UNDP Jobs - 54155- International Consultant: Elimination of Violence

International Consultant: Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW) - UNDP/JHRA Project

Location :

Kabul, AFGHANISTAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

04-Mar-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

9 Months (Maximum 97 Working Days)

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

Afghanistan’s justice system faces extraordinary challenges. Justice sector infrastructure has often been destroyed or damaged by fighting or decay during the years of conflict and a large number of Afghanistan’s courthouses are in need of construction or rehabilitation. Legal professionals are very often the victims of violence by insurgent groups who target them as agents of the state. Threatening of justice officials, particularly in the less secure regions of the country is absolutely commonplace, and assassinations are very common. Corruption is a constant concern; judges and other justice system officials are poorly paid, justice system capacity to prosecute corruption is very limited, and corruption is perceived as rampant both within and outside the justice system. The Government of Afghanistan (GoA) and the international community are concerned about bolstering the credibility of the “formal” justice system, recognizing that Afghanistan’s traditional justice system plays a major role in resolving conflicts, yet does so at times in violation of national and international human rights obligations, particularly the rights of women.

Following continuous engagement in supporting Afghanistan’s justice sector since 2002, UNDP Afghanistan’s justice sector support has now entered a new phase. The Justice and Human Rights in Afghanistan (JHRA) Phase II Project draws on the lessons learned through previous UNDP justice projects – Strengthening the Justice System of Afghanistan (SJSA), Access to Justice at District Level (AJDL) and Justice and Human Rights Phase I.

The 1st phase of the JHRA Project was implemented from June 2009 - 30 June 2012. The project was designed to support the achievement of the priorities and benchmarks on human rights, rule of law and justice as highlighted in the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) and the Afghanistan Compact. The JHRA project worked to improve access to justice at the national and provincial levels in Afghanistan. Programmatic interventions were undertaken by using a human rights based approach that simultaneously strengthened citizens’ capacity to claim their rights and enhanced the capacity of justice delivery system actors to deliver justice in compliance with rule of law and human rights standards. The Project activities included raising awareness through training of justice officials and community members including school teachers and students, and the general public and villages throughout 11 districts in Afghanistan. It also engaged with the rehabilitation of district justice facilities and providing emergency infrastructure works and basic equipment so facilities can function. At the national level, the project assisted the three national justice institutions including; the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the Supreme Court (SCt), and the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) in strengthening their capacity so as to be able to better contribute to the justice reform process and the realization of human rights in Afghanistan.

The JHRA Phase II was initiated in January 2013. JHRA Phase II leverages on the work undertaken in Phase I and deepen the interventions at the national level and provincial levels and attempts to work across the justice sector, involving the rule of law service providers. The JHRA Phase II project represents four components of overall strategic support, and contributes in particular to the Afghan National Priority Plans (NPP) on Law and Justice for All (NPP 5) and Human Rights and Civic Responsibilities (NPP 6). JHRA Phase II seeks to increase trust in Afghan justice institutions as the necessary foundation and prerequisite for the re-establishment of state legitimacy. Without trust there is no State legitimacy and this becomes impossible for a government to guide a country through transition/transformation without conflict. The project assumes a comprehensive approach to trust-building composed of increasing service delivery and access to justice, in particular for the vulnerable groups, combined with the facilitation of the necessary political leadership; and balanced with structural and institutional mechanisms and safeguards to ensure sustainable transition and development. Similarly, support to justice sector service providers is balanced with support to ordinary people who would normally not be able to circumvent the current justice institutions and its mechanism to access justice, accountability, gain confidence in the formal justice institutions and gain trust in the State.

JHRA Phase II has four project outputs:

Output 1: High-level coordination mechanisms for developing policy and legislation in accordance with international and national standards are established and functional in State justice institutions;
Output 2: Mechanisms for providing quality access to justice services to vulnerable groups are established and functional;
Output 3:Public participation processes and knowledge base for improving access to justice and human rights compliance established;
Output 4:Project Support Unit: Internal oversight, monitoring and evaluation capacity in place.

In Nov 2013 at the request of the Attorney General Office (AGO), JHRA (with support from an international consultant) undertook an assessment of the AGO Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) Units. The assessment report recommended the establishment of a Special Court on EVAW, undertake professional trainings for family response units (within Afghan National Police) and prosecutors, provide therapeutic support to victims and perpetrators etc. The recommendations recognizes that the causes of violence against women are complex, requiring a special approach to EVAW that would be multi-sectoral in nature. The Court can be established with a simple reallocation of current resources. For instance, no additional Court rooms, Judges or Court staff are required. One additional position will be needed: a Complainant Advisor to assist the complainant throughout the Court process.

In the Ministry of Women Affairs (MOWA’s) first Violence Against Women Report which was published in 2014 the EVAW Court featured among the recommendations. JHRA currently supports the Elimination on Violence Against Women which is coordinated by MOWA, on the design for the EVAW court. This proposal has support from the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MOWA), the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Haj, and the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), the Women’s Commission at Parliament, some individual Judges, Prosecutors, Defense Lawyers, and Civil Societies. AGO and MOWA have stressed that the initiative should be nationally led but have welcomed JHRA’s technical support.

