Violence against Women Roving Technical Specialist

Consultant Leadership

Overview

Develop guidelines and enhance policies to address violence against women across ASEAN.

You have:

• Master’s degree in gender studies, law, human rights, international development, social sciences, or other related areas.
• At least 7 years of relevant experience in the field of gender-based violence (GBV).
• Experience working with GBV in the context of women migrant workers and other marginalized groups is an asset.
• Practical experience working with GBV in the ASEAN region is an asset.
• Prior experience working with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its Committees and Commissions, especially ACW and ACWC is an asset.
• Fluent in English.

Contract

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

Background

A) Background of the initiative

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations (UN), 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 the efforts of the UN system to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. UN Women 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 has a universal mandate that encompasses a normative, an operational/programmatic as well as a coordination role, all of which are closely linked with its unique structure. At the core of its mandate, UN Women plays a leading role in supporting governments in delivering on their gender equality and empowerment of women (GEEW) commitments in the SDGs. UN Women is mandated to stimulate and coordinate improved action on gender equality across the whole UN system.

Assignment background

Despite great efforts and commitments, regional evidence suggests that violence against women and girls (VAWG) remains a widespread violation of human rights in the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. Available data indicates that Southeast Asia has prevalence rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) of 37% and the rate of IPV and non-partner sexual violence combined is 40%.1 Violence directed against women has devastating physical, emotional, financial and social effects on women, children, families and communities. It negatively affects women’s sense of self-worth, their general well-being and overall quality of life. Violence has serious negative consequences ranging from immediate to long-term.

Along with the COVID-19 pandemic, new challenges emerged. The pandemic has exacerbated risks and experiences of violence, especially for those who have been confined at home with potential perpetrators due to lockdowns and mobility restrictions. Reports of violence have increased with helplines responding to incidents of violence reporting sharp increases in calls for assistance. Nevertheless, at the same time, many support services have been strained in their operations and women facing violence have found it challenging to seek immediate help and access services due to restrictions in movement and reduced service provision.

In the context of this dynamic, changing and complex environment, the development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to respond to violence against women (VAW) in countries in the region is essential to make sure service providers handle the cases in a gender-responsive and survivor-cantered manner and the civil rights of all women experiencing violence are protected.

In order to have SOPs at country level, the development of regional guidelines for SOPs, has been prioritized by the ASEAN Commission on Women (ACW) and the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC), with the aim of having governments institutionalize and prioritize VAW both during crisis and in normal settings . Because of the multi-sectoral nature of violence against women and the specific challenges and needs of marginalized groups such as women migrant workers, coordinated approaches to addressing VAW are essential. To be most effective, coordinated approaches to VAW’s response require clearly defined Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in line with global guidance on quality coordinated responses.

The development of guidelines for SOPs is one of the regional level priority areas identified by Member States within the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action (RPA) on EVAW and the Mid-term Review (MTR) of the RPA. The MTR highlights the importance of developing guidelines and SOPs to raise performance standards for gender-responsive handling of VAW cases according to international best practices, such as the UN Essential Services Package. To achieve this, at the regional level, it is recommended to create an agreement on the minimum standards of care for VAW survivors among the Member States.

The guideline will contribute to the following area and indicator of the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on the Elimination of Violence against Women:

• Priority area 3: Develop guidelines for SOPs [standard operating procedures] on performance standards for service providers on gender-sensitive handling of VAW cases, including guidelines for support services for victims/survivors and the administration of justice. 3. Development and adoption of guidelines for SOPs.
• Indicator 3: Guidelines for SOPs developed and adopted.

The development of the guideline for SOPs will be supported by UN Women through the “Essential Services Package and Prevention Frameworks and Initiatives (2020-2022)”- supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Republic of Korea- and the “Safe and Fair: Realizing women migrant workers’ rights and opportunities in the ASEAN region (2018- 2022)”, a regional programme part of the Spotlight Initiative to Eliminate Violence against Women and Girls, a global, multi-year initiative between the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN). The Safe and Fair programme is implemented through a partnership between the ILO and UN Women (in collaboration with UNODC) with the overriding objective of ensuring that labour migration is safe and fair for all women in the ASEAN region.

