Background

Background:

In 2015 – 2016, the first specialized survey that measures the prevalence and patterns of violence against women and its associated health consequences for women was undertaken by the Committee for statistics in Kazakhstan. Its findings indicate that 17 percent of ever-partnered women aged 18-75 reported having experienced physical or sexual violence, or both, by an intimate partner in their lifetime. To understand clearly dynamics on prevalence of domestic violence (DV), dynamics on public attitude towards DV had been analyzed – this was repeatedly assessed within UNICEF Multiply Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) conducted in Kazakhstan.  According to the 2015 MICS, 14.2 percent of women believed that a husband/partner may hit or beat his wife/partner in at least one of five situations. Women justified a husband’s violence more frequently when a woman neglected the children (10.8 percent) or went out without telling her husband (4.1 percent), or argued with him (5.4 percent). 1.5percent of women justified wife-beating if she refused to have a sex with her husband and 0.7 percent if she burnt the food. These data demonstrate a regress in regard of the public attitude to DV, since the 2011 MISC demonstrated that 12.2 percent of women in Kazakhstan believed that a husband/partner had a right to hit or beat them for at least one of a variety of reasons. 
The need to achieve an integrated and collaborative single service system for women experiencing DV, and to respond to men who perpetrate violence is at the heart of the project, and this research in particular.  It is also an area of focus under the national strategy “Kazakhstan 2050”, Concept of Family and Gender Policy until 2030, as well as the General Prosecutor’s Office initiative - a Roadmap “Kazakhstan without DV” aimed to improve national legal and policy framework to eliminate the DV. Concerns over increasing levels of DV in Kazakhstan and insufficient access to social services for vulnerable groups of population have been voiced under various UN human rights mechanisms, such as Universal Periodic Review recommendations and concluding observations and recommendations of the CEDAW Committee within the regular review process of the country in 2014. 
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN WOMEN) in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides a technical assistance to the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection to implement a joint project entitled “Improvement of social services for victims of domestic violence”. The overall objective of this project is to enhance national capacity in order to formulate a comprehensive, holistic and consistent policy on prevention of violence against women and provide accessible and quality essential services in Kazakhstan. In particular, the project undertakes a gap analysis of the DV service system in Kazakhstan to look at current service delivery against best practice, with a focus on integration and collaboration
One of the activities foreseen under the project entails engagement of international consultant in analysis of system of social services available to victims of DV. In this regard, the international consultant will provide consultations and analytical support to the Government of Kazakhstan, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Kazakhstan, as well as to the relevant state bodies on the issues arising with respect to social and legal services provided to victims of DV. 

Purpose:

Under the supervision of UN Women Programme Specialist, the International Consultant is expected to develop comprehensive guidance for social workers and increase their capacity to facilitate improvement of social services to meet the needs of victims of DV. She/he will be supported by a local consultant in research facilitation and data collection. In the outcome of this research, the UN Women Kazakhstan will obtain the following document:

• adapted manual for social workers explaining step-by-step guidance on working with victims of DV,
• study module for social workers in the sphere of state services for victims of DV, 
• developed guidelines on the system of redirecting victims of DV to the relevant state bodies and organizations. 

The main objective is to ensure that protection mechanisms directed to victims of DV take into account the different needs of DV survivors and concerns are adequately addressed by social workers, including support to the working with victims of DV. It includes as well guidance to relevant parties in providing appropriate protection taking into consideration the vulnerability and the specific circumstances of the person. 
The assignment will result in improvement of the enforcement mechanisms providing protection of victims of DV taking into consideration the emergency context. While the current domestic legislation and practice are in the process of constant alignment, the international standards and guidelines will have to be adequately adopted to reflect the reality. Therefore the interested applicants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the existing UN instruments on elimination of violence against women, such as Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) (1979), Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (1993), Beijing Platform for Action (1995), Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) 57: Agreed Conclusions (2013), Sustainable Development Goals (2015), UN Security Council Women, Peace and Security Policy Framework, UN Convention on the Rights of Peoples with Disabilities (2008), Universal Periodic Review (UPR). It is also required to have knowledge of current mechanisms for providing assistance, protection and support to victims of DV in the country before applying for the assignment.

