UN WOMEN Jobs - 80522- To contract services for a consultant to conduct a

To contract services for a consultant to conduct a regional assessment of the Partnership for Peace Batterer Intervention Programme in the Caribbean

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Home-Based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

10-Sep-2018

Application Deadline :

28-Aug-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

maximum of 25 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

maximum of 25 working days

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

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. The UN Women Caribbean Multi-Country Office (MCO) is located in Barbados, covering the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean.

For the better part of the 1990s, Caribbean women’s organizations, national gender machineries, the courts and the police have been engaged in dialogue and action to ensure protection and justice for victims of gender-based violence. Through public education, advocacy, the extension of services and law reform, a change in cultural attitudes has occurred. Freedom from violence is now understood as a human right to which women are entitled to and for which the State has an obligation to guarantee. However, in spite of the progress made, there is a widespread perception that violence against women is on the increase. An increasing number of women are being killed by their partners, though this rate varies considerably across the region. Some studies have also suggested an increase in rapes and sexual offences.

In 2018 UN Women MCO Caribbean in Collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank launched National Women’s Health Surveys which present the first nationally representative estimates of the prevalence of intimate partner violence and non-partner violence against Women in Trinidad and Tobago and in Jamaica. Similar studies are scheduled to be completed for two other Caribbean countries by 2019. The results of the studies depict a lifetime prevalence rate of physical partner violence of one in every four women in Jamaica and one in every three women in Trinidad and Tobago. These findings are in line with global estimates of life time prevalence of intimate partner violence. On average, one in three women in the Caribbean will experience domestic/intimate partner violence in their lifetime. Available national studies suggest that between 20-69% of women in intimate relationships have experienced violence and that 47.6% of girls and 31.9% of boys have reported that their first intercourse was forced or coerced by family members or family acquaintances.

Other significant findings related to the prevalence of violence from these surveys include:

For almost one in five women (18 per cent), injury suffered was severe enough to require medical care;
Lifetime physical and sexual violence experienced by pregnant women was higher than that experienced by those who were never pregnant;
Over 7% of ever pregnant women reported experiencing physical violence in at least one pregnancy;
About 72% of women reported that violence got worse or (41%) or stayed the same (31%) during pregnancy (T&T);
IPV is closely linked to controlling behaviours such as jealousy and accusations of infidelity, acts to restrain access to friends and family and policing communications with others;
Inter-generational violence is a significant predictor of women’s experience with intimate partner violence in adulthood;
Almost two-thirds (63.0 per cent) of the women sought no help. Those who tried to get assistance, turned to the police (32.1 per cent) or the health care system (11.8 per cent). Women also turned to the court system (5.3 per cent). Very few women sought help from the formal social services, with women in rural areas being more likely to do so;
The severity of intimate partner physical violence differed by age, education level, having been pregnant, early cohabitation (women who cohabited with male partners at a younger age or who were married at a younger age experienced higher lifetime prevalence of IPV violence).

The results of these prevalence surveys demonstrate that the significant prevalence of domestic and intimate partner violence can affect the social and economic potential of women and families for multiple generations. Statistics such as the increase and severity of Violence against Women during pregnancy and violence that women experience in the home witnessed by children, cannot be separated from the issues of school violence and bullying that also predominate many media reports. This prevalence also cannot be separated from general level of social violence experienced in the region. Anecdotal evidence from civil society partners in the region suggests that in-spite of violence more than fifty percent of women return to or remain with abusive partners. When we combine this insight with the results from the prevalence surveys which also indicate that most women do not seek help and that when they do, this help is sought from family and friends and not formal services, this demonstrates the critical and urgent need to support interventions with perpetrators as a component of the range of interventions related to addressing prevention of violence against women and girls and access to justice for survivors.

All Caribbean countries have signified their commitment to eliminate all forms of violence against women through law reform and the use of legal remedies for victim protection as well as interventions with perpetrators. With very few exceptions, all Caribbean states have enacted domestic violence legislation, many of which were modelled on the Domestic Violence Legislation developed by the CARICOM Secretariat, in which the courts are empowered to order counselling for both perpetrators and victims. This counselling has generally been done by social workers within Ministries of Social Services.

In 2001, an evaluative study, published by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on the implementation of domestic violence legislation in four countries in the Caribbean, suggested that the purpose of the counselling provided did not necessarily have as its primary objective to end violent behaviour but often emphasised marriage or union preservation. In addition, social workers who were assigned this task were not always specifically trained in this area.

In 2003, ECLAC and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) convened a meeting on ‘Gender-based Violence and the Administration of Justice’. The participants agreed that batterer intervention programmes (BIPs) needed to be guided by some basic principles that included the prioritisation of the safety of the abused and the acknowledgement of accountability and responsibility by the perpetrator. One of the recommendations from this meeting was for an examination of the standards for BIPs in other jurisdictions, with a view to developing a standardised approach to such programmes in the Caribbean.

In 2004, UN Women (then UNIFEM) convened a regional Expert Group Meeting consisting of persons from the field of psychology, counselling, probation, law, the justice system and gender. Most of the experts were involved in domestic violence work either in BIPs or working with victims. UNIFEM further commissioned the Grenada Legal Aid and Counselling Clinic (LACC) to implement a Batterer Intervention Pilot Project in Grenada in 2005 with some additional support from The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). In addition, a comprehensive Programme Manual, including Operational Guidelines for Management of a standardized BIP, was authored by Dr. Dianne Douglas et al, with contributions from the BIP Regional Expert Group. The Programme’s generic title is: Partnership for Peace – A Domestic Violence Intervention.

