Background
UN Women, 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, UN Women leads and coordinates 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 plays an innovative and catalytic role in the State of Palestine since its inception in 1997 (as UNIFEM). UN Women Palestine focuses its activities on one overarching goal, namely to support the implementation at the national level of existing international commitments to advance gender equality in line with the national priorities. In line with the Palestinian Government’s commitment to fight Violence Against Women (VAW) as set in the National Strategy to Combat VAW, and in full partnership with the Supreme Judge Department, UN Women is currently implementing the inception phase of the UNDP/UN Women Joint Programme (JP)- SAWASYA II “Strengthening the Rule of Law in the oPt: Justice and Security for the Palestinian People". Under this Programme, UN Women is working in close cooperation and coordination with the Supreme Judge Department on building the capacities of Sharia Courts in providing gender responsive services and adjudication to women’s cases. To this end, in order to plan and design responsive programmes, UN Women in cooperation with the Supreme Judge Department is planning to conduct a baseline assessment on the Sharia courts’ response and management for women’s cases during 2015-2016. The study aims at informing decision makers at the Supreme Judge Department and UN Women on needs, priorities and gaps existing within the Sharia courts in relation to women’s access to justice, and informing related future programming and interventions.
Objective of the assignment:
UN Women is seeking to hire an experienced consultant to prepare a high quality baseline study on the Sharia courts’ response and management of women’s cases during the years (2015-2016), to inform future response and programming in relation to women’s cases in Sharia Courts, as per the following description of the scope of the study.
Scope of the Study:
The baseline study will analyse the level of gender responsiveness of the Sharia Courts to women’s rights, to provide a baseline assessment on the Courts’ response to women’s cases that reached the courts during the years 2015- 2016, including cases that were withdrawn and adjudicated. More specifically, it will provide an assessment to the level of gender responsiveness of the court’s environment, including the procedural aspects, the institutional and human resources capacities and sensitivity towards women’s human rights issues. It will be based on measures encapsulated within CEDAW and other related international human rights conventions, and will include qualitative and quantitative indicators. Although beneficiaries’ assessment of factors and success/ gaps measures are crucial components, this baseline study will not include this aspect.
The study should utilize baseline tools and methods that are appropriate to provide analysis and inputs regarding the following aspects:
- Number and types of women’s related cases that reached the courts during 2015- 2016; the collected data should provide inputs regarding the following types of cases: marriage, divorce, custody, alimony and inheritance;
- Attrition or withdrawal rates of received cases within the same timeframe, including a general description to the main reasons (if available) for withdrawing the cases;
- Results of filed cases, including a general description of decisions taken by the courts for each type of cases, and
- Results of arbitration for the same time frame based on arbitrator’s reports.
In addition to that, methods and tools should provide qualitative information regarding the level of gender responsiveness of the courts; which should include the following aspects:
- The level of responsiveness of court’s policies and procedures to women’s cases;
- The level of responsiveness of courts’ and judges’ practices to women’s cases;
- The time span of women’s cases in courts; and level of delays in cases;
- The level of privacy, confidentiality and safety of women while being in courts;
- The level of sensitivity and empathy of judges to VAW cases;
- The level of communication and cooperation taking place in courts between judges and other service providers within the justice chain; and
- The level of judges’ awareness on women’s human rights and gender equality, in addition to international human rights conventions.
Duties and Responsibilities
Under the overall guidance of UN Women’s Special Representative and the direct supervision of UN Women Rule of Law programme manager, and in close partnership and coordination with UN Women Justice Analyst, the national consultant will undertake the following tasks, duties and responsibilities:
- Prepare a baseline plan and baseline methodology, including baseline key questions, a description for the methods and tools that will be used to collect and analyze the data; baseline sample; criteria and principles against which findings will be measured and submit them to UN Women for review and approval; the methodology will be developed through a participatory process engaging Sharia Courts and other related stakeholders, in addition to UN Women;
- Meet jointly with UN Women and the Supreme Judge Department on regular basis, to discuss the baseline plan, progress, challenges and agree on benchmarks;
- Coordinate with the Supreme Judge Department to set a time frame for interviews, visits and meetings;
- Conduct meetings and interviews with Sharia judges, prosecutors, administrative staff and others as relevant;
- Collect and analyze the data, and ensure a participatory approach during the development of findings;
- Produce a draft baseline report and submit to UN Women for review, including an annex of questions used in the interviews and meetings, templates filled by Sharia judges, prosecutors and other respondents in addition to minutes of key meetings; and
- Amend the draft report based on comments provided by UN Women and Supreme Judge Department, and submit the final report to UN Women for approval.