Adapted manual for social workers on maintaining work with the victims of DV based on newly adopted standards on special social services for the victims of DV

Within this component there will be conducted trainings on DV for social workers based on the adapted manual. The purpose of this assignment is to adapt a comprehensive manual for social workers and provide them with concrete working tools and techniques for their daily use. As a result of this capacity building activity the social workers will be providing increased protection services for the victims of DV. 
The training exercise is also expected to sensitize social workers to the subject and needs related to persons affected by DV. Further the training is expected to give the participants a brief background on the related national and legal framework and to share best practices and experiences in the area of DV and specifically related to the role and function of social workers. The comprehensive training should contain presentations, individual and group work as well as role plays.
The manual, tackling above mentioned themes, should be written in a comprehensive language with bullet point instructions on maintaining work with the victims of DV taking into account national legal and policy framework. This should encompass the following objectives:

• Strengthen  capacity  of  social workers to  provide  relevant  treatment  through  enhancing their  knowledge  and  understanding  on  the  concept  of  DV;
• Enhance social workers’ understanding and knowledge of the physical, emotional and social effects of different kinds of violence;
• Enable social workers on the use of concrete tools and techniques to apply in their work with different categories of persons affected by DV;  
• Ensure  that  social workers  can  identify  potential  vulnerabilities to  and  risk  factors  of domestic  violence  and  gender  based  violence  and  are  able  to  suggest  concrete strategies to prevent and respond to these vulnerabilities; 
• Ensure social workers are able to identify the signs of violence in victims and are able to utilize available referral networks in the community.

The international consultant in coordination with the local consultant will have to develop curricula outline for 1,5-day training programme. She/he will also have to discuss and agree on key materials with national consultant (presentations, handouts etc.) and validate with UN Women.

Development of “Social Worker” study module in the sphere of provision of services to the victims of DV which will be applied in capacity building/qualification development of social workers

The international consultant should review the international and national study modules and training materials for social workers and develop a three-day course offering preparation for qualified social work across the range of service users and settings. The study module is primarily designed for upgrading qualifications of acting social workers and will be included in the curriculum of national qualification institutions for social workers. 
The study module should cover foundations in ethics, diversity, psychology, sociology, social policy and law for social work practice Practitioners should be familiarized with studying models on reflection, assessment, intervention, evaluation, safeguarding, evidence-based practice and law. The module should train social workers to keep abreast of developments in law, research and practice. 
This module needs to provide an introduction to law and policy for professional practice as central elements to understanding the role of social workers in making judgements and decisions affecting the victims of DV who use social work services.  
The module is to develop skills in working with people, within policy, legal and ethical frameworks, and core skills in communicating and engaging with people, recognizing some of the tensions that may arise from a risk-focus, including working against the wishes of service users and positive risk-taking. It should focus on skills, methods and reflective practice considering the legal framework relating to cross-cutting provisions of special social services to the victims of DV.
The 3-day study module should plan to have teaching and learning strategies that are action-based, interactive, offer practical ‘hands-on’ training, and include team and small group learning. 
Specifically, the course should seek to blend: 

• Short lectures by instructor(s); 
• Group work and participant presentations; 
• Use of a variety of multimedia tools i.e. animations, video clips;
• Relevant interdisciplinary reading materials; 
• Discussion of situated gender tools; 
• Case studies and role plays; 
• Incorporate social media platforms. 

To support some of the above strategies, the international consultant will also be expected to develop a 3-5 minutes role-play script and a short case study to be used as instructional materials.

