Background

The Maldives is a developing country attempting to build on considerable economic and human development gains, but simultaneously still challenged by deep socio-economic, environmental and political issues. As part of the democratic transition, a new Constitution was ratified in 2008. In recent years, a number of important achievements have occurred in democratic governance, rule of law and human rights in Maldives. These included the establishment of key independent institutions such as the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), the Elections Commission (EC) and the Family Protection Authority (FPA), as well as the promulgation of a Domestic Violence Prevention Act (DVP Act), Prevention of Human Trafficking Act and a new Penal Code.

Important challenges however remain particularly regarding the development of effective and inclusive governance institutions and processes. Consolidation of the rule of law, and evolution of an informed civil society and an independent, professional media thus all remain in their formative stages. To better understand the justice sector and its challenges, UNDP conducted the first ever Legal and Justice Sector Baseline Study in 2014. The report highlighted structural and individual barriers to accessing justice sector services including lack of awareness of the roles, functions and procedures of the legal and justice sector agencies and the lack of affordability for legal assistance. The baseline study recognizes that “access to justice is most difficult for members of vulnerable and marginalized groups in both urban and rural settings across the Maldives”.

The first comprehensive study on violence against women in the Maldives in 2007 revealed that 1 in 3 women between ages of 15-49 have experienced some kind of physical or sexual abuse at some point in their lifetime. The study also revealed that among those women who have experienced violence, very few sought help from formal services including formal justice system. The ratification of the DVP Act in 2012 was a positive step towards strengthening the legal framework for combating and preventing domestic violence (DV) in the Maldives. The DVP Act clearly establishes the roles and responsibilities of the duty bearers which encompasses agencies of various sectors in the Maldives. The FPA was established under the DVP Act with the aim to combat domestic violence, create public awareness on issues of domestic violence, and co-ordinate the work of the relevant government institutions. More importantly, the FPA is designated as the main authority to establish the inter-agency mechanism to regulate and monitor the provisions of the law.

FPA continues to face several challenges in coordinating the response against DV as stipulated in the DVP Act and requires further capacity to create a functional support system across agencies. Hence, in 2017, UNDP supported FPA to develop content for e-learning modules to train professionals in addressing domestic violence and conducted a Training of Trainers programme based on these modules. As a supplement to this programme, UNDP in partnership with the FPA is seeking the service of a local consultant to support the FPA in developing a national action plan to address domestic violence and establishing mechanisms towards its implementation.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance of the Family Protection Authority (FPA) and UNDP, the consultant will undertake the following tasks:

1. Analyze the priorities, goals and strategic actions of the Maldives Domestic Violence Prevention Strategic Plan 2017-2021 of FPA and formulate Output Statements and Output Indicators, in order to develop a National Action Plan that would streamline the work of addressing domestic violence across all sectors.
2. Conduct thorough consultations with FPA and key stakeholders to assess stakeholder roles and mandates in reference to addressing DV. This should include analysis of existing regulations, Strategic Plans, Action Plans and Work Plans of relevant stakeholders to identify partnerships and synergies. The consultant would also review the Sustainable Development Goals to identify avenues for data collection and monitoring through the National Action Plan.
3. Conduct working sessions with FPA and stakeholders to develop a national level Action Plan which is in line with Maldives Domestic Violence Prevention Strategic Plan 2017-2021 and includes a coordination mechanism, which would steer the action plan including a monitoring and evaluation framework for implementation.
4. Develop the composition, structure and functions of the committees proposed to implement the National Action Plan in responding to domestic violence. 
5. Submit draft National Action Plan for review to FPA and UNDP and incorporate feedback
6. Present the Action Plan to key stakeholders for validation and incorporate comments.
7. Submit the final draft of the Action Plan.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

The consultant will be responsible for the following deliverables;

1. Detailed work plan and methodology
2. Draft National Action Plan, including monitoring and evaluation framework, after working sessions with FPA and stakeholders
3. Facilitation of a validation workshop of the National Action Plan 
4. Final national action plan (in English)

The following table shows an indication of the duration for the deliverables;

Institutional Arrangement

The consultant will work under the guidance of the Family Protection Authority and UNDP. The consultant will be accountable to the Programme Officer of Result Area 2, IGP, for each deliverable as stipulated in the proposal. Meetings with UNDP senior management will be held as and when needed.

Duration: 32 working days during February – May 2018.

Duty Station: Maldives 

Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UN/UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
• 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 ability to manage complexities and work under pressure, as well as conflict resolution

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Post graduate degree in gender studies, law, development studies or related social science

Experience

• Minimum of 5 years of work experience on similar issues such as domestic violence, sexual and gender-based violence.

• Proven experience in leading the design/development, or contributing to the development of gender strategies, action plans.

• Familiarity with domestic violence/gender issues in the Maldives or similar context will be highly desirable. 

Language Requirements

• Fluent in Dhivehi and English.

Application Documents

• The application must include a letter of interest to undertake this task, the CV, Personal History Form (P11), and a financial proposal (indicating the daily fee (in MVR) for the assignment). The consultant will be paid in installments as per the deliverables 
• The applicant must also submit the reference letters from past supervisors/clients. To download P11, kindly please visit the link: http://www.mv.undp.org/content/maldives/en/home/operations/jobs
• Please combine all the documents into one single file, as the system will allow for only one document to be uploaded.
• We will only accept online applications.