Consultant job at DanChurchAid (DCA)

JOB DETAILS:
Project Title Consultancy for hiring a full stack developer (consultant) to develop an AI chatbot for MDA-HRU.
Thematic area Business and Human Rights / Civic space
Assignment Task Developing an Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot application Assignment
Location: Uganda (Mid-Western and Karamoja sub-regions)
Reporting To: Digital and Innovations Coordinator
Duration 3 months
Possible start date 24th April 2024
Possible end date 23rd August 2024

BACKGROUND
DanChurchAid (DCA) is a Danish humanitarian and development, not for profit NGO established in 1922 and operating in Uganda since 1979 to improve the lives of the world’s poorest in their struggle for a life in dignity. DCA Uganda’s work focuses on three Global Goals; fighting extreme inequalities (Democratic Governance and Human rights focused), building resilience communities (secure livelihoods), saving lives (humanitarian response). DCA operates in the West Nile Subregion for the humanitarian response and in Karamoja, Teso and Mid-Central Sub-regions for mainly development and now with an extension to the mid-western region for development interventions. Fighting Extreme inequality works towards ensuring good governance, respect, promotion, and fulfilment of human rights for all people, an enabling environment for civic engagement, gender justice and social / political accountability, among others.
Thematic work on Business and Human Rights for DCA in Uganda
With the increasing role of the private sector in development, DCA is committed to ensuring the respect of human rights guided by the DCA’s Global Strategy under Goal 3- Fight Extreme Inequality where all individuals believe in and claim human rights, and live their full potential, in a just and equitable society.
They enjoy accountable and responsible governance with equitable access to all human rights. Formal and Informal duty bearers (including corporate entities) are accountable and responsible, ensure nondiscriminatory practices and equitable distribution of resources.
Introduction of the ‘Monitoring, documentation, and advocacy for human rights in Uganda’ Project DanChurchAid (DCA) received funding from the European Union through their Thematic Programme on Human Rights and Democracy (HR&D). The HR&D thematic programming in Uganda is guided by the EU Human Rights and Democracy Country Strategy (2021-2024), the EU Multi-Annual Indicative Programme (MIP) for Uganda (2021-2027), and the EU Roadmap for Engagement with Civil Society in Uganda (2021-2027). aimed at contributing to promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental
freedoms, democracy, and the rule of law worldwide with a specific objective to strengthen evidencebased advocacy to safeguard respect for human rights and freedoms in Uganda. The action is co-funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and implemented in partnership with Witness Radio and National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders in Uganda (NCHRDU), both national organizations.
The Project objectives.
The Project’s overall objective is to; hold the private sector and government accountable for environmental human rights abuses and violations, through improved documentation, and evidence-based advocacy in Mid-Western and Karamoja sub-regions in Uganda. In terms of specific objectives, the project intends to.
a. Enhance the capacity and skills of HRDs and LEDs in monitoring, documentation, reporting and protection.
b. Establish and reinforce reporting and documentation mechanisms for better advocacy and demand for corporate and government accountability.
c. Provide response and support to HRDs and marginalized communities.
d. Facilitate collaboration and multi stakeholder engagements that link local and national issues to national and international frameworks and spaces.
Geographical location
The project focus is on the Mid-western region Districts of Buliisa, Hoima, Masindi, Kiryandongo, Kikuube, Kagadi, Kibale and Mubende and Karamoja sub-region in Moroto, Napak, Nakapiripirit, Amudat, Nabilatuk, Abim, Kaabong, Kotido and Karenga).
The project builds on DCA and partners’ (Witness Radio and National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders in Uganda – NCHRDU) years of experience working on issues around business and human rights and civic space in Uganda for the national partners and for DCA in both the national and global spaces. DCA builds on the interventions around BHR work in Uganda with support to partners like Resource Rights Africa (RRA), and civic space work previously implemented by NCHRDU with support from CISU and Global Focus.
Purpose of the Assignment
The AI chatbot is expected to enhance the Land eviction portal hosted by Witness Radio and be integrated into any other communication channels usable by the project. Introducing AI to this project aims at improving the documentation and reporting of LEDs/HRDs in Uganda while ensuring the safety of Human Rights defenders.

The Full stack developer consultant will be expected to address the following:
Key deliverables
In terms of Key Deliverable, the consultant will produce.
• Develop a dynamic and adaptable AI chatbot capable of handling various inquiries related to the project’s objectives.
• Launch and integrate the AI Chatbot on the agreed existing platforms. i.e. land eviction’s portal and WhatsApp messenger.
• Implement multilingual support to carter to a diverse audience.
• Demonstration on use of AI Chatbot i.e. User views and Admin views.
• Quality Assurance and Compatibility reports.
• Adhere to industry best practices, ethical guidelines, and legal standards in AI development. i.e. AI for Human rights.
• Project source code uploaded on an agreed platform.
• Admin log ins and training on Content Management System used for future updates.
• User feedback integration
3. Methodology.
• Conduct a comprehensive needs assessment with the 3 partners to understand the specific requirements and objectives of the AI chatbot.
• Design and implement a user-friendly interface for seamless interaction with the chatbot.
• Utilize NLP and ML techniques to enhance the chatbot's understanding and response capabilities.
• Share direct links to maximum two similar chatbot projects on GitHub.
• Ensure data security and privacy compliance throughout the development process.
• Implement continuous testing and debugging to deliver a robust and error-free solution.
• Provide documentation and training sessions for staff to effectively utilize and maintain the chatbot.

Consultant Qualification.
The consultants should indicate the relevant experience in doing similar work and the team and have the following qualifications.
Required qualifications:
• Professional Training in Computer Science or related subject.
• 5+ years of experience in the online software industry; strong knowledge of software design, functionality usability, and web and mobile-based application architectures.
• Excellent knowledge of both relational and non-relational data stores, cloud solutions and technologies, and both core and current engineering tooling.
• Great understanding on agile methodologies in a Kanban delivery environment.
• The service providers are required to submit their proposal that presents the their ’s qualifications, understanding of work to be performed, and commercials. The Service Provider are advised to submit their cost competitive proposal that should illustrate their technical competence pertain to the given Scope of work.
• Proven experience as a full-stack software engineer, specifically in developing AI-driven chatbots.
• Familiarity with source control platforms like GitHub.
• Strong proficiency in programming languages such as Python, JavaScript, and frameworks like React for front-end development.
• Expertise in natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) for creating intelligent chatbot functionalities.
• Demonstrated experience with database systems, API integration, and cloud platforms.
• Ability to demonstrate a core understanding of Data protection policies and procedures i.e. GDPR and Personal Data policy of Uganda. The service provider will not disclose or use any information and data generated during Chat bot sessions such as user details, queries, responses, statistical data, and so forth, with any third party.
• Ability to deliver agreed on outputs on time and budget.
• Experience working with communities using participatory approaches.
• Understanding of safeguarding and ethical issues and sensitivities is required when working with vulnerable groups in conflict settings.
• Understanding of the business and human rights and /or Civic space thematic areas

Full stack developer Assessment Criteria
The successful respondent/Candidate to this Request for Proposals will be an individual, familiar
with technologies within this broad category known as artificial intelligence. Candidates will be
evaluated based on their response to the following requirements. Thus, bidders are advised to provide all relevant information to facilitate evaluation of compliance to DCA’s requirements.

Education Requirement: No Requirements

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 60

Level of Education: