International Consultancy Service to offer technical support for Family Bill drafting

Consultant

Contract

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Background

At present, South Sudan does not have a family law. Nearly all matters related to marriage, bride wealth, divorce, child custody, division of assets, and inheritance are governed by customary law. Accordingly, the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare (MOGSW) with support of UNDP established a Steering Committee to guide the development of a national Family Bill for South Sudan.

The Family Bill is intended to revise and harmonize practices in the country, and thus contribute directly to Article 16 of the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan 2011 (as amended), which requires all levels of government to enact laws to combat harmful customs and traditions which undermine the dignity and status of women.

In 2020, UNDP supported the MOGCSW to review the country’s legislative framework. The review was informed by a report on national consultations conducted by the South Sudan Women’s Empowerment Network in 2017 and 2018. The consultation report conveys community voices, perspectives, and expectations on the need for a formal family law in South Sudan to resolve the vulnerabilities of women and children.

In January 2021, a review report was finalised outlining an overview of the existing legal regime regulating aspects related to families, gaps in substantive areas of the law requiring further consultations and recommendations on the content and the mechanism for developing the model family law through an inclusive process in accordance with international norms and good practise. The report also offered a roadmap guiding the development of Law.

Against this background, the Steering Committee under the leadership of the MOGCSW decided to seek UNDP support to engage an international consultant to support the final stages of roadmap implementation and specifically draft the Family Bill.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives

• The purpose of the consultancy is to offer technical support for and draft a Family Bill for South Sudan.

Scope of Work

In order to achieve the objectives, the tasks of the consultant will include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:

• Conduct a desk review of the roadmap, existing legal frameworks and research/consultations –relevant customary law and practices as well as statutory law – as well as best practices regionally. Statutory law includes, but is not limited to, the following, the Transitional Constitution, Local Government Act, Traditional Authority Act, Child Act, Girl Child Education Act, Women Land Policy Draft, Land Act, Penal Code Act Gender Policy, National Action Plan for UNSC Res 1325 (Women, Peace, and Security) 2015-2020, Anti-GBV Draft Bill, as well as relevant international treaties and conventions;
• Review key policies, strategy and other documents related to women’s rights, human rights (including rights of marginalised groups, those living with disabilities, elderly, etc.), and the rights of the child such as the Inclusive Policy for Persons with Disabilities, Social Protection Policy,
• Consult key stakeholders – including MOGCSW, the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Traditional Leaders Authority through the Local Government Board, the Special Protection Unit of the Police, GBV Court judges, CSO and UN actors;
• Draft a comprehensive draft bill based on the desk review of existing laws, literature, and consultations, ensuring it is rights-based, contextually sensitive, gender-responsive and child sensitive;
• Present the “zero draft” bill for consultation at a workshop to consolidate the feedback of key stakeholders for the final draft of the bill;
• Review input from the workshop, incorporate and submit the final draft for approval to the Steering Committee.

Methodology

The consultant will be expected to make a detailed Bill to achieve the expected results. All sensitive documents and materials developed will be treated as confidential. Implementation of the contract must adhere to the principles of respect for human rights, including the human rights of people of different backgrounds, and reflect the diversity of this population.

The draft Bill will be shared for comments and inputs from key stakeholders. The final product will be presented to and approved by UNDP before being handed to the Steering Committee.

Deliverables

The consultant will produce the following deliverables:

Produce “the draft Family Bill”: The draft Bill shall include, among others:

• Marriage, divorce, custody of children, as well as matters relating thereto, including customary law with a view based on uniformity of applicability to all persons in South Sudan;
• Law on succession, inheritance and property (movable and immovable) on death, the making and proving of wills, and the administration of estates.
• On all topics, it is essential that the consultant pay particular attention to the status of women.

The draft Bill shall be shared at a stakeholder validation workshop, where the consultant will familiarise key stakeholders with its contents and applicability.

Final Family Bill: The final Family Bill will be submitted a week after the stakeholder validation meeting, addressing any comments and issues arising from the draft Bill.

Duration

• This consultancy is for a total of 30 working days.

