World Coalition Against the Death Penalyt

Consultant for an external evaluation for our “Leave no woman on death row”

on 1 August 2024

External evaluation of the impact of the project “Leave no woman on death row – Raising awareness of the gender-based and intersectional discrimination faced by women, men and gender non-conforming people on death row worldwide, in order to advocate for the total abolition of the death penalty”. (2022-2025)

Presentation of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty

Comprising over 170 NGOs, bar associations, local authorities, and trade unions, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty was founded in Rome on May 13th, 2002. The World Coalition aims to strengthen the international dimension of the fight against the death penalty. Its principal goal is universal abolition of the death penalty. To this end, it encourages the definitive abolition of death sentences and executions wherever the death penalty is in force. In some countries, it is seeking a reduction in the use of capital punishment as a first step towards abolition.

Mission

The founding mission of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, as stated in its statutes, is to bring together private and public, international, national, local, and regional organizations sharing the goal of universal abolition of the death penalty.

Objectives

The aim of the World Coalition is to strengthen international action against the death penalty. Its main objective is to achieve universal abolition of the death penalty.

Key principles

The World Coalition brings a global dimension to the work of its members in the field, sometimes in isolation. It complements their initiatives, while respecting their independence.

Vision

The ambition of the World Coalition and its vision is that of a global reference network, recognized as reliable and credible for coordinating, supporting, and amplifying the work of its member organizations towards universal abolition of the death penalty.

Two main directions

Two major directions emerged following a consultation with members and were unanimously adopted by the World Coalition General Assembly in June 2017:

– support member organizations; and

– coordinate international advocacy.

By encouraging the exchange of experience and networking among its members, it makes it possible to propose common international and/or regional strategies in favor of abolition of the death penalty, to support abolitionists throughout the world, and to provide them with information, awareness-raising, and mobilization tools.

Context

Until recently, the abolitionist movement overlooked gender discrimination in capital punishment cases. It was implicit that, due to the small number of women sentenced to death worldwide, gendered perspectives were considered irrelevant. In 2018, the report by the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide demonstrated the existence of intersectional gender discrimination in the application of capital punishment and opened reflection in the abolitionist movement. In 2021, members of the World Coalition decide that World Day Against the Death Penalty would address the invisible reality of women facing the death penalty. This World Day facilitated increased access to new data on the subject confirmed the need to integrate gender-sensitive approaches and intersectional discrimination in abolitionist action. It also highlighted the gaps and existing needs of members in this respect. According to the World Day 2021 evaluation, although member organizations’ interest in considering gender issues comprehensively has risen from 63% to 74%, and resistance has been overcome, members need more financial and technical resources to mainstream gender issues into their practices in a systematic and meaningful way.

In 2022, the World Coalition began to proactively integrate gender issues into its actions, thanks to three years of funding from the Government of Canada (March 2022-March 2025), which is the subject of this evaluation. Target countries were identified across different regions, they are: Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and the United States of America.

To inform thinking on the issues, the Gender Working Group was created in November 2022 to provide a platform for all World Coalition members with expertise/interest in gender issues to contribute to discussions and decision-making processes relating to the World Coalition’s gender-related activities. This group, made up of 26 organizations, is responsible for promoting and mainstreaming gender issues within the World Coalition and the wider abolitionist struggle.

The three-year “Leave no woman on death row” project aims to help solve the problem of gender and intersectional discrimination in the administration of justice in death penalty cases worldwide, to advocate the total abolition of capital punishment.

To this end, the project has identified the following objectives:

The primary objective is a reduction in the use of the death penalty for women, men and gender non-conforming people in the 82 countries that retain the penalty for ordinary crimes.

Intermediate objectives :

  • Greater involvement of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) worldwide in the fight against gender-based and intersectional discrimination.
  • Strengthening the protection of the rights of women facing the death penalty by national criminal justice systems and the United Nations system.

Immediate objectives :

  • Strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs) worldwide to advocate with governments and UN agencies at national, regional, and international levels for a gender-sensitive approaches to the rights of women, men, and gender non-conforming people on death row.
  • Increased capacity of death penalty abolitionist CSOs to work with women’s rights and women’s rights movements and organizations.
  • Increased awareness of the gendered and intersectional discrimination faced by women, men and gender non-conforming persons sentenced to death by judicial actors in some retentionist countries men and gender non-conforming persons sentenced to death by judicial actors in some retentionist countries.
  • Increased knowledge of UN member states and abolitionist human rights organizations to advocate a gender-sensitive approach to death penalty abolition.

