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Ref.
2026/DAOTIPCJPCISL/15530

Job offer type
Experts

Type of contract
Detachment of a public or semi-public administration officer

Deadline date
2026/06/08 14:45

Duration of the assignment
Short term

Contract
Public / Parapublic

Mission description

 Expertise France is looking for a short-term International Expert to undertake Diagnostic Assessment of Trafficking in Persons Criminal Justice Penal Chain in Sierra Leone, Incorporating Gender-Sensitive Approaches. 

This mission will analysis the criminal justice chain in the fight against human trafficking in Sierra Leone, including, collaboration between law enforcement actors, institutional capacity, knowledge and ownership of applicable Legal Framework. The assessment will identify best practices, existing gaps, and recommendation of areas for improvement, particularly mainstreaming the gender principles in the criminal justice penal chain reflected in the final Inception Report. The methodology will involve a desk research, stakeholders’ engagement and mapping.

The Expert will conduct the mission under the supervision of Expertise France National Coordinator in Freetown, with overall supervision from Project Regional Office (Lome) and Expertise France’s head office (Paris).

Contract Duration: 11 working days with assignment spread across six weeks in June/July 2026.

Duty Station: A combination of desk review (remote) and in-country mission(s) to Freetown may be required.

 

Through desk research, stakeholders’ engagement and mapping, the International Expert will carry out a diagnostic assessment of the Criminal Justice Penal Chain on Trafficking in Persons in Sierra Leone, and evaluate the capacity of national law enforcement institutions to effectively detect, investigate, prosecute and convict human trafficking cases while considering gender-sensitivity approaches.  

The specific objectives include :

  1. A mapping of the actors, their roles and responsibilities, while identifying institutional capacities, technical and operational gaps and priority areas for reform within law enforcement penal chain.

  2. Support disaggregated data collection (demographic, exploitation type and case progression) across the entire justice pipeline including for the past three years;

  1. Investigation

  • Investigations Initiated - Number of proactive versus reactive investigations

  • Number of victims identified and assisted,

  • Measure the number and monetary value of trafficker assets, proceeds and properties seized during investigation.

  1. Prosecution

  • Cases referred and formally charged: Number of cases forwarded by law enforcement to prosecutors, and the number where formal charges were filed.

  • Types of charges filed: Record the specific statutes used (example, forced labor/ sexual exploitation)

  • Time-to-prosecution: Measure the duration between a suspect’s arrest and the initiation of trial.

  • Use of Victim-centered support: Track the number of cases where testimonial aids (example, closed-circuit testimony, trauma-informed interviewers) were utilized to reduce re-victimization.

  • Victim cooperation and attrition: Note the rate of dropped charges particularly those resulting from victims recanting due to fear or lack of adequate protection.

  1. Conviction

  • Conviction rate: The number of defendants convicted relative to the number of prosecution initiated.

  • Types of convictions secured disaggregate by specific offenses

  • Sentencing severity: Track the average length of prison sentences, and evaluate whether they align with the Anti-Trafficking Act and commensurate penalties of international standards.

  • Traffickers Profile: Disaggregate convictions by the offender’s role (example, independent operators, local networks, or members of transnational organized crime groups)

 

  1. Analyze the regulations, practices and methodologies applied by law enforcement actors, and the effectiveness of relevant legal framework, including the Anti-Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Act, particularly to gender-responsive access to justice of human trafficking offences.

  • Assess the criminal justice sector response framework and practices, including supervision, legal frameworks including victim protection and asset recovery, operational capabilities, enforcement mechanisms, and coordination mechanisms among law enforcement agencies.

  • Compile a list of current laws and regulations related to human trafficking and assess their enforcement.

  • Capture the number of complete case files prepared by investigators/prosecutors and received by the courts for the past three years.

  • Review law enforcement operational practices, procedures and timeline of human trafficking penal chain and recommend potential areas of improvement.

   

  1. Conduct a comprehensive diagnostic assessment of the Criminal Justice Penal Chain for combating trafficking in persons in Sierra Leone, including inter-agency collaboration and the integration of gender-sensitive approaches.

  2. Provide analytical inputs to the development of the Theory of Change to support the strengthening of the Criminal Justice Penal Chain for combating Trafficking in Persons while integrating gender awareness principles.

