Background:
The OSCE Mission in Kosovo’s (the OSCE) core mandate focuses on “institution and democracy-building, as well as human rights.” It includes promotion of human and community rights, gender equality and civic participation.
The OSCE played an important role in the establishment of the Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo (OIK) in 2000. OIK is an independent constitutional entity whose mandate includes monitoring and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Kosovo. Currently, the OIK acts as a Kosovo Mechanism for Prevention of Torture that can access prisons and other closed institutions, and as an equality mechanism mandated to promote, monitor and support equal treatment without discrimination on any grounds in the public and private sector. Furthermore, OIK conducts investigations, issues recommendations, publishes reports, and provides services free of charge and public advocacy to all residents of Kosovo.
On 30 March 2021, the OIK launched its new five-year Strategy (2021-2025) outlining the mission, vision, objectives and sub-objectives and the three-year Action Plan (2021-2023) identifying activities with the aim of achieving the objectives.
The OSCE has been engaged in the support of various activities, including the co-operation of OIK with other institutions and civil society organizations, covering non-majority communities and youth, raising public awareness and promoting the role of the Ombudsperson, strengthening its institutional capacity and sustainability, and other forms of support. The Mission has supported the OIK with interns, collaborated on human rights days (such as promoting the rights of disabled persons), and worked with regional OIK offices on various human rights-related activities. In 2021-2022, the OSCE continued supporting the OIK in the promotion of its mandate and reached out to vulnerable communities in remote areas.
In the beginning of 2022, the OSCE Law and Justice Section (LJS) conducted a rapid needs assessment for the OIK and identified the areas of possible assistance in supporting the implementation of the new strategy and action plan of the OIK. Some of the recommendations included working with regional OIK offices and supporting awareness raising of the OIK, particularly in rural areas. LJS has also been meeting with the OIK in 2023 to discuss ongoing co operation and future activities in 2024. The OSCE aims to hire an international expert evaluator to conduct an in-depth evaluation of previous co-operation between the OSCE and OIK, focusing on the past five years, and identify areas of future programmatic engagement, specifically within the Access to Justice portfolio of LJS. It would be important to identify the priorities of other donors’ supporting OIK, to avoid overlap with the OSCE Mission’s areas of assistance and consider the staffing and financial resources available with LJS to implement activities.
Objective of Assignment:
The evaluation will aim to achieve the following objectives:
- Assess the performance of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo in building the Ombudsperson’s capacity, by analysing the past support for the OIK (within the scope of five years) to determine what assistance has been most effective and what less effective, and why; identify lessons learned for future programmatic support.
- Produce specific and achievable recommendations for future strategic and programmatic engagement of the Mission with the OIK – based on sustainability considerations, the needs of the OIK, other donors’ engagement, OSCE mandate, the Mission Strategic Framework and programmatic priorities, strengths, staffing and budget constraints and political environment.
The evaluation will aim to identify lessons learned and best practices regarding the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and added value, as well as the sustainability of OSCE support to the OIK to date, in line with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/ Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC) evaluation criteria. Flowing from this, it will offer programmatic recommendations to inform the design, planning and delivery of future programmatic work with regard to the OIK. The evaluation should closely consider the OSCE Mission’s cooperation with the OIK on advancing awareness and implementation of the rights of persons from non-majority communities, disability, women’s human rights, and rights of vulnerable categories of people. This is because the OIK not only responds to individual complaints, but also has the power to undertake investigations unilaterally. The Ombudsperson can pursue matters where there appear to be underlying patterns and common causes for maladministration.
Evaluation methodology
The consultant should provide a draft methodology during the selection process. The developed methodology will be finalized in detail at the beginning of the contract of the selected candidate based on recommendations and guidance from the OSCE and the evaluation terms of reference. The evaluation will ensure consultation and communication with OIK. The evaluation will involve the following:
- Desk review of relevant OSCE programmatic documents and available OIK documents, including documentation related to OSCE’s multi-year programmatic engagement (budget cycle documents and reports), delivered projects and activities in co-operation with OIK; Interviews, and focus group discussions with OIK and other relevant stakeholders, as needed and as agreed in the final methodology;
- Analysis of gathered qualitative and quantitative data, production of findings and preparation of the report, conclusions and recommendations with concrete actions for the future programmatic work of OSCE with OIK.
Duration of Assignment:
The expert will be hired for 25 days.
