TOR for Consultancy Service: External Expert for Reviewing an Assessment Report on the ACSO Legal and Regulato

BACKGROUND

1. The Ethiopian Lawyers’ Association (ELA) is more than a half century old non-governmental non-profit professional association established in 1965 and currently re-registered at Authority for Civil Society Organizations with License no. 1422. ELA is a founding member of the Pan African Lawyers Association (PALU), the International Bar Association (IBA), African Center of Excellence in Access to Justice (ACEAJ) and other national, regional, and international organizations, contributing for the solidarity and fraternity of the legal community at both national and international levels.
2. ELA works for the interest of lawyers, integrity of legal profession and provision of community free legal service through promoting:

• Rule of law, good governance, human rights and democracy;

• Enhancing the right to access to justice through strategic advocacy and providing free legal aid service for the poor, vulnerable host communities, refugees, migrants and IDPs in Addis Ababa and Regional states;

• Undertakes Research and Publication activities and has its own law journal known as "Journal of Ethiopian Law " for this purpose;

• Organizes continuous legal education workshops on various legal agendas to build the capacity of its members and stakeholders;

• Works with government and other stakeholders in the legal and judicial reform.

ELA, with the financial support of AFD is implementing a civil society engagement program under CSIF II Effective as of 1, September 2025 in partnership with Civil Society Resource Centre. As part of this effort, ELA is looking for a qualified External Reviewer /consultant for reviewing an assessment report on the ACSO legal and regulatory practice developed by an independent researcher to ensure the quality of the assessment report.

OBJECTIVE OF THE WORK

The main objective of the task is: 

• Review the assessment report developed by an independent consultant to ensure the credibility, integrity and quality of the report based on CSO legal framework and practice against national and international legal standards and best practices.

• Critically evaluate how well the report delineates the practical regulatory operations of the regional and federal Civil Society legal and regulatory bodies in fostering an enabling legal and funding environment for new, emerging, and existing CSOs.

• Provide actionable comments, structural feedbacks, and technical revisions to elevate the final assessment report to a professional,  and meet research standards.

SCOPE OF THE WORK

The External Reviewer is required to provide high-level quality assurance, technical validation, and constructive feedback on the assessment products.

Specifically, the reviewer will:

• Critically Review and validate the integrity, credibility, accuracy and relevance of the Assessment Report.

• Evaluate the Analysis, findings and recommendations of the assessment report regarding the pre-registration, during registration, and post-registration practices of the Authorities. The reviewer will ensure that the findings and subsequent recommendations are rigorous enough to effectively guide advocacy in enhancing freedom of association and inclusive civic engagement.

• Verify Legal and Institutional Essence: Review and refine the report's exploration of the purpose, impact, essence, nature, status, and relevance of ACSO legal and institutional practices, ensuring the final text meets international and national legal and research standards.

• Deliver Structured Feedback Logs: Provide detailed, actionable comment matrixc, structural feedback, and clear technical guidance on the draft to produce a a publishable report.

METHODOLOGY

The External Reviewer should apply a rigorous quality-assurance and evaluation framework to review the draft assessment report. The review approach must explicitly utilize standard evaluation criteria to assess the quality, depth, and validity of the assessment findings (relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability)

KEY ACTIVITIES AND DELIVERABLES

Key Activities

1. The External Reviewer will evaluate and validate the assessment Report in line with federal and regional CSO legal and regulatory frameworks and standards.
2. Specifically, the reviewer will:

• Review the assessment report to ensure the data accurately reflects the specific regulatory practices on the ground across the country.

•  Cross-check the report’s interpretations against CSO law, regulatory and research standards to ensure technical accuracy.