HELP LESOTHO – TERMS OF REFERENCE
External Strategy Consultant and Facilitation Partner
- Duration: 12 months (April 2026 – April 2027)
- Time commitment: Part-time, variable by phase
- Primary modality: Remote (Zoom), with optional in-person in Lesotho
- Reporting to: Executive Director (ED)
- Governance oversight: Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) of the Help Lesotho Board
1) Background & Context
Help Lesotho (HL) is undertaking an organizational strategy renewal to define its direction for the next five years (from July 2027). The process will be designed to meaningfully engage diverse stakeholders across geographies and power positions, including donors, participants/communities, board members, and staff. HL seeks a strategy that is both measurable and values-aligned, and that explicitly integrates localization and power-sharing.
The development of the strategic plan is being project managed on behalf of the Board by a Strategic Planning Committee of the Board.
Help Lesotho has a twenty-year track record of delivering innovative, high-impact programs that empower youth, grandmothers and communities in Lesotho. Over this time, HL has built a strong reputation for governance, financial stewardship, program innovation and community partnerships, serving over 60,000 direct beneficiaries and indirectly influencing hundreds of thousands more. Key achievements include the development of local leadership, strong multi-sector partnerships, low administrative costs and an expanding programmatic footprint across Leribe, Berea, Botha-Bothe, Quthing and Thaba-Tseka districts.
The current strategy renewal seeks to build on the successes of the previous strategic plan, which focused on increasing youth agency, addressing gender-based violence, shifting power, and strengthening Help Lesotho’s impact and positioning related to resilience and mental health. While the organization has made significant progress, emerging challenges and evolving socio-economic conditions in Lesotho underscore the need for a refreshed strategic approach. These include:
- Persistent high levels of gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy and child early and forced marriage;
- Health crises, including high prevalence of HIV/AIDS and TB, low life expectancy (51 years) and poor access to healthcare in rural areas;
- Significant poverty and unemployment, particularly in rural communities where HL operates;
- Social challenges such as brain drain, climate change and food insecurity, which exacerbate vulnerability among youth and marginalized populations.
This context highlights the need for a strategic plan that is actionable, measurable and grounded in local realities, while maintaining the organization’s values of inclusion, localization and power-sharing. The renewed strategy will guide HL in defining its priorities, refining programmatic focus, expanding its impact and ensuring organizational sustainability over the next five years (2027–2032).
The consultant will be expected to leverage this deep institutional knowledge and historical insight, combining it with rigorous stakeholder engagement, contextual analysis and participatory design to contribute to a strategy that is forward-looking, locally relevant and capable of guiding Help Lesotho’s next phase of growth and impact.
2) Purpose of the Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to support HL to develop a 5-year strategy grounded in:
- A rigorous understanding of the Lesotho context and ecosystem
- Insight into stakeholder priorities and lived experiences
- A clear analysis of power dynamics and decision-making structures
- A defined strategic focus (“the needle HL will move”) with measurable outcomes
- Concrete choices about growth, geographic footprint, and what HL will not do
- A practical localization and autonomy roadmap
- A sustainable revenue and organizational model aligned with HL’s values
- Governance, culture, and brand positioning that reinforce partnership
See Annex 1 for an overview of the identified areas that will be explored during the strategic planning process.
3) Scope of Work
The Strategic Planning Committee will manage the strategic planning process in accordance with a Board approved work plan (See Work Plan in Annex 2).
Core mandate for the External Strategy Consultant and Facilitation Partner:
- Conduct diverse stakeholder interviews (target: 20) and focus groups (target: 3) and produce a report that synthesizes findings (themes, tensions, opportunities). Collaborate with the Strategic Planning Committee on the stakeholder map and interview strategy.
- Facilitate three virtual strategy sessions with the international board of HL (September 2026 – 1.5 hours; October 2026 – 3 hours; February 2027 – 3 hours). Collaborate with the Strategic Planning Committee on the key issues to address during each session.
- Validate draft strategic plan with stakeholders at least 3 validation sessions segmented by stakeholder type.
Ad hoc support, as and when needed.
4) Methodological Requirements
The consultant must demonstrate the ability to deliver:
- Participatory, power-aware design (ensuring marginalized voices shape outcomes)
- Explicit attention to localization, decolonial practice, and power-sharing
- Robust qualitative inquiry (interviews, focus groups, thematic synthesis)
- Facilitation that supports constructive tension, not superficial consensus
- Remote engagement methods that reduce barriers (time zones, language, bandwidth)
5) Required Qualifications
- 8+ years leading non-profit/NGO strategy processes (preferably in Southern Africa)
- Demonstrated expertise in localization, power-sharing, and decolonial approaches, ideally in the context of international non-profit/NGOs
- Strong facilitation credentials (virtual and cross-cultural)
- Familiarity with donor dynamics and governance models in international non-profits
- Excellent written deliverables and stakeholder management
6) Proposal Submission Requirements
Interested consultants should submit:
- Technical proposal (approach, methodology, work plan)
- Team profile(s) and CV(s)
- Relevant examples (2–3 similar engagements)
- Proposed budget for core mandate (fixed fee) component and hourly rate for additional services requested on an ad hoc basis.
Submit proposals to Kate Lambert, Executive Director, at [email protected] by March 22 2026.