Consultant -End of Project Evaluation

Job Description

Position: Consultant End of Project Evaluation
Project Title: Justice for Women – Enhancing Women’s Access to Gender-Responsive Justice in Sudan and Ethiopia.
Project Duration: 01.05.2023 – 01.04.2025
Project Location: Sudan and Ethiopia
Donor: Open Society Foundation
Project Partners: FIDA-Uganda
Evaluation Commissioning Manager: SIHA’s Regional MEL Coordinator will commission the evaluation
Duration: 4 weeks
Location: Remote with Travel to Ethiopia where needed 

1. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

1.1. Background and Context of the Project 

The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA Network) is a regional coalition of civil society organizations operating across Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Somaliland, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Uganda. Founded in 1995 by grassroots activists, SIHA works to advance gender equality by combating systemic oppression, ending gender-based violence (GBV), dismantling harmful cultural and religious norms, and expanding women’s access to justice and economic opportunities. Through advocacy, capacity-building, and direct interventions, SIHA empowers marginalized communities, particularly in conflict-affected regions, to challenge patriarchal structures and drive social change. 

Since 2023, SIHA, in partnership with FIDA and local WRAs, has implemented the Justice for Women project across Sudan and Ethiopia. Funded by the Open Society Foundation, this multi-country initiative aims to enhance women’s access to fair and gender-responsive justice systems in fragile and patriarchal legal environments. The project prioritizes female legal professionals and women’s rights advocates (WRAs) as central agents of change, working to challenge discriminatory laws, advance strategic litigation, and improve survivor-centered legal services. 

The project’s roll-out in Sudan coincided with the outbreak of war in April 2023, which deeply impacted the country’s legal infrastructure, displaced program actors, and exacerbated women’s vulnerability to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). Despite these setbacks, SIHA and its partners adapted their strategies, shifting timelines and delivery methods to maintain core project goals while responding to the evolving context. 

Through a combination of legal empowerment, policy advocacy, sub-granting, and public legal education, the project has supported women’s access to justice at both the grassroots and institutional levels. It also addresses intersectional barriers such as class, rurality, and gender-based violence, contributing to a more equitable and inclusive justice landscape across the Horn of Africa. 

1.2. Description of the Project 

Across Sudan and Ethiopia, women and girls face deep-rooted systemic barriers to accessing justice. Despite formal legal frameworks and commitments to gender equality, the justice systems in these countries often reflect and reinforce patriarchal structures, limiting the legal protection and redress available to women, particularly those who are economically vulnerable, living in rural areas, survivors of violence, or otherwise marginalized. Legal systems in the region are often marked by: 

• Weak enforcement of gender-sensitive laws 

• Limited legal literacy among women 

• Gender-insensitive procedures within formal and informal justice mechanisms 

• A lack of institutional support for survivor-centered legal services 

Additionally, women’s rights advocates/activists (WRAs) and female legal professionals are often excluded from decision-making spaces and therefore lack the institutional capacity, legal tools, or financial resources to challenge systemic injustice through legal reform or strategic litigation. To address these challenges, the Justice for Women project was developed by the SIHA Network, in partnership with FIDA and national-level WRAs. The project is grounded in a feminist, intersectional, and human rights-based approach and seeks to transform how women in the Horn of Africa experience the law—not as a tool of exclusion or punishment, but as a mechanism of protection, voice, and equality. 

The project is structured around two interlinked outcomes: 

1. Female lawyers and WRAs engage in law reform and strategic litigation to advance gender justice. 
2. Lawyers and community paralegals deliver survivor-centered legal services, improving women’s access to justice at the community level. 

Implementation strategies vary by country due to the differing legal landscapes, political/social contexts, and the distinct needs of women in each setting. In Sudan, the eruption of war in April 2023 profoundly altered the justice environment, requiring urgent, flexible interventions focused on documenting conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), legal first response, and protection for women in a context of widespread displacement and institutional breakdown. In contrast, Ethiopia, while also marked by certain levels of fragility and inequality, has presented greater space for engagement with formal justice structures and legislative processes, allowing for a stronger focus on strategic litigation, legal reform, and the strengthening of women’s leadership within the legal profession. 