Note: all documents have to be submitted in English
Key deliverables:
- An inception report that include the desk review results, execution plan, baseline methodology, including key questions, baseline sample and other related information such as methods, tools, criteria and principles as explained under the duties and responsibilities section;
- A draft baseline report on court’s management and response to women’s cases; and
- A final report including annexes.
Time Frame:
The assignment is expected to start on November and to end in mid-December, 2017, with a total of approximate 25-30 working days.
Competencies
Core values / Guiding principles:
Integrity:
- Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
Professionalism:
- Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.
Cultural Sensitivity / Valuing diversity:
- Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values
Core Competencies:
- Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
- Accountability;
- Creative Problem Solving;
- Effective Communication;
- Inclusive Collaboration;
- Stakeholder Engagement; and
- 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
Functional Competencies:
- Sound knowledge of international human rights conventions, including CEDAW and its’ General Recommendations;
- Sound knowledge of gender issues, including VAW, GBV, women’s access to justice and gender responsive judiciary;
- Sound Knowledge of the Sharia Judiciary system and codes in Palestine, including the applicable related laws, policies and procedures;
- Strong and proven expertise in conducting researches and baseline studies, particularly in the fields related to justice sector, criminology, victimology or any other related field;
- Strong dialogue and communication skills;
- Experience in working with the Sharia Judiciary in Palestine is preferable; and
- Establishes, builds and sustains effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client’s perspective; anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly.
Required Skills and Experience
Education"
- A Master’s degree in law, International Law, Criminology, Gender Studies, Social Science or any other related field;
Experience:
- At least 5 years of professional experience in the field of justice and women’s human rights; previous experience with the Sharia judiciary is a great asset;
- A minimum of 4 years’ experience in baseline writing, particularly on justice related issues and/or women’s access to justice;
- A minimum of 2 previous assignments related to baseline studies on gender justice, women’s access to justice or any other related field; and
- Experience with the UN system or/ and International Organizations would be considered an asset.
Language Requirements:
Fluency (both oral and written) in English and Arabic
Application procedure:
This SSA modality is governed by UN Women General Terms and Conditions. UN Women will only be able to respond to applicants who meet the minimum requirements.
Candidates should clearly indicate how they meet the above mentioned criteria in their applications.
The following documents should be submitted as part of the application. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials:
P11 Or CV including past experience in similar assignments; can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment, a signed copy should be submitted
Candidates should have the ability to quickly submit degree certificates, medical certification (of good health) expression of Interest (EoI) and sample of previous work should they be short-listed in consideration of this consultancy.
Long listed candidates should provide a sample of a previous baseline or analysis study related to violence against women or gender based violence or access to justice in the formal justice sector
Evaluation of applicants:
Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications mentioned above; and financial proposal. A contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer receives the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria. Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 50 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for financial evaluation.
Technical Evaluation (70%) – max. 70 points:
- Relevant education, (max. 10 points);
- At least 5 years of professional experience in the field of justice and women’s human rights; previous experience with the Sharia judiciary is a great asset, (max. 15 points);
- A minimum of 4 years’ experience in baseline writing, particularly on justice related issues and/or women’s access to justice, (max. 15 points);
- A minimum of 2 previous assignments related to baseline studies on gender justice, or any other related field, (max. 10 points);
- Experience with the UN system or/ and International Organizations would be considered an asset, (max. 5 points).
- A sample of a previous baseline or analysis study related to violence against women or gender based violence or access to justice in the formal justice sector (max 15 points), and
- Financial Evaluation (30%) – max. 30 points:
The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion. A suggested formula is as follows:
p = 30 (µ/z)
Using the following values:
- p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
- µ = price of the lowest priced proposal
- z = price of the proposal being evaluated
Only long-listed candidates will be contacted.