UNDP Jobs - 13535- International Consultant: Team Leader for Access t

International Consultant: Team Leader for Access to Justice Survey - Maldives

Location :

Male', MALDIVES

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

16-Nov-2009

Application Deadline :

01-Dec-09 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

4 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 Maldives is currently undergoing a democratic reform process which has brought about an overhaul of the Justice sector. Within the reform process, there are ongoing efforts to increase individuals’ ability to know and claim their rights and have greater access to a remedy for their grievances as well as to strengthen the institutional capacities of the justice sector to better address the needs of people, notably the marginalized and disadvantaged.

Through the Human Rights and Access to Justice Project signed in 2008, UNDP is supporting the Government to provide critical preparatory assistance and support for the production of baseline data needed to create the foundation for applying the human rights based approach to strengthening the Justice Sector.

One of the key activities under the project is the conducting of a comprehensive Justice Survey which will be the first of this kind in the country. The proposed survey will provide useful baseline information of the existing situation of the justice system and will assist in identifying interventions necessary to address the gaps identified in the system. This includes obstacles for citizens to access to justice and the capacity of service providers to deliver justice, notably against the backdrop of the ongoing structural changes occurring within the justice sector as a result of the implementation of the democratic reform agenda and the 2008 constitution following its ratification.

The findings of the survey will provide policy recommendations to guide the Justice Sector and broader democratic reforms. In addition, it will provide useful inputs upon which UNDP Governance programme in Human Rights and Justice can build in 2010 and beyond.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives

The Access to Justice Study, conducted from a human-rights based approach, will focus both on people’s perception of access to justice and objective observations of the situation at island and atoll level and capacity of service providers, in particular, implications to the delivery of justice services against the backdrop of the justice sector reform process. The research’s scope includes identification of key access to justice issues facing the people, especially the vulnerable groups, and challenges faced by the service providers, both formal and informal, in the delivery of justice services as well as making recommendations for policy formulation on access to justice and appropriate interventions to strengthen the justice processes and systems.

The study will contribute to the achievement of the following objectives:

Provide baseline information on public confidence in the justice system and citizen’s awareness of and access to justice
Identify types of grievances faced by people and the obstacles in seeking redress
Identify the challenges and obstacles faced by the duty bearers
Provide information related to legal and rights awareness to survey communities
Provide avenues for policy discussions, sensitization and recommendations for informing policy, access to justice and informing justice sector reforms.

Outputs

The output deliverables by the international consultant will follow the 5 stages of the survey process as listed below.

Stage 1: Preliminary assessment of the situation
Stage 2: Finalising methodology
Stage 3: Conducting the survey
Stage 4: Data Coding, entering, cleaning
Stage 5: Analysis and report writing
Stage 6: Dissemination

Based on the outlined stages the consultant will perform the following task[s] under this TOR:

Write up situation analysis

This will be based on reviewing and elaborating on the baseline report prepared in March - April 2009 by Kishali Jayawardena
Stakeholder interviews, group discussions and field trips as necessary
Finalise survey questionnaires (based on the draft questionnaires initially developed for the survey and make necessary adjustments and amendments)
Establish criterion for the selection of islands and atolls for the survey together with the Survey Expert.
Development of easily understandable information (brochures, leaflets etc) on access to justice and legal awareness – to distribute to the communities
Preparation and conducting Island/atoll level workshops on access to justice (providing a forum for discussion on issues of access to rights and services and will target community leaders and government officials as well as members of the community and to validate preliminary funding from interviews and FDGs
Training of Enumerators
Analyse the survey results.
Prepare the report with the survey expert with findings, analysis and recommendations.

Competencies

Corporate 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

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning

Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example
Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more Practice Areas, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills

Development and Operational Effectiveness

Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting
Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects, mobilize resources
Ability to formulate and manage budgets, manage contributions and investments, manage transactions, conduct financial analysis, reporting and cost-recovery
Good knowledge of the Results Management Guide and Toolkit
Good ICT skills, knowledge of Atlas
Ability to implement new systems and affect staff behavioral/ attitudinal change

Management and Leadership

Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities

Required Skills and Experience

The lead consultant is expected to have the following qualities:

Post-graduate degree in law, development studies or a relevant field
Excellent knowledge of the justice system and human rights issues
Practical experience of leading and conducting similar surveys
Being able to work independently, objectively as well as within a team.
Knowledge of Human Rights Based Approach and participatory methodologies
Good research skills
Fluency in English language and excellent report writing skills.