Antecedentes

http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=38057

Background and Context 

UNDP is currently implementing a Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) 2013-2017 to support the political, economic and peace-building transition process of the country.  In particular, under the Democratic Governance Pillar of UNDP Myanmar, the Rule of Law and Access to Justice Output has been designed in order to strengthen justice institutions to uphold the rule of law and protect human rights and equip them to develop and implement frameworks for justice sector reform that reflects the needs of diverse groups, especially women and vulnerable groups, and make justice service delivery more functional, accessible and fair. In particular, assistance to justice sector institutions has been structured around the key areas of: planning and coordination for a justice sector reform strategy that ensures access to justice for vulnerable groups; improving government recognition of the need for adequate participation from those affected to ensure laws respond to public needs; and providing judicial officials and law officers with the skills and tools they need in order administer justice in accordance with international human rights standards. 

The CPAP ends in 2017, but a new Country Programme Document (CPD), which will be aligned to the new 2018-2022 United Nations Assistance Development Framework (UNDAF) for Myanmar,  is under development, and UNDP expects to remain fully engaged in supporting Democratic Governance, including rule of law, access to justice and human rights.

Deberes y responsabilidades

The Rule of Law Centres Initiative

In 2013, the Parliamentary Rule of Law and Tranquillity Committee led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, established a Coordinating Committee to explore the utility of regional rule of law centres to help fill the gap in knowledge and skills of existing legal professionals through providing intensive legal training. The Committee requested UNDP to carry out a feasibility study to determine the feasibility of such an initiative in 2014. Based on the study’s recommendation, the Committee requested UNDP to implement a pilot series of trainings.

The Pilot Project was implemented by a consortium led by the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) and including Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF) and Bridges Across Borders South East Asia Community Legal Initiative (BABSEA-CLE). Under this Project, pilot series of rule of law trainings were delivered for the benefit of 78 lawyers, civil society representatives and law teachers, and community outreach activities were implemented in Mandalay, Mandalay Region and Lashio, Shan State for a six-month period completing in March 2015.

Building on the experience and lessons learned during the Pilot Phase, in Phase I, between July 2015 and June 2016 UNDP and IDLO, together with partner ASF, established four Rule of Law Centres, including legal resource libraries, in Mandalay, Myitkyina, Taunggyi, and Yangon. The Centres focus on two core activities: (i) providing training in rule of law principles and linking them to Myanmar law and local justice priorities, for lawyers, law teachers and civil society representatives; and (ii) supporting community outreach initiatives to strengthen public legal awareness. These activities emphasize innovative and interactive learning, and build common culture of values and knowledge around justice and collaboration between different groups.

At the request of the Union Attorney General and Myanmar State Counsellor’s Office, UNDP and IDLO began implementation of Phase II in July 2016, expanding the scope and reach of programming with expanded training and outreach activities and a broader range of beneficiary groups, including local government officials. In line with the current Letter of Agreement (LOA) with IDLO, Phase II will come to an end on the 31st of December 2017.

It has been designed to increase trust and cooperation between justice providers and the communities they serve and around achieving the following three outcomes:

1. Communities have increased knowledge of their rights and demonstrate an increased ability to access judicial and administrative remedies;
2. Justice institutions and service providers apply rule of law principles in their work, including gender standards; and
3. Dialogue between communities and Government actors leads to increased cooperation to address local justice problems and inform justice sector reform.

Against this background, in February 2017, following consultations with key stakeholders, a “National Coordinating Body for Rule of Law Centres and Justice Sector Affairs” was formed by the Union Government, with the Attorney General appointed as its Chair. It has met twice, and is comprised of members of the Parliament, Director General from the Office of the Supreme Court of the Union, senior officials at various ministries whose jurisdiction includes aspects of the justice sector or law enforcement, and members of civil society and the private bar. The Coordinating Body is expected to oversee the rule of law sector of the country, including overseeing and providing strategic direction to the Initiative.

Within this context, UNDP is seeking a team of individual consultants to conduct an independent evaluation of the project, for a period of 30 days commencing on the 22nd of May 2017 per requirements set forth in this Terms of Reference (TOR).

