Historique

Introduction:

The UNODC Regional Office for South Asia (UNODC ROSA) is located in New Delhi, India, and covers six countries of the region: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Under its Regional Programme for South Asia for the period 2018-2021, UNODC is delivering technical assistance to South Asia under the following five components: (1) Countering transnational organized crime; (2) A comprehensive response to the drug problem (drug trafficking & drugs and health); (3) Countering corruption; (4) Terrorism prevention; (5) Criminal justice and crime prevention.

UNODC is currently implementing a project in Bangladesh with the aim to provide technical support to national stakeholders on drug and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, for effective implementation of HIV treatment and awareness-raising programme with People Who Use Drugs (PWUDs). As a part of this project, UNODC will develop a tailor-made Training Curriculum on Drugs and HIV/AIDS for the Bangladesh Police, in collaboration with the Bangladesh Police (Ministry of Home Affairs), National AIDS/STD Programme (ASP) - Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and other key stakeholders like Save the Children, icddr’b, CARE Bangladesh, National network of People who Use Drugs (NPUD) and others.

The overall objective of this assignment is to advocate with the Bangladesh Police to institutionalize the developed Training Curriculum in order to provide comprehensive and consistent training on Drugs and HIV/AIDS issues to their newly recruited officers, as well as to include it in the refresher training for the officers on board. The aim of the training is to sensitize the law enforcement officers on the drug treatment and harm reduction programmes, in particular, providing information on the context of drugs and HIV/AIDS issues in Bangladesh, and to equip them with understanding and skills to be able to provide their proactive support to stakeholders implementing the drug treatment and HIV/AIDS programmes with key populations, as well as to help prevent violence, harassment, stigma and discrimination at various levels.

Background:

Bangladesh is a lower-middle income country with an estimated population of 164.6 million in 2019 (37% urban, 63% rural) and life expectancy of 72.5 years. Bangladesh’s GDP is growing fast at an annual growth rate of 7.9% in 2019; its gross national income was US$ 1,750 per person (in current US$). Government health spending as a proportion of total government spending is still comparably low at 3.4%. Per capita public and private health expenditure is US$ 6.1 and US$ 25, respectively, with the latter mainly out-of-pocket, with total health expenditure per person of US$ 34 in 2016 (extracted from pre-populated Essential data table).

HIV Epidemiology

Bangladesh has maintained a low HIV prevalence of <0.01% among its general population since the first case was detected in 1989, however, it is one of seven countries in the region where the epidemic continues to increase [2,5]. Overall HIV incidence rose by 56% and HIV-related mortality by 110% since 2010.

There are an estimated 14,000 people living with HIV in Bangladesh. National programmatic data of the ASP indicates that from 1989 to October 2019, a total of 7,374 HIV-positive cases were detected (52.7%); between November 2018 and October 2019, a total of 919 new cases were detected. Most newly infected people were from Dhaka (381), followed by Chattogram (203), Khulna (90) and Sylhet (59). 105 were Rohingya refugees, referred to as ‘Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals’ (FDMN).

In terms of epidemiological risk factors, 37% of new cases did not belong to any key population; 15% were migrants; and 11% FDMN. Almost a quarter of new cases (24%) were people who inject drugs (PWID), whereas Men who have Sex with Men, Male Sex Workers, Female Sex Workers, and hijra (a Bangla ‘third gender’ category, overlapping with the Western concept of ‘transgender women’) constituted 3%, 3%, 2% and 1% of newly identified HIV infections, respectively. Around three quarters (74.42%) of new HIV cases were aged 25-49; 6.5% of cases were children (0-18 years). About 74% of new infections were male, 25% female, and 1% were hijra. The HIV vulnerabilities of PWUDs, especially PWIDs, are much higher than any other groups due to drug dependency and sharing of needle-syringes, mental health problems, violence and harassment, stigma and discrimination, legal and social factors. Since 1998, the Harm Reduction programme has been implemented with PWIDs by International / National NGOs supported by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, however, it is still not fully covered by the laws of Bangladesh, and violence and harassment are common phenomena in the daily life of PWUDs, both from the side of the law enforcement agencies as well as the society. These multifaced problems have been negatively affecting the implementation of the HIV/AIDS and harm reduction programme, making it difficult to reach PWUDs with services, as well as impeding access to services by PWIDs due to fear of legal action, violence, harassment, stigma and criminalization. As the HIV prevalence is increasing gradually among PWUDs and their partners, it became a public health threat leading to increased risk of HIV transmission among general population. Same scenario has been observed in many countries in the world, where ultimately the epidemic could be brought under control introducing interventions by law enforcement agencies, especially the Police, Narcotics Control Department and prison authority. In Bangladesh, the problem still prevails due to lack of effective and evidence-based policy advocacy by CSOs/CBOs, as well as lack of political commitment to transform policies into actions. Against this background, and given its extensive expertise working in the area of HIV/AIDS and drug control and treatment, both globally and in Bangladesh, UNODC Programme Office in Bangladesh aims to develop a tailor-made Training Curriculum for the Bangladesh Police, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, to increase awareness on HIV/AIDS and drug issues and to provide capacity-building in line with international standards and best practices.  

