Support to Capacity Strengthening of the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone for Human Rights Protection and Promotion Project

Contract

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Background

The Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL) has experienced significant transformation since its inception and continues to progressively serve its promotion and protection roles, building a culture of respect for human rights and facilitating access to remedies for aggrieved victims of human rights violation. Consequently, the Commission continues to maintain a ‘Grade A’ status ranking by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRIs).

Prior to the joint project on support to the HRCSL, persistent challenges inhibited the ability of the Commission from effectively carrying out its statutory mandate amidst prevalent human rights issues in remote communities. The project ‘Strengthening Capacity of the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone for Human rights Protection and Promotion was developed in two phases through collaboration of UNDP-Embassy of Ireland and the HRCSL. Phase I covers the period 2019-202 and phase II spans from April 2021 to December 2022. The latter phase seeks to consolidate the gains made in the implementation of the Phase I through support to project initiatives which aimed at strengthening capacity of the Commission, the decentralised District Human Rights Committees (DHRC) and civil society organisations.

The project seeks to contribute to the following two outputs.

Output 1: Staff and Institutional capacity of the HRC is strengthened to effectively deliver on its human rights promotion and protection mandate

Output 2: Strengthened public awareness and empowerment of rights-holders to hold government accountable to their human rights commitment.

The strategic focus of the project has been to contribute to the programme priorities of the UNDP Sierra Leone Country Programme Document (2020-2023), specifically on strengthening capacities of oversight institutions and fostering protection of fundamental human rights within the Inclusive Democratic Governance Cluster[1]. The project complements the efforts of the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) to ad­vance rule of law and promote justice and human rights.[2] The project therefore contributes to Cluster 4: Governance and Accountability for results of the Sierra Leone Medium-Term National Development Plan (MT-NDP 2019–2023), and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 5 and 16, and the priorities of the African Union Agenda (AUA) Goals 11 and 17.[3]

The project supported targeted short-term interventions geared towards addressing the immediate needs and priorities of the HRCSL with a strong focus on strengthening the staff and institutional capacities and to empower ordinary citizens, especially residents in rural communities who are the right-holders with the requisite knowledge on human rights and the laws of Sierra Leone. The implementation of the support to HRCSL Project utilises a combination of national and direct implementation (NIM/DIM) modalities, the former allowing the HRCSL to be in absolute control of project implementation whilst the latter ensures UNDP delivers project outputs in partnership the Commission.

In 2020, the need to respond to the COVID-19 situation necessitated a refocusing of project priorities to complement the government’s response to prevent the spread of the disease. Key interventions focused on meeting the capacity needs of relevant institutions to respond to the COVID-19 situation, in particular, the human rights implications and concerns emanating from the enforcement of COVID-19 regulations. Between 2019-2022, the project has achieved the following results:

Improved capacity of HRCSL staff and members of District Human Rights Committees (DHRCs) on responding to issues of human rights. HRCSL’s outreach capacity improved as more communities covered through human rights mobile outreaches and complaint hearing fora across the country. Through its complaint handling processes, the HRCSL facilitated complainants’ access to appropriate remedies. The Commission’s outreach to secondary schools in various districts has resulted into the establishment of over 30 Human Rights and Peace Clubs across the country. Strengthened policy environment of the HRCSL. HRCSL’s advocacy engagement with stakeholders on the universal periodic review (UPR) process, contributed to legal reforms and enhancing protection and respect for human rights. These include the abolition of the death penalty, the new amendment Sexual Offences Act 2019, the repealing of Part V of the Public Order Act 1965 and the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Bill. HRCSL Capacity Gap Assessment Report, Capacity Building Plan, and the Strategic Plan (2021-2025) geared towards guiding the operations of the HRC from 2021 to 2025 were developed, HRCSL Act 2004 reviewed for subsequent enactment by Parliament. The Commission performs the crucial role of following-up on the implementation of UPR recommendations throughout the UPR cycle and to provide technical and advisory support to the Ministry of foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC) for the coordination of UPR process.

Project beneficiaries

The project directly benefits the HRCSL personnel, the DHRCs/CSOs, resident in selected rural communities including persons with disability, victims of human rights violation, secondary school pupils and teachers, private businesses, members of the Sierra Leone Parliament and MDAs.

The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the results and approaches of the joint UNDP-Embassy of Ireland Support to Capacity Strengthening of the HRCSL Project. It will assess the results achieved through the project interventions, document the lessons learned and best practices, as well as capture the challenges faced. The evaluation will assess the impact of project interventions at regional and national levels within the wider context of the technical and financial assistance provided by UNDP and its partners. Specifically, the evaluation will assess the impact UNDP’s support towards strengthening capacity of oversight institutional, increasing access to remedy for the indigent, vulnerable people and victims of human rights violation, and support to institutional policy reforms.

Application Process

Applicants are requested to apply online at http://jobs.undp.org by 8th September 2022. The application document can be accessed on https://procurement-notices.undp.org. Candidates are invited to submit applications together with their CV for these positions. UNDP applies a fair and transparent selection process that will consider the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals. Qualified women and members of social minorities are encouraged to apply. Interested applicants should send an email to: [email protected] for any inquiries

Duties and Responsibilities

The evaluation will focus mainly on assessing the progress and achievements, challenges and lessons learned from the implementation of phases I & II of the support to the HRCSL and provide relevant recommendations to inform future programming suitable to the present country context. It will focus on assessing the impact of project interventions spanning from 2019 to present. Specifically, it will examine the impact of UNDP’s support to institutional capacity (technical, policy and legal) strengthening, complaint handling (mobile and office-based) procedures, HRCSL engagement on the UPR, Business and Human Rights (BHR), capacity building support to District Human Rights Committee (DHRCs) and the establishment human rights and peace clubs at district level.

Specific objectives of the evaluation include:

Review the performance of the human right project in achieving the outputs stated in the programme document and their contributions to CPD outcomes. Assess the factors that impact positively or otherwise on the project outputs and their sustainability. Assess the appropriateness of the project strategy, implementation approach, and programme institutional/management arrangements. Document best practices and lessons learned from the programme to feed into the next phase of the programme cycle. Proffer concrete recommendations that may be required for enhancing the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of a future programme.

The assessment on the contribution of the projects to development results through its activities will be made in accordance with the following evaluation criteria:

Relevance of projects outputs. Coherence of the project intervention with national policies, and interlinkage and synergies with development agencies Effectiveness of project interventions in terms of achieving stated goals. Efficiency of project interventions in terms of use of human and financial resources. Sustainability of the results to which the project contributes.

Relevance

To what extent does the UNDP support to Human Rights Commission respond to the priorities of the Government of Sierra Leone National Development Plan (2019-2023) and similar strategies, the UNDP Country Programme Document (2020-2023), Embassy of Ireland Mission Strategy 2019-2023 and the Sustainable Development Goals? How relevant has the human rights project been to the needs of the Commission and the rights-holders? How does the support for project interventions contribute to the longer-term development results in terms of approaches, capacities, policies and strategies? How relevant have project interventions been in leveraging the UPR recommendations to support legal reforms and protection of women?

Coherence

To what extent the UNDP support to Human Rights Commission is coherent with Government’s policies? To what extent the UNDP support to Human Rights Commission addressed the synergies and interlinkages with other interventions carried out by UN and other development partners?

Efficiency

Has the project been implemented within its stated timeframe and cost estimates? Did the project interventions focus on the set of activities that were expected to produce significant results? Were there sufficient (human and financial) resources allocated towards achievement of the project objectives? Has there been over expenditure or under expenditure in project interventions? Were there any unanticipated events, opportunities or constraints? What could be done differently in the future? What measures were taken to assure the quality of development results and management practices, both in relation to process and products, and to partnership strategies? What monitoring and evaluation procedures were applied by UNDP and partners to ensure greater accountability?

Effectiveness

Have the expected project (quantitative and qualitative) results been achieved and what were the supporting or impeding factors? Were the approaches, resources and conceptual frameworks relevant to achieve intended outputs? What are the main lessons learned from the partnership strategies and what are the possibilities of replication? To what extent have interventions addressed the human rights needs of indigents, vulnerable and people deprived of their rights? How effective was the project in integrating gender concerns in its approach? Which aspects of the interventions register the greatest achievements? What have been the supporting factors? How can UNDP build upon or replicate these achievements? In which areas does the project component have the least achievements? What have been the constraining factors and why? How can they be overcome? Were the approaches, resources and conceptual frameworks used relevant to the achievement of planned outputs? What were the unintended results (positive/negative) of project interventions?