Guidelines on the system of redirecting victims of DV among particular organizations on prevention and combating DV
This consultancy aims to contribute to enhancing social services provided to victims of DV by building capacity of social workers and strengthening national referral mechanisms for victims of DV through engagement with stakeholders and increased interdepartmental cooperation. Thus, this consultancy will facilitate engagement with national agencies and service providers responsible reception, protection and treatment of victims of DV aimed at improving quality of service delivery. According to the current legislation, victims of violence should be provided with the following types of public services: household, medical, psychological, legal, economic, educational. The international consultant will focus on the following questions:

• Where the victims of DV were referred to and accommodated (e.g. crisis center) when they are identified;
• If there are special mechanisms/instruments/procedures for referral of victims of DV and if these are effective or sufficient in minimizing the risk of re-victimization;
• Main gaps in protection and assistance;
• Environment and circumstances in which victims of DV are enabled to develop their skills and competences;
• Identify good or promising practices. What common approaches, including minimum standards, can be put in place to address the needs of victims of DV.

1,5-day training session for social workers should be prepared to introduce developed guidelines and recommendations. The international consultant in coordination with the local consultant will have to develop curricula outline for 1,5-day training programme. She/he will also have to discuss and agree on key materials with national consultant (presentations, handouts etc.) and validate with UN Women.

Duties and Responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities:

The assessment will undertake a situational analysis of how victims of DV are protected and assisted according to standards set by international and national legislation. The international consultant will submit a draft methodology to UN Women before commencing the work. The methodology will include but will not be limited to: 

• Desk review: the international consultant should review all major international and national standards and instruments, supervision tools and policies and procedures as well as the latest literature on issues relating to the maintenance, protection and redirecting of victims of DV. 
• Review information collected by national consultant from various stakeholders including representatives of state and local authorities in charge of special service provision (law enforcement bodies and the justice system; counselors and care workers working directly with victims of DV). 
• Review practices and assess service delivery of existing institutions and organizations working with victims of DV through desk review analysis and comparing against best international practices and standards.

In undertaking this assignment, the international consultant will review and analyze existing practice in Kazakhstan with respect to social services available for victims of DV. In particular, the international consultant will engage in the following activities:  

• Prepare an inception report detailing the consultancy work-plan including the methodology (maximum of 8 pages). The report will outline in detail a fine-tuned methodology and scope based on the international consultant’s interpretation of the tasks and deliverables suggested in the TOR. This will include guidelines for national consultant for necessary data collection for the purpose of revealing the existing challenges/problems in the system of delivery of social services to victims of DV;
• Adapt manual for social workers on maintaining work with the victims of DV based on newly adopted standards on special social services for the victims of DV, conducting 1,5-day training for social workers on use of the adapted manual.
• Develop and deliver 1,5-day training for social workers on the use of adapted manual in two cities (Astana and Uralsk). There will be envisaged 1-day working meetings with national partners in Astana as well.                                                                                                                                        
• Develop "Social Worker" study module in the sphere of provision of services to the victims of DV which will be further used in capacity building/qualification development of social workers. The module will be developed under the guidance of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection. Consultation meeting on expected standards will be held in Astana during a week visit for the trainings in Astana and Uralsk. 
• Develop guidelines on the national referral mechanisms for the victims of DV. conducting 1,5-day training for social workers on use of the developed guidelines. The guidelines will outline how the current referral mechanism is implemented and the measures required in order to strengthen the system of redirecting victims of DV among responsible state bodies and increase interdepartmental cooperation. The guidelines should provide description of business process operations indicating responsible parties and their responsibilities to enhance interdepartmental cooperation among relevant state and non-state bodies. This should include an annex with:

a. SOPs and standardized agreements templates between institutions and IOs/CSOs on care and support for victims of DV.    
b. Performance indicators on redirecting of victims of DV to ensure quality of tailored care.    
c. Monitoring and evaluation tools of rendering special social services.    
d. Proposed linkages and coordination network among service providers and/or stakeholder