A core feature of the project is the development and roll-out of aTraining of Trainers (ToT) manual**,** tailored to each national context. In Sudan, ToTs emphasized trauma-informed, crisis-responsive legal support; in Ethiopia, they focused on policy engagement, litigation strategy, and reform pathways. The ToT model supports a cascade training approach among WRAs, legal aid providers, and community-level actors. The project also includes sub-grants to local legal aid clinics and WRAs to support outreach, legal service provision, and advocacy. A baseline assessment was conducted in 2023, providing critical data against which the endline evaluation will assess changes in legal access, service delivery, institutional capacity, and stakeholder engagement. 

1.3. Strategy and Theory of Change/Results Chain 

The Justice for Women project is grounded in a feminist, participatory, and rights-based Theory of Change that recognizes legal systems as both a site of oppression and a powerful tool for transformation. The project’s strategy combines structural and community-level interventions to improve access to justice for women and girls by enhancing legal capacity, fostering collective action, and promoting survivor-centered legal support. It assumes that by equipping women’s rights advocates and legal professionals with the tools, resources, and networks to engage in legal reform and service provision, systemic change can be driven from the ground up. The project’s results chain is structured around two key outcomes, supported by targeted outputs and activities in each of the targeted countries.

2. PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION

The final evaluation aims to assess the effectiveness of the Justice for Women project in advancing access to fair, gender-responsive justice systems for women and girls in Sudan and Ethiopia. The evaluation will examine the project’s relevance, impact, effectiveness, efficiency, adaptability, and sustainability, with a focus on its dual strategy: 

1. Strengthening the capacity of legal professionals and WRAs to drive legal and policy reform through strategic litigation and advocacy. 
2. Enhancing the delivery of survivor-centered legal services through trained lawyers, paralegals, and community legal support structures. 

The evaluation is also expected to explore how the project contributed to dismantling systemic legal and social barriers that prevent women from accessing justice, and how it amplified the voices and leadership of female legal actors across the Horn of Africa. 

Additionally, the evaluation will: 

• Identify key challenges and lessons learned, particularly in navigating the evolving context of the war in Sudan. 

• Highlight promising practices that can inform future feminist legal empowerment initiatives across the region. 

• Assess the project’s contribution to shifts in community attitudes toward the legal rights of women and girls. 

• Analyze how strategic partnerships, networks, and sub-granting mechanisms support systemic change and local ownership. 

• Evaluate to which extent the project ensured accountability to its stakeholders, including legal professionals and WRAs, community members, implementing partners, and the donor. 

The evaluation will draw comparisons with the 2023 baseline assessment, helping to identify concrete changes in institutional capacity, legal service access, and policy engagement over the course of implementation.

3. EVALUATION OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE

3.1. Scope of the Evaluation 

The evaluation will draw from baseline data (2023) and compare it with findings to identify measurable change. It will also assess the project’s adaptability, especially in Sudan, and its accountability to key stakeholders. 

Cross-cutting themes: gender equality, feminist approach, human rights, and intersectionality. 

3.2. Objectives of the Evaluation 

Overall, the evaluation will: 

1. Assess the entire project (May 1st, 2023 – October 25th, 2025) against effectiveness, relevance, efficiency, sustainability, adaptability, and impact (intended and unintended) in strengthening access to gender-responsive justice systems in Sudan, and Ethiopia. 
2. Identify lessons learned and promising practices (knowledge generation) for future programming. 
3. Ensure a gender-responsive, human rights-based approach across all criteria. 

3.3. Specific Objectives 

1. Determine the extent to which the project achieved its intended outcomes, especially in:

• Enhancing the ability of women’s rights activists (WRAs) and female Lawyers to document sexual violence in conflicts, modify policies, and take part in strategic litigation. 
• Increasing the availability and caliber of gender-responsive, survivor-centered legal services, particularly strengthening the position of community-based first responders. 
• Increasing awareness and legal literacy among women and communities regarding women’s rights and legal procedures and promoting the cooperation of WRAs and other legal professionals in the three targeted countries. 

