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Annex I - Terms of Reference

Evaluation of NORDEM, the Norwegian Resource Bank for Democracy and Human Rights

1. Background

NORDEM, the Norwegian Resource Bank for Democracy and Human Rights, was established in 1993 to help promote the international process towards democracy and human rights.

NORDEM is made up of:

a) A resource base of approximately 120 persons who are ready to render assistance and advice at short notice within 12 different professional areas, including election assistance, democratic organisations, news media, minority protection, constitutional reform, rule of law, good governance, and human rights education.

b) A stand-by force, established January 1995, to ensure a higher degree of preparedness for personnel categories in frequent demand within the field of democracy and human rights. On 1-3 weeks’ notice the stand-by force is ready to deploy trained personnel within the areas of

  • election assistance and observation
  • human rights monitoring,
  • investigation of human rights abuses, and
  • democratisation support projects.

The stand-by force is made up of approximately 250 persons.

On an annual basis, NORDEM carries out circa 40 different assignments (comprising 400-500 man months) in approximately 20 different countries. More or less half of the assignments have fallen within the areas of election observation and election assistance, and the other half within the areas of human rights actions and democracy building. Services of NORDEM have been in high demand from international actors. Most NORDEM missions have in recent years been provided to OSCE (the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe), but many secondments have been rendered to the United Nations and to OAS (the Organisation of American States).

NORDEM is financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (approximately 18 million NOK for the period 1 January – 30 June 2000). The professional responsibility is vested in the Norwegian Institute of Human Rights, and the administrative and operational responsibility rests with the Norwegian Refugee Council.

In a white paper to the Norwegian Parliament (St. meld. nr. 21 (1999-2000)) regarding a plan of action for human rights, the Government has stated its intention to strengthen and expand NORDEM. The evaluation should provide guidance as to how this process may be carried out.

2. Purpose of the Evaluation

The main purpose of the evaluation is:

    1. To provide information on the experience of NORDEM for the period 1993-2000 in providing personnel for assignments within the general areas of election observation and assistance, human rights actions and democracy building.
    2. To find out whether NORDEM personnel have been used in accordance with priorities as described by the implementing organisations (seconded organisations), and to assess the overall relevance of missions performed in relation to democracy and human rights needs in national and local target groups.
    3. To assess whether NORDEM has the capacity to deploy adequately trained personnel from its stand-by force for international assignments within time limits desired by main international actors as OSCE and the United Nations, and to consider whether its resource bank of experts has the competence and experience desired by such actors.
    4. To assess whether services provided by NORDEM personnel have been cost-efficient as compared to services rendered by similar organisations and institutions in other Western nations, and whether Norway has, through the NORDEM system, adequately exploited possible Norwegian comparative advantages in the areas of democracy building and human rights. In this connection, it should be assessed whether some of the services could have been provided at lower costs and with adequate quality from local sources.
  1. To assess whether information and experiences obtained through NORDEM activities have contributed to competence building of professional actors in Norway.
  2. To provide recommendations for the future strengthening and development of NORDEM, including ways of making the implementation of NORDEM assignments more professional, efficient and institutionalised.

3. Scope and Method

The evaluation should cover the overall assistance provided by NORDEM for the period 1993-2000.

As general background material the evaluation team should study relevant material in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Institute of Human Rights, and the Refugee Council, such as correspondence, agreements, presentation pamphlets, annual and other reports; and the team should interview key people in the Ministry, the Institute and the Council, including persons in the secretariats and on the boards of the latter two institutions. The team should, if at all possible, contact persons that were instrumental in establishing NORDEM.

In addition the evaluation should include in-depth studies of selected assignments in the form of field visits to three geographical areas/countries where NORDEM has provided considerable assistance: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ethiopia, and East Timor (Indonesia). These visits should include interviews with target groups, with NORDEM personnel and with representatives of seconded organisations. They should cover assignments within key areas of NORDEM activities, including election assistance and observation, development of democratic institutions, human rights monitoring and investigation of human rights abuses.

The evaluation should include an assessment of the administration of NORDEM support, inter alia the handling of the grants at the Ministry’s level, the Ministry’s collaboration with the Institute of Human Rights and the Refugee Council, the functioning of the relevant parts of the secretariats of the latter two institutions, and the training and deployment of NORDEM personnel. How was the financial management of the NORDEM programme? How did the seconded organisations and institutions get to know about NORDEM, and how does the NORDEM system ensure that it reaches relevant international actors? Should one consider additional information channels in order to reach other potential recipient organisations of NORDEM personnel? How is the processing of requests for NORDEM services in the Ministry, the Institute and the Council?

Quantitative elements related to the different assignments during the years 1995-2000 should be stated in the evaluation: The number of assignments that have been undertaken by the NORDEM resource bank of experts and the NORDEM standby force respectively during this period, classified by country, continent and type. The types of assignments should be characterised by the following labels:

  • election assistance
  • election observation
  • human rights monitoring, including minority protection and equal rights (gender)
  • investigation of human rights abuses
  • constitutional reform, including constitutional and legal guarantees
  • development of independent judiciaries
  • democracy building on a national level, including good governance, political pluralism and news media
  • development of local administration
  • human rights education
  • conflict resolution
  • other categories as deemed appropriate by the evaluation team

Much of the above information is already available in the secretariat of the Norwegian Institute of Human Rights.

The qualitative impact of each assignment or type of assignments selected for in-depth studies in defined areas/countries should be assessed against those of the criteria mentioned below that are seen as relevant in each case:

    • The aims and objectives for each assignment (or type of assignments) as described by the implementing organisation (seconded organisation), should be used as a baseline against which the effects may be measured.
  • The extent to which the contact with NORDEM personnel and the implementation of the supported project influenced democratic practices and attitudes within the recipient organisation.
  • The extent to which the NORDEM assignment was appropriate to achieve a change in the democratic situation or the human rights situation at the national or local level.
  • The extent to which the assignment contributed to networking and cooperation between different organisations for democratic development or between different human rights organisations in the recipient country and led to further activities in this field?

The evaluation shall identify general lessons that can be used for future policy development, in particular as regards recruiting, training and deployment of NORDEM personnel in the general areas of democracy and human rights.

4. Evaluation Team

The evaluation should be undertaken by a team of 3-4 people with legal, social science, public administration and/or human rights competence. Among them the team should possess particular competence and knowledge on Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ethiopia and Indonesia. Local expertise could be involved in case studies. Language requirements are English, Norwegian and as many of the relevant local languages as possible for the field visits.

5. Reporting of findings

The evaluation should result in a final report not exceeding 50 pages, including an executive summary of maximum four pages. The evaluation team will write a maximum two-page summary of major findings and recommendations, for publication in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Evaluation Summary series. The technical quality of the final report and the two-page summary will be such that they can be printed without any further rewriting or editing.

Throughout the evaluation, the team must make efforts so that the evaluation becomes a learning experience for persons, institutions and organisations in Norway involved as stakeholders in the NORDEM system. During the preparation of the report, the team should present its main conclusions and recommendations to the major stakeholders. Having completed the report, the team will present its main conclusions and recommendations in an internal seminar arranged by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

6. Timing

The evaluation should start in early September 2001. The final report should be submitted by December 20.