This initiative contributes to:

1. Build institutional capacity and accountability to implement and evaluate policy commitments and invest in quality services that prevent and respond to violence against women migrant workers (SAF activity 2.2.1)
2. Develop instruments and tools that strengthen coordination of and access to quality services for women migrant workers; (SAF activity 2.2.2)
3. 3.1.3.14 Capacity building and technical support to the implementation of the ASEAN RPA on EVAW, including the ASEAN Social Work Strengthening (Linked to APS_O_1.1.41) (DFAT) (UNW EVAW Activity 3.1.3.14)

B) Objective and scope of the assignment

Reporting to the Ending Violence against Women Programme Specialist, the “Violence against Women Roving Technical Specialist” will 1) develop ASEAN regional guidelines on the development of national Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for coordinated response to violence against women, including marginalized groups; 2) enhance national policies, plans and programmes addressing violence against women, including women migrant workers across ASEAN and 3) strengthen capacities of service providers on collecting and analyzing administrative data on violence against women migrant workers.

1) ASEAN regional guidelines on the development of national SOPs for coordinated response to violence against women, including marginalized groups

The ASEAN SOPs guidelines should include the following:

• Performance standards for service providers on how to apply gender-sensitive and survivor-centered approaches in the handling of VAW cases and a specific focus on cases from marginalized groups.
• Practical and standard guidance for the ASEAN Member States on how to develop national Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
• Practical and standard guidance for ASEAN Member States on how to ensure performance standards for service providers on gender-sensitive and survivor-centered handling of VAW cases, including guidelines for support services for victims/survivors and the administration of justice

The guidance on how to develop SOPs is meant to be a roadmap for understanding and applying coordinated responses that reflect survivors’ needs and lived experiences. The consultant will first prepare an inception report that includes a methodology to develop the guideline.

Afterward, a “0” draft report for the guideline will be produced as a base to conduct a series of national consultations across ASEAN countries under the consultant’s guidance. SOPs are developed using a collaborative and consultative process, involving all partners/relevant actors in the coordinated response. The consultative process is important to ensure consensus and shared ownership among coordinated response members and more importantly, to ensure that SOPs respond to the lived experiences of women, including from marginalized groups. After incorporating the outcomes of the national consultations, the consultant will produce a first draft report to be then circulated to UNW, ACWC and ACW members for inputs.

Once their inputs are incorporated in the report, final guidelines will then be produced, and re-circulated to UNW, ACW/ACWC members for final validation and adoption.

The guideline will be designed in alignment with 1) ASEAN Socio-Cultural Blueprint 2025, 2) ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on the Elimination of Violence against Women (ASEAN RPA on EVAW), 3) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and 4) ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers.

2) Enhancenational policies, plans and programmes addressing violence against women, including women migrant workers across ASEAN

• The consultant will review 10 technical documents, including laws, policies and programme proposals and will deliver a maximum of 5 technical presentations on VAW in the context of labour migration if and when needed by UN Women
• The consultant will provide technical support to the development of maximum 4 local and national SOPs

3) Strengthen capacities of service providers on collecting and analyzing administrative data on violence against women migrant workers

The consultant will:

• provide technical support to countries in the ASEAN region to deliver trainings on administrative data on violence against women migrant workers to national stakeholders, based on the regional training conducted in 2020 on Data collection on violence against women migrant workers
• Provide technical support to maximum 5 frontline service providers in enhancing their VAW administrative data collection systems

Duties and Responsibilities

C) Expected deliverables and timeframe

With technical oversight from UN Women/ EVAW team, the consultant must ensure the quality, standard, and satisfaction of deliverables to be submitted to UN Women within the given timeline.

The duration of this assignment is tentatively from 1st April 2022 to 30 June 2023.

Key Tasks

Deliverables

Target date

1. ASEAN SOPs guideline

Develop an inception paper for the ASEAN regional SOP guideline, including methodology to develop the guideline in a consultative and inclusive manner.

1.1 Validated and finalized inception paper, incorporating at least one round of feedback from UN Women, ACW and ACWC.

29 April 2022

Develop guidance and conduct a series of consultations across ASEAN countries to consolidate inputs from different stakeholders for the first round of review.

1.2 Validated and finalized first draft of the guidelines incorporating the outcome of the consultations.

31 August 2022

Develop the final report for the ASEAN regional SOP guideline, including consolidation of the feedback from ACW and ACWC members.

1.3 Validated and finalized first draft, incorporating at least one round of feedback from UN Women, ACW and ACWC

15 October 2022

1.4 Validated and finalized final report, incorporating at least one round of feedback from UN Women, ACW and ACWC.

30 November 2022

2. Technical support on VAWMW

Provide technical inputs for UN Women Safe and Fair Programme countries on draft policy, strategies, programmes that prevent and respond to violence against women migrant workers (SAF activity 2.1.3)

2.1 Documented technical inputs for the Safe and Fair Programme countries (minimum 3 countries in 2021) on 10 draft policies, laws and programme proposals, in line with international standards.

