Call for Research Consultants: Human Rights Sensitive Report Training Manual Development

Term of Reference (TOR) for a consultancy service to develop a training manual on human rights sensitive reporting - (Consultant/Consultancy Team)

The Center for the Advancement of Rights and Democracy (CARD) is a board-led, for-not-profit organization registered in Ethiopia under the Civil Societies Law 1113/2019 with registry number 4307. CARD acquired its legal personality on 24 July 2019.

​CARD aspires to see Ethiopia where democratic culture flourished on human rights values and has been working with a mission to empower citizens and groups of citizens to ensure their ability to promote and defend human rights and build democratic governance in Ethiopia. CARD is an organization that follows a rights-centered approach to help the democratization process in Ethiopia. Currently, CARD implements several projects under five major thematic program areas: Civic Engagement, Media Literacy, Women and Youth Empowerment, Digital Rights, and Democratic Index.

CARD’s Vision

To see Ethiopia where democratic culture flourished on human rights values.

CARD’s Mission

To empower citizens and groups of citizens to ensure their ability to promote and defend human rights and build democratic governance in Ethiopia. [More on CARD's Website]

Background of the Project

Through the support of Agence Française de Développement - AFD, CARD is implementing a project alongside partner organizations under the title “Promoting Inclusiveness in Society through Rights-Based Research, Dialogue, and Advocacy”. The overarching objective of the project is to create robust, inclusive, and diverse civic and media space as well as to enhance the partnerships between civic organizations through research, capacity building of formal and informal civic associations and grassroots movements, and to protect the civic space by creating human rights-based dialogue platforms, conflict mitigation, and peacebuilding. This project is being implemented by the joint effort of seven newly established civil society organizations under the Consortium for Human Rights, Dialogue, and Democracy (CHRDD) with CARD being the lead.

The Call

CARD is implementing a component from the 3-year project with the objective of creating inclusive media houses and supporting independent associations of media practitioners. One activity is training journalists and editors on the topic of human rights sensitive reporting. 

To this end, CARD wants to hire a consultant to develop a training manual on human rights-sensitive reporting for journalists and editors and invites all qualified consultants according to the below-specified requirements. 

Scope of work and expected outputs/deliverables:  

The training manual will be important in supporting the efforts of capacitating journalists and editors in the efforts of providing human rights sensitive reporting to society. The scope of the assignment includes

1. Undertake desk research and analyze all the necessary documents/training modules, training materials to fully understand the ground situation, and existing training material available for training journalists and editors on human rights sensitive reporting.
2. Carry out a stakeholder analysis to bring out the roles and responsibilities of key players and institutions.
3. Develop a comprehensive training module (in English) for  journalists and editors and facilitators guide. The training module should at least include 2 days' worth of training materials.
4. Share the draft module with key experts for their review; incorporate comments and finalize the module.
5. Conduct 6 training sessions for 120 journalists and editors on human rights sensitive reporting (20 people per session).
6. Develop a pre/post-training evaluation tool for the training manual

Final Deliverables:

1. Comprehensive training module, with a two days training curriculum for journalists and editors alongside a facilitator’s guide.
2. Six (6) training completed and reports submitted, including the post-training evaluation and impact assessment.

Timeframe and Deadlines

1. The awarded consultant is expected to work and complete the assignment within the timeframe according to the agreement between CARD and the awarded consultant.  
2. The exact starting date will be on the date the agreement is signed between CARD and consultant
3. Duration of the manual preparation assignment will be from Dec 13, 2022 to Jan 9, 2023.
4. The schedule for the 6 training will be decided and communicated shortly after the submission of the final training manual

Required Skills/Experience 

The consultant/consultancy team is expected to have a mix of skills relevant to the assignment. The required background and experience for the consultant/consultancy team are as follows:

• A post-graduate or equivalent qualification/ degree in Law, Criminology, Human rights, Political Science, Development Study, Humanities, or any other relevant discipline
• At least 3-5 years of prior work experience in the field of training, human rights, human rights-based approach, human rights sensitive reporting, etc. especially in a regional and international context.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in conducting need assessments and developing training modules/curriculum, training materials, etc.
• Demonstrated experiences and skills in facilitating stakeholder/working group consultations and training. 
• Relevant regional and international experience will be an added advantage.
• Excellent writing, editing, and oral communication skills in English.

How to Apply 

Interested and qualified applicants should send the following document to email: apply@cardeth.org no later than Dec 7, 2022, with the subject line Application for human rights sensitive reporting training manual.

• A cover letter
• A financial proposal for the service
• A technical proposal for the service
• Registration, tax clearance, and other relevant documents
• CV and other relevant documents