Background

Gender, Security and Development:
 
“Human development is about people, about expanding their choices to live full, creative lives with freedom and dignity. Economic growth, increased trade and investment, technological advance – all are very important. But they are means, not ends. Fundamental to expanding human choices is building human capabilities: the range of things that people can be. The most basic capabilities for human development are living a long and healthy life, being educated, having a decent standard of living and enjoying political and civil freedoms to participate in the life of one’s community.”
 
For UNDP gender equality is a development goal and an indivisible component of Human Development. UNDP’s mission and human development approach provide a strong foundation, clear framework, and comparative advantage to support increased attention and action to prevent and address gender-based violence as one of the key dimensions of citizen security. The integration of gender issues in security issues is also being recognized as key to operational effectiveness, local ownership and strengthened oversight.
 
It is well documented that GBV continues to be one the most important and challenging human rights, security, public health, recovery, and development concerns. Gender discrimination is further compounded by the prevalence of human rights violations and an emerging culture of impunity. The Millennium Declaration (2000) recognises the link between GBV and development: The Declaration acknowledges that in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it is necessary to “combat all forms of violence against women.”   In fact, violence against women and girls negatively impacts the achievement of all of the MDGs, not only to the extent that gender equality is a cross-cutting priority in each of the MDGs, but also in terms of the direct impact that violence against women and girls has in realising those goals.   
 
In its Gender Equality Strategy (2008-2013) UNDP refers Recommendation 19 by the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: “Gender-based violence is a form of discrimination that seriously inhibits women’s ability to enjoy rights and freedoms on a basis of equality with men…” UNDP also contributed to and endorsed a definition adopted by ECOSOC, which states that gender-based violence consists of “[a]ny harmful act that is perpetrated against a person’s will and that is based on socially associated differences between males and females”. Given that violence is based on socially ascribed differences, gender-based violence includes, but is not limited to sexual violence. While women and girls of all ages make up the majority of the victims, men and boys are also both direct and indirect victims. It is clear that the effects of such violence are both physical and psychological, and have long term detrimental consequences for both the victim/survivors and their communities.”
 
The 2012 Caribbean Human Development Report on Citizens’ Security:
 
The inter-linkages between gender, security and justice were made apparent in the first Caribbean Human Development Report for the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean Countries on Citizen Security, launched by UNDP in February 2012. The report examined how, in the context of the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean Countries, insecurity and violence have a negative impact on human development. It aims at better understanding the issue of citizen security in the region and at providing recommendations to these countries on how to address it.
 
The report is based on the work of different authors, a literature review, a review of national background papers produced as key inputs for the Caribbean HDR, findings/results of the Victimization Survey conducted for the report between November 2010 and February 2011, as well as research on relevant on-going policies and initiatives within the region. Furthermore, Caribbean UNDP Country Offices, in coordination with the UNDP Regional Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean, held five multi-stakeholder Consultation Events as part of the preparatory process for the report.
 
One of the issues analyzed in the report as one of the main components of citizen security, was gender violence. According to the report, “[a]cross the Caribbean, three specific practices are on the rise and have become a significant concern primarily regarding women and the girl-child (…). These are sexual violence, domestic violence and trafficking in persons.   One of the report’s finding was that with respect to gender-based violence, there should be continued support for regional programmes such as on police training, the strengthening of service delivery through family courts, increased access to legal aid, and capacity-building to support legislation.
 
The report confirmed findings based on other settings, namely that sexual and other forms of gender-based violence are pervasive and life-threatening issues deeply rooted in socio-cultural beliefs and practices of gender inequality and disempowerment of women. Women and men, boys and girls live and perceive violence and insecurity in a different way related to gender identities and inequalities in every society. Victimized women suffer not because of the abuses committed against them, but also because they and/or their families often face indifference and/or inertia on the part of the State and justice institutions. The absence of institutional response and its direct result, impunity, creates a real situation of vulnerability, and hinders the social deterrence entailed by the application of penal sanctions.
 
These acts of violence against women and the impunity enjoyed by their authors through the state’s lack of response are the result of multiple factors: the prevalence of a culture of exclusion and double discrimination against women which places them in situations of poverty, abuse and general inaccessibility to public services such as health, housing, and justice, among others; economic, social and cultural factors that shape the patriarchal culture of the region, directly affecting the ideology and practices of the justice system, where harm to women is minimized, where women do not participate in the procedures and their word is questioned. This has resulted in impunity and the re-victimization of women by the justice sector. Figures arising from the HD Report show that one (1) out of 10 persons (11%) in the region declared to have been a victim of some kind of domestic violence at least once. According to the data collected, within the home environment, women are 20% more likely than men to be insulted, 36% more likely to suffer actual violence, 60% more likely to be injured and 63% more likely to suffer threats of physical
violence.
 
