Consultancy for Copy Editing of Michika LGA Community Development Plan Document

Terms of reference for Copy Editing of Michika LGA Community Development Plan Document

Background

Oxfam, CEPAD, CRUDAN and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH with funding from German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) GiZ are implementing an eight (8) months project aimed at improving social cohesion through participatory and inclusive community development planning.

Since inception, the project has been using local but comprehensive integrative approaches such as community town hall meetings, community dialogue meetings, workshops, training, and other relevant approaches. These were done to improve social cohesion and bring all members of target communities on the path of sustainable development with the citizens being on the driver’s seat leveraging relevant government and non-governmental structures in Michika LGA.

Key achievements of the project since its inception includes:

• Engagement and Sensitization of over 112 stakeholders on key social cohesion and community development principles. Through these engagements, the capacities of the stakeholders in good and inclusive governance, participatory bottom-up development planning, community development and leadership levels at the LGA. Complementary roles of traditional rulers and local government officials in community development, differences between personal interest and public or common interest, barriers to development and Conflict Resolution at LGA level amongst other issues of community development were strengthened.
• Mobilization, engagement and sensitization of over 1600 community members across 16 wards of Michika on the project goals, inclusive and participatory development planning as well as the role of community members in community development planning and execution of community development initiatives.
• Organizing and facilitating Community Development Planning (CDP) Sessions through which 1,287 community stakeholders across the 16 wards of Michika LGA participated in the identification and prioritization of community development challenges.
• Compilation of the identified challenges into a single document called the Community Development Plan.
• Harmonization, review and validation of development priorities across 10 sectors to form Michika LGA Development Plan.
• Training of LGA officials on translation of CDPs into actionable budget.
• All of these translated into a 5-year Community Development Plan as the major outcome of the activities enumerated above.

Through the participatory and inclusive CDP sessions organized by the project, a total of 94 priority development challenges across 10 sectors (including Agriculture and food security, Physical Infrastructure, Economy and Livelihood, Water and Sanitation, Climate Change and Green Economy, Conflict and Security, Health, Education, Gender and Social Protection Sectors) in all 16 wards of the LGA were identified and solutions and activities for addressing the identified challenges developed. The project has since formed Ward Development Support Committees (WDSCs) across the 16 wards of the LGA to serve as the community mobilization and accountability structures and to lead the implementation of the LGA Plan in their respective Wards. Four-hundred (400) members of the WDSCs have also been trained on different modules to strengthen their capacity to perform the critical functions of lobbying for the implementation of the LGA plan in their respective wards.

The LGA Community Development Plan is a strategic document that compiles the aspiration and development priorities of the people of Michika LGA. This document contains details of challenges faced across the 16 wards of the LGA across priority sectors with proposed solutions and activities to led by the communities towards the realization of community development objectives of the people of Michika LGA.

It is a document that provides the basis for community members to hold their duty bearers accountable, building trust between citizens and the government, establishing community led accountability structures, mobilizing citizens across the LGA for the development of the LGA through enhancing active participation of the citizens in governance as well as strengthening the capacity of communities to participate in the development of their respective communities.

Justification

The project has successfully developed a Local Government Development Plan through inclusive and participatory approaches implemented during the CDP Sessions as well as strategic capacity building programs both for the LGA officials, strategic stakeholders and community members (WDSCs). The program has contributed to the strengthening of social cohesion among community members from different socio-economic backgrounds. This is with reference to the migration status of the citizens (that is, members of Host communities, IDP, and Returnees), strengthening relations between the government and citizens, and strengthening local governance structures. Similarly, the project has continued to demonstrate the enhancement of community development through the adoption of a bottom–up approach. These are achieved through the creation of community advocacy platforms and empowering community members for improved active participation in development issues affecting them as individuals and their community as a whole. The outcome of these is the proliferation of community led development initiatives as a result of positively motivated citizens that are willing and ready to contribute to the development of their communities in a united front and ready to hold their government to account regarding developmental issues that affect them.

With the Community Development Plans of all clusters of 16 wards in Michika LGA now harmonized, reviewed and validated to form Michika LGA Development Plan, a copy editor is required to review the document in preparation for publication. In addition, a designer will also be engaged to provide the layout and design of the publication and both consultancies will collaborate to finalise these documents.

Objectives of the Consultancy

Working under the supervision of the Project team and GIZ Governance team the key role of the consultant/s will be to copy–edit the validated Michika LGA Community Development Plan.

Scope of Work

The service provider will provide high quality editing and proofreading services including but not limited to:

• Developmental/substantive editing:

In developmental editing (also known as substantive editing and comprehensive editing), the editor considers a document’s concept and intended use, content, organization, design, and style. The purpose is to make the document functional for its readers, not just to make it correct and consistent. The editor examines the overall structure and help with the organization of the content. The editor should help authors fill in blanks and eliminate repetitions and they may suggest that the chapters or paragraphs be rearranged.

• Copyediting:

1. Substantive language editing which aims at improving the overall coverage and presentation of the product, its content, scope, length, level and organization. The editor may also suggest improvements for the author(s) to make or may (by agreement with the project team) rewrite and rearrange parts of the document to help present the issues in better perspectives.
2. Detailed editing for meaning: checking whether each section of the document expresses the community’s meaning clearly, without gaps and contradictions. This also involves looking at each sentence, the choice of words, the use of abbreviations, comparing the data in tables with relevant texts etc.
3. Checking for consistency. This involves reinforcement Standards regarding spelling and language style. This also includes checking the numbering of illustrations, tables and notes, and any cross-references to them, as well as the consistency of bibliographical references and annexes.
4. Looking out for legal problems such as copyright, plagiarism and libel.
5. Checking quotations or illustrations that may need permission from the copyright owner.
6. Creating, when applicable, the list of acronyms and the table of contents as well providing guidelines for the indexer, when applicable.
7. Ensuring the clear presentation and format of the material for the typesetter/designer: Making sure that the material is complete and that all the parts are clearly identified, for example the grade of each subheading, which pieces of text, such as long quotations and pull outs, should be distinguished typographically from the main text, and where tables and illustrations should be placed. The document should be formatted in accordance with agreed standards in MS Word template.

Note: All questions about usage, grammar and spelling can be found in the Concise Oxford Dictionary 12th Edition. All changes made to the original text should be visible using the ‘track changes’ function in MS Word, or equivalent in Booktype.

• Category C: Light copyediting (Booktype or Word file): When the need arises to review a text that has already been copyedited before it is sent to a designer. This can be the result of a review process that has taken place after the copyediting.

1. Carry out a thorough check for consistency especially in terms of spelling, style and headers.
2. Ensure a clear presentation and format of the material for the typesetter/designer. The document should be formatted in accordance with agreed MS Word template.
3. Check spelling and grammar, font sizes and fonts, bullet listings and spaces.
4. Check all numbering, paragraphs, headings, sub-headings, to make sure they correspond to the table of contents.
5. Check footnotes and endnotes.
6. Check that the heading structure is clear and logical.
7. Check the title pages, the cover and the copyright page carefully, verifying consistency in titles, ISBNs, photos/artwork copyright and so on.

• Category D: Proofreading (PDF file)

1. Carry out a final and thorough check for consistency especially in terms of spelling, style and headings;
2. Check spelling and grammar, font sizes and fonts, bullet listings and spaces;
3. Make sure that no text has disappeared or was cut out accidentally during layout;
4. Check all numbering, paragraphs, headings, sub-headings, to make sure they correspond to the table of contents;
5. Check the pagination of the publication, to make sure that it corresponds to the Table of Contents and Index (if an Index exists);
6. Check footnotes and endnotes;
7. Check that the heading structure is clear and logical;
8. Check for ‘orphans’ and ‘widows’ (that is, when a word or part of a sentence is left on its own on the bottom/top of a page, with the continuation on the next/previous page); and
9. Check the title pages, the cover and the copyright page carefully, verifying consistency in titles, ISBNs, photos/artwork copyright and so on.

Note: All questions about usage, grammar and spelling can be found in the Concise Oxford Dictionary 12h Edition. All changes made to the original text should be visible using the ‘track changes’ function in MS Word, or equivalent in Booktype.

Expected Deliverables

Expected deliverables from this consultancy include:

• A clean copy of a copy edited and proofread Michika LGA Community Development Plan Document, M&E Frame Works and Costed Implementation Plan.
• Tracked changed copy of copy edited and proofread Michika LGA Community Development Plan, M&E Framework and Costed Implementation Plan.

Application Closing Date:

14th February 2024

How to apply

Interested and qualified candidate should send their Cover Letter and CV as – one document in (PDF or Word) to: career@crudan.org on or before the stated application deadline.