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. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, and building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in the State of Palestine since its inception in 1997 (as UNIFEM). UN Women Palestine CO focuses its activities on one overarching goal, namely, to support the implementation at the national level of existing international commitments to advance gender equality in line with the national priorities. In support of this goal, UN Women concentrates its efforts and interventions toward the realization of following strategic goals: Engendering governance, peace and security; Supporting women's economic security and rights; and Promoting women’s rights and protection against violence.

In line with the Palestinian Government’s commitment to combat violence against women (VAW) as set in the National Strategy to Combat VAW (2011-2019), and in full partnership with the related local institutions, UN Women in Palestine under the SAWSAYA II Programme–“ Promoting the Rule of Law in Palestine” implemented jointly with UNDP and UNICEF, is working in close collaboration and coordination with the Attorney General Office (AGO) to strengthen the prosecutorial services provided to VAW cases,  and enhancing  the role of the Public Prosecution in providing protection for women victims and  survivors of violence. As part of the support under SAWASYA I Joint Programme, UN Women has supported the AGO to establish and develop specialized services for VAW cases, through different interventions, including: the provision of substantive specialized training programmes,  and the development of responsive Standards Operation Procedures (SoPs) on investigating and  litigating VAW cases amongst others.

Acknowledging the critical role of prosecutors in enhancing the criminal justice’ response to VAW cases and introducing responsive legal policies and practices in court, UN Women in collaboration with the AGO is planning to develop  Legal Instructive Guidelines to support and guide VAW Specialized Prosecutors (SPPs) in developing and implementing litigation strategies in 2-3 challenging types of cases   that are most often associated with  prosecution impediments  and gender related misconceptions during the trial phase.

The instructive guidelines will be developed in line with international human rights and fair trial standards, and in adherence with the VAW SoPs. They are foreseen to balance the imperative of victim’s safety and access to justice with prosecutor’s traditional goal of holding perpetrators accountable to their crimes, and to set the AGO and SPP strategic direction towards ensuring proportional  convictional rate and sentencing of VAW cases. 

UN Women is seeking to recruit an experienced legal consultant to work closely with the SPP on VAW to develop Legal Instructive Guidelines on effective and responsive prosecution of VAW cases in court in 2-3 challenging types of cases. The guidelines are assumed to enhance the Specialized Public Prosecutors (SPPs) capacity to effectively litigate, present and defend VAW cases in court, and contribute towards introducing and developing progressive and responsive legal policies and practices during the court proceedings.

More specifically, this consultancy aims to promote new progressive legal thoughts and approaches on VAW cases, including the application of constitutional arguments and tools, international law and promoting women’s rights- centered legal discourses when litigating VAW cases at court.

In line with this, the consultancy has two main objectives:

1. To develop Legal Instructive Guidelines to strengthen SPPs’ capacity to effectively prosecute VAW cases in 2-3 challenging types of cases.
2. To equip VAW SPPs with relevant knowledge and legal skills and tactics to enable them to effectively litigate VAW cases and promote a progressive discourse in court.  

Time frame:

The assignment is expected to commence on Oct 2019 and end on June 2020, for the total duration of 08 months with approximately 30 working days.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of UN Women Special Representative, the direct supervision of UN Women SAWASYA Programme Specialist, and working in close cooperation and coordination with UN Women Programme Analyst on Gender Responsive Prosecution, the Consultant will undertake the following tasks:

• To develop an initial work plan that includes a description of the methodology, interventions’ outlines, targets and deliverables, time frame and share with UN Women for review and approval.
• To meet with UN Women’s technical team and the responsible officers at the (AGO) to discuss and agree on the work plan, including the methodology and targets.
• Based on the results of the meetings, the consultant will revisit and refine the methodology, interventions, targets and time frame, and share with UN Women for feedback and approval.
• To conduct consultation meetings with VAW SPPs, judges, lawyers and CSOs to identify gaps in   prosecutors’ litigation strategies and performance during the trial phase.   
• To review a number of prosecution files on selected VAW cases.
• To prepare and conduct two days capacity building workshop for  VAW SPPs on women’s rights jurisdiction, constitutional tools, impact litigation and public prosecution strategies on VAW litigation, bringing comparative perspectives from other countries.
• To conduct consultation meetings with a group of SPPs on VAW to identify 2-3 challenging types of cases to be addressed in the Legal Instructive Guidelines and agree on the main components of the Instructive Guidelines.
• To prepare draft Legal Instructive Guidelines on the selected types of cases.
• To conduct 2 consultation workshops with VAW SPPs (two days each- 4 days in total) to revise and finalize the draft Legal Instructive Guidelines in the selected areas.
• To share the drafts with UN Women and the responsible Officer at AGO for review and comments.
• To amend the Lefal Instructive Guidelines based on comments and inputs provided by UN Women and responsible Officer at the AGO.
• To submit the amended Legal Instructive Guidelines to UN Women for review and approval.
• To submit a progress report covering the first four months of the assignment. The report should cover the implemented activities, achievements, challenges and gaps, in addition to a refined work plan for upcoming months.
• To submit a final report that includes a description of the implemented activities, analysis of the achievements, challenges and opportunities, in addition to recommendations on the way forward. The report should also include an annex on pre and post assessments, and main points discussed in meetings and workshops.

