Background

Through Enhancing Access to Justice for Consolidation of Peace project UNDP in partnership with UNIFEM will assist the Government of Nepal to strengthen justice system in order to support the ongoing peace process in the country. Enhancement of justice sector service delivery will aim at strategically addressing three critical areas through:

• Strengthening national capacity to carry out transitional justice processes;
• Integrating gender justice issues into the peace-building agenda; and 
• Strengthening access to justice at the local level.

The objective of the project is to strengthen access to justice as a means of promoting peace building through a 3 prong approach. First the project will seek to raise national capacity to carry out transitional justice processes through enhancing execution of court decisions, victims support and witness protection programme, and technical assistance to the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction (MoPR) for the establishment of Commission of Enquiry on the Enforced Disappearance (CED) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Secondly, efforts will also be directed towards mainstreaming gender justice into peace-building agenda through capacity development of rule of law actors to respond to conflict related GBV cases and domestic violence, and raising awareness about legal recourse available to women.  Thirdly, at the local level, the project will concentrate on conflict-affected regions to provide a comprehensive set of services for access to justice to the most vulnerable population including women and socially excluded communities. Programme components at local and grassroots level will include providing free legal aid and mediation services, strengthening local paralegal capacities and engaging with traditional justice mechanisms in conjunction with the ongoing UNDP livelihoods project. The Enhancing Access to Justice for Consolidation of Peace project will be implemented under National Execution (NEX) Modality by the Supreme Court in close collaboration with the Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare. Individual components added through a project revision will be directly implemented by UNDP and UNIFEM. There will be the Technical Support Unit (TSU) in the project office. The TSU will be headed by the Technical Advisor.

Under the direct supervision of the Deputy Country Director, Technical Advisor (Technical Support Unit) will be responsible for providing technical input for the strategic direction,  planning, formulation and oversight of the Enhancing Access to Justice project for all the above three components. In addition, Technical Advisor (Technical Support Unit) will coordinate the work of the Technical Support Unit (TSU) and oversee the implementation of directly implemented components of the project. S/he will provide technical advice on measures to enhance service delivery in the justice sector and the approached and instruments to provide access to justice for past and present crimes or violations to the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction , High level Directorate of the Court Decisions of Supreme Court and Ministry of Law and Justice. S/he will provide regular updates on TSU work to the Project Manager and will report on delivery of directly implemented components to the UNDP ARR.  Additionally the Technical Advisor (Technical Support Unit) will also assist UNDP’s Country Director (CD) and Deputy Country Director (DCD) in an advisory capacity regarding transitional justice processes and the strategies to enhance access to justice.

The Technical Advisor (Technical Support Unit) will be in charge of coordinating the implementation of the DEX components with the UNIFEM Field Office and work in close consultation with the Rule of Law, Justice and Security Unit at the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) other UN Agencies involved in the justice and rule of law sector. Likewise, s/he will assure coordination with other Country Office teams with Crises Prevention and Recovery and Early Recovery focus, and CO based advisors/specialists on Gender/Social Inclusion working on crosscutting issues. He/She will also facilitate and promote coordination and collaboration with other actors in these sectors both national and international.  

Duties and Responsibilities

Function / Expected Results:

1.  Provides technical guidance and strategic direction to the rule of law project area.

• Provides technical guidance to the Rule of Law Project team in project development and implementation to ensure outcomes are relevant, and in line with UNDP practice areas, UNDP Nepal country programme strategy and responsive to changes in the country context;
• Provides strategic technical advice on rule of law issues and technical guidance to the overall strategic vision with a view to building national capacities, strengthening the rule of law, to support the overarching peace-building objective of the UN;
• Ensures programme coherence including between the work of the TSU and of the Implementation unit, between national and local level activities;
• Promotes mainstreaming of gender justice throughout all programme components. 
• Ensures the integration of cross-cutting issues, such as peace building and human rights into rule of law project design, monitoring and evaluation;
• Provides technical guidance to  including but not limited to regular field visits and participation in Project Board meetings as requested;
• Directly supervises and provides effective leadership to designated project staff for DEX components and otherwise supports the NPM.

