Background

Background

UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. UN Women supports the UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls globally. UN Women works to make the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) a reality for women and girls and stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on four strategic priorities: (i) Women lead, participate in and benefit equally from governance systems; (ii) Women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy; (iii) All women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence; and (iv) Women and girls contribute to and have greater influence in building sustainable peace and resilience, and benefit equally from the prevention of natural disasters and conflicts and humanitarian action.

The Project “Enhancing Access to Justice for Women in Asia and the Pacific: Bridging the gap between formal and informal systems through women’s empowerment and reduction of gender biases” is a five-year programme in the Asia Pacific region that began implementation in 2018, with the generous support of the Government of Sweden. The goal of the project is to enhance access to justice for women in Asia and the Pacific, bridging the gap between formal and informal systems through women’s empowerment and reduction of gender biases. In realising this goal, the programme partners – UN Women, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) focus on the following outputs: (1) Domestic laws adopted and court decisions are consistent with international human rights law and standards, including CEDAW; (2) Gender discriminatory attitudes and stereotyped behaviours towards women by formal and informal justice providers are addressed; and (3) Grassroots women’s organizations and community-based women’s organisations are empowered and well-positioned to document, monitor, liaise and facilitate interactions with formal and informal justice providers.

Purpose

The mid-term review (MTR) will take place during the 3rd year of the programme. The MTR will be used for accountability and learning purposes, as well as contribute to informed future decision-making. In this regard, the MTR will identify the lessons learnt and good practices, and outline recommendations for improving implementation of the programme.  The MTR will also identify the shifting justice environment due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The target audience will be the UN Women, OHCHR and ICJ, as well as existing and prospective donors.

Within this context, UN Women is seeking a National Consultant to support the International Consultant to undertake the MTR as it relates to the programme in Indonesia, in collaboration with UN Women Indonesia Country Office, and UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

Duties and Responsibilities

Roles and responsibility

The role of the National Consultant will be to support the International Consultant to review the implementation of the Women’s Access to Justice programme, specifically within Indonesia. This will include establishing the level of progress and impact of the programme, evaluating adjustments made in the context of COVID-19, and proposing recommendations for future action. In addition to working alongside the International Consultant, the National Consultant will coordinate with UN Women’s Access to Justice focal point in Indonesia, and national programme partners, including in relation to technical documents produced by the consultant.

Data and information will be collected through desk reviews, consultations with partners, and key informant interviews and focus group discussions with representatives of relevant government institutions (duty bearers), beneficiaries (right holders), and key community actors seeking to address gender equality and human rights issues.

Information regarding implementation of the Women’s Access to Justice programme within Indonesia will be reflected within the overall MTR report, which will encompass the review of seven priority countries, including Timor-Leste, Nepal, Sri-Lanka, Indonesia, Fiji, and the Philippines, and countries to potentially be integrated into the programme.

Objectives of the MTR

The overall objectives of the MTR are to:

• Analyze how a human rights-based approach and gender equality principles are integrated into interventions.
• Assess the relevance of direct and indirect programme measures taken to address the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on women’s access to justice, where relevant.
• Assess the effectiveness and efficiency in achieving the programme’s expected results, having regard to enabling or restricting factors.
• Assess the initial impact of the intervention on the lives of beneficiaries, communities, and institutions involved in the programme.
• Assess the sustainability of the interventions to advance women’s access to justice.
• Assess the added value of existing partnerships, evaluate the effectiveness of current inter-agency partnerships and identify potential allies to strengthen women’s access to justice.
• Assess the effectiveness and gaps in knowledge products, and communication activities as it relates to raising awareness of women’s access to justice, as well as the programme.

Key MTR Questions

The following draft review questions serve as a first reference point for the inquiry. The specific MTR questions, performance criteria and relevant evaluation instruments will be determined during the inception stage and in close consultation with the MTR International Consultant and Project team (UN Women, ICJ and OHCHR).

Relevance

• To what extent is the intervention relevant to the needs and priorities as defined by beneficiaries?
• To what extent does the Project address the major obstacles to women’s access to justice at the country and community level?
• To what extent does the Project impact policy and legislative developments?
• To what extent are the interventions relevant to beneficiaries to respond to the new challenges, including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and political landscape?

Effectiveness

• What changed in the lives of the beneficiaries (both direct and indirect beneficiaries)? (Assess scenarios before and after the Project).
• What have been the capacities (technical, administrative, human resources and advocacy skills) of the Project management structure to deliver the Project objectives and how could they be strengthened to improve the impact?
• What are the social changes the intervention contributed to at community level? (Attitudes, behavior, knowledge, socio-cultural practices and norms related to gender equality)
• What institutional changes did the intervention achieve in the partner organizations?
• How did the Project change the understanding of women’s rights and women’s access to justice within selected communities, individuals, justice, and service providers?

Contribution to the Intended Outcomes and Impacts

• To what extent has the intervention achieved, or is expected to achieve, its objectives, and its results, including any differential results across groups?
• What are the enabling and limiting factors that are contributing to the achievement of results and what actions need to be taken to overcome any barriers that may limit the progress?
• To what extent do the activities contribute to the intended outputs and outcomes and how did the Project partners contribute towards them? Is there an area for improvement? If so, how can the Project team improve?

