Background

“Human Rights for All – Phase 2” is a joint initiative of the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN). It will be implemented as a joint programme by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The JP will build directly on the achievements of “Human Rights for All” which was likewise a partnership between the EU and the UN agencies. It will continue to strengthen and promote human rights in areas covered in first phase while identifying and tackling human rights issues in new areas. The JP will seek to bringing tangible result to the local level through various forms of engagement, including with dedicated support to local authorities.

The overall objective of the project - Citizens of Georgia, and primarily those in vulnerable situations, enjoy better protection of their human rights – complies with the national priorities of Georgia enshrined in the Constitution and major policy documents of the country, as well as with the international obligations of Georgia, including EU-Georgia Association Agreement, Sustainable Development Goals and UN human rights treaties.

UNDP and OHCHR will work in close coordination to achieve the overall objective of the JP, inter alia, through the support to the implementation and monitoring of national human rights policy and related frameworks, improvement of the independent investigation of crimes committed by law-enforcement officials, combatting torture and other forms of ill-treatment, protection of personal data, addressing challenges to the protection of human rights in the regions of Georgia and human rights of minority groups and persons in vulnerable situations, including LGBTQI+ and persons with disabilities, and increasing awareness of human rights among rights-holders.

The Action has five specific objectives:

1. Relevant public bodies (duty-bearers) develop, implement and monitor national human rights policy and related frameworks;
2. Law-enforcement and human rights protection bodies effectively implement their duties related to policymaking and enforcement with due oversight and transparency;
3. The human rights of minority groups and persons in vulnerable situations are recognised in law and protected in practice;
4. Local authorities more effectively protect human rights of all citizens, primarily those in vulnerable situations and minority groups;
5. Citizens are informed on, favourable to and supportive of human rights for all and efforts to protect them.

The five SOs will ultimately aim to create enabling environment for human rights protection through advocating to reflect human rights in national laws and policies in compliance with international standards, facilitate use of human rights based approaches (HRBA)[HRBA and rights-based approach (RBA) are used as synonyms in this document.] in policy making at national and local level, promote human rights culture through targeted awareness raising and knowledge building activities for rights holders and duty bearers, enabling people to claim their rights through their knowledge building and capacitating CSOs/NGOs advocating for human rights, as well as support to the creation and/or operation of strong, effective and accountable state institutions at national and local levels for the protection of human rights for all.

Duties and Responsibilities

The project “Human Rights for All – Phase 2” aims at supporting the capacity building of the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia (PDO) in monitoring National Human Rights Strategy (NHRS) and Action Plans (APs). For this purpose, one of the objectives of the project is to draft relevant guidelines on monitoring human rights situation (in selected fields) and develop recommendations on ways of improving the monitoring process.

Right to health is a fundamental human right indispensable for the exercise of other human rights - civil and political as well as economic, social and cultural. According to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights “the States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health”. The right to the highest attainable standard of health which, inter alia, encompasses medical care, health-related information, and includes entitlements, such as the right to essential primary health care, creates a legal obligation for states to ensure access to timely, acceptable, and affordable health care of appropriate quality.

Right to health is also enshrined in national legislation of Georgia, including the Constitution, and relevant policy documents, such as the draft human rights strategy for 2021-2030. The latter document underlines the importance of this right noting that effective protection of the right to health is crucial not only for improving the demographic and social situation, but also for sustainable and inclusive economic development.

Monitoring of the right to health falls under one of the priorities of the PDO – an Ombudsman’s office which also serves as a national human rights institution in Georgia. The PDO, which oversees the observance of human rights and freedoms within its jurisdiction on the territory of Georgia, annually assesses general condition in terms of health care system, identifies challenges and develops recommendations for relevant state institutions. Although the methodology on supervising and monitoring the health care system is already developed by the PDO, there is a need to upgrade this document as well as to analyze the best practice of other Ombudsperson’s Offices with regard to monitoring and supervising the system (except for issues related to sexual and reproductive health and mental health (The Public Defender’s office of Georgia has already acquired sufficient knowledge in these spheres, hence, there is no need to further strengthen its capacity in this respect.). The development of this document will contribute to strengthening capacity of the PDO and expanding its mandate on monitoring human rights situation and policy documents in terms of health care system, which in long term perspective will also enhance a culture of human rights in society.

