Consultancy - National Legal Expert

IDLO is conducting a final evaluation to assess the “Strengthening the Social Contract through Access to Justice in Somaliland” against their stated outcomes and outputs as it nears completion. In particular, the evaluation will:

• Provide an independent and rigorous assessment of the project’s results under Phase I, examining its relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, sustainability, and any unintended effects against the logical framework and theory of change.
• Measure the extent to which the expected results were achieved, with particular emphasis on their impact on intended beneficiaries and the sustainability of results,
• Assess the programme’s overall contribution to strengthening the social contract and enhancing the legitimacy of justice institutions in Somaliland, by applying a lens on how support for a hybrid justice service delivery model has influenced public perceptions of the legitimacy of the state as a justice provider, and of the state more broadly and;
• Identify actionable insights and lessons learned to inform the design and implementation of Phase II and similar future interventions aimed at increasing justice institutions’ legitimacy in comparable contexts. More specifically, the evaluation will identify enabling and hindering factors and provide prioritized, time-bound recommendations for adaptive management, risk mitigation, resourcing, and implementation arrangements in the next phase, including refinements to the theory of change, performance framework, and thematic areas for scale-up.

The National Legal Expert will be responsible for supporting the Evaluation Expert and carry out duties in line with the Terms of Reference. The incumbent will be expected to carry out the following key duties in line with the detailed evaluation Terms of Reference. Inter alia, the incumbent will:

• Provide contextual expertise on customary and informal justice/legal and judicial reform/gender justice/rule of law and human rights in Somaliland.
• Contribute to desk review, stakeholder mapping, and lead on in-country data collection (possibly at all levels as required), including interviews and focus group discussions.
• Facilitate engagement with national institutions and civil society actors during fieldwork.
• Support the preparation of the Inception Note and Evaluation Report, including analysis of findings and drafting of relevant sections; and
• Ensure that national perspectives and contextual nuances are adequately reflected throughout the evaluation process.

The incumbent will support the in-depth analytical work to produce the following deliverables in all draft and final versions.

1. An Inception Note
2. A draft Evaluation Report
3. Finalized Evaluation Report

Education and Professional Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in law, political science, public administration, international development, or related social sciences, with at least 5 years of professional experience in the customary and informal justice/legal and judicial reform/gender justice/rule of law and human rights sector in Somaliland.
• Experience supporting or conducting evaluations of projects and programmes addressing customary and informal justice/legal and judicial reform/gender justice/rule of law and human rights sector in Somaliland.
• Comprehensive understanding of Somaliland’s legal and judicial context, including the interplay between formal and customary justice mechanisms.

Languages

• Outstanding written and verbal skills in English is required. Proficiency in the relevant local languages in Somaliland is an advantage.

Specific knowledge, skills, and competencies

• Strong technical expertise in Somaliland’s customary and informal justice/legal and judicial reform/gender justice/rule of law and human rights sector.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze institutional capacities and policy implementation gaps and to provide context-specific and evidence-based recommendations.
• Demonstrated experience in qualitative data collection and analysis, including conducting key informant interviews, focus group discussions.

The consultancy is expected to commence in January 2026. The inception note is expected by mid-February 2026, completion of data collection by mid-April 2026, the draft evaluation report is tentatively expected by end of May 2026 and the final report tentatively by June 2026.

This is a result-based assignment where payments are made upon satisfactory production of evaluation deliverables.

IDLO is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We welcome applications from qualified candidates of all backgrounds. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for IDLO vacancies.

IDLO does not tolerate sexual exploitation or abuse, any kind of harassment, including harassment of a sexual nature; or discrimination. As such, IDLO will conduct careful reference and background checks of all selected candidates as part of its selection process.

Application deadline: 12 December2025 (23:59hrs Rome time).