Request for Proposals Mid-Term Evaluation of ‘Justice Innovation Programme in Niger (PIJN)’ At The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law

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About HiiL

The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL) is a civil society organisation committed to closing the justice gap. We do this by helping to develop and implement people-centred justice. That means justice that is affordable, accessible and easy to understand. To make that transformation, we must put people and the outcomes they need at the centre. Data and evidence are central in all that we do. We work to stimulate innovation and to scale what works best. We bring stakeholders together to make it happen. We are friendly rebels focused on concrete improvements in the lives of people.

Context & Background information

The overall objective of the Justice Innovation Program in Niger (PIJN) is to empower people and institutions in Niger in order to prevent or resolve the most pressing justice problems, based on data collected in 2021 by HiiL in the different regions of Niger.

The project is structured into five main components, each reinforcing the others, to create an integrated, evidence-based, and innovation-driven effort over a five-year period. This structure aligns with HiiL’s ‘five petal’ approach:

• Justice needs and outcomes data are available to monitor and inform policy.
• Justice practitioners use evidence-based best practices to resolve justice problems for people fairly and efficiently.
• People have increased access to and use of innovative [formal/informal] justice services (‘gamechangers’).
• Justice stakeholders cooperate to create and fund an enabling environment for people-centred justice.
• There is a movement by international and regional networks for people-centred justice policies.

  The objective of the project is pursued by achieving the following results:

• Enhanced access to and use by justice sector stakeholders of data and knowledge about justice needs and outcomes of justice journeys
• Improved capacity of justice practitioners and providers of justice services to resolve justice problems
• Strengthened dialogue between justice stakeholders on the justice needs to HiiL/PIJN Mid-Term Review External Evaluation Terms of Reference 3create the necessary political space and an enabling environment for justice innovation and gamechangers
• Increased access to and use of justice services for people.

  The objective and results are expected to be achieved through the following activities, to be implemented by HiiL’s local office in Niger:

• Five studies on needs and satisfaction in the field of justice being carried out: one Justice Needs and Satisfaction (JNS) Survey in 2025 and four eJNS in other years.
• Data studies for either certain regions or themes according to the needs and priorities raised in the context of dialogues with stakeholders and Justice Innovation Labs
• Stakeholder training conducted based on HiiL’s data and know-how
• Dashboard with consolidated reports, data and know-how on delivering people-centred justice made available for use by various justice stakeholders
• Two Guidelines developed to identify effective interventions with lasting results
• Plans for implementing the guidelines for evidence-based methods developed jointly with legal professional organizations
• Civil Society Organisations are supported through a Justice Accelerator program
• Pathways to justice innovation established through four Justice Innovation Labs
• Dialogue sessions conducted on removing barriers to access to justice and creating an enabling environment
• An access to justice transformation strategy developed and publicly launched.

  The PIJN is funded by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Niamey, for a period of five years, covering 2022-2026, with a maximum budget of €9,997,857.

  Mid-Term Evaluation

  Purpose of the Evaluation

  The purpose of this mid-term evaluation is to assess the progress made towards achieving its planned objectives, with a particular emphasis on defining lessons learned that can be applied to the remainder of the program activities. This assessment will provide valuable insights to guide the activities and priorities for the remaining duration of the project.

  The two specific objectives are:

• Learning: identifying lessons on what works for people-centred justice programming in a fragile socio-economic-political environment to gain insight into designing future programmes in unstable countries.
• Adapting: what adaptations and modifications need to be made in the project design and activities to reach our objectives and results.

  The evaluations will adopt the OECD-DAC evaluation criteria: relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability. All aspects of HiiL’s intervention must be thoroughly examined, with a focus on effectiveness, which examines the cause-and-effect links between outputs and the proposed program results. Well-structured recommendations should also be derived for each criterion.

  Scope

  The evaluation will be based on the analysis of the results chain, primarily to assess activities, outputs, and to determine if the program achieves the intended outcomes. The thematic scope of the evaluation includes four outcomes and eleven outputs as depicted in the Niger logframe.

  The methodological scope of the evaluation consists of four elements:

  1. Documentary research in HiiL reports and program documents;

  2. Physical interviews with key informants, including HiiL staff and colleagues from the Kingdom of the Netherlands Embassy in Niamey;

  3. Remote interviews with key stakeholders, local partners, and innovators/startups in the program country; HiiL/PIJN Mid-Term Review External Evaluation Terms of Reference

  4. Field visits

• Expected profile of consultant/s
• HiiL is looking for a consultant, or team of consultants, with the following experience and capacity:
• Senior justice sector consultant, development professional or consultant academic, with 10-15 years experience in the field;
• 10+ years demonstrated experience in conducting formative evaluations with qualitative components, ideally for programmes funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
• Advanced university degree in law, development, international relations, social sciences, or related field of study;
• Expertise in access to justice programming or justice development in Niger;
• Active French is mandatory, comfortable working with materials and interviews in English;
• The ability to travel to conduct field research in Niger.

  Conflict sensitivity: Applications from Niger or other countries in the region are highly encouraged including women-led companies and organisations. HiiL will take into account conflict and political sensitivities in account when reviewing the applications.

  Note: The independence of the evaluation consultant is of utmost importance. The evaluators and affiliated organisations should have not been involved in the design or implementation of the programme, and have no interest in the outcome of the evaluation.