Program:
Promoting Rights and Justice in The Gambia Activity
Type:
Assessment of justice needs and justice sector capacity
Purpose:
To identify and map the weaknesses and capabilities of the Justice Sector in The Gambia to inform program design.
Primary Methodology:
Mixed methods research based on Judicial Reform Index and Access to Justice Assessment tools.
Period of Performance:
August to November, 2021
Location of consultancy
Banjul, The Gambia
The American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) is a non-profit organization that implements legal reform programs in roughly 50 countries around the world. ABA ROLI has nearly 500 professional staff working abroad, and in its Washington, D.C. office. ABA ROLI’s host country partners include judges, lawyers, bar associations, law schools, court administrators, legislatures, ministries of justice and a wide array of civil society organizations, including human rights groups.
ABA ROLI seeks an expert to serve as a consultant for its Promoting Rights and Justice in The Gambia Activity to conduct an assessment of justice needs and justice sector capacity.
Background:
ABA ROLI, in collaboration with Freedom House, is implementing the five-year Promoting Rights and Justice in The Gambia Activity, funded by USAID under the Human Rights Support Mechanism. The goal of the project is to strengthen the integrity of political accountability systems in The Gambia. The project will work towards this goal by achieving two objectives:
Improve institutional capabilities within the justice sector
Empower civil society organizations to safely and effectively exercise civil and political rights.
Work under this consultancy relates to Objective 1. To ensure that the project is driven and informed by local systems and up to date data, it is structured with a 4-month inception research period whose purpose is to gather data to fine tune and adjust the project activities. The final project design and activities will be adjusted on the basis of the research results.
Research Purpose and Scope:
Work under this consultancy will conduct an assessment of the state of current justice sector systems and laws in the Gambia. Using ABA ROLI’s Judicial Reform Index (JRI) and Access to Justice Assessment Tool, and international standards of court management as frameworks to guide the data gathering and analysis, the research will examine the following areas:
Existing court management processes.
Case management systems and processes, including case intake mechanisms and forms.
Examine strengths and weaknesses of the current system(s) of case numbering, file tracking, documentation of file contents, back-up files, storage, and archival storage currently in use.
Assess Gambian justice personnel current knowledge and skills related to court management processes, case management, data management. This assessment will serve as a basis for the development of training modules and courses.
Examine existing ethics code and codes of conduct used by the Gambian Judiciary.
Deliverables:
All deliverables must be written and presented in English.
The main deliverables of this consultancy include:
Clear descriptions of all data collection tools, as well as all raw data collected by Consultant.
A brief inception report and work plan prepared in consultation with ABA ROLI’s team; the inception report at the minimum, must include the following: a detailed approach and methodology for the study; data collection and analysis activities and schedule; key institutions or stakeholders that will form respondents for the study. The inception report should also present an outline of literature that forms the basis for the identified approach.
Draft report that includes preliminary findings, conclusions and recommendations. ABA ROLI will review and submit comments and suggested revisions to be considered by the researcher prior to finalization.
A final report, completed in the format agreed upon with ABA ROLI.
The report will include an executive summary, a description of the research approach and methodology, including limitations, key findings, conclusions and recommendations, appendices that contain the data analysis collection and analysis tools used.
What We Are Looking for:
The consultant should be proficient in conducting mixed research and analysis, with relevant experience in conducting studies in the justice and human rights sector.
He/she must have:
At least a master’s degree in public policy or administration, social or political science, or other related field with no less than seven years of experience conducting research and evaluation;
Must have previous experience in conducting justice sector assessments, preferably in the Africa region. Work experience or exposure to the justice sector in the Gambia is a plus.
Must demonstrate proficiency in the use of MS Office and other applications for online surveys and data analysis;
Must demonstrate abilities and experience in managing and mobilizing quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis; ability to mobilize data analysts/ enumerators in the field is a plus.
Supervision of the consultant’s work:
The consultant will report directly to the D.C. based Senior Technical Advisor (STA) and will coordinate extensively with the project COP and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Advisor in the development of inception report, tools, and in finalizing the results of the study. The consultant must provide all deliverables defined in these terms of reference.
At the request of the STA the consultant may be required to deliver intermediate milestones (such as notes, outlines, drafts for review, etc.) in addition to deliverables that are listed.
Payment will be tied to successful completion of deliverables according to acceptable quality standards as determined by the STA.
Interested and qualified Consultants or Consultancy firms should submit their applications which should include the following:
Cover Letter
Curriculum Vitae.
Please include “Promoting Rights and Justice in The Gambia” on the subject line. Applications should be emailed to africa-recruitment@abaroli.org no later than July 30, 2021.
How to apply:
Interested and qualified Consultants or Consultancy firms should submit their applications which should include the following:
Cover Letter
Curriculum Vitae.
Please include “Promoting Rights and Justice in The Gambia” on the subject line. Applications should be emailed to africa-recruitment@abaroli.org no later than July 30, 2021.