UNDP Jobs - 58294- International Consultant

International Consultant - Capacity and Training Needs Assessment Consultant

Location :

Amman, JORDAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

10-Aug-2015

Application Deadline :

29-Jul-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

35 working days

Languages Required :

Arabic English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

35 working days

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

Jordan shares land borders with Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Being one of the most strategically positioned countries in the Region and considered to be one of the most stable, the geopolitical location makes Jordan extremely vulnerable to external political and economic influences. This is evident by the repercussions on Jordan’s infrastructure and security resulting from the neighboring crises, influx of refugees and imminent security threats across the border.

The Public Security Directorate (PSD) is a key component of the Jordanian security sector and community security and safety. The PSD is functioning under the Ministry of Interior (MOI) and acts as Jordan’s national police and is responsible for law enforcement and providing security within Jordan’s refugee camps. The PSD Strategy (2014-16) indicates the importance of Community policing and is divided into three basic operational lines: Administrative Police, Judicial Police and Operational Support. There are 10 regional directorates, eight of which correspond to the governorates, one for Amman and its suburbs and the Desert Police—all units report to the General Director in Amman.

Jurisdiction of PSD the basis for PSD’s jurisdiction is the “Law for Public Security” No. 38 (1965) that defines PSD’s duties and powers including:

Preservation of order and security and the protection of lives, honor and properties;
Prevention of crimes and endeavor to discover and pursue them, to arrest and apprehend their perpetrators and deliver them to justice;
Administration of prisons and guarding of prisoners;
The implementation of laws and regulations, Judicial and legitimate orders, and assisting the Public Authorities in executing their functions according to the stipulations of laws;
Receiving unclaimed items and properties and dealing with them according to the stipulations of laws and regulations;
Supervising and organizing Traffic on roads;
Controlling the public meetings and processions on roads and in public places;
Carrying out any other duties imposed by the enforced laws.

PSD is generally perceived to be a modern and professional police force, but its resources have been strained by the current pressure on the public budget, and pressure on it human resources due to the increase in the population as a result of the refugee crises. Police stations within communities hosting a huge number of refugees are visited daily by Syrian refugees seeking basic legal information and assistance (e.g. filling out forms for identification cards).

Internal Capacities of PSD has relatively well-developed internal accountability and oversight mechanisms. The PSD Ombudsman exists to enforce compliance with its Code of Conduct by all PSD units and has an Internal Affairs Division that oversees quality of policing services and receives and investigates citizen complaints against the police. Serious cases of police misconduct rising to the level of criminal behavior are referred to the AGO and proceed to court if required. The PSD also has several lawyers on staff to represent it in such actions. PSD also has responsibility for the administration of places of detention and corrections in Jordan; including monitoring compliance with the “Crime Prevention Law”.

The PSD in communities hosting refugees (Al Mafraq and Irbid Governorates) has expressed concerns with regard to community tensions and increasing demand for innovative approaches to ensure community security and prevent crimes. In Irbid, the region's police is responsible for all policing in the Northern region of Jordan, comprising 4 districts, 6 areas (including Al Mafraq) and 2 border crossings. With 1,000 police staff, they are coping with increasing levels of tension, crime and environmental issues. The high numbers of Syrian refuges living in these communities, increased the burden placed on police to respond to community security needs. The police also have to deal with heighted rate of SGBV allegations, where the Human Trafficking unit in the MOJ has reported a significant increase in complaints for 2014.

Through its Community Peace Center, the PSD is also working to prevent and counter youth radicalization, however innovative approaches are yet to be developed in this area. All of the indicators suggest that there is a significant underlying tension threating community security in host communities. As such, there is a need to enhance community policing techniques and follow national principles. This in addition to empower municipalities with access to decision-making forums that would assist these provincial communities and police to avert crisis of significant proportion. The police chief and community leaders would benefit from support to enhance their advocacy skills to enable their voice to be heard at decision-making levels of local governors and national government.

Overall Purpose

Although the PSD, including its Community Peace Centers (CPC), is a professional entity and is providing good policing services, it needs additional support to address the unprecedented security challenges arising from the Syrian refugee crisis. As such, the PSD Community Policing capacities and strategy approaches needs to be adapted to better address community security needs in the host communities, including for a national training plan that would enhance the ability of the PSD and CPC to utilize best practices, including gender responsiveness, combat the proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW), initiate local solutions under national principles, and the implementation of performance measures in order to inform senior police about community concerns in a timely manner. This includes

The overall purpose of this assignment is to assess the current capacities of the Community Peace Centers and Community Police Directorate. In particular, the consultant will conduct an institutional and organisational capacity assessment of the Directorates in Amman and in the governorates, and arrive at a comprehensive capacity development plan, including institutional and training capacity development programme to enable PSD/CPC adapt its response functionalities towards better community policing and peace services.

The assignment is also expected to develop a comprehensive multi-year training and capacity development plan for CPC (training for clients and training of CPC trainers).

See Community Peace Center and PSD web page http://www.psd.gov.jo/index.php/ar/2015-03-30-15-50-20

Duties and Responsibilities

Specific Objectives:

The specific objectives of the assignment shall be:

Assist PSD/CPC to review its existing mandate and, if necessary, recommend new roles and functions, based on newly-proposed decentralization legislation.

Undertake an institutional and organizational capacity assessment of core capacities (managerial including administrative, technical, policy, oversight, support to Municipalities, etc.) of PSD/CPC and community police centers, and provide recommendation for alighnment with the mandate.

Elaborate a comprehensive capacity development plan, including institutional and training capacity development programme, including detailed training programme (client training and training of trainers) with tools and indicators for benchmarking progress and monitoring impact at PSD/CPC level.

The assessment will be centered on current capacities of PSD/CPC and Community Police Directorate to perform its mandated functions (along with new roles and functions specified under new legislation) and respond to most pressing needs relating to the broad core functional areas.

Special emphasis on: a) the evaluation of skills that are available in the organization and compare with what competences the organization needs for achieving its goals need to be also considered; b) the development of a training curricula for CPC targeting both CPC training staff and training curricula delivered by CPC to community clients (prisons, schools, universities..etc.).

Composition of the team & division of labor

The consultant will work under the overall guidance of UNDP- head of the socio-economic portfolio. The assignment will be carried out in close coordination with the PSD/CPC, in particular their central departments within MOI headquarter.

The work of the consultant will be facilitated by UNDP. The division of tasks between the team is as follows:

The international consultant is the Team leader and the ultimately responsible for producing the agreed upon methodology and deliverables;
The consultant will provide technical support to the implementation of the capacity and training assessment exercise;
National Officer will participate as needed in data collection, logistical support, all required translation including documents, and can be available to attend all meetings.

Tasks of the consultancy

The Consultant will perform the following tasks:

Produce a desk review of all relevant literature, by-laws, legislation and documents.Design the methodology, based on a review of UNDP policy guidance and other approaches in the area of capacity assessments;
Conduct several visits and individual meetings with PSD/CPC officials at the inception of the assessment to collect initial data as well as generate an overall picture of the issues at hand, in order assist in fine tuning the initial methodology;
Carry out the assessment, and the compilation and analysis of assessment data by interviewing specific staff, such as heads of department;
Identify capacity gaps at different levels including management systems and challenges that hinder effective performance of PSD/CPC.

Based on the above analysis and findings the consultant will identify areas for development in all perspectives that are needed for PSD/CPC in which it can appropriately and efficiently deliver its mandate.

Design training and capacity development programme that will include proposals for themes and methods for capacity development support, as well as clear time frame and required deliverables.
Prepare a draft report and presentation on the capacity assessment and training needs, outlining strengths, weaknesses & gaps of the current PSD/CPC governance system to face the challenges. The report should focus mainly on CPC and Community Police Directorate;
The report will be presented to UNDP & MOI before being discussed in a large meeting/workshop.

Deliverables:

Inception Report outlining the understanding and interpretation of the TOR, assessment framework & methodology to be applied, a detailed work plan and table of contents for the assessment report. This is based on literature and desk review;
Draft assessment report, including training needs and training annual plan (based on visits/meetings and assessment conducted).
Final assessment report, including a one day workshop to present the report to the stakeholders at PSD/CPC and Community Police Directorate;
Develop full capacity development and training programme with a detailed Results and Resource Framework (in English and in Arabic);
Debriefing sessions with the key findings to be conducted with key stakeholders.

Competencies

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Familiarity with UNDP’s approach to local governance;
Effective communication skills and ability to establish good working relationships with national and local authorities, and international interlocutors;
Innovative, solution oriented, and a positive attitude required.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

Master’s Degree in development studies, social or security studies or any other relevant field.

Experience

A minimum of 10 years’ experience in capacity development of local government institutions required, preferably in a transitional context;
Demonstrated experience designing and implementing governance assessments in transition country context;
Demonstrable experience working in an international organization, preferably UNDP.

Language:

Fluency in English;
Arabic is desirable.