UNDP Jobs - 95711- FINAL EXTERNAL EVALUATION OF THE “ PLACING WOMEN A

FINAL EXTERNAL EVALUATION OF THE “ PLACING WOMEN AT THE CENTRE OF JUSTICE REFORM IN GUINEA BISSAU ”

Location :

BISSAU, GUINEA-BISSAU

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

23-Dec-2020

Application Deadline :

15-Dec-20 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

35 working days

Languages Required :

English Portuguese

Expected Duration of Assignment :

8 weeks

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

Guinea-Bissau has been in a vicious cycle of political instability since its independence, which primarily stems from a series of intertwined causes, including lack of access to justice and impunity. Despite the consecration of fundamental political, civil, economic and social rights by the Constitution, laws are barely implemented or enforced, resulting in limited and inequitable access to quality justice services for the population and an overall decline in confidence in the modern state system of justice institutions.The State is unable to fulfil its mission to guarantee justice and security throughout the territory, particularly in rural areas and especially for women and children/youth. Since the independence, there has been a coexistence of both the formal justice system and forms of traditional justice system, based on customary law - which was recognized during the colonial period. The formal justice system is costly, slow and still widely discredited by the public, being viewed by many as manipulated and corrupt, serving only the needs and interests of the most powerful.

In order to overcome the shortcomings of the formal justice system, a large part of the population is instead resorting to the traditional fora of justice based on reconciliation and mediation. In this sense, it is critical to make available to the population effective alternatives disputes resolution means and mechanisms, including those used by traditional systems, while advancing and improving the responsiveness to rights guarantees and equity to all citizens, by promoting greater respect and adherence to human rights and gender equality by judges operating either in formal or in traditional justice settings. There is an enormous need to enable overall system efficiency as well as delivery of services to make sure that reformed system effectiveness will also impact more broadly when it comes to efficacy, equal rights enjoyment, and equitable access to judicial services for the population.

There is no legal framework within the formal judicial sector for the mediation, conciliation, or any other form of dispute resolution beyond court adjudication. There is currently no legal basis for homologation by the Courts of the agreements reached by traditional justice. On the other hand, it is unclear how the customary and formal systems should interface, and how jurisdictions boundaries should be defined between the two systems. This causes problems for the legal security of the population, as there is no coherence and low predictability of how cases will be handled.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant, under the overall supervision of UNDP’s Chief Technical Adviser for Justice, is expected to perform the following activities:

• Review documents and consult with UNDP senior management and Rule of Law and Justice team members to better understand the project, including its design process, implementation aspects and expected results;

• Review the project results and logical framework, progress and financial reports, monitoring reports and contribution agreements signed with partners;

• Prepare and conduct interviews based on an interview protocol reviewed by the project team (individual and focus groups, as relevant) with key stakeholders and project beneficiaries at central and regional level;

• Conduct a comprehensive analysis of the project activities and results reported vis a vis evidence and data collected in the field to assess its relevance, coherence, efficiency, efficacy, impact and sustainability;

• Assess partners views on UNDP Guinea-Bissau current and future role in supporting the rule of law and justice sector, including views on where UNDP have comparative advantages;

• Identify and document lessons learned, best practices, success stories and document and analyze challenges and possible weaknesses to inform future work of the implementing partners as well as UN Peacebuilding Fund in Guinea-Bissau;

• Organize a workshop session to provide a presentation (Submission of a PPT) to key stakeholders, including donors, the government and civil society organizations, to present and validate preliminary findings and recommendations in Portuguese;

• Produce a draft report including the comments from the workshop session, among others.

• Finalize the report based on any additional comments received from UNDP, RCO, PBF and any other key stakeholders on the draft report;

Particular attention will be paid to taking into account public health measures relating to the COVID-19 epidemic, and their impact on the methodology used. The consultant must present in its application the contingency and protection measures planned to guarantee the health of the teams and people involved, while allowing quality participation and inclusiveness.

6. Deliverables

The following deliverables are expected:

A methodological inception report, after 5 working days home-based and prior to the field-based component. The inception report should capture relevant information such as proposed methods; proposed sources of data; data collection procedures and tools, including interview protocols, which will be reviewed and approved by the project team. The inception report should also include a proposed schedule of tasks, activities, deliverables and background information.
Organization of a workshop session to present and validate preliminary findings and recommendations, in Portuguese;
A draft report, after 15 working days in the field and 5 working days home-based;
A final evaluation report, which should address any comments from UNDP, the Government, the PBF Secretariat and PBSO where relevant.

Competencies

Strong analytical and communication skills, including ability to produce high quality practical advisory reports and knowledge products;
Professional and/or academic experience in one or more areas of the task at stake and knowledge on the management field;
Ability to produce high quality outputs in a timely manner while understanding and anticipating the evolving client needs;
Ability to focus on impact and results for the client, promoting and demonstrating an ethic of client service;
Ability to work independently, produce high quality outputs;
Strong ability to write clearly and convincingly, adapting style and content to different audiences and speak clearly and convincingly;
Strong presentation skills in meetings with the ability to adapt for different audiences;
Strong analytical, research and writing skills with demonstrated ability to think strategically;
Strong capacity to communicate clearly and in a concise manner;
Strong inter-personal, negotiation and liaison skills;
Excellent writing, research, analysis and presentation skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in law, economics, political science, international relations, human rights, development studies or other relevant social sciences;

Experience:

Proven at least 5 years of experience in evaluating development or peacebuilding programs/projects;
At least 5 years of experience in managing and implementing development projects;
Knowledge and demonstrable experience of PBF funded projects is an asset;
Research, particularly in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies in social area;
Acquaintance and involvement with development programs/projects/activities, especially with UNDP is desirable;
Knowledge and demonstrable experience in the field of rule of law, human rights, access to justice and gender issues; including with UNDP is considered an asset;
Demonstrable experience in developing countries; Knowledge of Guinea-Bissau’s social context and/or rule of law and justice sector is strongly desirable;
Experience in the use of computers and office software packages as well as web-based management systems.

Language:

Proficiency in Portuguese and English is mandatory;
Knowledge of Creole constitutes an advantage.