15 June 2023

2.2 Documented technical inputs to 4 draft national or sub-national SOPs

15 March 2023

3. Administrative data on VAWMW

Provide technical support to countries in the region to deliver trainings on Admin data to national stakeholders (5 trainings)

3.1 Reports from 5 trainings organized on VAW administrative data with analysis on bottlenecks and concrete recommendations on ways forward

15 December 2022

3.2 Documentation of the technical support provided to 5 administrative data systems

28 February 2023

D) Supervision

The consultant will work under the supervision of the EVAW Programme Specialist of the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, who will coordinate the technical comments received from UN Women EVAW team, ACW and ACWC members.

E) Copyright/Intellectual Property

UN Women will retain copyright and intellectual property rights over all resources and content created as part of these Terms of Reference. However, the credit for the production of the content will be given to the service provider and the partner agencies.

All information pertaining to this project (documentary, digital, cyber, project documents, etc.) belonging to UN Women, ACW and ACWC which the consultant may come into contact within the performance of his/her, duties under this assignment shall remain the property of UN Women, ACW and ACWC who shall have exclusive rights over their use. Except for purposes of this assignment, the information shall not be disclosed to the public nor used in whatever without written permission of UN Women, ACW and ACWC in line with the national and International Copyright Laws applicable.

Competencies

F) Competencies

Core Values:

1. Respect for Diversity
2. Integrity
3. Professionalism

Core Competencies:

1. Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
2. Accountability
3. Creative Problem Solving
4. Effective Communication
5. Inclusive Collaboration
6. Stakeholder Engagement

Functional Competencies:

1. Good analytical skills
2. Good knowledge of violence against women

Required Skills and Experience

G) Eligibility criteria

• Master’s degree in the field of gender studies, law, human rights, international development, social sciences, or other related areas.
• At least 7 years of relevant experience in the field of gender-based violence (GBV), including experience working in GBV referral mechanisms and GBV service provision.
• Experience working with GBV in the context of women migrant workers and other marginalized groups is an asset.
• Practical experience working with GBV in the ASEAN region is an asset.
• Prior experience working with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its Committees and Commissions, especially ACW and ACWC is an asset.
• Fluent in English.

H) Roles and Responsibilities of the Parties

UN Women, ACW and ACWC will provide technical guidance where possible and written comments in selected deliverables, as mentioned above. The consultant shall be required to bear all the related costs and work independently to successfully achieve the end results.

I) Evaluation

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis:

1. Technical Qualification (100 points) weight; [70%]
2. Financial Proposal (100 points) weight; [30%]

A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the applications, with evaluation of the technical application being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Only the price proposal of the candidates who passed the minimum technical score of 70% of the obtainable score of 100 points in the technical qualification evaluation will be evaluated.

Technical qualification evaluation criteria:

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 100. The technical qualification of the individuals is evaluated based on the following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Technical Evaluation Criteria

Obtainable Score

A. Education

• Master’s degree in the field of gender studies, law, human rights, international development, social sciences, or other related areas.

20%

B. Experiences

• At least 7 years of relevant experience in the field of gender-based violence (GBV), including experience working in GBV referral mechanisms and GBV service provision.
• Experience working with GBV in the context of women migrant workers and other marginalized groups is an asset.
• Practical experience working with GBV in the ASEAN region is an asset.
• Prior experience working with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its Committees and Commissions, especially ACW and ACWC is an asset.

70%

C. Reporting writing, editing and language skills

• Fluent in English.

10%

Total Obtainable Score

100%

J) Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:

1. Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation will be considered and evaluated.
2. The total number of points allocated for the financial component is 100.
3. The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened/ evaluated and compared among those technically qualified candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.
4. Financial proposal: the financial proposal shall specify a lump sum amount breaking down the professional fee for each deliverable, in local currency.

K) Submission of application

Submission package includes:

1. CV
2. P11 https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-p11-personal-history-form.doc?la=en&vs=558
3. Financial proposal: the financial proposal shall specify deliverable fees breaking down into the professional fee per day

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

**Please note, you can only submit 1 file in the UNDP application system. If you submit your application through the UNDP application system, please create one file with all the required documents. Applicants with incomplete submission will not be considered. *

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Added 4 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: jobs.undp.org