CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR A CONSULTANCY
Background
The African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) is an independent, pan-African regional human rights organization established in 1989 and based in Banjul, The Gambia. The ACDHRS has a women’s rights agenda and had been actively involved in the development of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (also known as the Maputo Protocol).
Since its inception, the ACDHRS has a programme that amplifies the voices of women as well as carrying out institutional capacity building, research and documentation, publications, networking and other activities at the national and regional levels. The Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment programme of the ACDHRS has the main objective to promote and protect the rights of African women and girls in line
with related conventions and instruments. The ACDHRS together with the Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF International Secretariat, Zimbabwe) and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-Geneva) formed the first Working Group in 1995 to collaborate with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
(ACHPR) to develop the first draft of the Maputo Protocol before it was shared with the African Union.
Following the adoption of the Maputo Protocol by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in July, 2003 in Maputo, Mozambique, the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) Coalition was established in 2004 by a group of organizations working on women’s human rights to support African Union Member States to sign, ratify, domesticate and implement the Protocol. The ACDHRS is a founding and Steering Committee Member of the SOAWR Coalition.
The Protocol entered into force in November, 2005 following its 15th ratification. To date, forty two (42) Member States have ratified the Protocol.
With funding from partners through Equality Now based in Nairobi, Kenya the ACDHRS would implement the ‘Towards the implementation of the ‘All for Maputo Protocol Programme’ project from April-December, 2021.
The overall goal of the Project is to contribute towards the implementation of Key Result Areas (KRAs) 2 (ratification of the Maputo Protocol in 13 African States thereby ensuring universal ratification) and Key Result Area 3 (enhanced State accountability to ensure fulfilment of State obligations under the Protocol) of the 2020-2024 SOAWR Strategic Plan.
The Consultancy will focus on KRA2 which would seek to contribute towards the ratification of the Maputo Protocol by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Consequently, the ACDHRS would wish to hire the services of a Consultant(s) to carry out a Baseline Study on existing legal and policy frameworks on the human rights of
women in the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
The objective of the Study is to review the existing legal and policy frameworks on the human rights of women, make a comparison of the existing national laws and the provisions of the Maputo Protocol and well as identify strategies/recommendations for further advocacy.
Duties and responsibilities of the Consultant(s)
The duties of the Consultant shall be as follows:
- Submit a technical and financial proposal (including work plan, costing, proposed payment terms) to the ACDHRS for consideration for the implementation of the Baseline Study;
- Conduct of Baseline Study;
- Facilitate the validation of the Baseline Study findings;
- Submit the final study findings to the ACDHRS (including
strategies/recommendations on how to facilitate the ratification of the Maputo Protocol by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic - Responsible for all cost related to the recruitment of other personnel as part of the consultancy team and the payment of any taxes that the consultancy fees may be subjected to;
- Duration of the consultancy period not to exceed of 3 working weeks (with effect from 2nd August, 2021)
Consultant(s) must preferably be based in the Northern African region and be familiar with the policy and legal frameworks relating to the human rights of women in the said country. Consultants must be fluent in English and Arabic. Knowledge of the French language would be an added advantage.
To apply, kindly submit a letter of interest and motivation, 2 refernces (familiar with your work), abridged CV (2 pages maximum) of all team members (where a Team is applying) and a copy of a similar assignment to admin@acdhrs org, csec@acdhrs.org with the subject line: Application for SOAWR Baseline Study
Deadline for submission of application is 28th July, 2021
Due to the high volume of applications that may be received, the ACDHRS would respond only to successful applicants.
Financially supported by the Swedish Development Cooperation through
Equality Now