The assignment has three main deliverables:

The first deliverable includes:

• An approved work plan that includes the methodology, outline of main interventions, targets, deliverables and expected time frame.
• A draft Legal Instructive Guidelines on 2-3 types of cases.

The second deliverable includes:

• Approved Instructive Guidelines on the 2-3 types of cases.
• Completion of the 2 days training, in addition to submission of the progress report that covers the first four months of the assignment.

The third deliverable includes:

• A final report that includes a description of the implemented activities, analysis of the achievements, challenges and opportunities, in addition to recommendations on the way forward. The report should also include an annex on pre and post assessments, and main points discussed in meetings and workshops.

Competencies

Core values / Guiding principles:

Integrity:

• Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

• Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural Sensitivity / Valuing diversity:

• Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values

Core Competencies:

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

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

• Sound knowledge of Gender, VAW, and women’s access to justice.
• Strong experience and capacity in the field of impact litigation and responsive prosecution of VAW cases.
• Strong experience in developing and delivering capacity building trainings and facilitating workshops.
• Sound knowledge in the work of the justice sector and gender justice in Palestine.
• Strong dialogue and communication skills.
• Establishes, builds and sustains effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client’s perspective; anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• A Master’s degree in law or International Human Rights Law (IHRL).

Experience:

• At least 10 years of professional working experience in the field of impact litigation on human rights cases including women’s rights.
• At least 3 previous training assignments (2 of them related to VAW cases) for lawyers and/or  public prosecutors on human rights, impact litigation and constitutional tools in Palestine.  Please make clear reference of this requirement in the CV/P11.
• At least 3 previous similar assignments related specifically to VAW and/or gender equality. This includes project’s evaluation or developing legal documents or publishing legal articles. Please make clear reference of this requirement in the CV/P11.
• Previous working experience with the public prosecution or the justice sector in Palestine.
• Experience with the UN system or/and International organizations is an asset.

Language:

Fluency in Arabic and English.

Application procedure:

This SSA modality is governed by UN Women General Terms and Conditions. UN Women will only be able to respond to applicants who meet the minimum requirements.

Candidates should clearly indicate how they meet the above-mentioned criteria in their applications.

The following documents should be submitted as part of the application. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials:

• P11 Or CV including past experience in similar assignments; can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment, a signed copy should be submitted

Candidates should have the ability to quickly submit degree certificates, medical certification (of good health) Expression of Interest (EoI) should they be short-listed in consideration of this consultancy.

Long listed candidates should provide a sample of previous written assignment in the field of gender responsive prosecution or impact litigation. This includes for example related legal document, evaluation or others.

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications mentioned above; and financial proposal. A contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer receives the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria. Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 50 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for financial evaluation.

Technical Evaluation (70%) – max. 70 points:

• A Master’s degree in law or International Human Rights Law (IHRL); (max:5 points).
• At least 10 years of professional working experience in impact litigation on human rights cases including women’s rights; (max:20 points).
• At least 3 previous training assignments (2 of them related to VAW cases) for lawyers  and/ or public prosecutors on human rights, impact litigation and constitutional tools in Palestine.   Please make clear reference of this requirement in the CV/P11 (max: 15 points)
• At least 3 previous similar assignments related specifically to VAW or women’s rights. This includes project’s evaluation or developing legal documents, publishing legal essays. Please make clear reference of this requirement in the CV/P11; (max: 10 points).  
• A written sample on gender responsive prosecution or impact litigation.  This includes for example related legal document, legal evaluation or others (max: 10 points)
• Previous working experience with the public prosecution or the Justice system in Palestine; (max: 5 points).  
• Experience with the UN system or/and International organizations is an asset; (max: 5 points).  

Financial Evaluation (30%) – max. 30 points:

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion. A suggested formula is as follows:

p = 30 (µ/z)

Using the following values:

• p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
• µ = price of the lowest priced proposal
• z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Only long-listed candidates will be contacted.