Developing Gender Responsive Emergency Plan for the Sharia Courts

Contract

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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 center of all its efforts, UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide 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. UN Women Palestine Office 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 support of this goal, and thoroughly taking into consideration the specificities of the Palestinian context, UN Women concentrates its efforts and interventions toward the realization of following strategic goals: Mainstreaming gender in governance, peace and security; Supporting women's economic security and rights; and Promoting women’s rights and protection against violence.

In line with the Palestinian Government’s commitment to achieve gender equality and to fight Violence Against Women (VAW) and children, and in full partnership with the Justice and Security Sectors, including the Public Prosecution (PP), the Palestinian Civil Police (PCP), the High Judicial Council (HJC), the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD) and the Supreme Judge Department (SJD) , UN Women, within its joint programme with UNDP and UNICEF- “Promoting the Rule of Law in Palestine- SAWASYA II” and in partnership with UNICEF is supporting the Justice and Security institutes to mainstream gender and children’s rights into their procedures and policies, and develop and provide gender responsive services to women victims and survivors of violence and child responsive services for all children in contact with the law , through providing institutional capacity building and policy level interventions amongst others.

The shari’a courts play a critical role in enabling and protecting women’s and children’s rights and enhancing their access to justice, particularly as they regulate and manage family related critical areas, including marriage, divorce, custody, alimony, and inheritance. Women are frequent and visible beneficiaries of the shari’a courts, with a majority of legal claims made by women. The majority of women’s cases at the courts tend to have violence background and relate to women who face multi- forms of violence, including social, physical, psychological, sexual and economic. Violence against women is difficult to interpret as a basis for separation. While violence is part of the legal reasons for separation, it cannot be a reason for separation by itself. However, it is relied upon to highlight the extent of conflict and discord and the harm inflicted upon the woman should the marriage continues.

Further to that, many children come in contact with the Shari’a Courts as; parties of dispute over custody/guardianship, visitation rights, alimony and inheritance. In personal status cases such as marriage and divorce of children and registration of children born out of wedlock. The Shari’a courts have guardianship over orphaned children and children of unknown parents. They are also the financial guardian of all orphaned children until they reach the age of 18. In some cases the Shari’s courts are the main protector of many basic rights of children such as having a name, but in other cases their rights are breached by not having the best interest of the child in the center of custody or alimony cases.

As a result of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the declaration of the emergency state in the Palestinian territory, the justice sector including the sharia courts has been heavily impacted, and their capacity to continue providing services to women and children has been sharply diminished. This has critical impact on the protection of women and children, their best interests, and the realization of rights, particularly within the surge of violence as demonstrated by data collected by CSOs, UN agencies and others. In view of this, UN Women in partnership with UNICEF and the SJD is planning to develop an emergency plan for the sharia courts, to enable sharia courts to effectively respond and manage women’s and children’s cases during and in the aftermath of emergencies, including pandemics.

The emergency plans will be developed in line with the relevant international response frameworks, such as the framework developed by the International Rescue Committee- Women’s Protection and Empowerment Unit, known as the Emergency Response and Preparedness Initiative (ERPI), the Inter- Agency Standing Committee (IASC) guideline, Child Protection Minimum Standards in humanitarian action (CPMS) and others. Moreover, they should be in adherence with the government’s respective emergency plans and related governmental decisions.

The main premise upon which the emergency plan will be developed is the underlying rationale that the states are primarily responsible for protecting the well- being of their citizens and other persons on their territory. In line with this, the emergency response plans should be based on a gender and child justice and human rights approach, which prioritizes the protection of women and children, the best interest of the child, and the realization of women’s and children ‘s access to justice. They should be developed upon a well- informed evidence-based analysis, and in a participatory manner that takes into consideration the different impact that the emergency state might have on women, girls, men and boys, with particular focus on the most disadvantaged groups of women, girls and boys facing compounded discrimination, including women with disabilities, elderly women, women living in rural areas and refugee camps, orphan children, children with disabilities and others.

Objectives:

UN Women within its joint Rule of Law programme “Sawasya II” is seeking to recruit an experienced consultant to work closely with the sharia court judges, in addition to the Family Counselling Units, the Enforcement Departments, and others as needed, to develop an emergency plan on the management of women and children cases in sharia courts during emergencies.

