International Consultant on Ending Violence against Women Legislation and Policy

Millions of women and girls worldwide suffer from some form of gender-based violence and harmful practices, be it domestic violence, rape, female genital mutilation/cutting, dowry-related killing, trafficking, sexual violence in conflict-related situations, son preference and the undervaluing of daughters, or other manifestations of abuse. In fact, for women and girls aged 16-44, gender-based violence is a major cause of death and disability. Up to 70 per cent of women experience violence in their lifetime. Violence against women persists in every country in the world as a pervasive violation of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality. Such violence is unacceptable, whether perpetrated by the State and its agents or by family members or strangers, in the public or private sphere, in peacetime or in times of conflict.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), current research points to widespread experiences of violence against women across the country. The first prevalence survey on VAW, conducted on a representative sample of adult women in BiH in 2013, showed that nearly half had experienced VAW, and 6% of women had specifically survived sexual violence (SV) prior to the age of 15.[1] Perpetrators were mostly current or former partners. Survivors of SV often did not perceive themselves as victims; they were unaware of the available protection services, and most of them did not seek help of any organization of institution, due to the view that “they did not need help”, or because of fear, shame and low trust in institutions. The latest VAW prevalence survey, conducted by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2019 revealed that 4% of women reported surviving SV by a current or former partner and 0.4% by a non-partner since the age of 15.[2] The OSCE survey also found that a large proportion of women had experienced sexual harassment: 28% since the age of 15 and 10% in the 12 months prior to the survey.

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination and violence 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. 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, programs and services needed to implement these standards.

Since 2016, in BiH UN Women has been actively supporting the strengthening and harmonization of the legal framework and institutional response to domestic violence (DV) and violence against women (VAW) with the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) ratified by BiH in 2013.[3] UN Women works closely with the civil society organizations and responsible governmental institutions to harmonize the legal and policy framework with the Istanbul Convention. The work includes support in development of the amendments to the laws relevant for protection from domestic violence and sexual violence and harassment. The policy for coordinated response to cases of domestic violence in both the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska has been supported aiming to contribute to enhanced system of response applying the standards from the Istanbul convention in practice.

As a result, proposals for the enhancement of the legislative framework have been developed, multi-sectoral coordination has been strengthened and the quality, availability and access to services have been improved. Individuals and communities across BiH have supported the prevention of VAW by applying innovative and evidence-based approaches in raising awareness and changing attitudes around VAW. VAW has been placed in the centre of public discourse continuously reaching the general public and target audiences.

The Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) highlights several positive legal and policy measures introduced by the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the area of preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. As regards positive developments in the legal framework, new criminal offences, including FGM, forced sterilisation, stalking, sexual harassment and forced marriage were introduced at the entity level with a view to aligning the legal framework more closely with the Istanbul Convention. In addition, in Republika Srpska, amendments were passed in order to introduce a mandatory risk assessment to be carried out by police officers upon receipt of a domestic violence report. Moreover, both entities have introduced specialist victim support for victims in domestic violence proceedings, through the “person of trust”, who will be able to assist the victim and attend all meetings and hearings before public institutions, including the police and courts.[4]

Despite the above, GREVIO observed a number of issues where improvement is warranted in order to reach higher levels of compliance with the requirements of the Istanbul Convention. The report highlights how policies and the application of laws have almost exclusively focused on domestic violence, failing to provide for specific integrated measures to tackle other harmful forms of violence against women. It therefore identifies as crucial, the enhancement of the implementation of the Istanbul Convention in relation to all forms of violence against women, beyond domestic violence, which are currently less addressed by policies, programmes and support services, with due regard to their gendered nature.[5]

To support the authorities of BiH in further strengthening of the legislative and policy framework at different levels in terms of alignment with the Istanbul Convention, its General Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension of violence against women, as well as other international and regional standards, the UN Women Country Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina is seeking to recruit an International Consultant on EVAW Legislation and Policy. The International Consultant will work under the overall supervision of the UN Women Representative, UN Women Programme Specialist and the direct supervision of the UN Women EVAW Programme Coordinator.

DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE
Therefore, UN Women is seeking to commission an International Consultant on EVAW Legislation and Policy to support the authorities of BiH in further strengthening of the legislative and policy framework at different levels in terms of alignment with the Istanbul Convention, its General Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension of violence against women, as well as other international and regional standards.

IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVE
The immediate objective of this consultancy is to:    

• Analyze compliance of the acting legislative and policy frameworks around VAW and existing legislative initiatives with the Istanbul Convention and other relevant international and regional standards, including recommendations of the pertinent treaty bodies and special procedures;
• Advise the governments at different levels in the process of legislative and policy reforms aimed at the alignment with the Istanbul Convention and other relevant standards;
• Liaise with civil society organizations on their perspective on the acting legislation, existing legislative initiatives and policies in terms of compliance with international standards, as well as practical challenges and bottlenecks in terms of substantive and procedural law or its enforcement;
• Advise the state Agency for Gender Equality on the enhancement of the gender equality institutional framework in BiH.

[1] Babovic, M., O. Pavlovic, K. Ginic, and N. Karadjinovic. 2013. Prevalence and characteristics of violence against women in BiH. Sarajevo: Agency of Gender Equality BiH.

[2] Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). 2019. OSCE-led survey on violence against women: Well-being and safety of women: Bosnia and Herzegovina, results report. OSCE.

[3] Council of Europe. Chart of signatures and ratifications of Treaty 210 – Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. Status as of 06/06/2019. Available at: https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/210/signatures

[4] GREVIO (Baseline) Evaluation Report on legislative and other measures giving effect to the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2022), pg. 6 Available at: https://www.coe.int/en/web/istanbul-convention/-/grevio-publishes-its-report-on-bosnia-and-herzegovina

[5] Ibid.

Under direct supervision of the UN Women EVAW Programme Coordinator, and overall supervision of the UN Women Programme Specialist, and designated UN Women team, the consultant is expected to deliver the following results:

• Analysis of the compliance of the acting legislative framework around VAW and existing legislative initiatives with the Istanbul Convention and other relevant international and regional standards, including recommendations of the pertinent treaty bodies and special procedures;
• Recommendations to the governments at different levels in the process of legislative reforms aimed at the alignment with the Istanbul Convention and other relevant standards;
• The perspectives of civil society organizations taken into consideration on of the acting legislation and existing legislative initiatives in terms of compliance with international standards, as well as practical challenges and bottlenecks in terms of substantive and procedural law or its enforcement;
• Supported the BiH Agency for Gender Equality on the enhancement of the gender equality institutional framework in the country.
• Support the State Agency for Gender Equality in enhancing of the femicide monitoring methodology.

The selected consultant will be expected to produce the following deliverables within the indicative timeframe (December 2023 – October 2024):

Under this ToR, a consultant is envisaged to make 2 travels to Bosnia and Herzegovina. One travel shall be made in one block to Sarajevo (3 days) and Banja Luka (2 days) totaling to 5 days, and the second trip of 3 days shall be made to Sarajevo. The exact dates shall be determined upon signing the contract.

Under the direct supervision of UN Women EVAW Programme Coordinator and overall supervision of UN Women Programme Specialist, the selected consultant will develop and deliver the above listed outputs in accordance with the above outlined timeframe.

The Consultant is expected to report regularly to UN Women BiH CO the progress of the completion of the deliverables. UN Women will work to provide the comments to the deliverables in 7 working days period. The consultant is also expected to inform UN Women of any unforeseen challenge or risk that might occur during the duration of the assignment.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE

The consultant‘s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as:

• Quality of goods/services/works: level of conformance to contract requirements
• Organizational Structure: quality assurance procedures implemented, specialized knowledge, communication, and responsiveness,
• Work Approach: management of service timeline(s) or deliverable(s), environmental impact considerations, gender-responsive considerations,
• Competencies: dependable, timely, knowledgeable, able to prioritize, attention to detail, open-minded, respectful, professional, responsive.

The consultant shall meet periodically with UN Women to discuss issues of mutual concern, to review the consultant’s performance and to discuss improvements, if any, which the consultant or UN Women should make in order to achieve more effective provision of services under the Terms of Reference.

Core Values/guiding principles:

• Integrity - Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
• Professionalism - Demonstrate professional competence and Consultant knowledge of the pertinent
• substantive areas of work.
• Cultural sensitivity and respect for diversity - Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Additionally, the individual should have an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Planning & Organizing - Develops clear goals in line with agreed strategies, identifies priorities, foresees risks and makes allowances accordingly.
• Organizational Awareness - Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.
• Teamwork - Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Accountability - Takes ownership of all responsibilities and delivers outputs in accordance with agreed time, cost and quality standards.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women's Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process 

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Shares knowledge and experience
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside UN Women
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development in one or more practice areas acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills
• Development and Operational Effectiveness
• Demonstrates excellent written and oral communication skills. Communicates sensitively, effectivel and creatively across different constituencies
• Demonstrates very good understanding of and experience in communications and outreach/advocacy
• Ability to perform a variety of standard specialized and non-specialized tasks and work processes that are fully documented, researched, recorded and reported
• Ability to review a variety of data, identify and adjust discrepancies, identify and resolve operational problems
• Uses Information Technology effectively as a tool and resource

Leadership and Self-Management

• Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure
• Proven networking skills and ability to generate interest in UN Women’s mandate
• Identifies opportunities and builds strong partnerships with clients and partners

Academic Qualifications:

• A post-graduate university degree in law, preferably with a substantial focus on international human rights.

Skills and Experience:

• At least fifteen years of progressively responsible work experience in the field of human rights and gender equality;
• Proven experience in UN treaty bodies or special procedures; the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW);  the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;
• Experience in international and regional human rights instruments and standards; knowledge of institutional mandates related to the United Nations or other international or regional organisations' work in the area of women's rights and ending violence against women;
• At least 5 years of experience in working on government level international and regional legal frameworks and caselaw relevant to the promotion of gender equality and ending violence against women;
• Proven experience in the Council of Europe Ad Hoc Committee on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence would be an asset;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in B/C/S and English.

EVALUATION OF OFFERS

UN Women applies a fair and transparent selection process that takes into account both the technical qualification of potential consultants as well as the financial proposals submitted in support of consultant applications. Candidate applications will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of applicant qualifications and financial proposal. The contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
• Having received the highest score out of below defined technical, and financial criteria.

Based on a desk technical evaluation, only candidates receiving a minimum of 50 points at technical evaluation will be considered

Criteria:

Technical Evaluation (70%) – 70 points

Financial Evaluation (30%) – 30 points

Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 30

• S - score received on financial evaluation;
• Fmin - the lowest financial offer out of all the submitted offers qualified over the technical evaluation round;
• F - financial offer under the consideration.

Interested Individual consultants must submit the following documents:

1. Expression of interest and confirmation of immediate availability (cover letter) - signed

2. Detailed financial proposal in USD indicating a total lump sum for the delivery as per above description - signed.

The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount such as:

• consultancy fees
• travel:
  • 1 block trip to Sarajevo (3 days) & Banja Luka (2 days), and
  • 1 additional travel to Sarajevo (3 days),
• accommodation
• subsistence etc.

3. Completed UN Women Personal History (P11) form that can be downloaded from UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form-en.doc (live.com) – signed.

Please note that incomplete applications will not be considered (all documents indicated above need to be uploaded).

For any additional information, please contact unwomen.bih@unwomen.org.

Qualified women and men and members of minorities are encouraged to apply. UN Women applies fair and transparent selection process that would take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals.

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.)