• Develop and deliver 1,5-day training for social workers on the use of developed guidelines in two cities (Astana and Uralsk).                                                                                                                                        
• Assess possible potential of non-governmental sector in the issues related to delivery services to victims of DV and provide recommendations for the governmental bodies and non-governmental organizations.
• Produce a set of recommendations on improving delivery of social services to victims of DV to be shared at the forum organized in October 2017 in Astana;  

Responsibilities: 

• Conduct a general analysis of national legislation/legal norms, including recent amendments, regulating the area of social services to victims of DV available in the Republic of Kazakhstan;
• Conduct a preliminary study of all documents, analyze information from the database, coordinate with national consultant on data collection, make an assessment and detailed analysis in order to produce well-structured, comprehensive manual, study module and guidelines; 
• Work in close collaboration with staff members of UN Women Kazakhstan and governmental bodies for achieving a mutual consent;
• In a timely period include all comments, remarks and additions to the report made by the UN Women Programme Specialist;  
• Conduct and participate in presentations for the national partners of the project after delivering the documents and the trainings;  
• Provide a qualitative analytical work and comply with all deadlines established by the UN Women.

The international consultant is expected to work home based and conduct two (2) field missions to Kazakhstan to conduct training sessions and meet with the national consultant, partners and UN Women staff:

• Astana 1-day meetings with the partners, 
• Astana 3-day training, 
• Uralsk 3-day training, 
• Astana 2-day trip for participation in the Forum for social workers in October 2017 (exact date TBC).

Astana 3 day training: 1,5 day – training on the developed manual for social workers, 1,5 day – training on the developed guidelines on referral mechanisms
Uralsk 3 day training: 1,5 day – training on the developed manual for social workers, 1,5 day – training on the developed guidelines on referral mechanisms
Final deliverable - adapted manual for social workers explaining step-by-step guidance on working with victims of DV with a 1,5-day training module; study module for social workers in the sphere of state services for victims of DV; developed guidelines on the system of redirecting victims of DV to the relevant state bodies and organizations with a 1,5-day training module; set of recommendations to improve system of social service delivery in Kazakhstan is submitted to and approved by UN Women.
UN Women will provide the following support to the International Consultant:

• Assist in organizing meetings with ministries and local executive bodies; 
• Contract the local consultant who will support international consultant in collection of all necessary data and information, compilation of materials for use at the meetings and facilitation of events;

Deliverables and timelines:

Deliverables     Submission date    # of w/d      
An inception report detailing the consultancy work-plan including the methodology (maximum of 8 pages)/ 17  July 2017 /2 w.d.
Adapted manual for social workers on maintaining work with the victims of DV/ 26 July 2017/ 7 w.d.
Developed guidelines on the national referral mechanisms for the victims of DV/ 7 August 2017/ 8 w.d.
Two 3-day trainings for social workers on the use of developed manual and guidelines on referral mechanism in two cities (Astana and Uralsk) / 14-18 August 2017 / 5 w.d.
Developed "Social Worker" study module / 4 September 2017 /10 w.d.        
Produce a set of recommendations on improving delivery of services to victims of DV to be shared at the forum organized in October 2017 in Astana / October 2017 / 1 w.d.
Total working days:            33

Management arrangements:

The Consultant will work under direct supervision of UN Women Programme Specialist for
Kazakhstan. The consultancy will require a home-based work with one mission travel to Kazakhstan. 

Financial arrangements:
Payment will be made upon submission and approval of deliverables, and certification by UN Women Programme Specialist that the services have been satisfactorily performed (80% of travel expenses will be advanced before mission). The Consultant’s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered.