Devoirs et responsabilités

Overall objective of assignment:

The overall objective of the assignment is to provide training to the Bangladesh Police department to sensitize them about HIV/AIDS and drug treatment programmes in Bangladesh, to help contain the HIV epidemic especially among key populations, including PWUDs.

Specific objectives of the assignment are to review the contents of the existing Police training curriculum addressing HIV/AIDS and drug issues and to develop a tailor-made Training Curriculum for the Bangladesh Police, in consultation with relevant stakeholders including representatives of CBOs among key populations, to ensure comprehensive and evidence-based training.

Scope of work and expected outputs/ deliverables:

As a part of the project activities, UNODC would like to engage a national consultant to review the existing Police training curriculum and develop a tailor-made Training Curriculum on drugs and HIV/AIDS issues for the Bangladesh Police. This curriculum shall be the key document for facilitating sustainable training on drugs and HIV/AIDS issues by the Bangladesh Police Training Academy, to provide consistent and comprehensive training, in line with international standards, to current and newly incoming police cadres and other non-cadre officers.

The curriculum shall include, but not be limited to:

• National, regional and global information/data on drugs and HIV/AIDS, including political economy of illicit drugs business
• Drug use and HIV/AIDS as a public health issue and the role of law enforcement agencies in helping control the HIV/AIDS epidemic among key populations like PWUDs, sex workers, transgenders etc.
• Mode of transmission and prevention of HIV and other blood-borne diseases
• Drugs, drug abuse, drug dependency and its impact on human body
• Violence and harassment and stigma and discrimination and its impact on the key population
• Human rights, dignity and entitlements of key populations
• Legal (with emphasis on narcotics control acts) and social factors around drugs and the harm reduction programme for HIV prevention among PWUDs and other key populations
• Evidence-based legal and police interventions, in line with international standards and best practices
• Monitoring and supervision of trained police officer to see the impact of training.

The consultant is expected to carry out a comprehensive review of the existing training curriculum of the Bangladesh Police addressing drugs and HIV/AIDS issues and develop a tailor-made Training Curriculum with consideration of international standards and best practices, based on available tools and materials from UNODC and other stakeholders at country level, as appropriate. The work is to be done in close coordination with the Bangladesh Police and under the overall supervision of the UNODC team (at Headquarters, Regional and Country level). The consultant will be responsible to develop the module first in English and then in Bangla, with due consideration of and respect to the cultural, social and political sensitivities.

Specific deliverables and payment terms:  

Note:

• Technical proposal must include the timeline, methodology and plan of action;
• Any kind of miscellaneous charges e.g. travel, Internet, phone, during working group meetings (to be arranged by the consultant), etc. would not be reimbursed.
• Please note proposals without the financial proposal will not be considered.
• Payment will be made in January 2021 following above mentioned slab and it depends on quality delivery by consultant agreed by government counterparts.

Time frame:

The contract will be for a period of 2 months (30 working days-to be counted from first working day) from January 2020 to February 2021.

Reporting and communication:

The consultant will work under the overall supervision of the Officer In-charge, UNODC Bangladesh Programme Office and Representative/ Deputy Representative, UNODC Regional Office for South Asia, and the direct supervision of the National Programme Coordinator (Drugs and HIV/AIDS), as well as in coordination with the relevant staff in the Regional Office and Headquarters (HIV/AIDS Section).

Compétences

Skills required:

• Experience working with government officials in Bangladesh;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, PowerPoint, Bijoy etc.);
• Proficient writing, editing, and oral communication skills in English and excellent drafting skills in Bangla.

Qualifications et expériences requises

• University degree or equivalent in the field of Public Health, Social Sciences, Communication, Education, or an alternative relevant field;
• At least 7 years of experience in areas related to Public Health, with a particular focus on drugs and HIV/AIDS issues;
• A good understanding of the local context and cultural sensitivity, specifically in the area of drugs and HIV/AIDS and legal issues such as narcotics and police laws;

Award of the contract:

The contract shall be awarded to the individual whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive to the criteria outlined in the ToR.
• Having received the highest score of a pre-determined set of technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation and based on cumulative criteria.

Technical criteria weight - 70 marks

• Educational qualification - 20 points
• Experience in the public health, with a focus on drugs and HIV/AIDS - 30 points
• Experience working with government officials in Bangladesh - 20 points.

Financial criteria weight - 30 marks

Technical and financial proposals to be submitted separately.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.