The main objective of the emergency plan is to increase the capacity and readiness of the sharia courts, to effectively respond to emergencies, while ensuring the continuity of the provision of quality responsive services to women and children. More specifically, the emergency plan will ensure a rapid and efficient response to women and children cases in emergencies, by brainstorming and designing different scenarios; preparing for alternative measures that ensure the viability, availability and accessibility to sharia court services, and developing guidelines, procedures, and referral pathway for women and children including coordination mechanisms between service providers, to ensure consistent working reference framework during emergencies.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Special Representative in the State of Palestine, the direct supervision of Sawasya UN Women Programme Specialist, and working in close cooperation and coordination with UNICEF Child Specialist, the selected consultant will undertake the following tasks duties and responsibilities:

Develop an inception report that includes the work plan and the methodology, and share with UN Women and UNICEF for discussion and approval:

• Meet with UN Women’s and UNICEF’s technical team and the assigned team from the sharia court to agree on the assignment’s objectives and the methods and tools that will be used.
• Based on the meetings and consultations with UN Women, UNICEF and partners’ team, develop a methodology and a detailed work plan, and share with UN Women and UNICEF for feedback. The workplan should include the main objectives of the assignment, deliverables, and time frame.
• The methodology should notably consider the following:

Desk review of the mandate and the role of the sharia court, including related decisions, decrees, policies, procedures, and other related frameworks.

Literature review of similar frameworks developed at the national, regional, and international levels, with focus on frameworks developed by governmental and CSOs service providers.

Collective and bilateral meetings, consultations, and interviews with representatives of the sharia court and concerned institutions, such as the MoSD, the Alimony Fund, CSOs and experts in the field.

Ensure a participatory approach, throughout all phases of the work.

Develop a comprehensive emergency plan for the sharia court on the management of women and children cases:

• Develop a draft gender and child- rights based responsive emergency plan through full coordination with partners.
• Conduct consultation sessions and a validation workshop with the sharia court representatives, Alimony Fund, MoSD, CSOs and others as needed, to present and discuss the emergency plans.
• Based on inputs and feedback provided by the respective partner institution and UN Women and UNICEF team, amend, and submit the final version of the emergency plan.

Prepare and submit a final report:

• Submit a final report that includes a description of the assignment methodology, main interventions, target groups, findings, lessons learned and recommendations.

Further to that, the consultants have to meet with UN Women and UNICEF on regular basis to update them on progress and challenges of the assignment.

Deliverables:

Deliverable 1: A final approved inception report that includes a work plan, and a detailed methodology as described in the section under duties and responsibilities. Expected delivery date is 10 September 2020

Deliverable 2: Approved emergency plan for the sharia court on the management of women and children cases during emergencies, and approved progress report. Expected delivery date is 20 October 2020

Deliverable 3: A final approved report that includes an overall description of the assignment, the methodology used, findings, lessons learned, recommendations. In addition to minutes of meetings, and consultation sessions as annexes. Expected delivery date 30 October 2020

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

Functional Competencies:

• Sound knowledge of international standards on human rights, gender, children’s, and women's rights including international human rights conventions.
• Sound knowledge of emergency frameworks to effectively manage women and children cases within emergencies.
• Sound knowledge of gender equality, including gender analysis, gender mainstreaming techniques and tools, and gender responsive judiciary and security.
• Strong dialogue and communication skills.
• Establishes, builds, and sustains effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client’s perspective; anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly; and
• Sound knowledge of the justice sector, particularly the sharia court system and legal framework.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• A Master’s degree in gender, law, human rights, social science, public administration, or any other related field.

Experience:

• At least 4 years working experience in the field of gender justice and children’s rights.
• At least 2 previous assignments in developing plans, or policy or procedural documents, such as Standards Operating Procedures or guidelines, preferably in the field of emergency plans.
• At least 2 previous assignments in producing gender analysis reports on women’s and children’s rights, or gender related studies, particularly in areas related to the most vulnerable groups.
• At least 2 previous working experience in the field of justice, and
• Experience with the UN system or/and International Organizations is an asset.

Language Requirements:

Professional knowledge of English, and fluency in Arabic.

Evaluation Criteria:

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. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials:

• UN Women P11 including experience in similar assignments; the P11 form can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment, a signed copy should be submitted;
• Letter of Interest containing the statement on candidate’s experience and qualification against required qualification, experience and competencies.

Long listed candidates should provide a sample of a developed plan, policy or procedural document, preferably in the field of emergency plans.

Note: Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Please upload as one attachment of the documents as mentioned above online through this website

Candidates should have the ability to quickly submit degree certificates, medical certification (of good health) expression of Interest (EoI).

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:

• A Master’s degree in gender, law, human rights, social science, public administration or any other related field. (max.10 points)
• At least 4 years working experience in the field of gender justice and children’s rights. (max.15 points)
• At least 2 previous assignments in developing plans, or policy or procedural documents, such as Standards Operating Procedures or guidelines, preferably in the field of emergency plans. (max.10 points)
• At least 2 previous assignments in producing gender analysis reports on women’s and children’s rights, or gender related studies, particularly in areas related to the most vulnerable groups. (max.10 points)
• At least 2 previous working experience in the field of justice, and (max.10 points)
• Experience with the UN system or/and International Organizations is an asset. (max. 5 points)
• A sample of a developed plan, policy or procedural document, preferably in the field of emergency plans. (max 10 points)

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.

Financial proposal. Shortlisted candidate will be requested to submit a financial proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount breaking down a daily professional fee, proposed number of working days and any related expenses, i.e. travel and communications expenses.