Regional Expert for Context Analysis in lower Shabelle Expanding Access to Justice Program in Somalia

Background

The Expanding Access to Justice Program (EAJ) is a five-year associate award (2018–2023), funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) via the Freedom House-led Human Rights Support Mechanism (HRSM) and implemented in partnership between Pact and the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ROLI), that aims to improve access to justice and mechanisms to address grievances in Somalia and Somaliland.

The three main project objectives are 1) Support and improve inclusive engagement in justice solutions; 2) Strengthen justice services; 3) Improve navigation of justice pathways by aggrieved parties. The EAJ has been implemented for two years, with its current focus on South West State and Benadir Regional Administration. Most recently it has centered part of its approaches around issues of stabilization and access to justice and has commenced activities in Lower Shabelle.

The EAJ intends to supplement its activities and approaches in Year 3 through an ‘everyday’ contextual analysis in Lower Shabelle. It therefore seeks to deploy one consultant from the Lower Shabelle area.

GOAL/Purpose

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide the EAJ with in-depth local context analysis and information on questions and dynamics around access to justice issues in Lower Shabelle throughout Year 3. Analysis and local contextual understanding will ensure that EAJ activities are relevant to the dynamics of local communities and that any program activities are well embedded in socio-cultural and political dynamics.

OBJECTIVES:

The contextual analysis will form part of a multi-faceted approach to conducting ongoing analysis of the local political economy as it relates to the justice sector and the expansion of legal aid. It will be built around a set of simple and clear processes to furnish the project with a steady flow of information about the contextual environment.

The key objectives are to:

• help identify allies for reforms or potential conflicts among partners

• help understand unique opportunity to influence decision-makers

• contribute to issue-focused research that analyses contextual factors

• monitor changing conditions against selected context and risk indicators, using those indicators as red flags that trigger internal discussions and consultation with USAID to establish whether the operating scenario has altered significantly enough to require program modification

• feed into the EAJ’s continuous learning exercises

• enhance understanding of EAJ partners’ motivations, challenges, and relationships

The contextual analysis will feed into brief environmental scans every month that synthesize analytical insights around different questions.

EXPECTED RESULTS (OUTPUTS)

The expected outputs from this consultancy are analyses or background information on:

• developments concerning the justice sector in the state and other EAJ relevant information

• specific topics, where requested

TASKS and Key deliverables

The consultant will need to undertake the following tasks to achieve the above-mentioned objectives:

• monitor local media and social media on access to justice matters

• regularly consult with key respondents and relevant actors to review contextual changes related to program activities and objectives

• Provide monthly briefs/updates on the current situation as it relates to EAJ program objectives

• Provide briefs on special thematic issues upon request

SUPERVISION AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

The Consultant will work home-based and will be supervised by the EAJ Research Team Leader.

PERIOD OF CONSULTANCY

The consultant will be recruited in the Lower Shabelle area.

The consultancy is based on a contract of up to 55 working days, in the period from 1 October 2020 to 31 August 2021.

assurance of confidentiality

All deliberations relating to this consultancy, including all information collected from various meetings/documents shall be kept confidential and shall not be divulged to any third party either verbally or in writing or in any other form.

APPLICANT SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

The Consultant should have the following educational qualifications, skills and experience:

1. MA degree in social science, law, political science or related discipline;
2. An excellent understanding of the Somali local political and institutional landscape particularly regarding justice and dispute resolutions systems in Lower Shabelle;
3. Demonstrated access to key respondents in the justice sector;
4. English writing skills and experience conducting qualitative interviews;
5. Somali language skills;
6. Be resident in the Lower Shabelle area.

Submission requirements

Submit the following documents with their expression of interest for this consultancy:

• Curriculum Vitae with three references,

Interested applicants please submit your applications to applyeaj@abaroli.org