Sustainability

To what extent were sustainability considerations were taken into account in the design and implementation of interventions? How was this concern reflected in the design of the project component and in the implementation of activities at different levels,? What steps have been taken to ensure sustainability of results? How the development of partnerships at local and national level contributed to sustainability of the results? How has different stakeholders been engaged in the design and implementation? Have interventions been implemented with appropriate and effective partnership strategies? What has been the nature and added value of these partnerships?

Gender and disability inclusion

To what extent have poor, indigenous and physically challenged, women, men and other disadvantaged and marginalized groups benefited from the project? To what extent have gender equality and the empowerment of women been addressed in the design, implementation and monitoring of the project? Is the gender marker assigned to this project representative of reality? To what extent has the project promoted positive changes in gender equality and the promoting the rights of women and persons with disability? Did any unintended effects emerge for women, men or vulnerable groups?

S****/N

Deliverable

Timelines

Payments

1

Inception report: An inception report detailing the evaluators’ understanding of the assignment and showing how each evaluation question will be answered by way of proposed methods, proposed sources of data and data collection procedures. The inception report will also include an evaluation matrix, proposed schedule of tasks, activities and deliverables.

5 days

20%

2

Draft evaluation report: conduct evaluation, prepare draft evaluation report and organise half-day session to discuss and validate findings of the evaluation.

20 days

50%

3

Final evaluation report: revise the draft report based on feedbacks from the stakeholders, present final evaluation report to key stakeholders and submit the final report.

5 days

30%

Total

30 Days

100%

Competencies

Team Composition

• The evaluation team will comprise two consultants including a combination of an international and national. The international consultant will lead the whole evaluation process and he will ensure compliance with UNDP’s evaluation policies.
• The national consultant will provide effective support to the international consultant to achieve a successful outcome. He or she will facilitate data collection meetings, facilitate evaluation process and ensure country-level socio-cultural context and perspectives and are effectively captured.
• The consultants will develop a well-thought-out methodology in the inception report, prepare an evaluation matrix including questions and data collection instruments.
• Undertake field visits to identified communities to interact with targeted beneficiaries, partners and stakeholders.
• Engage and facilitate stakeholders’ discussion and focus groups to elicit and analyse relevant information.
• Consolidate and analyze the data to ensure preparation of relevant reports in the prescribed format

Corporate Competencies

• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Demonstrates diplomacy and tact in dealing with sensitive and complex situations;
• Strong communication, team building, interpersonal, analysis, and planning skills.

Professionalism

• Effective communication
• Problem Solving skills
• Demonstrated ability to negotiate and apply good judgment;
• Shows pride in work and in achievements;
• Is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results.
• Superior leadership and strategic management skills with an excellent understanding of international development issues and knowledge of the UN system;
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, in a multi-cultural setting; ability to conduct results-based management and reporting, objectivity and ability to analyze large multi-country data sets in short period;
• Basic gender understanding, skills, experience and commitment to gender issues;

Planning & Organizing

• Organizes and accurately completes multiple tasks by establishing priorities while taking into consideration special assignments, frequent interruptions, deadlines, available resources and multiple reporting relationships;
• Plans, coordinates and organizes workload while remaining aware of changing priorities and competing deadlines;
• Establishes, builds and maintains effective working relationships with staff, partners and beneficiaries to achieve the planned results.
• Experience working collaboratively in small teams with tight deadlines

Required Skills and Experience

Advanced university degree in Development Studies, Monitoring and Evaluation, Human Rights, Law, or Political Science

• At least 7 years of international development experience or at least 5 years of experience in project/programme design and implementation.
• Relevant professional experience in evaluation of rule of law and human rights programmes or other relevant programmes at all levels;
• Strong monitoring and evaluation background, sound methodological skills and knowledge of evaluation methods and techniques;
• Extensive experience in working with the UN/multilateral development agencies and UNDP country offices;
• Demonstrate experience in working with a variety of stakeholders;