For this purpose, upon the request of the PDO, it was decided to hire an international expert who will develop desk research on the best practice of Ombudsperson’s Offices in terms of monitoring right to health and the scope of their mandate. Based on the results the expert will also assess existing methodology of the PDO on supervising and monitoring the health care system followed by the recommendations on how to improve existing methodology document and practice of the PDO. Finally, if relevant shortcomings, hindering the PDO to monitor the right to health, are identified the expert will propose the ways of improving current legislation on health-related issues.

The Expert will be expected to:

• Analyze the relevant international standards on the right to health and health care system;
• Analyze mandate, role and activities of at least 3 Ombudsperson’s offices and their best practices in terms of monitoring and supervising health care system;
• Based on the identified results, develop the desk research assessing and analyzing the methodology and models of Ombudsperson’s offices on monitoring the right to health;
• Examine the methodology developed by the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia on monitoring and supervising health care system together with existing legislation on health-related issues and closely cooperate with the PDO to get familiar with existing challenges in terms of PDO’s methodology and practice;
• Based on the PDO’s input and feedback as well as best practices of Ombudsperson’s offices, develop recommendations on improving existing methodology paper and practice of the PDO in terms of monitoring the health care system in Georgia;
• Propose the ways on improving current legislation on health-related issues, if relevant shortcomings hindering the PDO to monitor the right to health, are identified;
• Develop the final activity report.

All documents shall be developed in English.

Deliverables and payment modality:

100% lumpsam Upon completion of all deliverables and submission of the final activity report.  

Management Arrangements:

The International Expert will work under the overall supervision of the Project Manager. The expert will have close working relations with the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia during the implementation of the assignment under this ToR.

The expert will be directly responsible for, reporting to, seeking approval from, and obtaining a certificate of acceptance of outputs from the Project Manager. In addition, the respective project team will be responsible to share relevant documents, contact details and other necessary information with the expert.

UNDP will cover the costs for venue and interpretation of the workshops / meetings. The relevant institutions will ensure participation of the staff/workshop participants.

Competencies

Core Competencies

• Demonstrated commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
• Sensitivity and adaptability to cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age;
• Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

Functional Competencies

• Excellent communication skills (spoken, written and presentational);
• Good interpersonal skills and ability to work in and with teams;
• Ability to set priorities and manage time effectively.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, law, human rights and/or international law, public health or other related fields (Minimum qualification requirement – 15 points).

Experience:

• At least 7-years of working experience on health-care policy (minimum qualification requirement: seven years - 5 points, more than 7 years of experience – additional 5 points);
• 3-years of working and/or collaboration experience with Ombudsperson’s Office on the right to health and health-related issues (minimum qualification requirement - 5 points);
• At least 3-years of experience in research and analysis (minimum qualification requirement 5 points; more than 3 years of experience – additional 5 points);
• Experience in developing guidelines and/or recommendations on right to health - at least three guidelines/recommendations drafted (alone or in cooperation with other authors) should be presented upon request by the Project team (minimum qualification requirement - 10 points);
• Experience in working in the region (Eastern Europe and South Caucasus) will be a strong asset.

Language Requirements

• Excellent English skills (both written and verbal).

Evaluation:

Individual Expert will be evaluated based on cumulative analysis method, offerors will be evaluated against combination of technical and financial criteria. Maximum obtainable score is 100, out of which the total score for technical criteria equals to 70 (desk review: 50 points and interview: 20 points) and for financial criteria – to 30. Offerors not meeting any of the minimum qualification requirements will be automatically disqualified. Only offerors obtaining minimum 35 points as a result of the desk review will be considered as qualified offerors and invited for the interview. Those offerors passing 70% threshold of maximum obtainable scores as a result of interview, i.e. obtain minimum 14 points, will be shortlisted and requested to provide financial proposal.

Financial Proposal:

Lump sum contracts. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount. Payment shall be made in lump sum payment upon completion of all deliverables and submission of the final activity report.  Maximum 30 points will be assigned to the lowest price offer. All other price offers will be scored using the formula (inverse proportion): Financial score X = 30* the lowest price offer/suggested price offer x.