Research on Women representation in the judiciary in Africa, for the Rule of Law, Security and Human Rights team, UNDP/CB

Consultant Leadership

Overview

Conduct research on women’s representation in African judiciaries

You have:

• A minimum of an advanced university degree (Master's level) in Law, Journalism, Gender Studies, International Relations, Management Information Systems, Statistics or related area is required.
• At least 10 years of experience in the legal profession, journalism, research, or international expert in judicial reforms is required.
• Experience with research or development projects and programming in the area gender equality and judicial integrity in the judicial sector is required.
• Demonstrated experience in research in justice sector and/or gender is required.
• Proven track record of producing high quality research papers and reports is required.
• Fluency in written and spoken English and French is required.
• Working knowledge of another UN language would be an asset.

Contract

This is a International Consultant contract. More about International Consultant contracts.

Background

With an in-country presence before, during and after a conflict, UNDP is increasingly expected to assume a substantive role in providing rule of law, justice, security and human rights assistance to countries threatened or affected by crisis and fragility. In order to meet these demands, UNDP’s Crisis Bureau has bolstered its capacity to provide support to the field and articulated a Global Programme for Strengthening the Rule of Law and Human Rights for Sustaining Peace and Fostering Development. The RoLSHR programme and team directly provide support to over 40 countries and leads and supports policy development and guidance in rule of law, security and human rights related areas, including in the context of the SDG and Sustaining Peace agendas.

Gender equality and the rule of law are essential for sustainable peace and development and feature prominently in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union Agenda 2063. Despite growing recognition of the importance of women’s representation and engagement in the justice sector, representation remains minimal in many countries.[1]

The importance of women’s professional participation in decision-making bodies is a human right and a crucial component of good governance. A representative justice sector is critical for progress on gender equality, the legitimacy of the justice system and to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 5 and 16 of the 2030 Agenda. Specifically, SDG16 calls for a better understanding of how different groups are represented in parliaments, the public service sector and justice systems. For this reason, the SDG framework encourages countries to provide disaggregated data by gender on positions in public institutions and in decision-making positions.

Regrettably, comprehensive data on women in the justice sector in Africa is not globally available or regularly updated. However, over the past decade there have been promising signs that women in various African countries are overcoming major challenges and being appointed or elected to senior level positions in the justice sector. Women have not only become judges, but also heads of judiciaries[2] and are serving as judges in international courts and tribunals.[3]

Yet, cultural, social and institutional barriers remain preventing or frustrating women’s participation and representation in the justice sector. Women are still vastly underrepresented in the judiciary, especially at top-ranking positions and there is a lack of current data on the number of women judges across Africa. This lack of a data collection mechanism adversely affects the production of empirically grounded research and weakens advocacy efforts to address root causes for this underrepresentation. For example, restrictions on women’s mobility, lack of financial resources, and limited access to higher education can preclude women from meeting the minimum requirements for senior level positions. Pervasive gender stereotypes of women’s roles in society and perceptions that judges should be male are contributing to the underrepresentation of women in the judiciary.[4]

When women do manage to navigate their way onto the bench, they are still in the minority and struggle to effect change from within the profession. In many cases women judges are concentrated in a few courts (often juvenile or family courts) preventing them from engaging and gaining experience in the full spectrum of legal issues within the formal justice sector.

The use of informal justice systems, including traditional and customary law as well as alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, is highly prevalent throughout the continent. Estimates are as high as 80% of the population using informal justice systems over “official” courts.[5] Yet such systems are often skewed against the interests, health and benefit of women and girls, favoring instead to reinforce male-dominated structures and patriarchal values, which are discriminatory and harmful to women and girls. Compliance with human rights standards in the informal justice system is a serious concern for the international community, development actors, human rights defenders and activists. Yet, the ability to obtain verifiable data on the types of cases in the “informal” or “traditional” justice sector has been inconsistent. Data on the inclusion of a gender justice perspective and the participation/representation of women within the system is even more difficult.

Several studies have been published on the representation of women in the public sector- including the justice sector. However, these qualitative and descriptive studies focus on highlighting general gaps and barriers to women’s empowerment, rather than quantitative data on women’s representation in the justice sector. The establishment of initial baselines can be found but are not consistently updated nor has a mechanism been established to do so. Moreover, the quantitative studies completed which include regional data, lack information from the African region, in part because of the challenges mentioned above. Still, some good experiences are worth mentioning. The IDLO report “Women delivering justice: contributions, barriers, pathways “ highlights the pathways that have facilitated women’s accession in the judicial sector -at the global level- including lessons and good practices. The study provides policy recommendations to facilitate change. UNODC, as part of its Global data collection interventions on crime and criminal justice, have produced data on the participation of women judges on Criminal Courts, including data for some African countries.

Regarding the 2030 Agenda framework, the UNDP-Oslo Governance Centre -as part of UNDP´s custodial role on SDG 16 indicators- has recently launched the “Advancing Inclusive Decision-Making for Sustainable Development: Representation in the Public Service through SDG 16.7.1b”. The report provides global data in order to promote the inclusion and participation of marginalized groups- including women- in public institutions (SDG indicator 16.7.1b, which measures representation in the public sector, including the judiciary).

As mentioned in the Open Data Watch report "Bridging the gap: Mapping gender data availability in Africa", there are two main challenges: 1), many national institutions do not have information disaggregated by gender, and 2) in cases where information does exist, they tend to use methodologies different from those used by international sources which makes comparisons at the regional and international level difficult. These same gaps are valid for the judicial sector, with the additional challenge that the justice sector in African countries have different structures.

Due to the scarcity of current information on women's representation in the justice sector in Africa, it is challenging to understand the country specific barriers preventing or frustrating women’s representation, particularly at senior levels, in the Judiciary. This information is key in developing strategic programmatic support that effectively addresses the complexities described above.

UNDP is committed to ensure that gender justice remains high on its agenda as it is a vital component of our work in countries settings, including through legal protections, gender-sensitive justice, security sector reforms, development of legal aid services, women’s meaningful inclusion in transitional justice mechanisms and constitutional reforms. As part of this work, a strategic alliance with UN Women has been implemented to close the justice gaps for women and girls, specifically in conflict and post conflict or transitional settings. The present consultancy is part of this partnership and intended to contribute to UNW and UNDP’s support to women’s empowerment and access to justice.

In order to enable an effective and comprehensive response to women’s empowerment in the justice sector, UNDP is recruiting a consultant to examine the main challenges women are facing to access power and decision making positions and the pathways that have facilitated women’s accession in the sector. This study will take into account the current challenge in relation to obtaining gender-disaggregated information on women’s representation in Judiciaries from select countries in Africa. The consultant is expected to 1) acquire baseline data from select African countries on women’s representation in the judiciary; 2) to provide a deeper dive into the challenges frustrating women’s representation in the Judiciary and 3) to provide specific targeted interventions for programming in a selected number of African countries to overcome the identified challenges.

1] https://www.idlo.int/publications/women-delivering-justice-contributions-barriers-pathways#overlay-context=women-judges-break-down-barriers-womens-access-justice

*J.Jarpa Dawuni is Associate Professor of Political Science at Howard University. She is the editor (with Judge Akua Kuenyehia) of International Courts and the African Woman Judge: Unveiled Narratives (Routledge, 2018) and Gender and the Judiciary in Africa: From Obscurity to Parity? (Routledge, 2018) with Gretchen Bauer.

[2] Josephine Dawuni and Alice Kang, "Her Ladyship the Chief Justice: The Rise of Female Leaders in the Judiciary in Africa," Africa Today, 62, no. 2 (2015): 45–69.

[3] Josephine Dawuni and Akua Kuenyehia, eds., International Courts and the African Woman Judge: Unveiled Narratives (New York: Routledge Press, 2018).

