Background

UN Women (UNW), grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women’s triple mandate, along with its global network and deep policy and programming expertise, continues to endow the Entity with a unique capacity to: (i) support Member States to strengthen global norms and standards for gender equality and women’s empowerment, and mainstream gender perspectives in other thematic areas; (ii) promote coordination and coherence across the UN system to enhance accountability and results for gender equality and women’s empowerment; and (iii) undertake operational activities to support Member States, upon their request, in translating global norms and standards into legislation, policies and strategies at country level.

UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in the State of Palestine since its inception in 1997 (as UNIFEM). In line with the national priorities, the work of UN Women for the period 2023-2025 is aligned with three of the Palestine United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework’s (UNSDCF) outcomes:

• Palestinians have greater access to economic opportunities that are inclusive, resilient, and sustainable, including decent employment and livelihoods opportunities in an empowered private sector.
• Palestinians, including the most vulnerable, have equal access to sustainable, inclusive, gender responsive and quality social services, social protection, and affordable utilities.
• Palestinian governance institutions, processes, and mechanisms at all levels are more democratic, rights-based, inclusive, and accountable.

Its three-year Strategic Note supports the efforts to achieve measurable results in country in terms of four UN Women global Strategic Plan impacts (2022-2025): (SP Impact 1). Governance and participation in public life; (SP Impact 2). Women’s Economic Empowerment; (SP Impact 3). Ending Violence Against Women and Girls and; SP Impact 4. Women peace and security, Humanitarian & Disaster Risk Reduction.

In line with the Palestinian Government’s commitment to achieve gender equality and combat Violence Against Women (VAW), and in full partnership with the Justice, Security and Social Sectors, UN Women within its joint programme with UNDP and UNICEF- “ Reinforcing equal access to justice for all Palestinians - SAWASYA III” is supporting the Justice, Security  and Social institutions  to mainstream gender into their plans,  procedures and policies, and develop and provide gender responsive services to women victims and survivors of violence. Within this framework, UN Women is providing technical support to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), High Judicial Council (HJC), Palestinian civil police (PCP) and the Attorney General Office (AGO) to mainstream gender into their policies, plans, procedures and practices.

As the first line responders, the services provided by the police are critical for enhancing the protection and access to justice of women victims and survivors of violence. In view of this, UN Women within Sawasya II programme has supported the PCP to upgrade and strengthen the quality of services provided to women victims and survivors of violence, through different tools and interventions, including the establishment of the Family Protection Unit (FPU) in 2010, the establishment of the One Stop Centers (OSC) and the helpline amongst others.

In light of the breakout of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the PCP established a helpline to facilitate women’s and children’s access to information and policing and protection services, particularly in time of emergency and movement restrictions. UN Women and in collaboration with UNICEF within Sawasya II programme supported this process through providing capacity building training for police officers: developing procedural guidelines for the helpline and refurbishing and equipping office space. Based on data collected from the police, the number of calls received by the helpline in 2023 is less than expected, particularly within the current crisis that witnesses higher need for virtual services, mobility restrictions and protection concerns.

Against this backdrop, UN Women Sawasya III programme plans to recruit a national consultant to support the FJPD in assessing the level operationalization and effectiveness of the helpline and providing related recommendations to improve its efficiency.

Objectives:

The main objective of this assignment is to assess the operationalization process of the Police’s FPJD helpline and to provide recommendations with the aim of supporting the FPJD in enhancing and improving the functioning, reach out and efficiency of the helpline.

The assignment includes the following three main specific objectives:

• To support the FJPD in assessing the functionality and the level of efficiency and effectiveness of the helpline;
• To identify the gaps and challenges facing the efficient operation and management of the helpline;
• To propose recommendations and develop a plan to address challenges and gaps and improving performance and outreach.

The consultant will be reporting to UN Women Sawasya Programme Specialist and will be supported by the Women’s Security Analyst and the Finance Associate who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

UN Women will be providing overall guidance, direction, and technical support, and monitoring progress, while UNICEF will act as consulting partner, contributing input and guidance, sharing resources, and participating in stakeholder engagements. The consultant will conduct activities, collect and analyze data, and develop reports, while adhering to ethical standards.

Duties and Responsibilities

Inception phase:

• To develop an inception report that includes a detailed description of the work plan, methodology, deliverables and time frame and share it with UN Women for review and approval, following the below task.
• Meet with UN Women’s technical team and stakeholders, to discuss the assignment’s objectives, methods and tools that will be used, and the main deliverables.

Implementation phase:

A) Developing an analytical report to assess the helpline effectiveness and efficiency:

• To conduct a desk review on relevant national, regional and international references related to women and children rights and protection including the previously developed helpline procedural guideline ensuring child -centered approach.
• To analyze existing data, reports and documentation related to the FPJD helpline's operation, management, and performance.
• To conduct field visits to the FPJUs to get first-hand information from frontline officers and collect observations on the applied practices, including the handling of calls, response times, staff capacity, and available resources.
• To collect quantitative data on helpline usage, including call volume, response times, types of calls received, and referral.
• To facilitate consultations with key stakeholders, including representatives from FPJD, UN Women, UNICEF, government agencies, civil society organizations, women's groups, and other relevant actors.
• To develop an analytical report that that synthesizes findings from the desk review, stakeholder consultations, field visits, and data analysis. The report should provide description of the existing gaps and challenges and recommendations for improving the helpline management and outreach.
• To present key findings, lessons learned, and recommendations to relevant stakeholders for validation.

B) Developing a plan to improve the performance and outreach of the helpline:

• To support the FJPD in developing a plan for effective and efficient management of the helpline that reflects the recommendations of the analytical report.
• To ensure participatory approach during all phases of the consultancy work and ownership of the process as well as of the final deliverables.  

 Final report:

• To submit a final narrative report that includes a description of the assignment, the achievements, used methodology, lessons learned and recommendations for future interventions. Annexes should include a list of interviewed people, utilized methodology and others.

Deliverables:

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel:

This is a home-based consultancy with frequent movement between districts and governorates – if needed

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 

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:  

https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values 

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: 

• Sound knowledge of international standards on human rights, gender justice and women and children rights,.
• Proven Experience in the field of protection and access to justice and security.
• Strong capacity to establish, build and sustain effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client’s perspective; anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly.
• Strong ability to effectively interact with technical and non- technical end users in a   cooperative and helpful manner.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• A Master degree (BA and 2 additional years’ experience in lieu of MA degree) in social science, development, human rights, criminology, sociology or related discipline. (max.10 points)

Experience:

• A minimum of 2 years of professional experience in gender justice, VAW and protection, including working on helplines. (max. 30 points)
• At least 2 years of experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis. (max. 15 points)
• At least 2 previous assignments related to conducting assessments, preferably in areas related to protection of women and/ or children. (max.20 points)
• Experience with the security and/or justice system is a strong asset. (max. 10 points)
• Experience with the UN system or/and international organization is an asset. (max. 5 points)
• The candidate has to share a previously developed assessment report or analysis, preferably in areas related to women’s or children’s protection. (max. 10 points)

Languages:

Fluency in Arabic and professional knowledge in English