2. Document lessons learned and good practices, such as:

• Strategies for legal capacity-building of women in the legal sector (e.g. ToTs, networking). 
• Innovative models of sub-granting and partnerships that strengthened collaboration with Legal Aid Clinics and WRAs to expand access to justice. 
• Approaches that linked community legal awareness to formal justice systems, including cross-border feminist legal collaboration and knowledge exchange. 

3. Evaluate project performance against OECD-DAC criteria:

• Relevance and coherence of the project’s Theory of Change, including its responsiveness to the legal needs of women in Sudan, and Ethiopia. 
• Effectiveness in achieving outcome-level changes, such as improved legal service delivery and increased WRA engagement in legal reforms. 
• Impact, including measurable improvements in women’s access to justice, legal cases won, and enhanced institutional and communal responsiveness. 
• Efficiency, including delivery of activities related to resources, timelines, and coordination with partners. 
• Sustainability of legal aid and advocacy structures beyond the project, especially WRAs legal clinics, and local paralegal networks. 
• And adaptability, particularly in how the project responded to the war in Sudan and managed to adjust activities. 

4. Identify cross-cutting insights, including:

• How the integration of gender, youth, and climate considerations was integrated into project interventions. 

5. Identify challenges, opportunities, and recommendations, including:

• Barriers to effective policy and legal reform, including political and/or communal resistance, institutional inertia, or limited stated capacity. 
• Gaps in legal aid service delivery, including geographic coverage or survivor referral systems. 
• Opportunities to adapt and/or scale effective interventions in similar justice reform contexts in the Greater Horn of Africa.

4. EVALUATION QUESTIONS AND CRITERIA 

The evaluation must address the following questions, structured by OECD-DAC criteria (relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, sustainability), and incorporate intersectional gender and human rights perspectives. 

1. Effectiveness

• To what extent were the project’s intended outcomes and outputs achieved across Sudan and Ethiopia? 
• How effective were the interventions in increasing the capacity of female lawyers and WRAs to engage in strategic litigation and legal reform? 
• To what extent did the project strengthen the delivery of survivor-centered legal aid by lawyers and community paralegals? 
• How did the project activities influence public awareness and community attitudes regarding women’s legal rights and access to justice? 
• Were the specific differences in effectiveness across countries or within specific interventions? 

2. Relevance

• How relevant were the project objectives and applied strategies to the specific legal needs of women and girls in Sudan, and Ethiopia? 
• To what extent did the project align with national/international legal frameworks, gender equality policies, and (ongoing) legal reforms? 
• How responsive was the project design to intersectional vulnerabilities (e.g. women living with disabilities, survivors of CRSV)? 

3. Efficiency
4. To what extent was the project delivered cost-effectively (e.g. timelines, budget use, resource optimization)? 

• What mechanisms were in place for dynamic and adaptive project management (e.g. Sudan context), and how well were they applied? 

4. Sustainability

• To what extent are the project results – particularly improvements in access to legal aid and delivery – likely to continue post-project? 
• What role did local ownership (e.g. among WRAs, other legal professionals) play in sustaining outcomes? 
• Are the supported Legal Aid Clinics, networks, and coalitions positioned to remain active and effective beyond the project’s end? 

5. Impact

• What measurable changes (intended or unintended) did the project contribute to in terms of women’s access to gender-responsive justice? 
• What influence did the project have on legal and policy reform initiatives at the national and/or regional level? 
• To what extend did the project contribute to broader feminist movement-building or legal activism in the Greater Horn of Africa? 

6. Knowledge Generation

• What lessons and promising practices emerged from the project that could inform future feminist legal reform efforts in the region? 
• Which innovative approaches/tools (e.g. specific workshops) have proved most impactful? 

Cross cutting 

7. Gender Equality & Human Rights

• To what extent did the project advance gender equality and human rights by addressing intersectional vulnerabilities like clanism and disability in service delivery? 

8. Lessons & Recommendations

• What key challenges emerged during implementation? 
• What actionable recommendations can inform future programming in Sudan, Ethiopia and the Greater Horn of Africa region?

5. EVALUATION DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

The evaluation will employ mixed methods, comparing baseline data (qualitative and quantitative) with end-line findings to measure changes in women’s access to justice, the capacity of legal actors, the responsiveness of legal institutions, and the visibility of WRAs in law reform processes. 