Also as part of the coordinated initiatives on EVAW In 2013 the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) and JHRA undertook a series of assessments and interviews, which resulted in the need to develop a framework for written Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to improve coordination between Family Response Units/Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers and EVAW prosecutors. The need to establish such a framework was identified through the EVAW Unit Assessment Report which JHRA had undertaken in that year. Subsequently, in 2014 a series of discussions and interviews were held in Herat, Marzar and Kabul to develop an agreed framework on SOP for the Family Response Units/Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers and Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) prosecutors. The view was to improve collaboration and communication between the agencies specifically while handling violence against women cases. The outcome of the consultative workshops was a draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) between Criminal Investigation Department (CID)/Family Response Unit (FRU) and (EVAW) Prosecution office that is expected to be finalized through technical level consultations in early 2015. The draft SOP was received by participants that included colleagues from MoI (Gender and Human Rights department, FRU), AGO and EVAW Prosecution office, and AIBA. Based on the workshops last year, there is still a need for police to have a more practical and hands on visual guidance tool in collaboration with prosecutors.

Therefore as a continuation of the work undertaken in 2013 and 2014, JHRA would support the following areas of work through the international consultant in 2015:

Duties and Responsibilities

Undertake four days trainings in two provinces (Herat and Mazar) for Family Response Units, CID, lawyers, staff of legal help centres and prosecutors on coordination aspects for EVAW cases. Total 8 days; 4 days trainings in two provinces, (Total 8 days of which covered by LOTFA 4 days);
Undertake one day discussions (in two provinces – Herat and Mazar) with Family Response Units, CID, (Police) and Prosecutors on discussion of visual flowchart. Total 2 days; One day trainings in two (Total 2 days of which covered by LOTFA 1 days) provinces;
Police and Prosecutors, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Justice, LOTFA, JHRA, other key stakeholders such as UN agencies, EUPOL. The draft flow chart of SOP will be presented to the leaderships of MOI and AGO institutions.Total one day workshop with wide range of stakeholders (Total 1 day of which covered by LOTFA 0.5 days);
Facilitate four trainings of 3 days each on peer to peer learnings for staff of the EVAW Units on the preparation of indictments, settlements based on evidences and mediation. Total 12 days. Training locations will be decided in consultation with AGO.

Total 12 days. Training locations will be decided in consultation with AGO, Total 4 days.

Research:

Facilitate one training for 4 days for prosecutors and defense lawyers on EVAW Court, roles and responsibilities, Total 4 days;
One training for 2 day sessions - Training of court staff on EVAW law, functions of EVAW court; roles and responsibilities, Total 2 days.

Total 33 days of training sessions will be undertaken. JHRA will provide all logistical support and coordination for the training programmes.

Research:

3 days home-based preparation time for the assignment including workplan;
10 days – for joint preparation and development of one flow chart based on the SOP 2014 for police and prosecutors for LOTFA and JHRA. (Total 10 days of which covered by LOTFA 5 days);
20 days - Prepare one training curriculum on indictments, settlements and mediation based on the training sessions undertaken with the prosecutors at the EVAW Units. This training curriculum to be done in conjunction with the NLTC;
5 days - Prepare 2 to 3 briefing notes for stakeholders for advocacy work.

Total time to be spent on research is: 38 days.

Advocacy:

EVAW Court design: Engage with the judiciary, EVAW Commission, national and international agencies to discuss concept of EVAW or specialized courts. Make presentations as per requirement of these meetings. Total 10 days;
Undertake four roundtable discussions for one day (total 4 days) each to orient at national level for judiciary, key policy makers and judges on concept of special courts. Total 4 days;
Two trainings for 5 days each (total 10 days) to be undertaken for CSO’s on the concept of the EVAW Court. (Total 10 days);
Conduct meetings, discussions and workshops on Standard operating procedures for the coordination between Family Response Units/CID officers that was developed in 2014 through a consultative process that needs to be adopted by the MOI and the AGO (LOTFA-JHRA joint work). (Total 6 days of covered by LOTFA 3 days).

Total number of days to be spent on advocacy: 26 days.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

The outputs / deliverables of the consultants and the estimated duration to complete the deliverables are given below:

Deliverables/ Outputs, Estimated Duration to Complete and Target Due Dates:

Work plan to be provided and preparation of training schedule, Within 10 days of the assignment, 5%;
Finalisation of joint flowchart for police-prosecutors (joint LOTFA-JHRA work), Within 37 days of the assignment, 20%;
Provision of first draft of training curriculum on indictments, settlements and mediation AND ccompletion of all trainings as identified in the assignment, Within 60 work days of initiation of assignment, 25%;
Finalization of 70% of advocacy for the assignment and also research work, Within 75 work days of initiation of assignment, 30%;
Completion report with details on deliverables, names of contacts; final training curriculum and completion of 11 trainings as mentioned in the scope of work; briefing notes;Within 100 work days of initiation of assignment, 20%.

Working Arrangement:

Institutional Arrangement:

Some of these recommendations are reflected in the first report on the Elimination of Violence Against Women Law published by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. Based on these recent developments, it is expected that the International Consultant, (EVAW) will be coordinating across the justice sector institutions to ensure that the key deliverables are met in this assignment. The EVAW International Consultant will report directly to the Component 2, Access to Justice Specialist. On a regular basis the EVAW Consultant will meet the Chief Technical Advisor and to provide progress updates.

Duration of the Work:

97 working days, 6 days work in a week.

Duty Station:

During the assignment period, the Consultant will work in Herat, Balkh and Kabul, using Herat, Balkh and Kabul as the pilot provinces. Advocacy will be undertaken at the national level to ensure that the pilot activities in these 3 provinces are visible at the national level. For the purposes of the assignment, the consultant will be coordinating closely with the Attorney General’s Office, Ministry of Interior and LOTFA, Supreme Court, Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Huqoq at the Ministry of Justice and also other national and international agencies working on EVAW. The international consultant will be expected to attend meetings and workshops on EVAW and where necessary, will make presentations of findings of assessment reports, activities etc.

Evaluation Criteria:

[The procuring UNDP entities will choose among one of these two evaluation methods prior to submit the have the Individual Consultant Procurement Notice. Once the evaluation method has been selected the other one shall be deleted to avoid any misunderstanding]

Option (1) is ideal for intellectual services where the methodology or approach to the work may differ from one individual to another and directly impacts the quality of the result. Option (2) is ideal for standard type of services where there are not many possible ways of undertaking/performing the work.

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis:

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

Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation. Example 70%-30%.

* Technical Criteria weight; [To be determined] – Example 70%

* Financial Criteria weight; [To be determined, minimum 30%] – Example 30%

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

Technical Criteria – Maximum 70 points

Criteria A Eg. Relevance of Education – Max 5points;
Criteria B Eg. Special skills, Language, etc.- Max 5 Points;
Criteria C Eg. Relevance of experience – Max 30 points;
Criteria D Eg. Description of approach/methodologyto assignment.(if applicable) – Max 20 Points;
Criteria E Eg. Interview (if applicable) – Max 10 points.

Lowest price and technically compliant offer:

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

Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
Offering the lowest price/cost
Responsive/compliant/acceptable” can be defined as fully meeting the TOR provided.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payment:

First payment 5%, Second payment 20%, Third payment 25%, Fourth payment 30%, Fifth payment 20%

Notes:

The term “All inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel costs, living allowances, communications, consumables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal.

Individuals on IC are not UN staff is therefore not entitled to DSAs. All living allowances required to perform the demands of the TOR must be incorporated in the financial proposal, whether the fees are expressed as daily fees or lump sum amount.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;

Functional competencies:

Strong organizational and reporting skills;
Results oriented, strong team player with outstanding interpersonal and coordination skills;
Ability to work independently;
Ability to remain calm, in control and good humoured even under pressure;
Strong managerial competency;
Ability to establish substantive professional relationships with all stakeholders;
Knowledge of elimination of violence against women strategies implemented by government institutions.
Demonstrated ability in developing reports based on interviews, legal research and observations.
Demonstrated ability to interact with decision-makers and beneficiaries to develop productive partnerships and excellent networking skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

Master`s degree or equivalent in Law, gender studies, International Development Studies or other relevant field.

Experience:

At least 5 years of relevant national/international working experience in international development sector especially working in the justice sector and family law issues;
In-depth knowledge of capacity development programming on elimination of violence against women;
Knowledge and experience of working on human rights and justice is highly desirable;
Experience of working with prosecutors, judges and lawyers;
Experience working with elimination of violence against women at country based levels and international levels;
Experience in projects and programs related to elimination of violence against women is desirable;
Experience of working in conflict and post conflict countries is desirable.
Project implementation experience with the UN system a strong asset;
A range of experience in the United Nations, a governmental, other multilateral and/or civil society organization in a developed or developing country highly desirable.
Previous work experience in Afghanistan would be an asset.

Language:

Excellent knowledge of English and ability to communicate clearly in written and spoken English;
Working knowledge of Dari is a strong asset.

Application procedure:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

Documents to be included when submittig the proposals:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents / information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document (The system does not allow more than 1 attachment):

Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II);
Duly completed and signed P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
The above two templates ( refer as Annex II and P11 form) can be found on UNDP jobsite at http://www.af.undp.org/content/afghanistan/en/home/operations/procurement.html;
Technical proposal: Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment and explaining how would attain the goal/deliverables specified in the TORs; A methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment as per the TORs;
Only 3-5 best candidates would be invited to the interview and be requested to submit financial proposals;
Financial Proposal :An all in-inclusive monthly fee covering all costs (air fare, living allowance, insurance, communications, Financial proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided (Annex II).