BASELINE CONSULTANT

PROJECT PROFILE

Project Name: Justice for Women – Enhancing Women’s Access to Gender-Responsive Justice in Uganda, Sudan, and Ethiopia.

Project Location: Ethiopia and Sudan

Implementing Partner: Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA Uganda)

Funder: Open Society Foundation-Africa

Description of Assignment: Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) seeks a consultant to conduct a Baseline Study on gender-responsive and accountable justice systems in Ethiopia and Sudan.

Assignment Location: Remote (may require travel to study sites)

Baseline purpose

• The primary objective of the baseline is to establish reference values for the project’s performance indicators and context-specific information to inform and strengthen programming.

Primary Methods

• Literature review, including relevant secondary data
• Focus group discussions and Key Informant interviews with subject matter experts, key officials, and partners
• Quantitative survey from target groups

Line Manager: Regional Programmes Manager

Duration of Assignment: 25 days in August & September 2023

ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND

The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) is a civil society coalition bringing together grassroots women’s rights organizations from Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Uganda. It was established in 1995 by a collection of women’s rights activists, with the view of strengthening the capacity of women’s rights organizations in the Horn of Africa. SIHA aims to contribute to unlocking the massive potential of women’s rights movements in the Horn of Africa, by improving the capacity of local organizations, and building a strong network of grassroots civil society members that can interact and support one another in advocating for effective change. SIHA operates as a regional platform for the mobilization of activists, vulnerable and marginalized groups of women, men, and girls to harness resources that include, but are not limited to, knowledge and information, capacity building, and financial support aimed at challenging the root causes of problems and challenges faced by women and girls in the Horn of Africa Region. SIHA has five strategic areas including Ending Violence against Women and Girls, Women and Girls ‘Access to Justice, Women’s Social Protection and Economic Justice, Rights of Women and Girls on the Move, and Building Inclusive Women’s Movements. Within the work that SIHA does, SIHA reclaims and develops political and feminist concepts of justice in a transformative process in order to address underlying inequalities that lead to violations of women’s rights in the first place. More information about SIHA is available at www.sihanet.org

BACKGROUND OF THE ASSIGNMENT

​​Women’s subordinate position in society is reflected in many legal systems across the Greater Horn of Africa (GHoA). Women and girls in Sudan, Uganda, and Ethiopia face discrimination with regard to family law, property rights, inheritance and employment. In addition, women and girls’ access to justice is hindered by several barriers, including the non-availability of formal courts in rural areas, biases in justice institutions, lack of gender-sensitive procedures, issues of affordability, social stigma, corruption, etc. Gender inequalities are also reflected within the legal systems themselves, where most professions – judges, lawyers, judicial officers, etc. – are dominated by men.1 This poses the question of whether a system that replicates some of the structures it is set out to dismantle can actually provide justice for women and the most vulnerable in society. ​Indeed, the underrepresentation of women has an impact on the judicial system’s capacity to ensure that judgements are gender responsive and contribute to advancing gender equality.​​

To contribute to women and girl’s access to fair, gender-responsive, and accountable justice systems; SIHA Network, with technical support from FIDA-Uganda, will implement a Justice for Women project in Sudan and Ethiopia for two years. SIHA Network and FIDA-Uganda plan to achieve this overall objective through implementing combined interventions, including; i) building the capacities of legal actors, in particular female lawyers; ii) facilitating networking and collaboration between legal and other civil society actors; iii) enhancing public knowledge of legal frameworks and processes; iv) conducting advocacy for policy and law reform, and v) providing legal aid to vulnerable women.

PURPOSE OF THE BASELINE

The purpose of the baseline is to determine, qualitatively and quantitatively, the status of women in Ethiopia and Sudan’s access to gender-responsive and accountable justice systems. The primary objective of the baseline assessment is to establish reference values for the project’s performance indicator prior to intervention and collect project locations specific information to inform and strengthen programming during the project inception phase. The study will establish the baseline for the project’s key indicators and will provide benchmarks to measure the project’s performance. The baseline study is also intended to generate existing data on i) the level of female lawyers and Women Rights Activists’ (WRAs) engagement in law reform and/or strategic litigation, ii) and the existing barriers and how this affects their ability to advance gender equality and hold state actors accountable. In addition to informing the project’s Monitoring and Evaluation, the findings of the study will also be used to inform the design and delivery of key project activities, including the selection of training courses that will be delivered to the female lawyers, paralegals, and WRAs; and formation of key messages that will be used to create awareness on women’s legal rights.

The consultant/firm will deliver a final report of no more than 20 pages, with the following structure: a one-page executive summary; a brief description of the research approach and methodology, including any limitations and sampling approach; key findings and analysis of the desk research and fieldwork; and a conclusion and recommendations for programming. The cover page, executive summary, table of contents, and glossary will not count toward the 20-page limit. Additionally, appendices that contain the data collection tools, data figures and visualizations, and other references will not count towards the 20-page limit. The consultant will share the soft copy of the report and a PowerPoint presentation.

