Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls, the empowerment of women and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women's rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women is mandated to lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts, to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It is also mandate to provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women oPt; within the framework of DFID-funded project "Support For Delivery Of Security And Justice Services for Women Victims of Violence ", is aiming to carry on the established monitoring system to collect data and information on VAW before the law and in front of the law created through the establishment of an Observatory. The observatory aims at monitoring how cases of VAW are dealt with, from the moment of the report of the complaint to the issuance of the sentence, including monitoring of the detention in case the woman is criminalized. The Observatory will document gaps in the law and procedures as well as violations of human rights norms. The Observatory will serve, as well, to identify emerging protection issues and to raise public and decision-makers awareness on current issues, while recommending effective solutions in cooperation with the pool of judges and prosecutors and specialized security forces personnel. For the purpose of undertaking monitoring responsibilities, three local experts (lawyers) will collect the information on a regular basis. The monitors’ team will be recruited by UN Women and working directly with and under the day-to-day supervision of the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), which is the independent body managing the Observatory and supervising its work, in close consultation and coordination with UN Women oPt - Women Human Rights Project Manager. The consultants will report regularly to UN Women and to the ICHR. Data will be collected through a specialized data-base system, specifically developed for the purpose of the Observatory and managed by the ICHR, and inputted into the system by the monitors.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the day-to-day supervision of the ICHR Project Coordinator and the overall supervision of UN Women,  the Observatory monitors will undertake the following tasks, duties and responsibilities:

• Regularly monitor cases related to women’s access to justice, with specific focus on cases of VAW, at all stages of the justice chain, including VAW-related cases of women inmates in Palestinian Correction and Rehabilitation Centres (CRCs).
• Compile regular monitoring reports on monthly basis;
• Maintain the ICHR database on women’s access to justice regularly updated;
• Raising awareness on discriminatory laws and procedures and advocate access to legal rights and fair trials, based on a human rights-based approach, for women survivors of violence with concerned judicial and political bodies;
• Provide inputs to the Observatory ICHR annual publication on monitoring findings;
• Cover, through the monitoring, the assigned geographical area;
• Meet with identified key stakeholders - including but not limited to police family protection units; prosecutors office; courts, and inmates inside CRCs and detention centers - to collect data and information in relation to the indicators set for the Observatory;
• Regularly case monitoring throughout the justice chain, reported cases of women victims of violence and discrimination (police; prosecution; courts);
• Conduct regular follow up of the cases throughout, from the moment the woman access the police station or files a complaint to the moment the case is closed or concluded through a sentence (including the arrest/detention, if relevant; interrogation and investigation steps; trial; etc.);
• Monitor access to legal aid services;  
• Regularly (bi-weekly basis) liaise with Palestinian Bar Association women’s access to justice working group in order to gather information on on-going cases and on new cases to be included in the data base and followed up;
• Collect and enter the data through the developed standard formats and the ICHR database system;   
• Support in the organization of discussion sessions with relevant key stakeholders as needed;
• Monitor the status of living conditions of the women inmates through regular field visits which will take place once a week. Each observatory monitor will cover one area of the West Bank (North, Middle and South). The monitoring will include interviews with CRC administration staff and women inmates, through specific questionnaires developed to monitor status of living conditions;
• Submitting monthly Monitoring reports to UN Women and ICHR project Coordinator. 

Time frame:

• The assignment is expected to start on 20 October 2014 and be finalized by 31 March 2015.

Key deliverables

• Monthly submission (for the entire duration of the contract) of monitoring work and data collected.

Competencies

Core Values / Guiding Principles:

Integrity

• Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity

• Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Results oriented

• Plans and produces quality results to meet established goals, generates innovative, practical solutions to challenging situations.

Ethics and Values

• Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity.

Organizational Awareness

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring

• Initiative-taking; coaching and mentoring ability.

Working in Teams

• Acting as a team player and facilitating team work.

Communicating Information and Ideas

• Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively.

Self-management and Emotional intelligence

• Creating synergies through self-control.

Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements

• Managing conflict.

Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning

• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of other.

Functional Competencies:

• Sound knowledge of international standards on human rights, women's rights and related instruments; 
• A proven ability to liaise with a variety of stakeholders and partners, including government and international organizations; 
• Strong analytical, dialogue, consultation and communication skills; 
• Maturity, ability to take decisions under pressure and ability to deal with matters that are politically or culturally sensitive;
• Ability to work as a member of a team;
• Demonstrated experience in timely delivering of products;
• Sound understanding of the Palestinian legal systems;
• Excellent research and analytical skills;
• Strong commitment to women's rights and to human rights in general;
• Excellent interpersonal, organizational and communication skills;
• Ability to work under pressure and as part of a team.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: 

• BA degree in law, gender, women studies or any other relevant field.

Experience: 

• Minimum two years of relevant work experience in human rights monitoring, data collection, communication or advocacy;
• Significant relevant experience in gender-focused data collection;
• Good communication skills (comprehension, written, and spoken) in Arabic.

 Languages:

• Written and oral proficiency in Arabic and English is required.