Call for Applicants to Conduct a Baseline Need Assessment

The Center for Advancement of Rights and Democracy (CARD) is a board-led, non-profit organization registered in Ethiopia under the revised Civil Societies Proclamation 1113/2019 with registry number 4307. CARD envisions seeing a democratic Ethiopia and has a mission of echoing principles of democracy to make it the rule of the game in the country.

CARD believes in the importance of promoting human rights values at the grassroots level and for the young generation in order to mitigate intercommunal conflicts in short term and create a popular human rights movement in the medium and long term. Among these platforms is the “New Generation Human Rights Defenders” (NGHRDs) project which targets interested high school students and offers them human rights training with an aim of bringing up a new generation of human rights defenders to make human rights a popular movement of the youth. CARD started the implementation of NGHRDS in 2021 and offered human rights training to 364 high school students in Addis Ababa. Among the 364 trainees, some of them have established human rights and human rights-related clubs.

As CARD recently planned to expand this project to 20 high schools (10 from Addis Ababa and 10 from four regional states’ cities), we are looking for a consultant to conduct needs assessment studies on the need for human rights clubs and the status of clubs’ formation in the country. This baseline study is crucial to identify areas of intervention.  

Purpose, Objective, and Scope of the Consultancy

The planned assessment is a need assessment study that will consist of desk research involving the Ministry of Education and Education Bureaus in the country.

(1) OBJECTIVE: The objective of the overall project is to assess the need for human rights clubs in high schools and the status of club formations.

(3) SCOPE OF WORK

This task includes conducting desk research that will entail a need assessment of why human rights clubs are important, whether is there a difference between human rights clubs and other clubs that are operating, and what club formation looks like in schools. The consultant will independently carry out this baseline needs assessment study. The consultant will develop a methodology that will include but will not be limited to the development of questionnaires to be administered. Major stakeholders of this project include the Ministry of Education, high school students, and the education bureaus in federal cities and regional states, and might engage public schools in regions and civic and ethical education teachers.  

RESPONSIBILITIES

The consultant will work independently in conducting the need assessment. Activities include but are not limited to the following:

• Strategy planning and data collection:
• Prepare and submit a strategy outline for the need assessment study on the needs of human rights clubs and the status of club formation for approval.
• Identify possible conflicts of the proposed project with the enabling environment and powers of other institutions involved in the educational sector as well as recommendations on how to foster cooperation amongst all stakeholders concerned with this project.
• Identify the importance of having human rights clubs and what does club formation looks like in schools.
• Develop, distribute and retrieve questionnaires or survey instruments to stakeholders.

Data Analysis:

• Highlight the status, and challenges of the need for establishing human rights club
• Identify challenges for forming clubs in public high schools
• Assess if club formation is centralized or decentralized.
• Prepare and submit a draft need assessment report to CARD.
• Address comments and submit the final need assessment report to CARD.

Others:

• Attend meetings related to the project.
• Present the findings of the analysis at stakeholder consultative meetings, if mandatory.
• Any other ad-hoc duties that may be assigned by CARD with regard to the assignment.

EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES

The following are the expected outputs of this assignment;

1. Approved Strategy outline for Baseline Study
2. Questionnaires or survey instruments (for different stakeholders)
3. Results of Questionnaires or survey instruments (for different stakeholders)
4. Draft Baseline Study Report
5. Final Baseline Study Report

DURATION OF WORK

The expected duration of this assignment is 4 weeks after signing the contract with CARD.

REQUIREMENTS

The consultant must possess:

• A minimum of a Master's degree in law, public policy, or related field.
• 5 years of work experience in research, and report writing for a similar project.
• Good drafting, substantive editing, and reviewing the ability of research documents.

Interested applicants need to submit their CV via apply@cardeth.org before June 1st, 2022.