  3. Provide concrete and actionable recommendations to strengthen the criminal justice penal chain to effectively investigate, prosecute and convict human trafficking offences.

  4. Assess the Institution and Inter-Agency Coordination and Case Management Framework specific to:

  • Assessment of institutional and inter-agency coordination of law enforcement response for combating trafficking in persons, victim protection and the integration of gender-sensitive approaches.

  • Preparation and development of a tailored criminal justice diagnostic report to provide guidance and support for developing proposed action focused on legislative reforms, capacity-building, case management, information-sharing platforms; including coordination with international counterparts and mutual legal assistance.

  • Assess the need for the development of a Trafficking in Persons Criminal Justice Response Strategy with Gender Sensitive Principles, for implementation by the Sierra Leone Judiciary, Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, Sierra Leone Police, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs in close collaboration with ATIP Task Force Secretariat.

  1. Engage with key stakeholders, including government agencies, financial institutions, regulatory bodies, law enforcement, civil society, and international partners, to gather input and feedback on the criminal justice response system.

  2. Review international standards and best practices of criminal justice sector response framework and practices related to trafficking in persons, including legal frameworks, asset recovery, and enforcement mechanisms.  

  3. Comparative analysis between Sierra Leone and other countries (preferably within ECOWAS) with a similar criminal justice system.

  4. Explore the possibility of establishing a Special Court for Trafficking in Persons in Sierra Leone to enhance speedy adjudication of cases.

  5. Facilitate consultations, and validation meetings

Deliverables

The International Expert, working in close collaboration with the National Experts, will produce the following deliverables:

  1. An inception report detailing the methodology, approach and activity plan that the Expert will employ.

  • Lead: International Expert

  • Support: National Experts

  1. Data Collection

  • Lead: National Experts

  • Substantive Contribution: International Expert

  1. Stakeholder Consultation and Mapping

  • Lead: National Experts

  • Support: International Expert

  1. Draft Diagnostic Assessment Report

  • Lead: International Expert

  • Substantive Contribution: National Experts 

  1. Strategic Recommendations and Model Interventions

  • Lead: International Expert

  • Contextual input: National Experts

  1. Final draft Action Plan for a National Trafficking in Persons Criminal Justice Response Strategy particular to Investigation, Prosecution and Conviction.

  • Lead: National Experts

  • Substantive Contribution: International Expert

  1. A detailed Roadmap and Operational Recommendations with short, medium and long term proposed actions over a period for Anti-human trafficking initiatives in Sierra Leone.

  • Lead: International Expert

  • Support: National Experts

  1. Final diagnostic report incorporating feedback and comments from Expertise France

  • Lead: International Expert

  • Support: National Experts

  1. Presentation at validation workshop to relevant anti-trafficking stakeholders.

  • Joint responsibility

Project or context description

The PROTECT project (Prevent Human Trafficking through Enforcement, Cooperation and Training), funded by the French Development Agency (AFD) and implemented by Expertise France, aims to strengthen the response to trafficking in persons across five countries in the Gulf of Guinea: Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria, Benin, and Togo – and structured around five (5) components, including:

  1. Strengthen the coordination, gender sensitivity and efficiency of national institutions engaged in combating trafficking in persons.

  2. Support the strengthening and gender awareness of the criminal justice chain in the fight against human trafficking.

  3. Prevent trafficking and protect victims/survivors of trafficking.

  4. Improve bilateral, cross-border and regional cooperation to prevent human trafficking and dismantle networks, with a strengthened focus on gender, and finally,

  5. Improve the production and analysis of quality data, the production of knowledge in order to conduct targeted and effective actions that take gender into account.

The intervention in Sierra Leone was informed by a joint appraisal mission by Expertise France and the AFD, organized in 2025, to understand the level of commitment towards combatting Trafficking in Persons (TIP) in Sierra Leone. The PROTECT project will integrate the findings from the joint appraisal mission while building upon the experience gained by Expertise France and its partners in combating trafficking in persons through a previous European and French co-financed project to support the fight against trafficking in persons in the Gulf of Guinea countries.

Trafficking in persons is a complex human rights problem prevailing both internally and transnationally (across national borders), with one third of the victims being from the African continent. Security instability, socio-economic and climatic challenges exacerbate the vulnerability of exposed populations.