Evaluation objectives

This evaluation aims to understand the impact of the “Leave no woman on death row” project. The evaluation aims to determine the results achieved during the project, in relation to the program’s general objectives and the results indicators set out in the logical framework.

The evaluation is based on the five criteria defined by the DAC: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability (or viability), with priority given to the effectiveness and impact criteria for measuring the changes to which the project has contributed, and the effects produced in terms of capacity building and international advocacy.

Axis of the evaluation:

Axis 1: Analysis and assessment of the results achieved during this project, in relation to the program’s general objectives and the results indicators set out in the logical framework.

Axis 2: Analysis and evaluation of results and certain effects and impacts achieved. 

Specifically, the evaluation will pay attention to the following evaluation questions:

Capacity building sub-axis

  • How has the project contributed to capacity building on gender and death penalty issues for organizations based in the 11 target countries and, more broadly, for member organizations of the World Coalition?
  • What are the existing capacity-building challenges on gender and death penalty issues for organizations based in the 11 target countries and more broadly within the World Coalition?
  • Are organizations in the 11 target countries more systematically addressing the intersectional gender discrimination faced by women and LGBTQIA+ people in the face of the death penalty? / Have they strengthened their commitment? If so, how has the project contributed to this progress? If not, what gaps exist?
  • How many events on gender and the death penalty were organized on World Day in the 11 target countries?
  • Has the project had an impact on the World Coalition’s consideration of the intersectional gender discrimination faced by women and LGBTQIA+ people in the face of the death penalty? If so, how has the project contributed to this progress? If not, what gaps exist?

Strengthening relationships with women’s rights and LGBTQIA+ organizations

  • How has the project contributed to strengthening the abolitionist movement’s relations with women’s rights and LGBTQIA+ organizations within the 11 target countries and at the global level?
  • How many joint activities have been organized between World Coalition organizations and women’s rights/LGBTQIA+ organizations in the 11 target countries?
  • What barriers exist to the development of the abolitionist movement’s relations with women’s rights organizations and LGBTQIA+ people?
  • What opportunities exist with organizations that work with and for women in contact with the law?
  • To what extent does the development of relationships with women’s and LGBTQIA+ rights organizations in capital punishment contribute to the abolition of the death penalty in the 11 target countries and globally?

Strengthening the skills of legal professionals

  • How has the project contributed to capacity building on gender and death penalty issues for legal actors?
  • What challenges have been identified for strengthening the skills/knowledge of legal players, and what are the avenues for overcoming them?
  • How many judicial actors approached as part of the project report changes in their behaviour towards women, men and gender non-conforming persons sentenced to death (disaggregated by gender, age, country)?

International advocacy sub-axis

    • How has the project contributed to strengthening the knowledge of UN member states and abolitionist human rights organizations to advocate for a gender-sensitive approach to death penalty abolition?
    • How has the project helped strengthen the integration of gender issues into abolitionist advocacy?

Axis 3: Analysis and evaluation of the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the strategies and actions implemented by the World Coalition.

Specifically, attention will be paid to the following evaluation questions:

  • Are the means used by the World Coalition to achieve its capacity-building objectives relevant and appropriate?
  • How can support for partners and direct beneficiaries be improved to ensure that gender issues are considered in their abolitionist activities?
  • How can we improve the integration of an intersectional discrimination approach within the World Coalition?
  • What is the role of the Gender Working Group in this project, and what is working well / could be improved in its operation and its link with the project?
  • How can the World Coalition improve its approach to power-sharing within the abolitionist movement (and avoid reproducing the structural problems associated with North-South dynamics)?
  • What lessons has the World Coalition identified in this project that could be replicated in other projects?

Axis 4: Analysis of the program’s impact on the death penalty worldwide

Specifically, attention will be paid to the following evaluation questions:

    • To what extent does highlighting gender discrimination at work in capital punishment contribute to the abolition of the death penalty in the 11 target countries?
    • To what extent does highlighting gender discrimination at work in capital punishment contribute to the abolition of the death penalty worldwide?
    • What are the challenges and areas for improvement in disseminating this advocacy strategy?

