Call for Proposals- Civil society (CS) mapping and selection of target  audience (Tunisia) -Amnesty International Retour vers les opportunités

1. Project Description 

The 2011 revolution in Tunisia created the political space for thousands of new  NGOs to establish themselves. A decade later, only a few politically neutral human  rights organizations exist in the country, and even fewer regularly produce human  rights research. International human rights NGOs with offices in Tunisia have filled  that gap to some extent, but the need for strong documentation by Tunisian NGOs  has never been more urgent.  

As the economic situation has worsened, the human rights narrative has weakened,  allowing populist discourse to discredit human rights defenders. With the Kais  Said’s power-grab in July 2021, growing authoritarianism, backsliding on human  rights guarantees and empowerment of security services, dissenting voices are  increasingly under threat.    

This severe situation has also exposed the weaknesses of civil society in Tunisia on  another level: some organizations have shown a lack of consistency in how they deal  with human rights violations, taking positions according to political affiliations  rather than human rights principles. There is an urgent need for strong independent  reporting and monitoring of the human rights situation to protect human rights gains  in Tunisia. Tunisian NGOs must develop the capacities to expose violations  whenever they occur, including violations of economic and social rights, using the  full toolkit of communications, advocacy, campaigning and legal work at a key  moment in the country’s history.   

This project seeks to unlock sustainable and long-term human rights progress in  unstable political contexts, or even hostile environments, which is never an easy  task. Isolated examples of strong human rights work are not enough to shift the  general context. In MENA, capable human rights monitors and enthusiastic activists  are often working individually without a collective vision and a strategy for  community organising and mobilising. 

Paving the way for a new generation of human rights defenders in Tunisia to hold  governments and local governance bodies accountable and drive reforms through  strengthening the human rights movement in Tunisia by building the capacity of  human rights defenders in monitoring, documenting and reporting (MDR) and  enhanced campaigning and Advocacy. 

2. Aim of the Scoping 

Amnesty International is looking to hire an expert consultant/s to carry out a “Mapping  Exercise” in Tunisia. The assignment requires mapping and identifying active  established and non-established youth activists, individuals and groups, and lawyers  defending cases (individual and associations), bloggers, and different relevant networks  with presence outside of the capital Tunis, and working on different human rights 

concerns (ESCR, FoE, political rights, Women Rights, LGBTQI++ etc.) . At least 70%  of mapping should focus on non-traditional groups, NGOs, associations, networks,  individuals present outside of the capital.  

The mapping will support advancing Amnesty International in quantitative and  qualitative outcomes to feed into the kick off of AI Tunisia HRE program project” for  2023-2024. 

3. Specific objectives of the assignment:  

The consultant will be responsible to identify and map existing active and dynamic  actors in Tunisia, their thematic focus and areas of work, and ensure an inclusive and  diverse mapping of key actors identification, gender and geographic balance and  representation, and relevance of actors in line with below general criteria: 

1. Established organisations: Mapping of active networks, groups or individuals in  terms of their thematic focus, geographic scope, how they define themselves  (i.e. NGO, CBO, networks, coalitions, etc.). and their the form of legal presence (registered or not registered). The mapping should provide a holistic background  overview and analysis of typology of individual actors identified and provide  recommendations for Amnesty International of their needs and interests in ways  of working on short and long term cooperation. 
2. Non established groups: Mapping active (new) groups including individual group  thematic focus and geographic scope, and how they are organised and whether  they have any internal structure. Describe the key work of the group: if the group  work is focused on research, what is their main research project, if activism or  advocacy what is their relevant key initiative etc., and their key needs and  interests, and recommendations for AI to support their initiatives. 
3. Individual activists and Human Rights Defenders (HRDs)- identify individuals  working on specific HR concerns including activists, lawyers and bloggers working on human rights causes. Describe their key work and relevant  achievements, their needs and interests, and recommendations for AI on  supporting their initiatives

Additionally, the consultant/s must ensure the below criteria are considered in their  proposals methodology and tools applied and reflected in their action plan and final  report. 