Efficiency:

• To what extent has the intervention delivered results in an economic and timely way?

Coherence:

• How compatible has the Project been with other interventions in the country where it is being implemented?

Sustainability

• To what extent was capacity developed to ensure the sustainability of efforts and benefits?
• What are the contextual factors for sustaining and replicating the Project interventions and their impact at a national and regional level?
• To what extent have civil society organizations and women´s organizations be consulted and are committed to promoting women’s access to justice? 
• To what extend did the Project enhance the capacity of stakeholders to effectively implement women’s access to justice interventions?
• To what extent have Government Partners committed to advancing women’s access to justice?
• What are areas for improvement or what could be done better in future interventions?

Human Rights approach, gender equality principles and intentionality 

• To what extent have gender equality and human rights considerations been integrated into the programme design and implementation?
• How has attention to/integration of gender equality and human rights concerns advanced the area of work?
• To what extend were marginalized and minority groups involved in the Project? What approach was used to ensure that marginalized and minority groups are integrated and empowered?
• Has the Project contributed to poverty reduction? Who (de facto) has benefited from the Project in the short- and the long run, directly or indirectly? Which dimensions of poverty were addressed by the Project?
• Has the Project been implemented in a conflict-sensitive/do no harm manner?
• Could environment considerations have been improved in planning, implementation or follow up?

Strategic positioning

• What is the level of engagement between the partners and key stakeholders at all levels, and the ability to leverage the partnership process to inform the advocacy strategy?
• How has the Project enabled the women’s access to justice team to develop a position of knowledge holders and agents of transformation regarding women’s access to justice?
• What is the value addition of UN Women in terms of the resources oversight and technical support?

Monitoring, Evaluation and Knowledge Management

• Is there a need to improve the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, including the log frame indicators, tools and processes used to monitor and report on activities and outputs?
• To what extent have lessons learned been used to improve and adjust the Project implementation?
• Is the knowledge produced by the Project sufficiently used, published and disseminated? 
• Which are potential good practices, challenges and lessons from the interventions and recommendations to improve project strategies in the remaining implementation period?

Is the donor visibility satisfactory?

Contract period and work location

The contract will be for 40 working days, between 7 February 2022 – 20 May 2022. The consultant will be home-based, with national travel, as needed, having regard to COVID-19 protocols and restrictions.

Supervision

Program Analyst, Women, Peace and Security, Indonesia Country Office; and

International Consultant, Mid-Term Review - Women’s Access to Justice, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

Deliverables

Competencies

Core Values

• 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

• Knowledge of Women’s Access to Justice, Human Rights and Gender equality
• Ability to pragmatically apply in-depth knowledge and experience of issues and practices in the fields of judiciary systems; legal reform; gender equality,
• Strong skills and experience in presenting evidence and ideas for policy and programme.
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.
• Strong communications skills (written and oral)
• Demonstrated experience in gender, legal and development-related research.
• Leadership and skills to work with autonomy and initiative.
• Knowledge of gender equality and women’s human rights in the Asia-Pacific region.
• Strong knowledge of the UN system.

Required Skills and Experience

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Post-Graduate degree (Masters) in law, development studies, gender studies or other related fields.
• A strong record (minimum 5 years) in supporting evaluations and reviews including in gender, justice and rule of law fields.  
• At least 3 years of work experience with a focus on Women’s Human Rights preferable in the Asia-Pacific region.
• Extensive knowledge of Women’s Access to Justice is a strong asset.
• Previous work experience in community development an asset.
• Experience with remote/virtual methods and data collection and stakeholder’s engagement.   
• Proven knowledge of Results-Based Management, and a Human Rights Approach.
• Excellent analytical skills and prior experience in both quantitative and qualitative data analysis.
• Proficiency in English and excellent report writing skills.

Payments

Each payment will be issued upon acceptance and approval of a monthly delivery report showing progress on deliverables stipulated in the table below by the Programme Specialist - Access to Justice - Governance, Peace and Security, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. The expected deliverables will be done in close collaboration/supervision of UN Women personnel.

Evaluation Criteria 

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis.

• Technical Qualification (100 points) weight; [70%]
• Financial Proposal (100 points) weight; [30%]

A two-stage procedure is utilised in evaluating the applications, with evaluation of the technical application being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Only the price proposal of the candidates who passed the minimum technical score of 70% of the obtainable score of 100 points in the technical qualification evaluation will be evaluated.

Technical qualification evaluation criteria:

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 100. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Only the candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% of total points will be considered as technically qualified candidates who may be contacted for validation interview.

Submission of application 

Interest candidates are encouraged to submit electronic application not later than 20 January 2022, 23:59 NY time.

Submission package includes:

• Updated CV
• P11 form which can be downloaded from https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/about-us/jobs

• Financial proposal
• A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work.
• Writing sample or links to access the portfolio of the work.