Purpose of the Report on Access to Justice for Women in the Caribbean:
 
Given the relevance and magnitude of gender violence in the region, the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (RBLAC) through the Democratic Governance and Gender Clusters has decided to support the development of a knowledge product which will present a more in-depth analysis of the issue of gender violence from a citizen’s security and access to justice perspective, using the findings/ of the Victimization Survey as well as additional information available in the region, with a view to providing evidence-based conclusions and recommendations for policy making.
 
To assist the appointed research team leader in the preparation of this report, RBLAC has hired a qualified consultant who will analyze Gender Violence, in the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean countries   and will offer evidence-based conclusions and recommendations for policy making in the areas of citizen’s security and access to justice. RBLAC will provide the consultant with the HD report and supporting documentation, including information collected from other consultancies such as those related to knowledge transfer on Gender Violence Plans in LAC region (ie. HDR Corporate Standards and Principles, corporate gender equality principles and frameworks, regional gender framework; Information on the Victimization Survey, etc.).
 
Additionally, another consultant will prepare a baseline study for Haiti, based on the present terms of reference.
 
Purpose of the Haiti Study and Rationale for Inclusion into the Report on Access to Justice for Women in the Caribbean:
 
Haiti presents many important – and obvious – linguistic, legal and developmental differences with other countries of the sub-region. The Haitian context is also notably different due to the longstanding presence and engagement of the United Nations on the ground. While UN missions have been in the country since the early 1990s, the current mission, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) was established on 1 June 2004 and its mandate has been renewed up until now.
 
The current programmatic framework on rule of law and justice is the Joint UNDP-MINUSTAH Programme for Rule of Law, Justice and Security (2010-2012), whose objectives are: 1) to help re-establish basic justice and security service delivery capacity; 2) to ensure preventive measures in potential conflict areas; and, 3) to support a reform process that builds a sustainable and efficient security and justice system. Support has been provided, inter alia, for the training of judicial clerks and law enforcement officers on sexual violence. Yet, important obstacles remain in achieving tangible and sustainable progress in this area, primarily consisting of lagging political will; lack of coordination amongst donors; limited capacity of state institutions; limited improvements in service-delivery, and lack of accountability mechanisms of civil servants. At the same time, recent institutional and political developments, namely, the nomination of a new Minister of Justice and Public Security, and the prioritization of rule of law reforms by the Presidency open new windows of opportunity to seek effective engagement by state authorities.
 
In spite of the aforementioned differences between Haiti and the English and Dutch Caribbean, and the fact that incidents of gender violence tend to be particularly prevalent in the IDP camps, - which continue to host large number of people left homeless after the 2010 earthquake, - there are nonetheless important commonalities between the patterns of gender violence existing in Haiti and in other countries of the sub-region. The latest report of MINUSTAH to the Security Council, issued in August 2012, offers a snapshot of the remaining challenges in addressing gender violence in the country. While valuable initiatives were taken to create safe spaces for the victims of sexual and gender violence, camps and police precincts, and to train police forces and lawyers on SGBV, a MINUSTAH report issued in June 2012 highlighted the absence of adequate response of the criminal justice system to complaints based on allegations of rape and other sexual violence (para.33).
 
As well, the 2011 report on the implementation of the UN Rule of Law Indicators Report in Haiti, concludes, - as regards the attitude of the police towards gender violence - that “cultural differences and lack of interest often influence responses, and that the gravity of domestic violence is downplayed by many police officers.” Experts further explained that even when the police does act, their lack of understanding of gender-based violence makes them insensitive to the needs of victims, notwithstanding the recent creation of a gender unit within the police.  
 
These conclusions converge with the findings of the 2012 Caribbean Human Development report, in particular as regards the unresponsiveness of law enforcement agencies. At the same time recent reform initiatives to enhance the institutional responses to gender violence in the English Caribbean could prove, with the usual applicable caveats (political and institutional contexts etc.), valuable models in the Haitian context. This justifies the inclusion of Haiti into this regional initiative on access to justice and gender violence. 

