UNDP Jobs - 43348- Individual Consultant – Preparation of Linear Pape

Individual Consultant – Preparation of Linear Papers for Tribal National Human Development Report: Legislations, Legal Provisions, Entitlements and Access to Justice - (Open to Indian Nationals only)

Location :

Home-based with travel if required, INDIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

03-Feb-2014

Application Deadline :

31-Jan-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Forty Five working days spread over three months.

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The Planning Commission and Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MOTA) in partnership with UNDP intend to prepare a National Tribal Human Development Report (Tribal NHDR). The Tribal NHDR is intended to provide a deeper understanding of applicability of mainstream development paradigm on Scheduled Tribes and its implication on human capabilities as defined by the capabilities approach that forms the foundation of human development concept. It is expected to analyse the reason for low levels of achievements and providing specific policy options. An Advisory Committee with participation of Planning Commission, MOTA, UNDP and select experts has been constituted to guide the process.

A set of Linear Papers will be prepared to lend a deeper analysis of some of the core themes that constraint development and inclusion of Scheduled Tribes. These linear papers will be consolidated by a lead author in the form of the Tribal NHDR. In parallel, primary survey will also be conducted to fill the data gaps highlighted by the linear papers.

The themes identified jointly by the Planning Commission, MOTA and UNDP are as follows –

Health issues among Scheduled Tribes;
Education among Schedule Tribes;
Promoting human development through sustainable livelihood – this theme will also analyse the issues related to indebtedness, migration, Forest Right Act, PESA and governance;
Land alienation among Scheduled Tribes - including the issue of displacement;
Gender issues among the Scheduled Tribes including issues of gender based violence;
Promoting connectivity, access to energy and infrastructure to promote human development;
Access to justice for Scheduled Tribes – including systems and structures for implementation of protective legislations and constitutional safeguards.

Given the heterogeneity among Scheduled Tribes, it has been agreed that the analysis would be disaggregated as follows:

STs residing in the Schedule V Area;
STs residing in the Schedule VI Area;
STs residing in the North-Eastern states that have pre-dominantly tribal population;
STs residing in island territories;
STs residing in other areas/states.

For the purpose of quantitative measurements, an attempt would be made to measure progress on human development indicators at the state level and for the above territorial groups, depending on the availability of data.

The attempt would be to aggregate the analysis for the five territories identified above as well as at the state level in order to undertake an appropriate gap analysis and recommending appropriate strategies to overcome the gaps in policies. In order to gain deeper insights into opportunities and constraints that have a bearing on specific tribes, case studies would be undertaken for specific tribes that have either progressed much ahead of the others or have lagged considerably behind within the same territorial boundaries. This would provide vital information for providing policy recommendations.

The paper on Legislation, legal provisions, entitlements and Access to Justice for Scheduled Tribes is one of the Linear papers for the Tribal NHDR. The Constitution of India contains several provisions for ensuring a better quality of life for the weaker sections of society and STs, in particular, based on a policy of positive discrimination and affirmative action on the developmental and regulatory fronts. These include Articles 244, 244A, 275(1), 342, 338(A) and 339. The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution provides for administration and control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes and gives powers to the Governors to make regulations for the peace and good governance of the Scheduled Areas. Similarly, the Sixth Schedule also contains specific provisions for the administration of tribal areas in the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. Deriving force from these enabling provisions in the Constitution aimed at ensuring social, economic, and political equity, several specific legislations have further been enacted by the Central and the State Governments for the welfare and protection of STs and their tribal domain.

Further, recognizing high rate of atrocities faced by Dalits and Tribals, the Parliament passed the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (SC/ST (PoA) Act) in order to “prevent the commission of offenses of atrocities against the members of Scheduled Castes and Tribes, and provide for Special Courts for the trial of such offences and for the relief and rehabilitation of the victims for such offenses and for the matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”

However, experts believe that these safeguards are not comprehensive enough to address the distinctive vulnerabilities of the Scheduled Tribes that arise from their inability to negotiate and cope with the consequences of their forced integration with the mainstream economy, society, cultural and political system, from which they were historically protected as the result of their relative isolation. The weak enforcement of the safeguards further aggravates the challenge.

Additionally, for Scheduled Tribes accessing justice, hurdles exist at every stage of the justice delivery process, including at the stage of registration of cases, investigation of cases, charge sheeting and at the trial stage; thereby compounding the problem. Access to courts and constitutionally mandated legal aid services is equally a challenge. There is also a lack of understanding of traditional and informal systems of justice delivery in tribal areas and how these can be linked to formal justice delivery institutions.