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: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Required Skills and Experience

Required qualifications:
The selection process of consultant will be by following criteria:

Education:

• Advanced degree in Economics, Psychology, Gender Studies, Social Sciences, International Law or any other related field

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in gender equality/women empowerment and gender mainstreaming into policies, legal regulations and programs (supporting materials or link to the site where the document is available to learn about the candidate’s experience)
• Experience and knowledge on developing manuals/guidelines on social service provision, conducting research in the field of provision of special social services (please provide a link to the resource to access the study)
• Specific experience on programming on elimination of violence against women 
• Minimum 5 years of experience with UN agencies and other international organizations, as well as with government agencies in supervising and developing materials on special social services provision

Languages:

• Excellent writing and speaking skills in English. Knowledge of Russian is an asset.

Travel costs

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to/from/within Kazakhstan. Travel is only authorized in economy class by the most direct route. Should the international consultant wish to travel on a higher class they should do so using their own resources. In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the UN Women Programme Specialist and the international consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Evaluation process

Applicants must meet the above minimum qualification requirements which will be included in the technical evaluation process in the future. The next stage of the assessment process will be maintained by cumulative analysis methodology of technical proposal (70%) and the financial proposal (30%) of the candidate.

 Technical evaluation criteria:

Criteria    (Maximum points)
 

Education:

Advanced degree in Economics, Gender Studies, Social Sciences, International Law or any other related field (35)
Professional work experience     Minimum of 5 years of experience in gender equality/women empowerment and gender mainstreaming into policies, legal regulations and programs (supporting materials or link to the site where the document is available to learn about the candidate’s experience) (60)

Experience and knowledge on developing manuals/guidelines on social service provision, conducting research in the field of provision of special social services (please provide a link to the resource to access the study) (80)

Specific experience on programming on elimination of violence against women (60)

Minimum 5 years of experience with UN agencies and other international organizations, as well as with government agencies in supervising and developing materials on special social services provision  (50)

Functional Competencies    

Ability to think strategically including management and reporting (25)

Ability to apply development theory to the specific country context to identify creative, practical approaches to overcome challenging situations (25)
Languages:

Excellent writing and speaking skills in English (10)
Knowledge of Russian is an asset    (5)
Maximum total technical scoring (70%):    (350)

Only candidates, who will accumulate at least 245 points of the maximum 350 points during the technical evaluation process, will be qualified for financial proposal*. 

• Each candidate will be requested to submit consolidated financial proposal (a "consolidated financial proposal" that includes applicant's all expenses required to perform the tasks, including travel expenses for the task, etc.).

The financial offers of the technically qualified candidates will be requested and will be weighted in terms of selection points as per below formula:
B = T + Clow / C x 150, where
T- is the universal technical score awarded to the evaluation of the proposal (only those proposals that pass 70% of the technical evaluation);

C is the financial offer of the candidate; and

Clow- is the lowest financial proposal among all evaluated candidates;

150 is the maximum financial point that can be obtained.
The successful candidate will have accumulated the highest aggregated score (technical and financial scoring).
Payment will be made only if expected results will be achieved agreed package of documents and reports provided without delay and approval of UN-Women.

Application Process:
All documents are to be submitted to the email address central-aisa.consultant@unwomen.org and state “International Consultant on Social Services KAZ” in a subject line. The submitted documents should include:

• CV/ UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment);
• Technical proposal describing how the expected assignment will be performed. The technical proposal should also include: 
• supporting materials or link to the site where the document is available to learn about the candidate’s experience in gender equality/women empowerment and gender mainstreaming into policies, legal regulations and programs;
• a link to the resources developed by the candidate on developing manuals/guidelines on social service provision, conducting research in the field of provision of special social services. 
• Financial proposal, including daily fee, travel costs associated with the fulfillment of all tasks within the framework of ToRs, and the total amount. Please note, that costs associated with organizing trainings in Astana and Uralsk will be covered by UN Women. The international consultant should include all air transportation costs, visa fee, and accommodation in Astana (in Uralsk accommodation will be provided.

Only candidates who have passed the preliminary selection will be informed.

Kindly note, that the system will only allow one attachment, hence all supporting document
e.g. P11, CV must be scanned as one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.
In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender.