Training Consultant

American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) — Project “Human Rights and Access to Justice in Niger (Adalci Project)”

The Rule of Law Initiative is a public service project of the American Bar Association that aims to promote legal reform efforts in more than 40 countries around the world. The Rule of Law Initiative focuses its technical legal assistance efforts in the following areas: 1) Fighting Corruption and supporting Public Integrity; 2) Criminal Law and Combating Trafficking in Persons; 3) Gender Issues; 4) Human Rights and Conflict Mitigation; 5) Judicial Reform; 6) Legal Education Reform; and 7) Legal Profession Reform. The “Rule of Law” initiative calls on people with the skills and commitment to effectively promote the rule of law in our host countries.

Project “Human Rights and Access to Justice in Niger (Adalci Project)”

Search for Common Ground (Search), in close collaboration with the American Bar Association (ABA) and Pact, is implementing a four-year consortium project from September 15, 2020 to September 14, 2024 funded by Freedom House through the Human Rights Support Mechanism funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

I. GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Consulting location: Niger (Niamey with the possibility of holding one of the training sessions in Tillaberi, Tahoua or Diffa). The work will be performed in collaboration with the ABA ROLI Program team based in Niamey, including the Human Rights Program Officer.

2. Title: “Consultation mission for the training of commissioners and technical staff of the CNDH of Niger on techniques of research and investigation of serious human rights violations in security crisis situations and of accompanying victims in their quest for justice.”

3. Execution period: 45 days (from June 1 to July 15th, 2022) including 15 working days in Niger (from June 25th to July 10th, 2022). This period may be reviewed by mutual agreement with the Consultant to be recruited.

The purpose of the “Adalci” (equity) project is to contribute to strengthening justice pathways to reduce vulnerability to violent extremism (VE) by improving tools to address the fundamental grievances that fuel extremism in the country’s three main hotbeds of instability: Diffa, Tahoua, and Tillabéri.

To achieve this goal, the project is structured around three specific objectives:

Goal 1 Enhanced capacity of customary and other local conflict mediation mechanisms in target areas prone to EVs to address grievances and resolve disputes.

Goal 2 People in EV-prone areas are empowered to navigate and access the formal justice system to resolve their differences or assert their rights.

Goal 3 The government of Niger and civil society organizations (CSOs) have increased capacity to address VE-related human rights violations committed by state and non-state actors.

Activities supporting Goal 3 will foster collaboration among CSOs, justice actors and relevant authorities, in particular the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), to improve relations through common ground advocacy and encourage the government to support greater accountability of official actors in security and justice. This will improve and expand efforts to investigate and address VE-related human rights violations in targeted regions, raising relevant issues emerging from the engagement detailed in Goals 1 and 2. Activities will use collaborative models to seek solutions to collective problems through incentives and strengthened relationships and networks.

This consultation is part of the implementation of the training activities for commissioners and technical staff of the CNDH provided for in Objective 3 of the Adalci Project. The Consultant will work closely with the human rights program officer of the Adalci project.

II. OBJECTIVES OF CONSULTATION

The overall objective of consulting is to strengthen the CNDH commissioners and technical staff’s capacities in conducting research and investigations into serious human rights violations in security crisis situations and to support victims in their quest for justice as well as to strengthen capacity in quality reporting techniques, advocacy and lobbying. These same training courses will also be delivered to the technical staff of the CSOs selected on the project.

The specific objectives of consulting are to raise awareness of the CNDH on the scope and extent of its legal mandate and CSOs on their role as watchdogs of society, with the aim of improving the quality and impact of their report content.

Training will cover the following:

• Investigative techniques and documentation of human rights violations, including in times of security crisis;

• The role of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in dealing with human rights violations, including referral to international bodies and national actors, particularly with regard to the results of investigations;

• Mechanisms for collaboration among international jurisdictions, including the ICC, and Niger in the investigation of alleged perpetrators of international crimes;

• Use of information technology in documenting and preserving testimonies and other evidence of human rights violations;

• Techniques for protection of victims and witnesses of serious human rights violations;

• Specific research and investigations into cases of sexual violence;

• Securing research and investigations;

• Advocacy and lobbying techniques;

• Techniques for gathering reliable information on cases of human rights violations in the era of “fake news;”

• Organization of the information contained in a report;

• Documentation and report writing technique.