2.  Provides high level policy advice and technical support to government and other partners on transitional justice issues and justice sector reform:

• Provides strategic policy advice to government counterparts, donors and other partners on issues related to the rule of law, including access to justice, gender-justice and transitional justice mechanisms as a function of strengthening the broader framework of the rule of law;
• Provides technical assistance with regards to particular components of access to justice, gender justice and transitional justice mechanisms, especially including establishment and work of legal aid, due process, truth-telling bodies, witness protection programmes, and support for CSO initiatives and multi-stakeholder dialogues;
• Represents UNDP in coordination and expert bodies on rule of law, as requested by the Deputy Resident Representative or the Resident Representative;
• Provides strategic policy advice to UNDP Senior Management in Nepal on rule of law issues and prepares strategic policy papers.

3. Coordinates the TSU and oversee the implementation of directly implemented component of the project:

• Designs and oversees work plans and budgets for all activities in his/her portfolio;
• Provides guidance to ensure timely and adequate reporting against plans including through progress reports;
• Provides guidance to ensure the integrity of financial and administrative operations of the directly implemented project components through financial oversight;
• Provides guidance to ensure strict and consistent application of UNDP rules and regulations and ensuring implementation of clear accountability mechanisms;
• Ensures synergy between UNDP and UNIFEM implemented DEX components;
• Coordinates the work of TSU staff and ensures capacity development of the unit;
• Provides regular updates about relevant project components to the ARR of UNDP. Keeps the Country Director and Deputy Country Director updated on all key policy issues;
• Promotes rule of law results, ensuring appropriate levels of visibility and public awareness on results and ongoing activities.

4. Supports partnership building and resource mobilization for UNDP in the project area.

• Advocates for UNDP rule of law work and represents UNDP Nepal with national authorities, UNMIN and UNCT, the donor community, and international financial institutions;
• Develops and helps in the coordination mechanism for rule of law programming in Nepal, as requested by government partners and donor community;
• Liaises regularly and forges close linkages with other UN programmes, agencies and entities, as well as other international and national stakeholders concerned with or providing assistance on rule of law issues in Nepal to maximise synergies  and avoid duplications;
• Promotes joint programming and UN reform, and collaborates effectively in established frameworks for UN and other international coordination;
• Contributes to the harnessing of effective partnerships and competitive selection of partners for the implementation of UNDP projects;
• Ensures high-quality and timely reporting to donors and other partners involved in the project;
• Supports resource mobilization for the project in close consultation with Senior Management;

5.  Ensures knowledge management to build the capacity and knowledge of national counterparts:

• Promotes the identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learned from the project area for organizational sharing and learning as well as external information;
• Actively participates in UNDP knowledge and learning and takes advantage of best practices and lessons learned that are available in the region and globally;
• Creates a culture of knowledge sharing and learning in the project;
• Identifies and assists in recruitment of relevant expertise needed for delivery of project objectives;
• Supports capacity and knowledge building of national counterparts through on-job training, knowledge sharing workshops, publications and organization of study tours;
• Promotes the participation of UNDP-Nepal in regional programmes and regional activities related to the project areas as appropriate;
  

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates high moral integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards, sound political judgment, as well as diplomacy, impartiality and discretion and proved capacity of initiative, leadership and autonomy
• 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

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
• Excellent knowledge of post-conflict situation and issues and processes of transitional justice.

Development and Operational Effectiveness

• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting
• Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of rule of law projects, as well as resource mobilization skills
• 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
• Effective communication skills and ability to establish good working relationships with national and local authorities, and international interlocutors
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure
• Ability to work and act under pressure and with discretion in a politically sensitive environment, with a minimum of comfort
• Ability to travel under harsh conditions within the country whenever required
• Proven networking, team building, organizational and communication skills 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced University Degree preferably in law, international studies, social sciences or a related field.
   

Experience:

• 10 years of experience are required in the field of rule and law, of which at least 5 years in the field of access to justice, legal protection and, transitional justice
• A minimum of 10 years of relevant professional experience of post-conflict recovery, including 3 years of field experience in emergency and post-conflict situations
• Previous experience with the United Nations System, including UNDP is desirable.

Language Requirements:

• Demonstrated excellent command of spoken and written English.