1. Gender: Identification of above groups must ensure gender and geographic  balance. 
2. Mapping of HRDs who we can reach to and are interested to commit to a 2 years  programs with focus on documenting human rights violations or campaigning  and advocacy with maximisation of impact including and not limited to full programme participation and implementation of action plans, creation of small  networks, submitting sustainability plans etc. 
3. Thematic diversity: across all themes aligned with or having impact on access  to human rights.  
4. Minimum criteria: working towards change at a local or national level related to  a human rights, even if not labelled as such.  
5. Key deliverables 
6. Mapping of established and non-established youth groups, individuals, bloggers,  lawyers and different networks including reporting on their projects and/or  activities and areas of intervention. 
7. Needs assessment of potential target audience: specific areas of focus in MDR  or campaigning and advocacy together with thematic areas as well as other  relevant needs, for example: organisational development gaps and needs. 
8. Identification of a preliminary list (database) of HRDs and youth activists (and  contact details) interested in long term and sustained MDR or Campaigning and  Advocacy work in Tunisia, including recommendations on capacity building  needs, areas of focus, interventions and initiatives. 
9. Recommendations for Amnesty International on an inclusive and diverse  selection process, including developing or recommending the selection criteria.  This may include the Application form, or call for participation for HRDs  selection that can be agreed and discussed with team. 
10. The final report should not exceed 20-25 pages, excluding annexes. 6. Participation in preliminary screening of applications. 
11. Timeline Mid Jan 2023 – End of Feb 2023 (20 working days)  

Note: above proposed activities provide a general guideline on expected deliverables by  the consultant/s, and your proposed methodology can include additional tools for your  proposed methodology i.e. survey, online-offline tools, etc, and revised timeline. 

8. Skills and Competencies 

Amnesty International is looking for the services of individual consultants/consultancy firms  who will work in close collaboration with Amnesty International HRE program with the  following skills and competencies: 

• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in the human rights ecosystem;
•  Excellent knowledge of Tunisia CS and its ongoing developments;
•  A good network of CSOs and socially engaged organizations and initiatives in Tunisia. • Experience in working with youth audiences (15-20 years); 
• Excellent research, interviewing, building new relations. communication and  writing skills. 
• Fluency in Arabic both spoken and written is a must given the nature of the  assignment, and English or French is an advantage.

9. Duration 

Work will start immediately after consultancy commencement and will be completed in  20 working days, and is expected to start by 15th of Feb 2023 until end of March 2023 depending on the consultant proposed methodology and approved operational  plan following signing contract agreement. 

10. Consultancy fees 

Allocated budget amount: the overall allocated budget of this assignment is (7,000 USD gross amount). Each proposal will be evaluated based on their value of money and  efficiency of proposed budget vis their narrative proposal. 

Indicative level of remuneration  

Proposed level of remuneration will be paid in two instalments as noted below:  

• 1st Payment: Upon delivery of first draft report or operational plan. • Final Payment : Upon delivery of final report including an executive summary.  

11. Reporting lines 

The consultant shall report directly to the HRE coordinator and the HRE project  Manager and is expected to organise meetings and feedback sessions with AI team in  Tunisia and the MENA region and the OSF. 

12. Application process 

If you are interested in submitting an application for this consultancy opportunity,  please to send us your concept note and financial proposal, and include your CV and  core team assigned (if applicable), and a one page summary of cover letter of your  relevant experience/s and summary of your proposal (team value proposition), as it  relates to the above tasks as well as skills and competencies with concrete examples.  

The consultant(s)/consultancy firm shall submit their proposal which must include;  

• Cover letter: A short letter expressing interest and related experience. 
•  Technical Proposal (proposed methodology, action plan) not to exceed 8-10  pages, excluding annexes. 
• Gross financial proposal (including VAT taxes) in USD. One pager.
•  Curriculum vitae of the consultant/s assigned to the project. 
• Annexes: at least one sample example of relevant research studies conducted in  the last two years. 

Please forward your application to Souad Yacoubi at souad.yacoubi@amnesty.org by the 5th Feb 2023, 23:59 Tunisia time. Interviews (short-listed applicants only) will be  conducted at Amnesty International Regional office Tunis, upon the administrative check stage. For any technical related question kindly to be directed to the above email 

address, and we will get back to you in 48 hours by 30th Jan 2023 by 17:00 (working  hours).  

Evaluation of Applications 

Applications will be evaluated on a merit-bases considering the following criteria: (i) profile  and experience of the consultant/s in relation to subject of the present assignment, (ii) the  methodology proposed for the conduction of the assignment, and (iii) the financial offer.