CADRE – Children’s Alternatives to Detention protecting their Rights in Europe

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  • Remote
  • TBD USD / Year
  • International Commission of Jurists profile




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International Commission of Jurists

Type of contract: Consultancy

Location: Home-based (EU)

Duration of contract: 15 to 20 working days

Start Date: January 16th, 2023 End date: February 28th, 2023

Summary

The International Commission of Jurists – European Institutions (ICJ-EI) is seeking qualified applicants to conduct a final evaluation for its CADRE project in January/February 2023.

Overview of the ICJ-EI

Composed of 60 eminent judges and lawyers from all regions of the world, the ICJ-EI promotes and protects human rights through the rule of law, by using its unique legal expertise to develop and strengthen national and international justice systems. The ICJ- aims to strengthen the protection of human rights and the rule of law throughout the European Union by advancing the independence and accountability of judiciaries and supporting strong legal professions; increasing access to justice for marginalized groups; enhancing national implementation of international human rights law and ensuring that legislation and practice, in particular on the justice system, complies with international human rights law; supporting the development of regional human rights standards and mechanisms.

Project Background

The ICJ-EI does not maintain an office in every single EU country but operates the project with national Partners guided by a project team in the Brussels Head Office.

The ICJ-EI has been undertaking the CADRE project since January 2020: the project will end on January 31st, 2023 – with the last event schedule to take place in the second half of January 2023. The overall objective of the project is to promote the expansion, implementation and improvement in the European Union of viable and effective alternatives to detention for migrant children in full respect of their rights. Under this general objective, the project seeks to achieve the following specific objectives:

a) Officials, lawyers and CSOs working with/for migrant children are aware of and have access to best practices, international and EU law standards, on altertives to detention in line with funamental rights

b) Officials, lawyers and CSOs working with/for migrant children have the skills and the ability to implement international and EU law and standards on alternatives to detention and deprivation of liberty

c) Specilist officials, lawyers and CSOs working with/for migrant children share a common understanding and goal in the implementation of children’s rights in alternatives to detention and can reach each other for sharing of best practices or other developments in the field.

This project’s target groups are public officials, CSOs, lawyers, judges dealing with migrant children, detention and alternatives to detention in five focus EU countries: Malta, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Belgium – as well as to a more limited extent in Hungary and Italy.

Evaluation Overview

The primary users of the evaluation report will be the ICJ_EI project team staffs who will use the findings and recommendations to inform any adjustment to the strategies and future programming in the European Union. The secondary users will be the Legal and Policy Office, and the Donor Relations team who may also refer to the conclusions and recommendations to respectively inform changes to the ICJ-EI’s approach and to program management in general (from design to monitoring and closure). The institutional bilateral donor supporting this project may also use some of the findings to reflect on its support for human rights related programs.

The ICJ-EI is primarily concerned with assessing the effectiveness of the project’s approach and the impact of the achieved outcomes. As such, the evaluation should assess the achievements of the project against its stated outcomes, including a re-examination of the relevance of the expected results and of the project design. It shall also identify significant factors that are facilitating or impeding the delivery of outcomes. The evaluation should have a strong learning objective. It should reflect on what has worked and what has not worked, and identify concrete, specific recommendations and lessons learned for the future. Below are some proposed evaluative questions for each stated evaluation criteria:

Relevance and Effectiveness (is the intervention achieving its objective)

  • Were the intended outcomes achieved?
  • What are the main bottlenecks, and how can they be rectified?
  • What lessons can be drawn to enhance relevance and effectiveness?
  • Were the partnerships effective?

Impact (what difference does the intervention make)

  • Is there evidence that knowledge and skills acquired by the target group under the project are transferred to their daily activities?
  • Are changes among the target groups are being transferred to the broader CSOs and HRDs community? Sustainability (will the benefits last)
  • Has the intervention contributed to build the target group’s resilience to the on-going human-rights push back?
  • Will the target group be able to develop strategies to adapt to future legal challenges to the protection of migrant children’s rights?