Reporting

• The consultant will be supervised by the Under Secretary of the Ministry of Gender Child and Social Welfare or the Under Secretary’s designated technical lead.
• The consultant will provide brief updates on a regular basis to the UNDP Chief Technical Advisor and Programme Manager for Access to Justice, Security and Human Rights or her designate. Updates will be provided in writing and through virtual meetings/calls, as required.
• The consultant will be solely responsible for the implementation of all deliverables.

Payment modalities

• Interested consultants should provide detailed but concise CVs of no more than five pages A4.

The contract will be output-based, with payments issued upon satisfactory fulfilment of deliverables as detailed below

Deliverable

Timeframe

Payment arrangement

Draft Bill

20 days

50%

Final Bill following incorporation of all feedback from the validation workshop.

10 days

50%

Commitment to Work

• The consultant shall use an evidence-based approach and ensure the highest standard of work and timely deliverables at every stage of this assignment. In particular, the consultant shall ensure clarity of objectives and process during the wider consultations; countercheck all facts and provisions; ensure that the content and format of the Family Bill meets the highest standard for such documents; and ensure proper editing and clarity.

Competencies

Core competencies and values:

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modelling UN values and ethical standards;
• Demonstrates professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;
• Demonstrates a high sense of relational skills; including cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age-sensitivity and adaptability, with a demonstrated ability to work in a diverse team.

Functional competencies:

• Strong knowledge and experience of issues concerning legal drafting, judicial systems and legal proceedings, human rights, sexual and gender-based violence, conflict-related sexual violence, access to justice for vulnerable and marginalised groups as well as persons with disabilities, sociology of law, as well as diversion mechanisms from academic and practical points of view.
• Strong experience in the East African regional context is mandatory.
• Strong background in women’s, children’s and general human rights is considered is mandatory;
• Excellent facilitation and communication skills;
• Ability to deal with multi-stakeholder groups;
• Ability to write focused reports;
• Strong interpersonal and managerial skills, ability to work with people from different backgrounds and evidence of delivering good quality knowledge products.

Communication

• Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately;
• Asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication;
• Tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience;
• Demonstrates openness and initiative in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in law, international relations, human rights, or other closely related field. A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.

Experience

• A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in the field of human rights, women’s rights, access to justice, or a similar field.
• Excellent legislative drafting skills, including ability to write high-quality laws, conduct legal research, and express legal ideas in a clear and concise style.
• Familiarity with and/or previous working experience with a law review institution and justice institutions. Experience in South Sudan would be a significant advantage
• Demonstrated experience in conducting research in emergency contexts.

Language

• Strong communication skills with excellent knowledge of written and spoken English;
• Knowledge of Arabic is considered an advantage.

Consultancy Evaluation Criteria

• Offers received will be evaluated using a Combined Scoring method, where the qualifications and Required Skills and Experience will be weighted 70%, and combined with the price offer, which will be weighted 30%.

Technical evaluation criteria Criteria to be used for rating the qualifications and Required Skills and Experience is outlined below:

Relevant Education (30%)

• Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in law, international relations, human rights, or other closely related field. A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.

Relevant Work Experience as per TOR Requirements (50%)

• A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in the field of human rights, women’s rights, access to justice, or a similar field.
• Excellent legislative drafting skills, including ability to write high-quality laws, conduct legal research, and express legal ideas in a clear and concise style.
• Familiarity with and/or previous working experience with a law review institution and justice institutions. Experience in South Sudan would be a significant advantage
• Demonstrated experience in conducting research in emergency contexts.

Communication & language (20%)

• Strong communication skills with excellent knowledge of written and spoken English;
• Knowledge of Arabic is considered an advantage.

NOTE: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the Technical Evaluation will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Financial evaluation (total 30 points)

• All technically qualified proposals will be scored up to 30 based on the formula provided below. The maximum points (30) will be assigned to the lowest financial proposal. All other proposals receive points according to the following formula: p = y(x/z)

Where:

• p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
• y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal
• x = price of the lowest priced proposal
• z = price of the proposal being evaluated.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

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Added 2 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: jobs.undp.org