METHODOLOGY AND SCOPE OF WORK

The baseline study design and methodology will be discussed and agreed upon with the project team and consultants at the beginning of the consultancy. It is, however, expected that the study will employ both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, including desk reviews, surveys, and interviews, to establish a baseline for the project’s key indicators. The study’s methodology is detailed below.

Literature Review: SIHA will provide the consultant/firm with all relevant project documents post-selection. This wll include the project proposal, MEL plan, including perfrmance indicator matrix. Seecondary data sources should be utilized for further data analysis.

Qualitative Data Collection Methods: Data collection methods must include focus group discussions and key informant interviews with partners. SIHA proposes at least 2 FGDs and 10 KIIs per intervention region to be carried out. The consultant/firm will determine specific partners in consultation with SIHA. The final number of FGD and KII will be determined in consultation with SIHA. SIHA will be open and expects suggestions of additional organizations or individuals for FGDs/KIIs based on information needs.

Quantitative Data Collection Methods: This part of the assessment should inform baseline data at the goal, objective, and output levels and populate the project’s indicator matrix and performance data table. SIHA will initially identify key respondents or data sources for the consultant/firm to use; however, suggested additions to the key respondents and data sources from the consultant/firm are welcomed but must be agreed to by SIHA. The consultant/firm will provide final detailed methods and questionnaires to inform goal indicators and project outcomes. The consultant/firm will be required to submit draft data collection tools along with the final baseline design in the inception report, prior to the data collection process.

Gender Sensitivity: This project emphasizes gender sensitivity, aiming to address gender gaps and transform harmful norms. To achieve this, the study methodology will incorporate the following key practices: ensuring a gender-balanced team for data collection, providing gender and protection training for consultants and enumerators, prioritizing safety and security for all team members and respondents, obtaining informed consent in a language respondents understand, and designing data collection tools with gender-specific questions. The study findings will be presented with disaggregated data by sex and age, along with relevant demographic information from the communities involved.

DELIVERABLES AND TIMEFRAMES

The assignment is expected to commence upon contract signing as follows:

Deliverables and approximate due dates/Timelines

Inception report, which includes:

• Proposed data collection methodology, sampling strategy and respondents’ selection criteria, data collection instrument, and implementation plan
• Recommended key informants/stakeholders in consultation with SIHA Regional, Ethiopia, and Sudan staff as well as FIDA-U
• Initial literature review

Timeline: One week after contract execution

Conduct data collection processes (2 weeks)

Timeline: One week following SIHA’s approval of inception report

Draft assessment report submitted for SIHA feedback

Timeline: One week following completion of data collection processes

Presentation and facilitation of validation workshop with stakeholders

Timeline is subject to the availability of stakeholders

Final draft report submitted, which includes

• Narrative reports, following recommended format.
• Final version of data collection tools used
  • Clean raw data.
  • Quantitative data should include PPI, following required protection protocols. Qualitative data should be anonymized

Timeline: On or before September 15, 2023

PAYMENT

The maximum budget available is$5000 inclusive of relevant taxes. Uganda consultants are therefore expected to submit a financial proposal that includes a With Holding Tax on the agreed payment.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Interested applicants should submit a technical proposal that combines the requested documents below. Documents that exceed the page limit requirements listed below will not be reviewed.

• CV(s) of no more than three pages. Firms should submit CVs for all key personnel included in the proposal. No CV may exceed three pages. CVs should demonstrate previous experience conducting baseline assessments that provide confidence in the successful completion of all deliverables.
• A 4-6-page proposal outlining the consultant/firm’s proposed methodology for the assessment, data collection methodology, and how their experience satisfies the requirements of the TOR.
• Up to ten pages total of relevant previous work. Samples of relevant work include previous assessments, survey analyses, and data analysis presentations. Samples should clearly indicate the applicant’s role in designing, delivering, and drafting the product.
• Knowledge and Experience of Gender and Human Rights Sensitive Approaches as well as good understanding of Social Justice, Strategic Litigation, Human and Women’s Rights, Legal Law Reforms, and Women’s Legal Rights.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English. Fluency in Amharic or Arabic will be an added advantage.
• Incomplete applications and applications that do not meet the requirements will not be considered. Short-listed applicants may be invited for an interview at SIHA’s discretion.

The evaluation criteria are:

Categories and Maximum Scores out of 100

Proposed technical approach (30)

Demonstrated experience supported by CVs and samples of relevant work (30)

Interview (only for short-listed candidates) (20)

Gender and Inclusion (20)