondary data sources to generate qualitative and quantitative evidence.

Data collection tools ought to be designed to align with the study objectives and target populations, ensuring accurate and reliable data capture. All data collected will be systematically collated, analyzed, and interpreted using appropriate qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques to produce coherent, credible, and policy-relevant findings.

4.0 Time-frame

This consultancy will take approximately (21) days, based on a reasonable ‘Level of Effort’ estimation.

These days will be spread from the day of signing of the contract. The consultant is expected to share a work-plan that indicates how these days will fit into the three phases of the consultancy: Inception, Fieldwork and Post-Fieldwork phases. The proposed plan will be reviewed by the project team in consultation with the consultant, before roll-out.

5.0 Profile of the Consultant

There are mandatory and desirable competencies for this assignment.

Mandatory

5.1 Solid experience in mixed-methods research, including the design and implementation of surveys and qualitative tools for governance, citizenship, or civic participation studies.

5.2 Extensive experience working on youth-focused programmes, particularly in areas related to civic engagement, political participation, identity, or rights-based advocacy.

5.3 Knowledge of and experience in working in the project counties will be an added advantage.

5.4 Strong knowledge and practical understanding of Kenya’s national identity, voter registration, and electoral participation systems, including the roles of institutions such as the NRB and IEBC.

5.5 Proficiency in report writing skills in English language.

5.6 A degree in any of the following fields: public policy, monitoring and evaluation, project management, political science or in a related field is an added advantage.

6.0 Management of the Consultancy

The Programme Manager, Siasa Place shall be directly involved in the supervision and management of the consultant during the period of engagement.

During the fieldwork phase, the consultant shall work with designated county coordinators to ensure meaningful engagement with the stakeholders and successful collection of data from the sampled institutions and individuals.

7.0 Terms and Conditions of Engagement

These include the following:

7.1 The Contracting Agency (Siasa Place) will provide the consultant with the required information and support in setting up interviews with the identified respondents in the field.

7.2 The Contracting Agency commits to provide ‘Duty of Care’ to the consultant during the Field/Data Collection Phase of the work in line with Siasa Place’s policies and guidelines.

7.3 Upon contracting, the consultant shall be responsible for settling his/her taxes, apart from the statutory deductions that will be effected by Siasa Place, as a result of engagement in this assignment.

7.4 As part of the contracting process the consultants shall be expected to abide by all the policies of Siasa Place, inter alia, Child Protection, and Sexual Abuse.

8.0 Application Procedure

Interested applicants should send their applications addressed to the Programme Manager, Siasa Place, by Close of Business on 20th January 2026 via this link.

Applications should include the following documents:

1. Cover letter (max. 1 page) outlining your suitability for this assignment.
2. Technical proposal (max. 8 pages). The technical proposal must outline the following:
   1. The consultant’s understanding of the TORs
   2. Proposed methodology
   3. Proposed work-plan
   4. Consultant’s relevant experience in previous related assignments
3. Financial Proposal (max. 1 page) outlining in Kenya Shillings, the consultant’s proposed cost for undertaking the study. This should include both the professional and logistical costs.
4. Attach a SAMPLE of a similar study report that you have conducted in the recent past.
5. List of referees.

Use the title of the advert as the email subject.