TERMS OF REFERENCE End of Project evaluation of the project on Support to the Rule of Law and Access to Justice for All
Consultancy, Research Jobs
- Legal Resources Foundation
- Expires 05 Aug 2022
- Bulawayo
- Full Time
Job Description
1. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT
The Legal Resources Foundation is an autonomous, charitable, and educational Trust, established by trust deed and registered under the Welfare Organisations Act [93/67] in 1984 (now Private Voluntary Organisations Act [Chapter. 17:05]). The LRF is one of the largest and longest established NGOs in the country. The organisation currently has permanent offices in 20 geographical locations throughout Zimbabwe. The offices are staffed by trained and experienced personnel who have, over the years provided legal aid and education to the disadvantaged and marginalised communities in the country. , It is a professionally run NGO which has solid relationships with other civil society organisations, Judicial Services Commission and other access to justice players , line Ministries and the general populace. Programmes undertaken by the LRF are premised on the assumption that facilitating access to the legal system can advance human rights in Zimbabwe.
The LRF has been leading a consortium consisting Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA), Women and Law Southern Africa (WLSA), Justice for Children Trust (JCT) and Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), in implementing a European Union (EU) project entitled, Support to the Rule of Law and Access to Justice for All. This project was implemented in sixteen (16) districts in eight (8) provinces across Zimbabwe. The project specifically targeted vulnerable and indigent members of the community, particularly, women, children, rural populace, prisoners, linguistic minorities, and People with Disabilities. The project ran from 2018 up to 2022 after a series of stoppages that were triggered by the surfacing of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The project ran with an envisioned impact to strengthen the rule of law through increased access to justice and contributing to justice sector reforms. This was done through intervention methodologies such as legal education, provision of legal services, and establishing community support structures readily available to respond and tackle emerging human rights, rule of law and access to justice issues.
Overall Objective: Strengthen the rule of law through increased access to justice and contributing to justice sector reforms.
Specific Objectives
i. To provide legal aid and assistance to the marginalised vulnerable people in remote rural and peri-urban areas of Zimbabwe;
ii. To enhance the capacity of marginalised and vulnerable groups to assert their rights and access justice
iii. To contribute to an effective and efficient justice delivery system through research, advocacy and lobbying for legal and administrative reform.
Estimated Results
i. Increased access to justice for the marginalised and vulnerable
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ii. Strengthened capacity of the marginalised and vulnerable to assert their rights. iii. Improvements in the efficiency of the justice delivery system.
Duties and Responsibilities
Main activities
i. Provision of legal aid through mobile legal aid clinics (MLACs);
ii. Help desk services at rural courts and districts with high human rights violations;
iii. Legal assistance to pre-trial detainees on remand for long periods, juveniles, persons with
disabilities, and women;
iv. Strategiclitigation;
v. Production and translation of IEC material including formats suitable for people with disabilities
(PWD);
vi. Awareness raising through social media;
vii. Training of community paralegals on gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual offences cases;
viii.Quizzes and debates for children;
ix. Community dialogues;
x. Legal education sessions for people living with disabilities;
xi. Court observation and monitoring;
xii. Development of help desk case management system; xiii.Consultative meetings with CSOs and justice stakeholders; xiv.Research and dissemination of information;
xv. Access to Justice dialogues with CSOs and justice stakeholders; xvi.Advocacy and lobbying
2. EVALUATION PURPOSE
The End of Project Evaluation (EoPE) is a requirement of the consortium partners as part and parcel of bringing the project to a close. The EoPE will cover all activities that were undertaken in the framework of the project. The evaluators are expected to investigate and assess expected results of the project to the actual results that were obtained. This will help to determine the impact and contribution of the project in the specific areas that it targeted.
The evaluation is intended to bring out weaknesses and strengths of the project design and implementation strategy by evaluating the adequacy, efficiency, and effectiveness of its implementation, as well as assessing the project outputs and outcomes. It will collate and analyse lessons learned, challenges faced, and best practices obtained during implementation period (from 2018 – August 2022). The evaluation will assess mechanisms that have been adopted to ensure sustainability of the results achieved by the project, and the likelihood that they will endure after the project has ended, as well as their contribution to capacity development and achievement of sustainable development goals.
The findings and recommendations of the EoPE will inform the consortium partners and other key stakeholders of this project, namely the Ministry of Justice, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs and its dedicated Departments (Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services, and the Legal Aid Directorate), National Prosecuting Authority, Judicial Services Commission, Zimbabwe Republic Police, and key institutions such as the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission on identified gaps and capacity constraints that hinder access to justice for marginalized communities. The recommendations may also be useful to civil society organizations working around access to justice and/or human rights.
Qualifications and Experience
Requirements for Experience and Qualifications Academic Qualifications:
Master’s degree in Law, Human Rights, Development Studies, or any other relevant field Relevance of experience:
• Minimum of 5 years of work experience in the area of human rights and access to justice;
• Previous experience of evaluation of access to justice and/or human rights projects in
Zimbabwe/ sub-Saharan Africa is strongly desired;
• Strong analytical skills and strong ability to communicate and summarize this analysis in writing.
Competencies: Corporate Competencies:
• Demonstrates integrity by modelling LRF values and ethical standards (honesty, integrity, transparency, professionalism, gender sensitivity, accountability and participatory decision- making);
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the consortium partners;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability. Functional Competencies:
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Strong interpersonal and written and oral communication skills;
• Has ability to work both independently and in a team, and ability to deliver high quality work on tight timelines.
Language proficiency
• Fluency in English is essential.
• Knowledge of both Shona and Ndebele will be an asset.
