UNDP Jobs - 49023- Community Policing and CSO Expert

Community Policing and CSO Expert

Location :

Freetown, SIERRA LEONE

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

29-Aug-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

5 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

5 months

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

Despite significant security sector reforms that have taken place after the war ended in 2002 Sierra Leone still faces numerous challenges of security sector governance and effective management of its borders. The porous nature of the over 900km of border with neighboring Guinea and Liberia demands a concerted effort to deal with transnational border security issues such as human trafficking and trafficking of arms and drugs.

Over the last decade the Security Services have made considerable strides in extending their presence throughout the country. Within the Sierra Leonean security architecture, the Provincial, District and Chiefdom Security Committees (PROSEC; DISEC; CHISEC) regularly bring together key actors within the security sector, local government, civil society and traditional leaders. The Committees, which are run by the Office of National Security (ONS), have been an invaluable tool in finding solutions to security issues, often before devolving into serious incidents. Gaps still remain in terms of strengthening dialogue and trust at local levels with the area of community security in border areas noted by the SLP in discussions with the UN as both critical and receiving little or no attention currently. The Local Police Partnership Boards (LPPBs) established in 2002-03 are another mechanism to forge public trust. The LPPBs are voluntary bodies of community members and the SLP designed to be set up in every police division to serve as a crime prevention and crime-fighting mechanism. The ability of these LPPBs to extend into more remote areas, and particularly border areas, remains limited due to resource constraints. As such, the need for more robust community policing in border areas remains a live concern. This finding resonates with the SLP’s Strategic Plan 2012-14 which specifically identified local police that is accessible and acceptable to the communities it serves as one of its five key outcomes. Moreover, the Plan makes a clear connection between more community policing in the face of increased conflict triggers

A second issue is that whilst public perceptions of the security sector actors such as the police have improved, surveys still reveal a lack of public trust. This is particularly the case in border areas. As noted by the Government of Sierra Leone in its Agenda for prosperity, 2013-18 it is only through enhancing the capacity and trust of security actors and building efficient oversight mechanisms for the sector can socio- economic growth and peace be sustained. Civil Society Organizations can play a pivotal role in this including advancing peace and security and in eliciting accountability in their engagement with government and state institutions including the security sector. This is underscored in the 2012 Sierra Leone Security Sector Review which seeks to forge greater synergy with a wider range of ministries, departments and agencies as well as civil society and the broader public to address security threats linked to the extractives industries, pervasive poverty, unemployment, youth violence, and poor governance . Creating and enhancing partnerships between civil society and the government is therefore a critical priority.

The incumbent will work with the Office of National Security (ONS) which is tasked with coordination of agencies working in border areas and Sierra Leone Police to strengthen the relationship between CSO’s, Government and border communities as it relates to security structures in border areas. This will include developing the capacity of CSOs on police powers and complaints in selected areas (including measures which will encourage women to lodge complaints). The Incumbent will also design and oversee implementation of a range of CSO confidence building interventions between Police, LPPBs, Provincial/District/Chiefdom Security Committees and Communities. These will be designed to enhance CSO involvement in community policing in border areas as well as strengthening linkages with the Sierra Leone Police, LPPBs and communities.

The Incumbent will work with the Police and ONS to enhance the effectiveness of LPPBs in selected border areas. The government has already completed a training needs assessment whereas a border strategy which will look at LPPBs is also being undertaken by ONS. The Incumbent will design and roll out initiatives flowing from these documents designed to enhance LPPBs effectiveness and efficiency.