From 2005 with the support of the Government of Iceland UNIFEM/UN Women supported the adoption and expansion of the Partnership for Peace programme by governments, NGOs and Judiciaries in The British Virgin Islands, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia, Belize and Grenada with varying level of success. This support included capacity development training for facilitators as well as support to facilitation and clinical supervision of the programme in various countries. These efforts further supported a strategy for Caribbean countries to standardize the Partnership for Peace Programme across the region.

Partnership for Peace (PfP) represents a 16-session curriculum for men designed to encourage and support men in achieving a violence-free lifestyle. It is based on the premise that violence is intentional and that abusive behaviours are chosen methods for gaining control of persons and situations. The program uses a psycho-educational approach in order to convey that violence is unacceptable and that violent habits can be broken, sharing concepts and techniques that help to replace violent behaviour with preferences for respect, open communication and healthy relationships.

The key message is that violence is a choice, that participants are responsbile for their choices, and that they alone are accountable for the consequences of the actions they take.

As a preventative strategy in reducing the prevalence of violence against women, this programme is a direct result of increasing calls for the development and scaling up of gender-responsive violence prevention programs that address the gendered causes and consequences of violence, including issues of masculine socialization, harmful and stereotypical gender roles and gender inequality.

The long-term objective of the Programme is “To reduce Gender Based Violence in the Caribbean by increasing perpetrator accountability and effectively protect women’s human rights”

Other immediate objectives include:

To strengthen Caribbean state’s responses to violence against women that focus on perpetrator accountability and the protection of women’s human rights;
To inform judicial officers of the programme and advocate for their support;
To train and support state agencies or organizations to manage the programme effectively;
To train court workers, social workers, police officers and other professionals from the social and health care system as well as advocates for women’s rights to facilitate the Partnership for Peace programme;
To increase the capacity of male perpetrators of domestic violence to take responsibility for their violence and live violent free lives.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the assignment

Under the overall supervision of UN Women’s Representative and direct supervision of the Programme Specialist EVAW; the objectives of this consultancy is to undertake an assessment of the current status of the Partnership for Peace programme in Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago. The assessment will provide insight into the role, outputs, outcomes and impact of the PfP programme, within the context of the range of complementary programming required for successful secondary prevention of GBV in the Caribbean region.

SCOPE OF WORK Within a maximum of a 25 day working period:

Review documentation related to the PfP Programme;
Prepare a consultancy work plan and timeline which should include an elaboration of the methodology for the collection of data and information for the assessment;
Develop data collection instruments (contingent upon the substantive review and approval from UN Women);
Make contact with PfP stakeholders and beneficiaries in Grenada, Belize, BVI, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago with the view to understanding the history and status of implementation of PfP in each country;
Travel to at least two countries in which PfP has been implemented with the view to interviewing and holding focus groups with relevant stakeholders and beneficiaries to gather information for the assessment;
Conduct a number of telephone or skype interviews to gather information;
Develop an outline for the assessment report to be approved by UN Women;
Complete a draft assessment report;
Produce a final assessment report (contingent upon substantive review and approval from UN Women).

Deliverables

Workplan for consultancy assignment inclusive of assessment methodology;
Data collection instruments;
Outline of Assessment Report;
Draft Assessment Report;
Final Assessment Report.

Reporting Requirements

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist EVAW.

Competencies

Core Values/Guiding Principles:

Respect for Diversity;
Integrity;
Professionalism.

Core Competencies:

Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
Accountability;
Creative Problem Solving;
Effective Communication;
Inclusive Collaboration;
Stakeholder Engagement;
Leading by Example.

Functional Competencies:

The ideal candidate for the Consultancy should bring a solid academic and professional background in the areas of social work/psychology, participatory education, training and facilitation, gender and development;
At least five years’ experience and proven expertise in research and analytical work, including data analysis research and/or evaluation;
At least five years of experience in supporting behavioural change and prevention work in the promotion of social change, a specific focus on ending gender-based violence considered an asset.

Required Skills and Experience

The consultant should meet the following criteria:

Required skills and experience:

Education:

Masters in Social Science, Social Work, Psychology, Gender and Development or Public Health.

Experience:

At least five years’ experience in the production of analytical reports;
At least three years’ experience in addressing gender-based violence;
Demonstrated understanding of masculinities and gender-based violence;
Solid background in the area of human rights, gender and development, with a specific focus on ending gender-based violence considered an asset;
Academic and/or work-experience in the Caribbean is highly desirable.

Languages :

Fluency in English is required.

References:

Minimum of three client references that include the name of the contact person, title and contact information.

Remuneration:

The consultancy fee will be negotiated before contracting. Each payment will be based on a predefined and formal agreement between UN Women and the consultant and will be disbursed based on satisfactory completion of agreed deliverables.

Hardware, Software and Communication:

The consultant must be equipped with a laptop, which must be portable and must run at least Windows 7. The consultant must be reasonably accessible by email and telephone (preferably mobile). The use of reliable, internet-based (Skype or equivalent) is required.

Location and Duration:

The consultant will be home based (with travel within the Caribbean) and be engaged for the period 10 September to 09 December 2018.

Other

The consultant contracted will be required to sign a statement of confidentiality and freedom from any conflict of interest with potential future contractors with respect to the TORs and work that they will be delivering.

Note:

Submissions to UNDP Jobs are limited to a maximum of 10 MB, virus-free or corrupted contents to avoid rejection, and no more than 1 email transmission. As such, all application materials must be scanned into one document and submitted.

All applications must be submitted through UNDP jobs. Please do not send applications to UN Women staff as they will not be accepted.