Coordination and methodology

Coordination

This study will be carried out by an external consultant (hereinafter referred to as “the consultant”) working under the direction of the Women and Gender Project Manager and under the supervision of the Director General of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and the Gender Working Group.

The consultant will work in collaboration with World Coalition member organizations and stakeholders involved in the project. He/she/they will benefit from their support in accessing working documents, research and existing information.

Methodology

The evaluation will be carried out using a quantitative and qualitative methodology, based on the analysis of primary and secondary data.

For primary data, a participatory approach soliciting opinions and assessments from all parties will be adopted and interviews will be conducted with:

  • Members of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
  • Members of the Gender Working Group
  • Members of project target countries
  • Members of the Secretariat of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
  • Any additional groups identified by the consultant and validated by World Coalition members and staff.

Interviews will take place mainly in English, but some may also be conducted in French.

The consultancy team’s methodology must be sensitive to gender and intersectional discrimination.

For secondary data, the following documentation will be used:

  • Results of the external evaluation of World Day 2021
  • Results of the needs assessment questionnaire carried out at the start of the project
  • Results of training assessments
  • A preliminary version of the guide “How to abolish the death penalty while taking gender issues into account”.
  • Presentations and feedback at the seminar on best practices in gender mainstreaming in abolitionist work (to be held in September 2024)
  • Narrative reports on small grants awarded as part of the project
  • Narrative reports submitted to the Government of Canada on a quarterly basis
  • Any additional documents found by the consulting team in the course of its research

The consulting team will be required to prepare, present and defend the methodology it deems appropriate to achieve the objectives. It will have to adapt its methodology to the objectives of the present consultation. To this end, the following advice is offered:

1st phase: Initial or pre-organization phase

Following selection of the consultancy team, a meeting will be held to contextualize and provide a fundamental understanding of phase 1 of the project and, more importantly, phase 2. Similarly, the consultancy implementation process and deliverables will be specified and defined.

Phase 2: Validation of the methodological approach

The methodology proposed by the consultancy team when submitting the application will be reviewed, revised and validated by the Project Manager and the Director of the World Coalition, as well as by the Gender Working Group of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty.

3rd phase: design / implementation and initial results

Development of the analysis by the consulting team. A first version of the document structure will be shared for validation, along with the first draft.

Phase 4: Sharing results

Presentation and approval of complete products.

Deliverables

The consultancy team must produce the following:

  • Methodological note detailing the proposed approach for carrying out all the stages and producing the deliverables mentioned.
  • A report summarizing the results of the evaluation, including a list of recommendations for the second phase of the project.
  • Presentation of the report at a virtual meeting of project partners.

Implementation schedule

  • Meeting with World Coalition staff
  • 1 month for research, interviews and questionnaires
  • End of month – presentation of report highlights and results
  • 1 month to write the submission based on validation of the draft
  • 2 weeks to provide comments on the submission
  • 2 weeks for the consultant to integrate comments
  • Translation and publication

Budget

Financial proposals for this evaluation must be below a maximum ceiling of EUR 25,000.

Candidate profile

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in human rights or political science;
  • Proven experience of working with local organizations and coalitions/grassroots would be desirable.
  • At least 5 years’ proven professional experience in drafting studies and assessments;
  • Proven knowledge and professional experience of gender equality issues;
  • Advanced report writing and analysis skills;
  • Fluency in English is required, and the ability to work professionally in French is desirable.

Application timeframe

The deadline is August 31, 2024.

2 weeks to examine bids and select a consultant.

How to apply

The consultant is invited to provide the following documents to submit his/her application:

         ◦ Technical offer

The technical offer must include, but not be limited to, the following:

     – A summary of the understanding of the terms of reference, including a methodological proposal as well as an implementation schedule including a work proposal;

     – The CV of the main consultant applying for this tender and/or his/her/they team,

     – If applicable, relevant references for similar studies carried out by the consultant(s)

         ◦ Financial offer

The consultant must provide a detailed financial proposal including all costs required to carry out the entire service. No travel is foreseen for this mission.

Applications must be sent to recrutement@worldcoalition.org before midnight Paris time on August 31, 2024.