Duties and Responsibilities

Functions/key results expected

Under the overall supervision of the UNDP SSR project Manager, the Consultant will:

Partner with the ONS to strengthen the relationship between the Police, CSO’s and citizens in border communities involved in peace and security initiatives;
Work with the ONS to build the capacity of grassroots CSOs and CBOs to raise awareness on the existence and functioning of security structures such as the Provincial/ District/Chiefdom Security Committees (PROSECS./DISECS/CHISECS), Local Police Partnership boards (LPPB);
Partner with ONS and the SLP to develop capacity of CSOs on police powers, complaints and oversight (including Civil Society Oversight) in selected border areas with a focus on providing information on complaints procedures (including encouraging complaints by women);
Provide technical support to ONS and the Sierra Leone Police to enhance capacities of LPPBs in selected border areas;
Partner with the ONS to implement recommendations on work done mapping of civil society organizations in the border areas, identifying capacity needs and developing capacity of CSO’s on police powers, complaints mechanisms (including corruption) and measuring impact of CSO interventions;
Provide technical support to ONS and the Police to develop a range of confidence building interventions between the SLP and communities in border areas;
Strengthen the ability of CSOs to be able to interact with local partners and authorities to address key drivers of violence and conflict identified by the ONS;
Undertake quarterly monitoring of the implementation of grants to IPs in Project locations;
Develop monitoring and evaluation framework in partnership with ONS to measure effectiveness of interventions including a baseline on CSO and LPPBs capacities at the outset of the assignment as well as at the closure of Project. This should include information relating to (1) capacities of LPPBs (2) awareness of border agencies amongst CSOs and communities (3) confidence between citizens and border security agencies in selected areas
The Consultant will be expected to provide his/her own computer. Working space will be provided at the Office of National Security.

Deliverables

An inception plan including monitoring and evaluation plan and baseline assessment at the outset of the project;
Detailed implementation plan/strategy for capacity development of LPPBs agreed with UNDP SSR CTA, ONS and SLP;
Detailed implementation plan relating to CSO engagements including confidence building measures and capacity building on police powers/complaints;
Final report detailing trainings, mentoring and tools provided to ONS to continue supervision of initiatives following the end of the project (Incumbent should be mindful of context, capacities and budgetary constraints);
A Quarterly and final project report including monitoring and evaluation info., recommendations, key achievements (and challenges) lessons learnt and follow up actions to be signed off by UNDP SSR CTA and ONS.

Competencies

Professionalism and Integrity;
Promotes knowledge sharing and learning;
Knowledge of statistics and data base application;
Display cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Build strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Demonstrate excellent oral and written skills;
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with ability to work in a multi-cultural team environment;
Demonstrate openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Ability to work with national counterparts in building individual and institutional capacity;
Able to work independently with efficiency and competence;

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree in Law, Political Science or Development studies.

Experience:

Minimum of 10 years professional experience in research analysis;
In-depth understanding of Sierra Leone law;
Knowledge and experience of working in conflict or post-conflict setting;
Experience in writing reports, designing training courses and manuals, and action planning;
Experience in community policing is preferred;
Proven intellectual and practical capacity to understand and link the selected thematic areas to broader Rule of Law and national development issues, particularly in crisis-affected, post-crisis and/or fragile settings;
Excellent drafting and formulation skills; proven record of drafting official reports or papers/studies on rule of law issues.
UN experience and experience in United Nations inter-agency work is an asset.

Language Requirements:

Excellent English skills.

Reporting Mechanisms

The consultant will work closely with and report to the Chief Technical Advisor. The consultant will also work closely with the Office of National Security and the Sierra Leone Police Force, under the guidance of the CTA.

Payment Modalities

Payment to the consultant will be made on monthly basis upon certification of satisfactory progress towards completion of the deliverables by the Programme Manager.

Evaluation of Criteria and Weighting

The consultant will be evaluated against a combination of technical and financial criteria. Maximum score is 100% out of a total score for technical criteria equals 70% and 30% for financial criteria.

The technical evaluation will include the following:
Background and minimum educational qualification as defined above-10% ;
Practical previous experience relevant to the TOR - 40%;
Methodology relevant to the assignment -50%.

Application Procedure

Qualified and interested candidates are hereby requested to apply. The application should contain the following:

Completed P11 form;
Financial proposal;
Technical proposal (methodology of approach to the task).