The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was ratified by the Government of Lao PDR in 1981 without declarations or reservations. Key provisions of CEDAW are nationalized in the Lao Constitution which guarantees equal rights for men and women before the law (art. 35) and in political, economic, cultural and social fields, and in family affairs (art. 37). The Penal Code states that “any person who discriminates against any woman…shall be punished” (art. 224).

However, discrimination against women persists in the country and in 2018, the CEDAW Committee provided 61 recommendations in its Concluding Observations (2018), of which 11 recommended reviews of the national legislation to guarantee women’s protection from discrimination across all sectors. The three laws to protect women (No.08 on the Development and Protection of Women, No.56 on Preventing and Combatting Violence against Women and Children, and No.77 on Gender Equality) provide adequate protections but falls short of defining or prohibiting direct and indirect discrimination.

Under the Khan Hom Project, the Lao Women’s Union (LWU) and UNDP conducted a capacity needs assessment of the justice and policing sector in Lao PDR: Ministry of Justice (MOJ), Ministry of Public Security (MOPS), Office of the Supreme People’s Prosecutor (OSPP), and the People’s Supreme Court (PSC); to assess capacity gaps preventing full implementation of the Second Five-Year National Action Plan and Preventing and Eliminating Violence against Women 2021-2025 (NAPEVAW). Part of the assessment included a review of relevant laws for the justice and policing sector agencies which demonstrated notable gaps in the legal framework protecting women.

Therefore, UNDP in partnership with the LWU and the National Commission for the Advancement of Women, Mothers, and Children (NCAWMC), is commissioning an assessment of all national legislation to review and provide recommendations for revisions to ensure alignment with CEDAW.

UNDP is committed to gender-responsive programming to promote and protect the rights of women, and provide them with opportunities to fulfill their potential, contribute to society, and ensure the government of Lao PDR fulfills its pledge under the UN Sustainable Development Goals to “leave no one behind” as the country moves forward toward 2030.

The objective of this consultancy will be to produce a report including recommendations for revisions to national legislation to be better aligned with CEDAW. This would require the consultant to conduct a desk review of the national legislation against CEDAW, relevant general recommendations, as well as Lao PDR’s country reports as well as lead consultation workshops with each sector to identify gaps. The incumbent would be expected to work closely with the implementing partner, Lao Women’s Union (LWU) and the National Commission for the Advancement of Women and Mothers-Children (NCAWMC), as well as other government partners

SCOPE OF WORK

Task 1: Desk review of CEDAW, general recommendations, and Lao PDR Country Reports

• Compile CEDAW and relevant documents and reports in an online drive.
• Conduct a review of the compiled documents to assess provisions and principles that should be mainstreamed in the national legislation.

Task 2: Desk review of national legislation to identify gaps in national legislation as it relates to gender equality and women’s empowerment

• Compile national legislation related to CEDAW recommendations into an online drive.
• Conduct a review of the national legislation using a gender assessment tool and produce tabulated results including specific identification of gaps.

Task 3: Produce a report of national legislation review

• Review each national legislation against CEDAW and related documents and reports.
• Produce a report with tabulated results of gaps and specific recommendations for agencies to close those gaps.

Task 4: Organize consultation workshops with each sector to share findings and recommendations

• Prepare and organize consultation workshops with each sector to share the findings and recommendations, and receive feedback.

Task 5: Draft and get approval of final report

• Compile feedback received from each sector from consultation workshops and draft final report.

Task 6: Review translation of report

• UNDP will support the translation of the report and the national consultant will be responsible for reviewing the translation and ensure consistency between the English and Lao versions both of the draft and final versions.

• Experience working with and knowledge of the National Commission for the Advancement of Women, Mothers and Children is desirable

• Master’s degree in Law, Justice Administration, Criminal Justice, or related discipline with a minimum of 3 years of relevant experience, or Bachelor’s degree in Law, Justice Administration, Criminal Justice, or related discipline with at least 5 years of relevant experience
• Demonstrated experience in conducting legal reviews.
• Demonstrated knowledge on UN Conventions, Resolutions, and other related documents concerning gender.
• At least 12 months experience working on gender is highly desirable.

LANGUAGE : 

• Fluency in English and Lao is essential

Requirements for submission of proposals 

All interested and qualified International or National Independent Consultant should apply on-line using the following links: 

UNDP Lao PDR Country Office website at https://www.la.undp.org/content/lao_pdr/en/home/jobs.html  or  

In order to make your submission, please read the relevant documents available on the link below 

1. TOR(Annex I) 
2. IC General Terms and Conditions _ Annex II; 
3. OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY _ Annex III 
4. P11 Form 

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals: 

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications: 

1. Technical Proposal 

            (i)  Explaining why you are the most suitable for the work; 

            (ii)  Providing a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work including the work 

                  schedule for the delivery of outputs/deliverable; 

1. P11 Form  Education and work experience, including past experience in similar projects and contact references of at least 3 references for whom you have rendered preferably the similar services; 
2. Financial proposal:  Detailed financial proposal: Lump sum offer with clear cost breakdown against each deliverable. Please use this template OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY _ Annex III 

Instructions for on-line submissions: 

Step 1:  Please prepare all required documents electronically; 

Step 2: Combine all documents in ONE SINGLE FILE (preferably in PDF however Word format can be also accepted) and upload to the UNDP Jobs using the links above; 

Step 3: After that you will receive an auto reply from the UNDP jobs if your offer is received successfully. 

Incomplete proposals or proposals received after the deadline will be rejected. 

Note:  Any request for clarification must be sent in writing before the submission deadline to the following emails:                                 

surith.sengsavang@undp.org with copy to sarah.tae@undp.org