CONSULTANCY TO PROVIDE LEGAL, DIGITAL HEALTH AND YOUTH-LED COMMUNITY ACCOUNTABILITY SUPPORT

BACKGROUND

KELIN is implementing the project “Protecting Health Equity in the Digital Age: Youth-Led Community Accountability”, which seeks to strengthen youth-led accountability in relation to digital and commercial determinants of health in Kenya.

The project builds on previous work that examined how young people experience digital health systems and platforms. The work identified digital harms including privacy breaches, online abuse, surveillance risks, exclusion and misinformation, alongside limited practical avenues for redress.

The current project will support the transition of the Kenya Community Advisory Team (K-CAT) from an advisory structure to a Kenya Community Accountability Team, enabling young people to move from providing advice to actively documenting harms, identifying duty bearers, initiating accountability actions and following up institutional responses.

The project adopts an evidence-to-redress-to-reform approach. It will support youth to document digital harms, identify appropriate legal and administrative accountability pathways, submit complaints or other accountability actions, monitor institutional responses and use evidence generated through these processes to inform policy, regulatory and institutional reform.

The project recognises that digital harms intersect with broader determinants of health, including gender inequality, stigma, discrimination, HIV, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), criminalisation and exclusion. The project therefore requires an integrated approach combining law, human rights, data protection, digital health governance, SRHR, gender and technology-facilitated gender-based violence.

KELIN seeks to engage a qualified consultant to provide technical legal, accountability and capacity-building support throughout the project implementation period.
The consultancy will contribute to the development of a practical community accountability toolkit, digital harm documentation tools, an accountability tracking system and repository, youth accountability and paralegal training, evidence synthesis and a comprehensive case study documenting the project model, implementation process, outcomes and lessons for replication. These outputs are central to the project’s design.

PURPOSE OF THE CONSULTANCY

The purpose of the consultancy is to provide specialised legal, digital health governance, data protection, human rights and accountability expertise to strengthen the capacity of K-CAT to document, respond to and seek redress for digital harms affecting young people.
The consultancy will combine technical legal support, development of practical tools, youth capacity strengthening, mentorship, accountability action support, evidence synthesis and documentation of learning.

The specific objectives and expected deliverables of the consultancy are:

1. Develop practical legal and accountability tools for documenting and responding to digital harms.
2. Develop a community accountability toolkit on documenting digital harms and using legal and administrative accountability mechanisms.
3. Support establish practical systems for case documentation, accountability action tracking and secure information management.
4. Strengthen K-CAT members’ legal literacy, paralegal skills, documentation skills and capacity to engage duty bearers.
5. Support K-CAT to transition from an advisory role to a practical youth-led accountability role through training and quarterly check ins.
6. Strengthen youth capacity to identify and assess reliable and credible SRHR and health information available through online platforms.
7. Support appropriate accountability actions arising from documented digital harms.
8. Support strengthen risk assessment, safeguarding and protection measures for young people undertaking accountability work.
9. Synthesise evidence from documented digital harms into actionable legal, policy, regulatory and institutional recommendations.
10. Document the implementation process, outcomes, challenges, innovations and lessons from the youth-led accountability model.
11. Develop a comprehensive case study and replication-oriented learning product for potential adaptation or scale-up.

The consultant will work closely with KELIN staff and the K-CAT. They will be expected to participate in relevant project meetings, consultations, training activities, quarterly reviews and stakeholder engagements as required.

The consultant should be able to work independently while maintaining regular communication with the project team and should be comfortable working collaboratively with young people, civil society organisations, government institutions, regulators and other stakeholders.

DURATION 

The consultancy will be undertaken over approximately 15 months, from October 2026 to December 2027, for a maximum of 90 consultancy days.

The consultancy will be front-loaded during the inception and design phase, with a progressively lower and more targeted level of effort during implementation, follow-up and learning.

The consultant must demonstrate availability to provide support throughout the consultancy period, including participation in agreed quarterly reviews and other time-sensitive accountability activities.

DESIRED EDUCATION & COMPETENCIES

The ideal consultant/firm should have:

• An LL. B degree or equivalent recognised law qualification.
• Relevant professional experience in legal practice, legal research, regulatory engagement, legal empowerment or rights-based advocacy.
• Demonstrated professional training or experience in data protection, privacy, digital health governance, human rights or related areas.
• Willingness to make a disclosure of any actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest that could affect their independence in undertaking the assignment.

Additional qualifications in health law, public health, technology law, cyber law, digital governance, SRHR, gender or public policy will be an advantage.

The successful consultant/ firm should also demonstrate substantial practical experience in:

1. Data protection and privacy.
2. Digital health governance.
3. Human rights and health.
4. Administrative and regulatory accountability.
5. Legal empowerment and paralegal training.
6. SRHR and Gender and technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
7. Youth engagement and participation.
8. Documentation and evidence systems.
9. Policy and advocacy.
10. Experience working collaboratively with civil society organisations, communities, public institutions, regulators or other stakeholders.

REPORTING AND SUPERVISION

The consultant will work and report to a designated focal point within KELIN. The consultant is expected to maintain regular communication with the Project team, provide progress updates and promptly flag any challenges that may affect delivery. 

Periodic check-ins will be held to review progress and address emerging issues.

All applications received will be subjected to a fair and competitive review process.

Only shortlisted Consultants will be contacted.

This call for Consultancy will close on Friday 25th September 2026 11.59 PM EAT.