Scope

The evaluation is intended to assess the degree to which the Rule of Law Centre Initiative (Phase I &II) has been able to deliver against the overall goal, the outcomes, the deliverables and the strategies and implementation mechanisms being applied in project implementation.  In particular, the evaluation is expected to assess relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, progress and results of the Rule of Law Centre Initiative, identify problems and constraints that have been encountered in project’s implementation, formulate important lessons to be learned, as well as assess its value for money. The evaluation shall also assess if the Initiative is still relevant under the current national priorities of the rule of law and justice sector and shall consider strategic linkages to the relevant focus areas of the new CPD. Finally, the evaluation shall provide recommendations for the future design and implementation of Phase III and future interventions in support to the rule of law and justice sector, including suggestions for strategic priorities, delivery options and modalities of implementation that promote sustainability, increased efficiency, effectiveness, civic engagement and national ownership.  The evaluation is also expected to assess to what extent the project applied the human rights based approach and addressed gender and conflict sensitivity issues in its design and implementation.

The evaluation will consider Rule of Law Centers’ engagement in the rule of law and access to justice sector of Myanmar since the inception of Phase I of the Initiative in 2015 to date and will cover the geographic locations where the project has presence namely: Mandalay Region (Mandalay), Shan State (Taunggyi), Kachin State (Myitkyina) and Yangon Region (Yangon). 

The evaluation is expected to take into consideration, the feedback garnered from  relevant government and justice sector actors, at both Union and States/Regions level,  including but not limited to: justice institutions employees, government counterparts, legal professionals, civil society organizations, UNDP staff and management,  IDLO staff and management,  Rule of Law Centres staff and management, donor representatives, UNDP program teams under the democratic governance portfolio and Rule of Law and Access to Justice Output, and collaborating UN agencies.  The evaluation will also take into consideration the feedback from civil society organizations and all beneficiary institutions and selected beneficiaries of Rule of Law Centres’ activities, including rule of law and specialized legal trainings, outreach activities, mobile trainings, round table discussions, community forums, etc.

In June 2016, UNDP and IDLO submitted an options paper for Phase II of the ROLCs to the Office of the State Counsellor and the Attorney General recommending to expand the number of centres to Sittwe, Rakhine State and Hpa-An, Kayin State, with a specialized center in Nay Pyi Taw (2017). In relation to the center to be established in Sittwe, a Feasibility Study was conducted by UNDP and submitted to the Office of the State Counsellor in September 2016. However, due to the resumption of the conflict and the increase of communal tensions in Rakhine State since October 2016, the planned expansion was suspended. In addition, due to lack of additional funds, the center in Hpa-An could also not be set up.

The evaluation of the Initiative in Taunggyi and Myitkyina shall be conducted in light of the situation of protracted displacement and humanitarian crisis which are a result of the resumption of armed conflict in Kachin and Northern Shan State in June 2011, marking the collapse of a 17-year ceasefire. In the two states, more than 99,242 people remain displaced in 188 camps/sites, of which about 77 percent are women and children. About 43 percent of the displaced people are located in areas beyond Government control where international actors have limited humanitarian access but where local humanitarian organizations continue to be able to operate, despite increasing constraints (Myanmar Shelter, NFI, CCCM Cluster Analysis Report Kachin and Northern Shan States, December 2016; Humanitarian Response Plan (Myanmar) January –December 2017, United Nations and Partners, Humanitarian Country Team, December 2016)

Competencias

http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=38057

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

National Evaluation Consultant (Team Member)

• Master’s degree in law, political science, development studies or a Bachelor’s degree in these (or related) fields with additional 5 years’ experience
• Knowledge and demonstrable experience in the field of rule of law and access to justice is highly desirable
• Proven expertise and experience in conducting evaluations and project/program assessments is  highly desirable, especially in conflict-affected contexts
• Fluency in spoken and written Myanmar language
• Excellent command of the English language (written and spoken) is required
• Strong analytical skills
• Myanmar national

The Team Member will be responsible for:

• Providing inputs and insights (based on the context of justice and rule of law in Myanmar) to the independent evaluation of Rule of Law Centers Initiative in Myanmar
• Participating in meetings with governments counterparts, UN/UNDP staff, IDLO, donors and other partners with the Team Leader
• Providing support and assistance to finalize the mission agenda, meetings and required visits
• Provide inputs to the deliverables:  inception report, draft evaluation report, evaluation brief and final evaluation report
• Providing Myanmar language interpretation and translation for meetings as required, in order to ensure clear communication between the international consultant and meeting participants