Deadline: 10 January 2026
HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement is seeking an experienced Lead Developer or small civic-tech team to build the Civic Space Watchdog, an AI-assisted platform designed to monitor civic space developments across the MENA region. The pilot phase will focus on Tunisia and Egypt, with future expansion planned for additional countries.
About the Project
The Civic Space Watchdog will track online sources, identify developments related to freedoms of association, assembly, expression, and the safety of human rights defenders, and convert this information into structured, searchable data. The platform will primarily support HuMENA staff and trusted partners.
Scope of Work
The contractor will design and deliver a production-ready MVP that includes:
- Automated monitoring and ingestion of selected sources.
- AI-assisted classification and structuring of content.
- A human review and verification workflow.
- A bilingual (Arabic/English) internal dashboard with search tools, charts, and an interactive MENA map.
- A modular architecture that can expand to additional countries.
- Security-focused design, role-based access, and full documentation.
The MVP should also be technically prepared for a future public-facing view, though this does not need to be active during the pilot.
Deliverables
- Inception and design document.
- Prototype for early testing.
- Full MVP with ingestion, AI features, verification workflow, dashboard, and map.
- Security note, documentation, and one staff training session.
- Final handover of code, documentation, and recommendations.
Contract Duration
4–6 months from contract signature.
Required Profile
HuMENA welcomes applications from senior developers and small teams with:
- Strong backend experience (preferably Python).
- Proven work building data-heavy systems and dashboards.
- Practical NLP/AI experience.
- Experience with multilingual and RTL platforms.
- Understanding of security needs in high-risk human rights environments.
- Civic-tech or human rights background (an asset).
Evaluation Criteria
- Technical proposal: 65 percent (approach, experience, design, security, timeline).
- Financial proposal: 35 percent (value for money, clarity of budget).
How to Apply
Submit the following in English (PDF preferred):
- Technical proposal (max 7 pages).
- Financial proposal in USD.
- Consultant/team profile and CVs.
- Relevant project examples and two references.
Send your application to recruitment@humena.org with the subject line:
Tender – Civic Space Watchdog AI-Assisted MVP – [Your Name / Organisation]
Deadline: 10 January 2026.
For further details, please see Humena’s website.