[4] https://www.idlo.int/sites/default/files/pdfs/publications/IDLO%20-%20Women%20Delivering%20Justice%20-%202018.pdf

[5] https://www.humanrights.dk/news/new-studies-shed-light-informal-justice-africa

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK

Under the overall supervision of the RoLSHR Team Leader and with the collaboration of the UNDP ROLSHR, UNDP Gender team, UNDP RBA colleagues and UN women, the Consultant’s e****xpected outputs and deliverables will be as follows:

1. Regional Study on situation of women’****s representation in judiciaries in select countries in Africa. This study will be a maximum of 35 pages and must contain three primary items with the possibility for including secondary items:

a. Quantitative baseline analysis of women’s representation in the judiciary: The consultant will carry out quantitative research on the number of female judges in the judiciaries from a select number of countries. The consultant will focus the analysis on ten (10) to maximum 15 (15) specific countries, representing East Africa, West Africa, Southern, Northern Africa and Central African subregions, in order to establish a baseline. For this analysis, and the selection of the countries, the consultant will work in close collaboration with colleagues from Africa Regional Hub, from Country offices of the selected countries and with the ROLSHR global team. The information gathered should answer three relevant questions: What is the state of women’s representation in the judiciaries in Africa? How many women are actively working as judges in the Judiciaries of the countries selected? In what types of courts and other justice institutions are they represented and active?

The specific information needed will include:

• Type of Court (first instance, court of appeal, high court)
• Thematic Coverage: civil, family, criminal

b. Analyze main challenges and barriers for women’s representation in the judiciary: Focusing on the selected countries, the consultant will analyze the main challenges and gaps that women face including a) prominent barriers that limit women from entering the profession in the judiciary (regulations, rules governing promotion, etc) and b) common challenges women face in effecting change from within the profession once they have entered the judicial institution. The focus, rather than an exhaustive list, should focus on challenges that, if addressed, can have a catalytic impact. For this exercise, the consultant would need to cover different categories of challenges such as legal, cultural, institutional, educational, among others. The idea is to identify specific barriers and tailor interventions to address them and thereby increase the number of women at the various levels of the judiciary.

c. Recommend interventions for selected countries: Based on the research on barriers and challenges, the consultant will propose programming at country level to address identified challenges and barriers. The consultant should draw in country, regional and global partnerships and resources such as relevant UN Agencies, the UNDP Global Programme, technical support at regional and global levels as well as CBOs, women’s professional groups/networks (local and regional), etc.

As part of the recommendations, the consultant will also identify priority countries in partnership with the ROLSHR team - four (4) countries- to implement and pilot strategic interventions to increase the number of women in various levels of their respective judiciaries. The countries will be determined based on the following criteria a) active interest of justice sector actors on the issue of women's representation in the justice sector, b) existing UNDP or UN Women initiatives on justice and gender in the country, c) UNDP and/or UN Women staff or projects with strategic work in the country. Where relevant, the consultant will also include regional trends and best practices from countries where women are better represented in the judiciary.

2. Virtual presentation of findings, results and recommendations. As part of the study, the consultant will prepare a virtual presentation with key results (including PowerPoint) for UNDP and potentially other UN agencies from Headquarters, RBA and country offices. This presentation will be presented at the end of the consultancy.

The process of the consultancy will include the following activities:

1. • Activity 1: Desk Review and Inception Report: including literature/desk review, interviews with national, regional and international stakeholders, review of previous programming and interventions
2. • Activity 2: Provisional Study Outline
3. • Activity 3: Draft Report
4. • Activity 4: Final Report: incorporating feedback on the Draft Report
5. • Activity 5: Virtual presentation and PowerPoint

• Deliverables (see details above)

  Estimated Duration to Complete

  Tentative Due Date

  % of Payment

  Desk Review and Inception Report

  28 days

  27 June 2021

  25%

  First draft of Regional Study on the situation of women in judiciary in Africa (including annexes of the interviews and data research)

  20 days

  17 July 2021

  25%

  Final Regional Study on the situation of women in judiciary in Africa

  10 days

  27 July 2021

  40%

  Virt****ual presentation of findings and recommendations and PowerPoint

  5 days

  10 August 2021

  10%

  TOTAL

  63 days

  100%

Competencies

Functional

• Excellent analytical and research skills;
• Excellent writing and editing skills;
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills;
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team, while being located remotely;
• Ability to work under minimum supervision and tight deadlines.

Professional Skills:

• Demonstrates strong ability to manage, facilitate, and engage in discussions with multiple stakeholders in a formal setting, seeking to encourage participation in an open and collegial environment;
• Proactive in problem-solving and recommendation for conflict prevention and resolution;
• Strong ability in managing confidential and politically sensitive issues, in a responsible way, and in accordance with protocols.
• Demonstrated experience working collaboratively in a team structure in a multicultural environment
• Demonstrated ability to deliver results in high-pressure environment.

Interpersonal and communication skills:

• Strong communication skills and proven ability to collaborate between different actors and high level of internal and external relationship management;
• Uses tact and sensitivity when delivering sensitive information or resolving delicate issues;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Remains calm, in control and good humoured even under pressure.

Corporate

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modeling the UN / UNDP's values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of the UN / UNDP; and
• Displays sensitivity and adaptability when working with a diverse array of cultures, genders, religions, races, nationalities and ages

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualifications:

A minimum of an advanced university degree (Master's level) in Law, Journalism, Gender Studies, International Relations, Management Information Systems, Statistics or related area is required.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of experience in the legal profession, journalism, research, or international expert in judicial reforms**, is required.**
• Experience with research or development projects and programming in the area gender equality and judicial integrity in the judicial sector, is required.
• Demonstrated experience in research in justice sector and/or gender is required.
• Proven track record of producing high quality research papers and reports is required.
• Knowledge of different judicial systems in Africa region would be an asset.
• Experience working with international organizations in development contexts is considered an asset.

Language:

• Fluency in written and spoken English and French is required;
• Working knowledge of another UN language- would be an asset.

Application Procedure

The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):

• A personal statement with a brief description of availability and why the Offeror considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment;
• A writing sample that has not been edited by others, no longer than 10 pages in length;
• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references;

Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.

Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.

• The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around the specific and measurable deliverables of the TOR. Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR, and deliverables accepted and certified by the technical manager.

• The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; (excluding mission travel); living allowances at the duty station; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.

• This consultancy is a home-based assignment, therefore, there is no envisaged travel cost to join duty station/repatriation travel.
• In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

If the Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

The Financial Proposal is to be emailed as per the instruction in the separate email that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.

Evaluation process

Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below. Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Being responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.

Technical evaluation - Total 70% (70 points):

• Criteria 1. At least 10 years of experience in the legal profession, journalism, research, or international expert in judicial reforms, is required. Weight = 20%; Maximum Points: 20
• Criteria 2. Experience with research or development projects and programming in the area gender equality and judicial integrity in the judicial sector, is required. Weight = 20%; Maximum Points: 20
• Criteria 3: Demonstrated experience in research in justice sector and/or gender is required. Weight = 15 %; Maximum Points: 15
• Criteria 4. Proven track record of producing high quality research papers and reports is required. Weight= 15%; Maximum Points: 15;

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (70 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial evaluation - Total 30% (30 points)

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

• p = y (µ/z), where
• p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
• y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal
• µ = price of the lowest priced proposal
• z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Contract Award

Candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP.

Institutional arrangement

The consultant will work under the guidance and direct supervision of the Rule of Law, Security, and Human Rights Team Leader and will be responsible for the fulfilment of the deliverables as specified above.

The Consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment.

Contract duration:

The period of the assignment will cover maximum 63 working days between 14 June 2021 – 25 September 2021.

Payment modality

• Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified above and deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the manager.

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Potential interview questions

Added 5 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: jobs.undp.org