BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

The Sawasya II programme: Promoting the Rule of Law in Palestine represents the primary programmatic vehicle of the United Nations for advancing the rule of law, integrity, gender justice and human rights in Palestine for the period 2018-2022. Bringing together the main UN entities mandated and invested in these areas in an integrated programme framework (three years, with provision for a further two optional years), Sawasya II seeks to elevate the state building enterprise for a progressively functioning and increasingly inclusive State of Palestine that respects, protects and fulfils human rights and gender equality, and promotes development, peace, and security. The programme has a dedicated output (3.2) which aims at enabling vulnerable populations in areas unserved by the Palestinian government, area C and East Jerusalem to have access to justice, security and protection. Under this output entails the programme support of the PA and CSO efforts to address the legal needs of Palestinians specifically women and children, including through provision of legal assistance, legal literacy, and legal awareness.

To deliver on this front, Sawasya II focused efforts, on establishing state-sponsored frameworks capable of tackling the various legal aid needs of vulnerable Palestinians, including women and children, while providing direct legal support to more than 40,000 justice users to address immediate gaps in the past two years and a half. This was done utilizing revisited partnership modalities with civil society that allowed for greater coherency and efficiency. However, despite the efforts invested under Sawasya II to optimize direct legal aid delivery in a manner that can be appropriated by future state-sponsored systems, progress on the reform level front seems stalled.

At the strategic level, the Programme placed emphasis on the development of the National Legal Aid Strategy (NLAS) by the National Legal Aid Committee (NLAC) set up in 2016 and tasked with establishing a state sponsored mechanism for the provision of legal aid in front of Palestinian jurisdictions for vulnerable individuals.

Moreover, Sawasya is looking within the upcoming year to support the establishment of entities/mechanisms that provide legal aid services in front family courts specifically in front of the Ecclesiastic Courts. This comes as a recommendation of an analysis paper that the programme had conducted to direct and to inform future interventions within the legal aid portfolio, which implies a need to further build linkages among providers of services in front of religious courts (Shari’a and Ecclesiastical courts) across the judicial landscape.

To that end, Sawasya II is seeking a national consultant with legal background to support the registration process. The expert is encouraged to use the participatory approach at all stages while conducting the assignment, which entails engaging Sawasya team and the Ecclesiastic Courts Representatives with the development and implementation of the actions.

The overall objective of this assignment is to legally register the legal aid non-profit entity within the Palestinian system and to develop all requested documents that are required for the registration process.  

The expert will perform his/her tasks under the supervision of the Sawasya II Joint Programme Manager and the Technical Specialist and in close collaboration with representatives of the ecclesiastic courts.

Toward this goal, you are cordially invited to submit an application as detailed in this Individual Consultancy (IC) Procurement Notice. Interested applicants should submit their technical and financial proposal on the following website: https://jobs.undp.org

The complete Individual Consultant Procurement Notice concerning this call for proposal can be examined and obtained free of charge from the website.

Both the technical and financial proposals should be submitted and uploaded in one file by the applicant in order to be considered for evaluation. Late and/or incomplete submissions will be rejected, where both the technical and financial proposals should be submitted on or before 03:00 P.M. on 11 August 2022 (Jerusalem Time).

For inquires and clarifications about this procurement notice you may address proc1.papp@undp.org, noting that Requests for clarification from bidders will not be accepted any later than Five (5) days before the submission deadline. Responses to request for clarification will be communicated via https://jobs.undp.org and by replying to the emails.

Documents comprising the Technical and Financial Proposals

Interested individual consultant must submit the following documents/information, which comprises the Technical& Financial Proposals:

1. Provide Curriculum vitae form including past experience in similar projects and the field of rule of law, human rights and reforming justice sector institutions.
2. Proposed methodology to achieve the tasks included in the ToR (not more than 2 pages).
3. Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for this role.
4. Copy of university degrees and certifications. 
5. Completed financial proposal form, found under Annex III: the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant while fulfilling its mission (e.g. transportation cost…). 
6. Reference list to verify previous experience in NGO registration.

Attention: Quotations shall be only submitted through the website of https://jobs.undp.org. Otherwise, offer shall be disqualified. And any delay in UNDP’s response shall be not used as a reason for extending the deadline for submission, unless UNDP determines that such an extension is necessary and communicates a new deadline to the proposers.

There are two versions of this ToR, one in English and one in Arabic, and in the event, there is a discrepancy between the two, the English version will take precedence over the Arabic version.

The consultant’s main tasks will be the following:

• Initiate the process of registration of the legal aid non-profit entity. This includes conducting all follow up actions with the Ministry of Interior and any other relevant ministry or governmental entity.
• Develop institutional bylaw for the entity, in addition to any required document for registration.
• Prepare and moderate an intensive workshop (in Jordan) to get feedback and consensus of the ecclesiastic courts’ representatives on the institutional bylaw.
• Finalize the bylaw and any other documents based on the conclusions of the workshop.
• Complete the registration of the entity.

Corporate Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN 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 favouritism
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills

Functional Competencies

• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills
• Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors
• Demonstrates ability to manage complexities
• Communicates effectively with staff at all levels of the organisation
• Acts with tact and diplomacy
• Proves outgoing and comfortable in handling external relations at all levels 
• Demonstrates compelling communication skills and cross-cultural effectiveness
• Possesses the ability to convey difficult issues and positions to senior officials and counterparts.
• Strong IT skills, particularly with MS Office.

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

The below experience and qualification requirements apply to this role.

Education (Pass/Fail Criteria)

At least a Master University degree in the field of law, commercial law, human rights law.

Experience

• At least 10 years of experience working in rule of law and human rights locally or internationally.
• A proven previous experience in working in NGO registration.
• Experience working with large UN rule of law programs.
• Proven experience working with Ecclesiastic law is an asset.

Languages

• Fluency in Arabic and English is an asset.
• Highly skilled in professional Arabic writing.

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 confidentiality.

Looking forward to receiving your application and thank you in advance for your interest in UNDP procurement opportunities.

To enable you to submit a proposal, enclose please find:

Annex I       Terms of Reference (TOR)

Annex II      Instructions to Applicants

Annex III     Financial Proposal Form         

Annex IV    Individual Consultant General Terms and Conditions

Annex V     Letter of Interest and Availability

Annex VI    Terms of Reference (TOR) – Arabic Version