Background

The Spotlight Initiative's (SI) regional programme for Central Asia and Afghanistan is part of a global initiative funded by the European Union is responding to all forms of violence against women as well as harmful practices. In Central Asia and Afghanistan, the programme focuses on innovative approaches to understanding, preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices. The initiative is coordinated by the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Kazakhstan and implemented through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Women and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Spotlight provides an opportunity for a multi-sectoral, coordinated and coherent approach to addressing violence against women and girls, including governments, institutions, civil society and other key stakeholders. Further information can be found at https://www.spotlightinitiative.org

Under Pillar 1 of the Initiative is expected to take place a regional review of national legislation on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and harmful practices. Essential to the comprehensive revision of national SGBV-related legislation is greater knowledge by government,  activists and civil society about the best practices in implementing the CEDAW, CRC, Istanbul Convention, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD),  BPfA and ICPD commitments and standards in terms of ending SGBV. The process of conducting this extensive, and participatory five country review will also launch the first collective networking in Central Asia on SGBV which will be part of the mechanism of the Institutional Alliance.

To date, Central Asian region lack comprehensive legislation prohibiting and responding to all forms of SGBV. Contain limited definitions of either family, types of violence, types of relationships and in some cases, insufficient definitions of gender equality.  Further, there is a lack of clarity in the laws around enforcement, division of roles, the legalities of Protection Order implementation, and lack of comprehensive inclusion of the steps and measures required for a survivor-oriented multi-sectoral response to cases of SGBV.  Moreover, protection orders have been ineffective in cases where they allow for continued co-habitation if the perpetrator has no alternative housing.  Hence this raises issues of security and further psychological impact on the violence survivor that have not been considered.

In this regard, the Spotlight Initiative's regional programme plans to hire two national consultants who will prepare a review of the existing national regulatory framework governing the prohibition, protection and response to all forms of SGBV in CA countries, including harmful practices related to child, forced and early marriage. The team of two national consultants will work closely with the international consultant to further align national legislation on SGBV with internationally accepted standards.  

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the SI Project Officer, national consultants are expected to prepare a review of existing national legal and regulatory frameworks governing the prohibition, protection and response to all forms of SGBV in CA countries, including harmful practices related to child, forced and early marriage. The results of the legislative review should include specific recommendations on how to expand the scope and application of SGBV legislation, bring it in line with international norms and standards, as well as recommended actions to criminalize SGBV. The results of the country analytical reviews will form the basis for the regional analysis, which will be prepared by an international consultant. 

The National Consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

1. Develop and agreed with the SI Project Officer a detailed work plan for the analytical review and work, data collection, development of recommendations, and timeline for the assignment;
2. Based on the methodology developed by an international consultant, conduct an analytical review (desk review) of the national regulatory frameworks governing the elimination, prevention and response to all forms of SGBV in CA countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan), including harmful practices associated with child, forced and early marriage (separate analysis for each type of harmful practices). The review should include a comprehensive and multisectoral approach to SGBV, including legal and judicial, health, labor and employment and education perspectives, data monitoring and evaluation systems, inclusion of civil society, local self-governments, funding mechanisms, cooperation and coordination between key actors in the sector. The preparation should make use of available recent data and the results of similar studies carried out in the region in the last 12 months;
3. Conducting a comparative analysis of the level of compliance of laws with accepted international obligations and standards (set out in CEDAW and related general recommendations, the concluding comments of the CEDAW Committee on the National Reports of Central Asian countires on the implementation of CEDAW, the Istanbul Convention, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and related General Comments, the International Conference on Population and Development, the National Action Plan, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities  (CRPD) and related General Comments). The following points of law enforcement practice on SGBV need to be taken into account in the analysis:

• The scope of national SGBV laws in protecting against all forms of SGBV, including domestic violence, and some harmful practices;
• The level of accessibility to multisectoral services for survivors of violence, including justice;
• The level of accessibility of services to different categories of women and girls, depending on health status, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, marital status and place of residence;
• the benefits, consequences and measures needed to criminalize all forms of SGBV.

4. Development of specific recommendations on how to expand the scope and application of SGBV legislation, bring it in line with international norms and standards, as well as recommended actions to criminalize SGBV, taking into account the country context (together with an international consultant).

5. Identification of key partners in CA (government agencies, NGOs, international organizations, expert community) and holding an expert meeting to validate the findings and recommendations. Interim results should be agreed online by sending materials for review and approval. 

National consultants are expected to work from home and conduct online consultations with representatives of the SI and the international consultant.

All results must be submitted by the specified deadline (see IV) and approved by the SI Project Officer.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration

Required Skills and Experience

Applicants must meet the above minimum qualification requirements which will be included in the technical evaluation process in the future. The next stage of the assessment process will be maintained by cumulative analysis methodology of technical proposal (70%) and the financial proposal (30%) of the candidate.

 Technical evaluation criteria:

Only candidates, who will accumulate at least 490 (70%) points of the maximum 700 points during the technical evaluation process, will be qualified for financial proposal*.

* Each candidate will be requested to submit consolidated financial proposal in KZT (a "consolidated financial proposal" that includes applicant's all expenses required to perform the tasks, including travel expenses for the task, etc.).

The successful candidate will have accumulated the highest aggregated score (technical and financial scoring).

Payment will be made only if expected results will be achieved agreed package of documents and reports provided without delay and approval of UN Women.

• Application Process:

All documents should be sent including:

1. CV/ UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment

1. Technical proposal describing how the expected assignment will be performed. The technical proposal should also include:

-- supporting materials or a link to a website, where documents are available to learn about the candidate's experience with gender equality/women's empowerment and gender mainstreaming in policies, regulations, and programs;

-- a link to similar work on legislative analysis, enforcement practices, evaluation of implementation of action plans, especially in the areas of SGBV, human rights, gender equality, and other related areas; 

-- reference to work on methodology for quantitative, qualitative, and gender data collection, as well as data analysis;

• Proof of experience working with UN agencies or other international organizations on similar tasks in the area of gender equality and human rights.

• Financial proposal, including a KZT amount to include all costs and expenses the consultant will have to fulfill all tasks within the framework of this ToR.

Only candidates who have passed the preliminary selection will be informed.

Kindly note, that the system will only allow one attachment, hence all supporting document

e.g. P11, CV, technical and financial proposals must be scanned as one attachment. Applications without the completed UNDP P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.