Sustainability (will the benefits last)

  • Has the intervention contributed to build the target group’s resilience to the on-going human-rights push back?
  • Will the target group be able to develop strategies to adapt to future legal challenges to the protection of migrant children’s rights?

ICJ-EI’s MEL Officer will review the methodology proposed by the evaluation team. Ideally, it will include (i) a desk review of pertinent project documents and records (including the project proposal, logical framework, amended project documents, interim reports, and various records containing monitoring data); (ii) data collection with project stakeholders: online communication with project partners, event participants, lawyers and other target groups will be privileged, as well as activity observation if possible, during the second half of January. The primary data should involve qualitative and quantitative research methods – including but not limited to interviews with staffs from the ICJ-EI and the Partner; key informant interviews with training participants and government officials (if possible); perception surveys of members of the public communities.

Evaluation Implementation The evaluation should take place in January/February 2023. The ICJ-EI staff will provide logistical and technical support as appropriate throughout the evaluation process (compilation of project documents, assisting with scheduling meetings / interviews if desired, etc.).

A total of up to 20 working days will be available for:

• Evaluation preparation – including finalizing the evaluation methodology, performing the initial desk review of project materials, creating and testing data collection tools, compiling a brief inception note;

• Remote data collection – including data collection through online interviews and meetings;

• Data analysis and synthesis – including transcription, data aggregation, writing a draft report, presenting findings to the ICJ-EI, and incorporating feedback from the ICJ and its partners into a final report.

The final deliverables for this evaluation will include:

  • An inception report and evaluation plan (due to the ICJ-EI for feedback and approval within the first 5 working days from contract signature);
  • One oral presentation of key findings by Skype or another online platform with relevant ICJ-EI staff (due to the ICJ-EI upon finalization of online interviews and meetings, and before submission of the written draft report);
  • A draft report detailing key findings, supporting evidence, and pragmatic recommendations (due to the ICJ-EI Program Manager and MEL Officer for feedback within 15/18 days)
  • A final report incorporating all relevant feedback to the ICJ-EI and its partners and including an executive summary or fact sheet to be distributed with additional stakeholders (due within 20 working days and in any case prior to 15 March 2023). The final report should provide brief, clear and pragmatic conclusions and recommendations, including: the degree to which the project outcomes are likely to be delivered; important lessons that can be drawn from the experience of the project and its results to date; general recommendations on improving implementation for the remainder of the project; and recommendations on further action upon completion of the current project

Application Guidelines:

The selected consultant should have demonstrated expertise in results-based project evaluation and familiarity with governance and human rights programming. The selected consultant must be EU based. Additional information about desired qualifications is listed below:

• Bachelor’s degree in social sciences, political sciences, international law, international relations, human rights, or related field (Master’s degree strongly preferred);

• Minimum 3–6 years of experience in designing, overseeing, and implementing project M&E or combination of education, training and experience;

• Experience with qualitative and quantitative M&E data collection and analysis methods;

• Experience in conducting evaluations for EU funding agencies preferred;

• Excellent inter-cultural communication skills and ability to forge strong cross-cultural relationships and build trust;

• Strong facilitation, presentation, and communication skills;

• Strong ability to communicate effectively in English, both verbally and in writing;

• Team player with the ability to closely collaborate with the ICJ-EI staffs, local partners, and project stakeholders.

How to apply

Interested applicants must provide all materials outlined below to [email protected] by December 2 nd, 12am CEST. Candidates selected for an interview will be notified by December 9 th, 12am CEST, and a final decision will be made by January 10 th, 12am CEST.

Interested applicants should provide a current CV and a maximum 3-pages technical proposal. These materials should clearly outline (i) the candidate’s key skills and experience that are relevant to this evaluation; (ii) a concise description of the desired evaluation approach and key standards and principles that will inform her/his work; (iii) an identification of possible data limitations and ways to mitigate them (recognizing that the applicant is operating with only the limited information provided herein); (iv) a short cost justification and (v) the names and contact information for two recent references. Note that the ICJ may ask for examples of previous work after reviewing the application materials.

Budget Guidelines The budget for this evaluation should not exceed a maximum of 8.000EUR – including staff salaries and rates, taxes, travel, any other relevant costs


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