Skills development for legal actors in the target countries of the Gender and Death Penalty Project: training and tools
Presentation of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, an alliance of more than 170 NGOs, bar associations, local authorities and unions, was create in Rome on 13 May 2002. The aim of the World Coalition is to strengthen the international dimension of the fight against the death penalty.
Its ultimate objective is to obtain universal abolition of the death penalty. To achieve its goal, the World Coalition advocates for a definitive end to death sentences and executions in those countries where the death penalty is in force. In some countries, it is seeking to obtain a reduction in the use of capital punishment as a first step towards abolition.
Mission
The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty’s founding mission, as stated in its Bylaws, is to bring together private, public, international, national, local and regional organizations that share the common objective of universal abolition of the death penalty.
Goals
The aim of the World Coalition is to strengthen the international dimension of the fight against the death penalty.
Its ultimate goal is the universal abolition of the death penalty.
Guiding Principles
The World Coalition provides a global dimension to the sometimes isolated action taken by its member organizations on the ground. It complements their initiatives, while constantly respecting their independence.
Vision
The World Coalition’s vision is that of a reference global network trusted worldwide to coordinate, support and amplify the work of tis member organizations towards universal abolition of the death penalty.
Two Main Orientations
Two main orientations emerged following a consultation of membership and were unanimously adopted by the World Coalition’s General Assembly in June 2017:
- to support member organizations; and
- to coordinate international advocacy.
By encouraging networking amongst its members as well as an exchange of experiences, the World Coalition is able to propose common international or regional strategies for the abolition of the death penalty, support abolitionists throughout the world and to provide them with information, awareness-raising and mobilization tools.
Background
Until recently, the abolitionist movement overlooked gender discrimination in capital punishment cases. 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 the World Day Against the Death Penalty will address the invisible reality of women facing the death penalty. With access to new data on the subject, this World Day confirmed the need to include gender and intersectional discrimination in abolitionist actions. 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%, members need more resources to mainstream gender issues into their practices in a systematic way.
In 2022, the World Coalition began to proactively integrate gender issues into its actions, made possible by a funding from the Government of Canada. This “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 for the total abolition of capital punishment. To this end, the project has identified the four immediate objectives:
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 approach to the rights of women, men and gender non-conforming people on death row (1)
- Increased capacity of death penalty abolitionist CSOs to work with women’s rights and women’s rights movements and organizations (2)
- Increased awareness of the gendered and intersectional discrimination faced by women, men and gender non-conforming persons sentenced to death by judicial actors in target countries (3)
- Increased knowledge of UN member states and abolitionist human rights organizations to advocate a gender-sensitive approach to death penalty abolition (4)
This consultancy is part of intermediate objective 3 and aims to continue the efforts made during the first three years of the project.
Objectives
- Develop training sessions focusing on the intersection between gender justice and capital punishment.
- Required training subjects: effective strategies for defending women and gender minorities exposed to the death penalty, recognition of gender-related mitigating circumstances, narrative construction.
- Training targets intended: Judicial actors in target countries of the Gender Project. The training courses must also be made accessible to members of the World Coalition, particularly those working in the target countries who provide legal support to people exposed to the death penalty.
- Number of people targeted by the training courses: 100 people (of which at least 50% women and/or gender minorities).
Develop one toolkit for United States defense teams engaged in the representation of women and gender diverse people exposed to extreme punishment.
Coordination and Methodology
Coordination
The work will be conducted by a Consultancy Team who will work under the direction of the Women and Gender Program Manager of the World Coalition and the Gender and Death Penalty Working Group.
During the implementation phase, three follow-up meetings are planned with the World Coalition’s Women and Gender project manager to ensure synergies with the Gender Project’s other ongoing activities.
- 1st meeting: Kick-off meeting (May 2025)
Once the Consultancy Team has been selected, a meeting will be arranged to review the expected outputs and timeline. This meeting will serve to resolve any potential doubts that may exist.
- 2nd meeting: Mid-term meeting (October 2025)
This meeting will aim to make a mid-stage review in order to identify any existing blockages and resolve ongoing issues.
- 3rd meeting: Final meeting (March 2026)
This meeting will aim to discuss the results of the consultancy and identify areas for improvement (see section 5, deliverables).
Deliverables
The consultant must produce the following deliverables:
- Training course report that should include:
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- Details of participants (broken down by gender, age and country );
- Measured impact of the training, specifically the %/total of judicial actors who report changes in their behaviour regarding women, men, and gender-non-conforming people sentenced to death (disaggregated by gender, age, country) ;
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- The toolkit for defense teams engaged in the representation of women and gender diverse individuals.
Implementation Timetable
- May 2025 – March 2026
Budget
The experts’ financial proposals for this evaluation must be below a maximum ceiling of 32 000EUR.
Candidates’ Profile
- Proven professional experience in working on the intersection of gender justice and extreme sentencing, especially in the United States.
- Proven professional experience in the development of tools for legal actors involved in the defense of women and gender minorities exposed to extreme penalties such as the death penalty.
- Proven professional experience in the development of training aimed at judicial actors involved in the defense of women and gender minorities exposed to extreme penalties such as the death penalty.
- Proven experience working in collaboration with local/ grassroots organizations and coalitions would be desirable.
- Fluency in English is necessary, and capacity to professionally work in French is desirable.
Application Timeline
Fixed deadline Mai 9.
1 week to review offers and select a consultant.
How to apply
The consultancy team is invited to provide the following documents to submit their 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 candidate for this call for competition and/or his/her/they team,
◦ Financial offer
The consultant must provide a detailed financial offer including all costs to complete the entire service. No travel is expected for this consultancy.
Applications should be sent to recrutement@worldcoalition.org by Mai 9, 2025 midnight Paris time.