In particular, human trafficking is a major issue in the Gulf of Guinea, within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-region. In West Africa, hundreds of thousands of people are victims/survivors of trafficking each year; the number of detected victims/survivors increased by 25% from 2019 to 2022 both due to improved identification capabilities and worsening economic and social vulnerabilities. Among the identified victims/survivors, girls and boys represent the majority (60%), followed by women (28%). The main forms of trafficking – be it domestic or cross-border – are forced labour and sexual exploitation forced begging, domestic servitude and organ trafficking are also documented as other forms of trafficking-related exploitation in this region. These forms of exploitation present highly differentiated dynamics according to gender, affecting women, men, girls and boys in distinct ways and proportions.

Sierra Leone continues to pursue a forward-looking agenda on anti-human trafficking intervention. Over the years, the country’s Parliament enacted a new Anti-Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Act of 2022, to prevent and respond to the problem of trafficking in persons through the establishment of related institutional and policy frameworks. Pursuant to the provisions in the 2022 Act, a Victim of Trafficking Trust Fund was established in 2024 to provide comprehensive support to victims of trafficking.

In 2023, Sierra Leone also finalized and launched a revised National Referral Mechanism for the Protection of Victims of Trafficking. In addition, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Task Force Secretariat finalized and launched a National Action Plan against Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children (2024–2028) to give direction for joined-up action for combating trafficking in persons.

 

Those complementary legislations and policy framework provide opportunities for institutional response across the whole of government and whole of civil society to trafficking in persons in the country. However, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons landscape is contending with the following issues;

  1. Criminal Justice Response to trafficking in persons remains inadequate, particular in identifying victims, delay in investigation, prosecuting complex cases, and a lack of trust in law enforcement by survivors who often fear retaliation or being misidentified as offenders.

  2. Lack of a national criminal justice response strategy for combating trafficking in persons.

  3. Insufficient gender sensitivity of the criminal justice penal chain, which limits the identification of trends and the development of more targeted responses.

  4. Challenges with identification and referral of victims of trafficking for trauma informed protective care services and support.

  5. Low reporting of TIP cases to enhance investigation, prosecution and adjudication of TIP offences.

  6. Inadequate intelligence led investigation by law enforcement of trafficking in persons offences and

  7. Low convictions of perpetrators of human trafficking.

The PROTECT project will focus on strengthening institutional capacity in Sierra Leone by closely collaborating with relevant ministries, departments and agencies (MDAS), including Ministry of Social Welfare, Anti-Trafficking in Persons Task Force Secretariat, Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Judiciary, Ministry of International Affairs, and the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs. 

Required profile

 Experience

The Expert should have at least ten (10) years of relevant experience in Criminal Justice reform, international and national legal frameworks and cooperation mechanisms related to trafficking in persons and migration governance, including at least five (5) years of demonstrable experience in human-trafficking (or related) research/analysis.

Qualifications

Advanced degree in Law, Governance, Public Policy, Human Rights, International Relations, or a related field.

Competencies 

  • Demonstrable strong analytical skills.

  • Ability to understand complex issues and analyses and provide tailored information for targeted audiences.

  • Excellent communication skills, with the ability to produce logical, concise and compelling written outputs

  • Demonstrated experience in conducting institutional assessments, diagnostics, or policy analyses related to trafficking in persons.

  • Experience working on capacity-building or technical assistance projects in developing countries, preferably in Africa or West Africa.

  • Extensive knowledge of the national, regional and international legal frameworks pertaining to human trafficking.

  • Strong communication and presentation skills – evidence of  fluency in both written and spoken English.

  • Ability to work under pressure and deliver against tight deadlines

  • IT literate; including standard office software as well as use of social media.

Additional information

Applicants must submit, combined into a single document:

  1. A two-to-three-page technical proposal outlining their methodology and indicative workplan ;
  2. A CV and letter of motivation ;
  3. A financial proposal: a daily rate that should cover the professional fee and any other incurables.

Deadline for application : 2026/06/08 14:45

Expertise France is the public agency for designing and implementing international technical cooperation projects. The agency operates around four key priorities :

  • democratic, economic, and financial governance ;
  • peace, stability, and security ;
  • climate, agriculture, and sustainable development ;
  • health and human development ;

In these areas, Expertise France conducts capacity-building initiatives and manages project implementation, leveraging technical expertise and acting as a project coordinator. This involves combining public sector expertise with private sector skills to drive impactful results. 

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