Tasks and Responsibilities:
Under the supervision of the Project Manager (Chief of LJS with support from Access to Justice portfolio staff within LJS) and in accordance with the evaluation Terms of Reference, the consultant will perform the following tasks:
- Finalize the development of the methodology and the outline of deliverables;
- Carry out desk research involving the review of OSCE’s historic engagement with the OIK, with a focus on the past five years, including a comprehensive review of relevant OSCE’s and OIK’s documentation;
- Conduct interviews and/or focus group discussions with relevant interlocutors and counterparts across Kosovo, as per the agreed evaluation methodology;
- Assess the suitability of OSCE’s approach and activities, based on relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, coherence and added value, and sustainability of their results; and identify progress/achievement so far, the strengths and weaknesses of the OSCE’s endeavours in the given area;
- Analyse received documents, make conclusions identifying the areas of OSCE’s focus for the work with OIK, and finalize the result in the form of a final evaluation report (after LJS Chief reviews and provides initial comments and its clearance through the Mission’s protocols);
- Formulate recommendations for future work (one to three year time-frame), including potential actions and proposals for a change.
Deliverables:
- Within ten calendar days of contract signature, submit a detailed evaluation work-plan with clear timelines (related to contract deliverables) and evaluation methodology, including questions listed herein with suggested indicators, list of interviewees, any other relevant documents; Conduct desk research with the review of all the relevant documents;
- By end of October 2023, conduct the interviews and complete the field phase of the evaluation, with a short PowerPoint presentation of the main findings and process development/challenges for the Evaluation manager – Director of Department of Human Rights and Communities (DHRC), Chief of Law and Justice Section (LJS), and Access to Justice portfolio coordinator.
- By end of November 2023, deliver a draft report to the Director of Department of Human Rights and Communities (DHRC) and the LJS Project Manager;
- By December 15, 2023 submit a final evaluation report, taking into account feedback given by the OSCE; deliver a presentation and a debriefing for the OSCE’s senior management (via zoom).
- The final evaluation report will be written in English (maximum 25 pages, not including Annexes), with an executive summary of maximum two pages.
The draft and final reports should be written in line with the OSCE writing style, reporting standards and other OSCE policies. The structure of the evaluation report should include, as a minimum, the following:
- Table of Contents
- Executive summary
- Evaluation Approach/ Methodology
- Analysis and Findings
- Conclusions with Lessons Learned
- Recommendations
- Annexes (including interviews list, data collection instruments, full list of evaluation questions with indicators and Means of Verification, key documents consulted)
Performance Indicators:
The evaluator’s work will be assessed based on the following criteria:
- Timely delivery of agreed tasks and products at agreed milestones – e.g. methodology and final report;
- Credible findings and attributable to the analysis of the collected data;
- Quality of the final evaluation report – content wise and style;
- Objectivity and impartiality;
- Constructive communication and responsiveness with the contracting party – the OSCE;
- Respectful communication with stakeholders and to “do no harm” principle.
Overall, the evaluator is expected to perform and deliver against the requirements set out in the Evaluation Terms of Reference.
Necessary Qualifications:
- A Masters or higher level university degree in human rights or law, or similar education including proven experience in conducting evaluations;
- A minimum of ten years of documented professional experience on issues relating to human rights;
- A minimum of five years of experience working with ombudsperson institutions;
- Demonstrated ability to produce high-quality evaluation reports, including recommendations for the future work of the OSCE;
- Familiarity with the work of Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo or in the region would be considered an asset;
- Excellent English writing and report drafting and organization skills;
- Experience working with MS Office suite and Windows applications;
- Professional fluency in written and spoken English. Desirable, but not mandatory, knowledge of local languages.
Remuneration Package:
Remuneration will depend on the qualifications and experience of individual experts as well as the detailed work plan to be agreed upon and will be based on the current OSCE consultancy rates.
In order to apply for this position, you must complete the OSCE’s online application form, found under https://vacancies.osce.org/ Applicants are encouraged to use the online recruitment and only fully completed OSCE applications will be accepted. However, if you have technical difficulties with the system you may use the offline application form found under https://jobs.osce.org/resources/document/our-competency-model and forward the completed form quoting the vacancy number by e-mail to: consultancy.omik@osce.org. In line with your qualifications please indicate a preference to one or more fields of expertise listed above (while using the online application the field of expertise preference can be indicated in the cover letter part). Kindly note that applications received after the deadline, submitted in different formats than the OSCE Application Form, or in other languages than the English language would not be considered. The OSCE is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious, ethnic, and social backgrounds to apply.
Additional Information
- Issued by: OSCE Mission in Kosovo
- Requisition ID: KOS000075
- Contract Type: Special Service Agreement (SSA) / Consultant
- Grade: No grade
- Job Type: Consultant
- Number of posts: one
- Location: KOS – OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Prishtine / Pristina
- Issue Date: Aug 8, 2023
- Closing Date: Aug 28, 2023
- Education Level: Master’s Degree (Second-level university degree or equivalent)
- Job Field: Human Rights
- Target Start Date: 11/09/2023