The USAID Rule of Law Program, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is designed to strengthen the rule of law in Georgia by building the independence and effectiveness of justice sector institutions, enhancing access to justice for all segments of society, and increasing citizen and institutional oversight of justice sector institutions. The Program seeks to hire a local expert to conduct training on the rights of the child for the Legal Aid Service (LAS) lawyers.

Background

One of the objectives of the Rule of Law Program is to improve access to justice for all in Georgia, by working with the LAS, a state-funded largest legal aid provider in Georgia, and CSOs delivering free legal assistance to socially vulnerable groups. After the new Code on the Rights of the Child was adopted and the mandate of the LAS regarding the children was expanded, the LAS lawyers are involved in a lot of cases involving children. The LAS has a separate Bureau in Tbilisi working on children’s cases, and one specialized lawyer who works on the rights of the child in each regional Bureau. To ensure the high quality of the provided services, the LAS needs to provide periodic capacity development opportunities for the lawyers. For this purpose, the Program will support the LAS and will secure expert assistance to conduct the training. This investment will ensure the high quality of provided services by the LAS in the long run.

Proposed Approach:

The Program seeks to hire a local expert who will conduct the training on the rights of the child for the LAS lawyers working specifically on cases involving children. The specific topic of the training should address, but might not be limited to:

1. Child and family separation, relevant international legal standards, and case law (including both domestic and international such as ECtHR, UN CRC).
2. The best interest of a child.
3. The right to be heard.

The training will equip the participants with the necessary knowledge on child separation and skills for effectively communicating with children. The number of participants will be a maximum of 22. The two-day training will be conducted outside of Tbilisi, in December.

Timeline

The consultancy period will be December 2024 – January 2025.

The estimated level of effort will be up to 4 working days for an expert, including 1 day for preparatory work (meeting with LAS, preparation for the training), 2 days of training and 1 day for consultancy report.

Reporting

The expert will work closely with Mariam Gaiparashvili, Legal Aid Advisor, and report to Mariam Gaiparashvili, and Giorgi Chkheidze, Chief of Party.

Deliverables

The expert will provide the following deliverables:

1. The expert will have a working meeting with LAS to identify their needs and reflect on all relevant topics in the training program.
2. Develop a training program (agenda, materials).
3. Conduct the training.
4. Consultancy report summary with recommendations.

Requirement and Eligibility*

Qualifications and experience:

1. University degree in Law.
2. At least 5 years of professional experience in a relevant field. 
3. At least 3 years of experience in conducting similar trainings.
4. Experience working with service delivery organizations.
5. Excellent communication and presentation skills.
6. Computer literacy (Internet, Microsoft Office programs, etc.).

To apply, potential candidate(s) need to present:

1. Cover Letter, addressing the criteria above.
2. CV, with a detailed list of qualifications.
3. Draft agenda and basic methodology of the training.
4. Cost proposal, including the proposed gross daily rate in USD (expert honorarium only).

*Applications will be reviewed based on the above-provided Requirement and Eligibility criteria.

The Program retains the right to select any or none of the applications. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

The application must be submitted in English. The application should be e-mailed to info.rolp@ewmi.org Please include the following text in the subject line: Training on the Rights of the Child for LAS Lawyers.

The deadline for application submissions is midnight, December 1, 2024 (Georgia time)