TERMS OF REFERENCE (ToR)
Development of a Standardized Paralegal Training Curriculum and Manual for EWLA Volunteer Committee Members
Background
The Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) has been working for over three decades to advance women's rights, access to justice, and legal reform in Ethiopia. EWLA provides free legal aid services to women and girls through its Head Office, regional branch offices, and volunteer committees operating at zonal and woreda levels across nine regional states. These services are further supported by a network of volunteer members, including lawyers, law graduates, and community-based paralegals.
EWLA's volunteer committee members often serve as the first point of contact for women seeking legal assistance on matters such as family law, gender-based violence (GBV), property and inheritance disputes, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and other human rights issues. They play a critical role in facilitating access to justice for women and girls within their communities. It is therefore essential to strengthen their capacity to deliver quality, gender-responsive, and survivor-centered legal aid services.
Although EWLA has provided training to volunteers on basic laws, legal procedures, and the legal frameworks that safeguard the rights of women and children, there remains a need to standardize the training content and delivery methods. A comprehensive and consistent training program should be provided regularly to all EWLA volunteers to ensure the quality and effectiveness of legal aid services across all regions.
To this end, EWLA seeks to engage qualified expert(s) to develop a standardized paralegal training manual and curriculum that will serve as the foundation for capacity-building initiatives for its volunteer committees nationwide.
Objectives of the Assignment
Overall Objective
To develop a standardized, practical, and Ethiopia-specific Paralegal Aid Training Manual that strengthens the knowledge, skills, and ethical grounding of EWLA's volunteer paralegal aid providers.
Specific Objectives
- Develop a curriculum, modular training manual covering core legal knowledge, referral pathways, and paralegal skills relevant to EWLA's legal aid mandate
- Ensure the manual reflects current Ethiopian law, including family law (federal and regional laws), criminal law provisions on GBV/HTPs, property/inheritance law (including land rights), labor laws and SRHR-related legal protections
- Incorporate survivor-centered, trauma-informed, and confidentiality-based approaches consistent with EWLA's institutional values
- Produce accompanying facilitation tools (trainer's guide, session plans, case scenarios, assessment tools) to support consistent delivery across branch offices
- Ensure the manual is written in accessible language for volunteers without formal legal training in (Amharic and English)
Main Tasks
Inception and Planning
- Develop an inception note outlining methodology, scope, structure, and timeline
- Review existing EWLA materials and identify content areas to be prioritized
Desk Review and Content Mapping
- Conduct a comprehensive review of relevant Ethiopian laws
- Review prior training or induction materials used by EWLA, if any
- Identify core substantive and procedural content areas to be covered in the manual
Training Needs Consultation
- Conduct consultations (interviews/focus group discussions) with EWLA staff, branch office coordinators, and a sample of current volunteer paralegals
- Identify existing capacity gaps, common case types, and practical challenges faced by volunteers in the field
- Document findings in a brief training needs summary
Manual Drafting
- Develop a detailed curriculum and manual outline/table of contents for EWLA review and approval
- Draft the full training manual, covering at minimum:
- Roles, responsibilities, and ethical conduct of paralegal aid volunteers, including confidentiality and do-no-harm principles
- Overview of the Ethiopian legal system and relevant institutions (courts, police, prosecutors, social affairs bureaus)
- Core substantive law modules: family law, GBV-related criminal law, property and inheritance, labor and SRHR legal protections
- Client interviewing, basic case documentation, and referral pathways
- Survivor-centered and trauma-informed communication techniques
- Case studies and practice scenarios grounded in the Ethiopian context
Trainer's Guide Development
- Develop a companion trainer's guide with session plans, timing, suggested methodology, and pre/post-training assessment tools
- Prepare PowerPoint Presentation
- Pilot test the manual through the provision training to paralegals
Pilot test, Review and Validation
- Incorporate feedback from EWLA Head Office through at least two rounds of review and revision
- Facilitate an internal validation session with relevant staff and volunteer representatives
- Finalize the manual based on the pilot test and validations feedback.
Scope of the Training Manual
The manual will cover (but is not limited to):
1 Substantive and Procedural Legal Content
- Family law (marriage, divorce, inheritance)
- Criminal law provisions related to GBV/VAW
- Property and inheritance rights (including land rights
- Extra contractual liabilities
- SRHR-related legal protections
- ADR/ customary court laws and guides
- Relevant procedural and referral frameworks
- Criminal procedure and evidence law relevant to GBV/VAW
- Civil procedure law – basic procedural and evidence requirement
2 Paralegal Skills and Conduct
- Client interviewing and basic case documentation
- Referral pathways and case management
- Ethical conduct, confidentiality, and do-no-harm principles
- Survivor-centered, trauma-informed communication
3 Audience and Use
- Primary audience: EWLA volunteer paralegal aid members (community-based paralegals, law graduates, volunteer lawyers)
- Use context: induction training, refresher training, and ongoing reference at Head Office and branch offices
Key Deliverables
- Inception note (methodology and work plan)
- Training needs summary
- Draft manual outline/table of contents
- First full draft of the training manual
- Trainer's guide (session plans, methodology, assessment tools)
- Pilot test
- Final training manual and trainer's guide, print-ready and PPP (Amharic and English