Duties and Responsibilities

The purpose of this consultancy is to carry out a critical gender analysis to obtain reliable and relevant data on the prevalence and forms of gender based violence in Haiti, as well as information on norms, regulations, policies, plans, services, dedicated to combating violence against women and girls in all its aspects and practices and customs that discriminate against women or have a discriminatory impact on women. The Information obtained which will be presented in a baseline study will then help formulate evidence based conclusions and recommendations for policy and programmatic responses on legal aid for women in Haiti and in the Caribbean in general, and be fed into a subsequent UNDP analytical report coordinated by the research team leader under whose supervision the prospective consultant will be working.
 
The specific objectives of the consultancy are:

• To gather baseline information on attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions about gender based violence in Haiti.
• To identify the extent of and different types of violence, which are occurring or have occurred in Haiti as well their root causes in the private and public sphere.
• To identify norms, regulations, policies, plans, services, information systems dedicated to combating violence against women and girls in the country and different approaches behind the responses.
• To gather data on investigation, prosecution and sanction, mechanisms in the administration of justice systems, which are available to overcome the high level of violence against women and the impunity that informs judicial and criminal policy development and implementation.
• To identify and systematize good judiciary practices, particularly national and regional jurisprudence, that has ensured women´s right to access to justice especially where a gender perspective has been implemented in the justice system.
• To identify the governmental, individual and community strengths, competences and resources that exist to prevent and to respond to violence.
• To identify intervention strategies as well a key recommendations for prevention, treatment based, and access to justice on these countries strengths and resources.
  

Summary of key functions:
 
The consultant conducting the baseline study will elaborate comprehensive data collection tools including questionnaires and interview guides that will help identify key policy relevant findings on gender-based violence in its various forms in Haiti. This baseline study should be able to gather information through a combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods including document reviews, focus group discussions, webinars with the COs and key stakeholders, in-depth interviews with key people designed to capture information related to gender based violence.
 
A Research Task Team coordinated by a Research Team Leader will review the study instruments and questionnaires for the baseline study with the goal to provide quality assurance to the entire process. Specific tasks of the Research Task Team will include:

• Selection of the consultant or institution to conduct the baseline study.
• Reviewing and approving the proposal of the consultant or institution.
• Agreeing on the proposed study methodology and baseline study tools.
• Monitoring and reviewing progress on the baseline study.
  

Deliverables:
 
The consultant or institution conducting the baseline study will take the overall responsibility for the technical quality of the study. Specifically the consultant or institution will:

• Prepare a comprehensive methodology as stated above.
• Prepare a detailed inception report with work plan for the entire study, including a   calendar of deliverables a week after of the contract signature.
• Prepare a methodology for inclusive regional consultations/ interviews
• Produce the baseline study on gender and violence in Haiti.
• Produce a short leaflet highlighting key messages and findings on legal aid and gender based violence drawn from the report 
  

The Baseline Study will include:

• An analysis of the extent of and different types of violence, which are occurring or have occurred within the specific countries as well the root causes of them in Haiti.
• A mapping of norms, regulations, policies, plans, services, mechanisms in the justice system, information systems dedicated to prevent, assist, and, combat violence against women and girls in the countries and different approaches behind the responses, as well as governmental and community strengths and competencies.
• A compilation of promising practices from domestic violence initiatives and judiciary practices that exist to prevent and to respond to violence.
• Conclusions as well key recommendations drawm from a social science and gendered perspective;

Competencies

• In-depth knowledge of human development approach, citizen security and gender issues.
• Knowledge or work experience in gender violence. Preferably with demonstrated experience in the English and Dutch Caribbean.
• Strong communication, research and analytical skills, and ability to rapidly integrate information from various sources.
• Political acumen and knowledge of how to handle sensitive and complex topics.
• Working experience in the Haiti will be an advantage.
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Proven ability to work in a team, respecting team spirit, with excellent interpersonal skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master degree in the areas of Social Science, Political Science, Law, Criminology, Gender related issues.

Experience:

• At least 5 years working experience in providing advisory services and/or research in the field of citizen security, social cohesion, governance issues and on gender and citizen security issues.
• Sound knowledge of human development, human rights, access to justice and citizen security based approaches.
• Working experience in the Haiti will be an advantage.

Language Requirements:

• English and French are required.
  

Note:
The consultant will work under the overall supervision of the Research Team Leader, the DG Specialist/ RBLAC, the Gender Team Leader/RBLAC and the Haiti Gender/governance team in order to produce the expected outputs in time and with high quality.