5.1. Proposed Evaluation Design 

The consultant will apply a mixed**-methods approach**, ensuring alignment with the project’s intersectional and survivor-centered framework: 

5.2. Data Sources 

• SIHA provided: Baseline report, Mid Term Review Report, Semi-Annual Reports, activity reports, Research and advocacy materials. 

• Primary Data: Field visits to Sudan, Ethiopia (if safe; otherwise, remote via local consultants). 

• Secondary Data: Policy documents and other relevant reports and materials. 

5.3. Proposed data collection methods and analysis 

• Desk Review: Project documents, baseline/end line data, policy drafts. 
• Key Informant Interviews (KIIS): 
• Female lawyers and WRAs 
• FIDA staff and partners 
• Legal aid providers, paralegals and policy actors 
• Focus Group Discussion (FDGs): 
• Women legal aid beneficiaries 
• Community paralegals 
• Members of WRAs and networks 
• First responders to CRSV 
• Surveys: 

• Service delivery outcomes (e.g. number of legal cases supported, cases of CRSV documented) 
• Changes in community perception on women’s legal rights 
• Institutional capacity and sustainability indicators 
• Disaggregation by gender, age, minority group, disability, etc. 
• Thematic analysis of qualitative data; statistical analysis of surveys 

5.4. Proposed Sampling Methods 

The evaluation will adopt a purposive and stratified sampling strategy to ensure representation of diverse groups, including women of different age groups, women with disabilities, IDPs, and minority communities. Sampling will be guided by project participant data, ensuring that perspectives from IDP and minority communities, coalition members, and policy stakeholders are adequately captured. Where possible, baseline and mid-term review data will be used to triangulate findings and provide a more robust understanding of the project’s contribution to systemic change. The consultant is expected to propose a detailed evaluation methodology in the inception report. 

5.5. Field visits 

Remote options (phone/video KIIs) are encouraged if fieldwork is restricted. 

5.6. Level of Stakeholder Engagement 

Share draft findings with SIHA/partners for feedback through a sense-making and validation forum to discuss key findings, lessons learned, and best practices, and provide feedback that will be incorporated into the final evaluation report. 

6. EVALUATION ETHICS

The evaluator/s must put in place specific safeguards and protocols to protect the safety (both physical and psychological) of respondents and those collecting the data, as well as to prevent harm. This must ensure the rights of the individual are protected, and participation in the evaluation does not result in further violation of their rights. The evaluator/s must have a plan in place to: 

• Protect the rights of respondents, including privacy and confidentiality. 
• Elaborate on how informed consent will be obtained, and to ensure that the names of individuals consulted during data collection will not be made public. For survivors under 18, parental/guardian consent must be obtained. 
• The evaluator/s must be trained in collecting sensitive information and specifically data relating to sexual violence against women and select any members of the evaluation team on these issues. 
• Data collection tools must be designed in a way that is culturally appropriate and does not create distress for respondents. 
• Data collection visits should be organized at the appropriate time and place to minimize risk to respondents. 
• The interviewer or data collector must be able to provide information on how individuals in risk situations can seek support (referrals to organizations that can provide counseling support – SIHA can provide information on referral as needed) 

7. EVALUATION TEAM COMPOSITION

7.1 Roles and Responsibilities 

• SIHA’s Role: Commission the evaluation process, provide project documents and stakeholder contacts, and oversee ethical compliance. 
• Lead Consultant: Submit weekly progress updates; address risks (e.g., security, data gaps); prepare a PowerPoint presentation; present the final evaluation at a dissemination meeting; and produce a 5-page summary of the evaluation or an infographic (Templates will be provided). 
• In-Country data collector(s): Secure community access and translate tools/interviews (Arabic/Amharic/English). 
• Report Editor: Provide oversight in drafting and editing of the report. 

7.2 Required Competencies 

The Lead Consultant is expected to hold the following qualifications to be eligible for this position: 

• Relevant academic qualification is preferably a master’s degree in one or more of the following disciplines: Social Sciences, Development Studies, Statistics, and Gender Studies. 
• Evaluation experience of at least 5 years in conducting external evaluations, with mixed-methods evaluation skills, and flexibility in using non-traditional and innovative evaluation methods. 
• Expertise in gender and human-rights-based approaches to evaluation and issues of violence against women and girls. 
• Experience with program design and theory of change, gender-responsive evaluation, participatory approaches and stakeholder engagement. 
• Specific evaluation experiences in the areas of ending violence against women and girls. 
• Experience in collecting and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data as well as data visualization. 
• In-depth knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment. 
• A strong commitment to delivering timely and high-quality results, i.e. credible evaluation and its report that can be used. 
• A strong team leadership and management track record, as well as interpersonal and communication skills to help ensure that the evaluation is understood and used. 
• Good communication skills and ability to communicate with various stakeholders and to express ideas and concepts concisely and clearly. 

Other Competencies required: 

• Excellent analytical, editing, and writing skills in the English language. 
• Proven accuracy and attention to detail. 
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate and work well with diverse and multicultural supervisors and staff members. 
• Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure. 

8. MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENT OF THE EVALUATION

The evaluation will be led by a consultant or consulting firm (remote or in-country), who will be responsible for the overall design, coordination, and delivery of the evaluation. To ensure contextual relevance and meaningful engagement with affected communities, the consultant or firm must include a Sudan/Ethiopia-based consultant within their team (if based outside the project countries). Additionally, they will be responsible for recruiting and managing a team of enumerators to collect field data in selected locations. 

Enumerators should be gender-balanced, based in the evaluation locations, fluent in English/Arabic/Amharic, and trained in survivor-sensitive research approaches. The consulting team must ensure that all field staff are adequately trained in ethical and confidentiality protocols, particularly regarding engagement with survivors of sexual violence and other vulnerable groups. 

9. TIMELINE OF THE ENTIRE EVALUATION PROCESS

The evaluation will be completed within 5 weeks (see schedule below). All deliverables must align with the project’s feminist, rights-based, and intersectional approach and must reflect the diverse legal, cultural, and political contexts of Sudan, and Ethiopia. 

Deliverable Schedule 

• Inception Report (Detailed methodology, work plan, ethical protocols- template will be provided) – Consultant/Consulting Firm (02 days) 
• Data Collection Tools (Adapted to reflect the needs of women accessing justice, and the roles of legal actors and WRAs in Sudan and Ethiopia) – Consultant/Consulting Firm (02 days) 
• Incorporate feedback from SIHA & OSF on the inception report and data collection tools – Consultant/Consulting Firm (03 days) 
• Data Collection (Remote/in-person in XX) – Consultant/Consulting Firm (07 days) 
• Draft Evaluation Report (Shared for SIHA/partner feedback- template will be provided) – Consultant/Consulting Firm (07 days) 
• Incorporate feedback from SIHA & OSF on the draft report – Consultant/Consulting Firm (03 days) 
• Validation Meeting - Consultant/Consulting Firm (01 day) 
• Final Evaluation Report (Incorporating inputs, 30 pages max, PowerPoint presentation, and a 5-page summary of the evaluation or an infographic – (templates will be provided) – Consultant/Consulting Firm (03 days) 

Total Duration: 5 weeks over 30 working days. 

Note: The Timeline is adjustable based on security/logistics in the three countries. Remote coordination if fieldwork is restricted. 

Budget:  

The maximum budget for the consultancy is 7000 USD. 

 

How to apply 

Interested consultants should submit their applications marked: Evaluation Consultancy Justice For Women via this link: https://airtable.com/appHNyMhgTH7cHVt3/shrENOpNMHjgMmkL6 .

The application should include: 

1. A technical proposal outlining the understanding of the assignment, methodology, work plan, and timeline (Max 10 pages). A 
2. A financial proposal detailing the costs associated with the end-of-project evaluation, including tax obligations and administrative and operational expenses. CV(s) of the consultant(s) or team members, highlighting relevant experience. 
3. Two samples of previous work related to the end-of-project evaluation for a similar project. 
4. Applications should be submitted no later than 3rd October 2025 and all queries related to the ToR should be directed to: faizat@sihanet.org. 
5. Two copies of reports of similar work conducted 

Shortlisting will be done on a rolling basis.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and if you don’t hear from us 15 days from the advert closure, kindly know that your application was not considered.