- Position: Consultant
- Duration: It is envisaged that the assignment will last up to 15 days over 2 months
- Estimated starting date: 16 January 2024
- Estimated end date: 16 March 2024
- Location: Home-based
- Application deadline: 12 January 2024, midnight CET
EuroMed Rights is looking to recruit a Consultant in the framework of the EU co-funded project Majalat II: Fostering the structured dialogue between EU and civil society in the Southern Neighbourhood.
The selected expert will be responsible for carrying out a study to assess the knowledge of EU policies, institutions and funding instruments, as well as the monitoring and advocacy capacity building needs of CSOs in the Southern Neighborhood.
Background
The Majalat II: Fostering the structured dialogue between EU and civil society in the Southern Neighbourhood project aims at enhancing a structured and inclusive dialogue between civil society from the Neighborhood South (NS) and a variety of interlocutors, including the EU and national authorities.
The project will be implemented over three years (Jan. 2023 – Dec. 2025) by a Consortium of three civil society networks in the Euro-Mediterranean region: Euromed Rights (EMR), Forum Alternatives du Maroc (FMAS) and Legal Agenda. Majalat II builds on the results of the first phase of Majalat, which ran from February 2018 to September 2021, adopting a similar regional approach and building on the extensive network of civil society partners that has been established in the four target countries – Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan and Lebanon.
Through a cycle of capacity building sessions, sub-grants, thematic workshops, regional seminars, Majalat II provides a unique opportunity for civil society organisations (CSOs) from the Middle East and North Africa to engage with national and European policy makers and share a wide range of recommendations related to three target themes:
(1) governance, democracy and human rights;
(2) climate change and social justice; and
(3) judicial independence and transparency.
In early 2024, the Majalat consortium intends to conduct a needs assessment of civil society organisations (CSOs) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The assessment will aim to identify gaps and needs in knowledge of EU policy and advocacy capacities towards EU institutions, in order to inform the curricula for a series of training sessions to be delivered in the third quarter of 2024. The training sessions will focus on improving knowledge and monitoring and advocacy skills in relation to EU policies, instruments and action in the Southern Neighbourhood region.
About EuroMed Rights
EuroMed Rights was founded in January 1997 in response to the Barcelona Declaration of November 1995 and the establishment of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP). It is the coordinating body of about 80 human rights organisations and institutions as well as individuals from over 30 countries. EuroMed Rights’ organisational structure is built on a general assembly, an executive committee, working groups and a secretariat.
Rooted in civil society the Network seeks to develop and strengthen partnerships between NGOs in the EuroMed region, i.e. networking aimed at strengthening the capacity of members to act and interact within the context of the region and the Barcelona process and other EU-Arab cooperation frameworks.
EuroMed Rights’ head office is situated in Copenhagen. The organisation also has offices in Brussels and Tunis. For further information, visit our website at www.euromedrights.org.
EuroMed Rights aims to ensure that no job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the ground of race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origins, gender, marital status, caring responsibilities, sexual orientation, disability or chronic illness.
Description of the assignment
The selected Consultant will conduct a comprehensive training needs assessment of identified CSOs in the Southern Neighborhood, in order to evaluate CSOs needs in terms of awareness, monitoring and advocacy in relation to European policies. The assessment will use both quantitative and qualitative methods, combining a wide-ranging survey with focus group interviews with stakeholders jointly identified by the consultant and the Consortium.
The results will be captured in a comprehensive report highlighting common gaps and challenges, as well as regional and sectoral variations. The report will also highlight gaps and avenues for improvement of the existing training curricula resources within the Consortium and propose a training outline and methodology that will serve as a basis for the development of a curriculum tailored to the identified needs.
The Consultant will be responsible for the following:
- Familiarize him/herself with the existing EuroMed Rights training modules and analyze them in order to identify avenues for improvement and inform the development of the data collection tools.
- Develop data collection tools, including a survey tool and an interview guide;
- Collect & analyse data, following:
- The launch of the survey
- A series of focus group sessions with target CSOs
- Draft a report highlighting results and key observations derived from the analysis
- Create a tool to collect feedback from training beneficiaries in order to capture the impact of the training on the participants’ work approach or methodology and to evaluate the concrete application of the new skills acquired in their operations.
Deliverables
The selected Consultant will deliver the following deliverables:
- Survey ;
- Interview guide;
- First draft of assessment report;
- Second draft of assessment report;
- Post-training feedback survey
Timeline
- Kick off meeting: 16 January 2024
- Preparation of data collection tools: 16 January – 25 January 2024
- Data collection & analysis: 31 January – 28 February 2024
- Frist draft of the report: 10 March 2024
- Second draft of the report: 20 March 2024
- Refined feedback survey for beneficiaries of the training: 31 March 2024
Required experience and skills:
- Proven extensive experience in conducting comprehensive evaluations and needs assessment and, in particular, in relation to civil society and in the fields of advocacy, development, dialogue, international cooperation, human rights, governance;
- Good knowledge of qualitative research methods and experience in conducting semi-structured interviews and focus groups;
- Ability to deliver timely and high-quality results under tight deadlines;
- Fluency in written and spoken English, French and Arabic;
- Excellent command of Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, etc) and writing skills;
- Experience working with civil society organisations, networks, and/or EU projects;
- Interest in and knowledge of the political context of the MENA region and of the EU-civil society dialogue in the Southern Neighbourhood.
To Apply
This application is open to organisations, research institutes, firms or individuals.
If you believe you qualify for this position, please send the following documents by 12 January 2024 at midnight CET to Marie Picalausa, Administrative, Financial & Human Resource Officer, at: [email protected]:
- CV;
- A workplan for finalization of deliverables (including estimated number of working days);
- A breakdown of expected services and associated costs, with VAT, for the completion of all deliverables;
- 3 professional references;
- Please write “Needs-assessment consultant – Majalat II” in the subject line.
Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and that applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.