• Organize training sessions on human rights and international law with a focus on topics that have a greater impact in the Nigerien context.

Protocols to be drawn up will deal with the protection of victims and witnesses, one for the use of the CNDH, and the other for the use of CSOs running legal clinics that provide legal assistance to victims of serious human rights violations. Users will be involved in developing these protocols. ABA ROLI will facilitate, through its Human Rights Program Officer, the interaction between the Consultant, the CNDH and the target CSOs.

III. PROFILE OF BENEFICIARIES

The training sessions (four) that the Consultant is called upon to provide will benefit two categories of actors:

• CNDH members (commissioners) and technical staff; and

• CSO members

The above two categories of beneficiaries will be trained separately.

IV. MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES OF CONSULTANT

1) Design and develop training modules covering the specific objectives above, adapted to both categories of beneficiaries;

2) Propose an agenda for each training session (CNDH and CSO);

3) Write a mission report including observations and recommendations on the mission conducted, in particular on the methodology applied and on the evaluation of the results obtained.

V. TRAINING MODULES: STRUCTURE AND CONTENT

Each module should be structured to bring out the following elements:

1) Module title: It must be designed and offered in a way that is both concise and the most representative of the content.

2) Educational objectives of module: They must be clearly defined to:

• allow an objective reference for achievement during the evaluation both by the consultant and by ABA-ROLI;

• guide the division of training into sessions and activities;

• inform (know) and engage (know-how) knowingly the beneficiaries of the training.

In particular, the consultant may classify these objectives by category, according to whether they are (i) cognitive (expertise or knowledge – field of thought); (ii) psychomotor (technical know-how or aptitude) or (iii) emotional (soft skills or behavior).

Among other things, the consultant will indicate the competencies targeted within each module.

3) General content overview: For the purpose of this consultation, an overview is understood to be an indicative and explanatory summary of the main theoretical knowledge and ongoing school debates on training topics. An overview extends beyond a bulleted list or a simple statement of these topics. Briefly introduce the subject and highlight the most essential points of knowledge and debate.

4) Module content: It includes the development of the points retained for each module, with indication of the sources.

5) Teaching materials: The consultant inventories and classifies the documentation recommended to learners (including the legal instruments referred to in each module), including the case studies that he or she proposes as an appendix to each module. He/she will make a briefly explained statement of the list of equipment to be provided and describe the order or sequence of proposed activities.

6) Evaluation type: For each module, the consultant proposes and justifies a form or method of evaluating the learners’ progress toward the training objectives.

Each training module is limited to a maximum of 15 pages, appendices not included.

VI. DELIVERABLES EXPECTED

1) Terms of reference for each training session, to be developed with the Adalci project team, including an agenda for each session.

2) Modules designed for each of the two training sessions.

3) A participant’s manual or notebook containing all the useful documents for reference after the training.

4) A protocol on the protection of victims and witnesses for CNDH use.

5) A protocol on the protection of victims and witnesses, for the use of civil society organizations holding legal clinics that provide legal assistance to victims of serious human rights violations.

VII. CONSULTANT PROFILE

1) Qualifications and work experience

• Holder of a higher university degree in law, with a minimum of 7 years of experience in the subject addressed by the courses to be provided.

• Very good written and oral knowledge of French.

• Reading and understanding English would also be an advantage.

• Good knowledge and handling of computer tools (Microsoft Office, Internet).

• Proven experience as an adult training trainer or facilitator with participatory methods.

• Proven experience in contextual analysis, design/writing and synthesis.

• Good knowledge of the current context in the Sahel.

• Professional experience as a researcher or consultant writing analyses or research/studies in West Africa.

• Knowledge of the issues surrounding human rights violations in Niger.

• Experience with CSOs and participatory methodology desirable.

• Experience as a trainer on the topics mentioned in point (III) above.

• Any additional relevant expertise will be valued.

2) Skills and qualities:

• Autonomy, integrity, sense of responsibility, sense of priorities, ability to work in a multicultural team, proactivity, initiative, listening attitude.