Duties and Responsibilities

The expert will work under the overall supervision of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the Planning Commission and UNDP and under the technical direction of the Advisory Committee. The linear paper on Legislation, legal provisions, entitlements and access to justice for Scheduled Tribes will assess and analyse the above mentioned challenges and will provide recommendations for overcoming the constraints. The scope of assignment will involve:

Review the existing legal provisions at the national and state level that are applicable to Scheduled Tribes;
Comment on the adequacy and comprehensiveness of the Acts and the legal provisions in addressing issues of rights and entitlements to Scheduled Tribes in light of the unique historical and socio-cultural milieu; and assess their enforcement;
Propose, if necessary, revisiting specific provisions of Acts and laws to ensure that the legal framework is further strengthened to responds to the needs of the Scheduled Tribes;
Review the effectiveness of the justice delivery mechanism in relation to Scheduled Tribes, including legal aid services, formal and informal justice delivery institutions, and access to grievance redressal mechanisms;
Assess the barriers faced by the Scheduled Tribe population in accessing justice including issues related to legal awareness;
Suggest specific measures to ensure that the justice delivery systems are better equipped to respond to the demands of the Scheduled Tribes and that the Scheduled Tribes are empowered to access the systems more effectively.

The analysis will be disaggregated by the following territories:

STs residing in the Schedule V Area;
STs residing in the Schedule VI Area;
STs residing in the North-Eastern states that have pre-dominantly tribal population;
STs residing in island territories;
STs residing in other areas/states.

The Linear paper will specifically include:

Situational analysis along with the data gaps based on the secondary research;
Policy recommendations and directions;
Guidance for the primary research on the data gaps and suggestive sample size;
Good practices;
Consultation with the community to validate the recommendations emerging from the linear papers.

As part of the assignment, the following steps will be followed:

The expert would draft a paper presenting an overview on the theme based on secondary research which will also include policy directions and recommendations along with the data gaps for primary research. The paper would highlight the status and the uniqueness of each of the five territorial groups identified above;
A stakeholder consultation would be organized by UNDP with support from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Planning Commission in each of the five territories where the experts would present the thematic paper. This would be followed by discussion on each of the themes. This process would bring voices of the civil society to the table. It will also highlight the additional areas of research that may need to be undertaken;
The linear paper will be finalized based on the feedback received from the above mentioned stakeholder consultation and Advisory Committee.

The theme should be analysed impartially. Each of the themes should be assessed, achievements documented, challenges analysed for reasons and recommendations to move forward provided.

The Expert is expected to submit:

Presentation of draft recommendations and directions at the stakeholder consultations and finalization of linear papers incorporating the suggestions from the stakeholder consultations and Advisory Committee;
Linear paper highlighting policy recommendations and direction including situational analysis, good practices, data gaps and suggestive sample size to be further addressed through primary survey.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Analytical skills;
Ability to meet deadlines;
Good understanding on the issues related to education specifically in the context of scheduled tribes;
Human Development expertise;
Strong competency with data and statistics analysis;
Demonstrable experience in research and documentation.

Core Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
Positive, constructive attitude to work;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Strong personal commitment to gender equality and human rights.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

A master’s degree preferably in the fields development studies, social sciences or related subjects.

Experience:

At least 10 years of relevant work experience on issues pertaining to the tribal community.

Language Requirement:

Excellent command of English language is required.

Submission of proposal:

Financial Proposal:

Consultant shall specify his/her per day consultancy rate;
Any travel with prior UNDP approval will be handled separately as per rules.

CV:

Consultant should submit his/her updated CV with three references.

Proposed work methodology

Proposed work methodology including the timelines for execution of work has to be submitted

Notes:

Any kind of miscellaneous charges i.e. internet, phone etc. would not be reimbursed;
Individuals working with institutions may also apply, contract would be issued in the name of institution for the specific services of individual;
Please note proposals without financial proposal will not be considered;
CV,Financial proposal and work methodology can be clubbed in one file for uploading;
The consultants must bring his/her own computing equipment.

Payment Schedule:

Maximum up to 25% on submission of inception report;
Maximum up to 40% on acceptance of first draft of linear paper;
Maximum up to 35% on completion of all agreed activities and submission and acceptance of final linear paper including incorporation of the comments from the stakeholder consultations.

Evaluation Criteria:

Cumulative analysis:
The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive;
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria weight - 70%;
Financial Criteria weight - 30%.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Criteria for Technical Evaluation would be as under:

Relevant Work Experience-40%;
Proposed work methodology- 30%.

For any clarification please write to sandeep.sharma@undp.org.