National Consultant/Lawyer for provision of legal support to clients of shelters

Background

UN Women, the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women has been created to accelerate up the process of meeting the needs of women and girls across the world. UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls worldwide. It works globally to make the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals a reality for women and girls and stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life.

The project “Gender-Based Violence Response and Prevention Project in Tajikistan” implemented by UN Women with funding support of United States Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) is aimed to contribute to the protection of women’s rights, prevention and response to domestic/gender-based violence by development of targeted information, implementation of practical empowerment actions, education activities and awareness raising (“From Awareness to Zero Victims Blaming”) to increase reporting of violence cases through improved understanding of different forms of VAW, by stopping blaming the victims; and ultimately promoting gender equality. Equally important, the project will build more effective protection at district level by making the localized protection mechanisms functional, as well as by strengthening the potential of service providers, civil society women’s rights organizations and shelters, including technical support of shelters to better meet the needs of their clients - violence survivors.

The project is in line with the strategic priorities of the Government of Tajikistan, including its national development priorities, international commitments made in response to the CEDAW concluding observations (2018), and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2016.

In the part “Access to Justice” of the concluding observations of UN CEDAW Committee, made in October 2018 to Tajikistan, The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Ensure that all women and girls have access to an effective, confidential and gender-sensitive complaint mechanism and encourage reporting in cases relating to all forms of gender-based violence and discrimination.

(b) Promote and ensure the accessibility of free, gender-sensitive legal aid for women with insufficient means, including women belonging to disadvantaged groups, throughout the State party, and ensure that the right of victims to legal assistance, including of their own choosing, are guaranteed throughout the proceedings.

In the current scope of this assignment, the project intends to contribute to the protection of women’s rights, prevention, and response to domestic/gender-based violence by strengthening capacities and integrating provision of services, including by civil society and women’s rights organizations, and shelters.

In order to achieve the Project outcome 3: “Relevant government authorities and CSOs at national and district levels establish strong networks to deliver quality and coordinated client centered essential EVAW services, in line with global standards and guidelines”; and the Project Output 1.2: “Treatment of women and girls, during at least 1,500 VAWG cases’ management, is improved in target institutions and CSOs including due to improved work of the DTFs on EVAW”, UN Women is planning to hire a lawyer to support case-management of the clients under two shelters run by NGO “Korvoni Umed” in Dushanbe.

Goal and objectives of the consultancy:

The provision of efficient legal support services to survivors of GBV in targeted arears can diminish the losses experienced by women, children, families, and communities in terms of productivity, educational achievement, to name a few and most importantly help break the cycle of violence. Since most survivors are not accessing services at acceptable rates or, most do not access legal services at all, access to justice and legal services can be a challenge for vulnerable groups of people across Tajikistan, owing to high legal costs, absence of free legal services in certain regions, backlog of cases and lengthy trials, lack of human and technological resources, among others. People residing in rural communities may encounter further challenges, particularly given the geographical distribution of courts. Considering these challenges experienced by survivors of GBV in accessing high quality essential legal services, UN Women Tajikistan with funding support of the United States Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) of U.S. Department has recognized the need for collaboration and provision of quality essential legal services to those affected by GBV who have been unable to obtain legal assistance. The initiative seeks to promote a zero-tolerance for GBV policy across the legal profession as part of efforts to break the cycle of GBV.

In view of the above, UN Women will hire National Consultant/Lawyer for provision of the legal aid support to GBV survivors, support case-management of the clients under the NGO “Korvoni Umed” that running two shelters in Dushanbe.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the UN Women National Portfolio Coordinator, the consultant will perform the following tasks, that include but are not limited to the following:

Prepare and provide the work plan and submit to UN Women. The plan should include:
Clear timeframe
Work schedule
Range of proposed services
Indicating consultation methods (in person/telephone, etc) with good tracking records to be used in the process of work
Provide legal support to the clients-beneficiaries of shelters running by NGO Korvoni Umed to the state, law enforcement agencies, and courts on the protection of their legitimate rights and interests.
Provision of qualified primary legal assistance to beneficiaries, legal advice, clarifications, drafting of legal documents, pre-trial settlement of disputes.
Prepare letters to the relevant authorities on legal assistance to beneficiaries.
Conduct information sessions, educational seminars and trainings on gender issues, with specific focus on GBV prevention and response in targeted districts.
Develop and produce standard application forms for filing individual cases and follow up.
Develop and produce information materials on the prevention of domestic violence against women and girls.
Monthly submission of statistical reports on the work done (including desegregated data) in the formats established by UN Women by the end of each month, including recommendations and suggestions for improvement.
Prepare SOP (a compiled guide document) on cases management (based on similarity of cases approached, registered, documented, solved, references made on legislation and used, etc), to be used as the knowledge product for the future.
Submit the Final Report for implemented work by the lawyer within the contract period.

The foregoing will be done as part of efforts to empower GBV survivors, by removing impediments to their participation in public life and improving their access to secure livelihoods as well as to assist GBV survivors to establish and realize their rights.

Competencies

Core Values:

Respect for Diversity
Integrity
Professionalism

Core Competencies:

Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
Accountability
Creative Problem Solving
Effective Communication
Inclusive Collaboration

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

Possesses the ability to work independently, under pressure and meet deadlines.
Good knowledge of technical area.
Good organizational skills and ability to pay close attention to details;
Analytical and research skills
Experience in report writing.

Technical competencies:

Experience working under minimum supervision and tight deadlines.
Computer literate (being able to use MS Windows, office applications, Internet search);
Proven track record and experience in gender-related work, and in particular- on GBV and girl child rights.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

University degree on legal studies, with a particular focus on family law sub-specialties, social development, gender studies, social studies, human rights or related field

Working Experience:

A minimum of 3 years of experience in the area of gender-based violence (GBV), EVAW and related themes;
Excellent knowledge of the current legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan and experience in lobbying for legislation in the field of combating and prevention of domestic violence.
Prior experience in the work environment of an international agency, local NGOs, UN agencies, including shelters in providing legal assistance to the population.
Experience in family law, criminal law, dispute resolution, etc.
Communication and interpersonal skills, particularly with victims of the GBV/VAW.

Knowledge of languages:

Proficient knowledge of Tajik and Russian languages.

Application Process

The application MUST include:

Letter of Interest.
Personal History Form (P-11 form) - including past experience in similar assignments; can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment a signed [scanned] copy should be submitted.
Financial Proposal (with indicating a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this Terms of Reference, and estimated number of working days per month). The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum on a monthly basis.

Payment Schedule

Payment for the services provided will be made by monthly bases upon achievement of expected results and approval of the deliverable and acceptance of services by the UN Women (PERF) that the services have been satisfactorily performed.