About the Job
Background
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) is a national civil society organization dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights and the advancement of the rule of law in Ethiopia. Through legal advocacy, research, documentation, and policy engagement, LHR has been actively engaged in transitional justice (TJ) initiatives aimed at addressing past and ongoing human rights violations and strengthening accountability mechanisms.
Findings from national and international bodies, including the joint investigation conducted by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have established that the northern conflict resulted in widespread violations of international human rights, humanitarian, and refugee law.
Central to this consultancy is the recognition that human rights documentation serves as the essential evidence base for any TJ process. By systematically recording violations, this initiative aims to create a factual foundation that supports truth-telling, enables legal accountability, and ensures that victims’ claims for reparations are grounded in verified accounts, ultimately fostering long-term reconciliation and institutional reform.
As part of its contribution to Ethiopia’s transitional justice process, LHR has supported various initiatives aimed at ensuring truth, accountability, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence. Building on this experience, LHR has facilitated the establishment of an informal consortium of civil society organizations (CSO) networks on transitional justice in Tigray, Afar, and Amhara. Stakeholder mapping and roundtable discussions conducted by LHR demonstrated strong interest among CSOs in engaging meaningfully in the transitional justice process. However, these consultations also identified significant capacity gaps, particularly in the areas of documentation of human rights violations and transitional justice advocacy, monitoring, and reporting. In response, LHR plans to implement a structured capacity development program for informal CSO networks in the three regions.
Various relevant organizations offer a range of materials that can be adapted for developing capacity-building resources for civil society organizations (CSOs), including reports, guidelines, case studies, and toolkits. These include, but are not limited to: UN OHCHR Manual on Human Rights Monitoring, UN Guidelines on Documentation of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Guideline, Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) manuals and guidelines.
To support this initiative, LHR will compile and share these relevant reference materials and the consultant engaged under these ToR will be responsible for consolidating, contextualizing, and transforming these materials into training presentations and tools, as well as delivering the training in the three regions.
Objective
The overall objective of this consultancy is to strengthen the capacity of CSO networks in Tigray, Afar, and Amhara to document human rights violations in a credible, ethical, and victim-centered manner, in line with national and international transitional justice standards.
The consultancy aims to:
Deliver high-quality, practice-oriented training that enhances CSOs’ skills in documenting human rights violations, including Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV).
Develop practical, context-appropriate training materials based on LHR resources.
Support CSOs’ meaningful contribution to Ethiopia’s transitional justice process.
Scope of Work
Preparation of Training Materials
Hold an inception meeting with LHR and partners to clarify objectives and ensure alignment with Ethiopia’s transitional justice framework.
Consolidate and adapt existing materials, including LHR-compiled resources
Develop a detailed agenda with clear modules, learning objectives, and time allocation.
Produce two structured presentations: Documentation of human rights violations (standards, ethics, tools) and Documentation of SGBV in conflict settings (survivor-centered, gender-responsive approaches).
Prepare complimentary training tools or handouts, including documentation checklists, interview protocols, and ethical and survivor-centered SGBV guidance.
Delivery of Training
Deliver two rounds of training in each of the three target regions (Afar, Tigray, Amhara), each lasting two days, conducted in the regional capitals.
Apply adult-learning approaches, including brief lectures, group discussions, role-play simulations, mock documentation exercises, and case study analysis.
Ensure sessions cover international standards, evidentiary requirements, ethical principles, trauma-informed documentation, and evidence management.
Administer pre- and post-training questionnaires to measure knowledge and skills gained, and facilitate reflection sessions to consolidate lessons learned.
Provide regional training reports summarizing participation, key discussions, agreed recommendations, and practical next steps for CSO networks.
Methodology
The training will adopt adult-learning principles and emphasize participatory, practice-oriented approaches to ensure participants gain both theoretical knowledge and practical skills. The methodology will include:
Brief lectures: concise presentation to introduce key concepts, standards and ethical principles
Facilitated discussions: guided group discussions to encourage peer-to-peer learning and exchange of experiences, and debriefing after exercises to consolidate lessons learned
Hands-on exercises: mock documentation, role-play, and case-studies
Use of templates and checklists to familiarize participants with documentation tools
Deliverables
PowerPoint training presentations developed from LHR-compiled materials, two presentations on documentation of human rights violations and documentation of sexual and gender-based violences
Complementary training tools or handouts required for effective delivery, such as documentation checklists, interview protocols, survivor-centered SGBV guidelines, and pre- and post-training questionnaires
Completed training delivery in the three target regions.
Brief training reports summarizing participation and participant data, key discussions, and recommendations.
Timeline
The consultant is expected to prepare the training manual within 25 working days from the date of the contract.
The consultant shall be available to deliver the training at a date and place to be determined by LHR.
About You
Consultant Qualifications
Advanced university degree in law, human rights, or transitional justice.
At least 7 – 10 years of professional experience in documenting human rights violations, including SGBV.
Experience in developing and delivering capacity-building training for CSOs, in particular on documentation of human rights violations and SGBV, demonstrated through at least three major projects. Applicants should provide references or examples of these projects
Strong understanding of survivor-centered, gender-responsive, and trauma-informed approaches.
Familiarity with Ethiopia’s human rights and TJ landscape.
Requirement Skill
Familiarity with Ethiopia’s human rights and TJ landscape.
How To Apply
Submit an application letter, CV, and technical and financial proposals to consultancy@lhrethiopia.org cc: info@lhrethiopia.org Applications must be submitted within 5 days of the announcement. The subject
line must read: “Consultancy for Training on Documentation of Human Rights Violations.”
To apply for this job email your details to consultancy@lhrethiopia.org
