National Consultant (Lao nationality only) to Develop Capacity and SOPs for Justice and Policing Sector in Lao PDR through Mentorship Programme

There is growing recognition that gender-based violence against women is a serious violation of basic human rights that must be eliminated from all sections of society. In Lao PDR, gender-based violence against women is a by-product of traditional beliefs and discriminatory customs related to gender roles. And without a strong rule of law and governance mechanisms for survivors to seek civil remedies, the elimination of gender-based violence against women cannot be achieved.

Since ratifying Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1981, Lao PDR has been politically committed to eliminating gender-based violence and recognizes that its elimination is a critical part of the development process. Nevertheless, there is a need to review and ensure that gender-based violence against women is mainstreamed in the government’s strategic plan.

The joint project will see UNFPA providing technical assistance to Lao Women’s Union (LWU) in formulating the next phase 5-year National Strategic Plans on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (NAPEVAW, 2021-2025) and Gender Equality (2021-2025) (Sub-output 1) and the associated M&E plans (Sub-output 2). In parallel, UNDP will provide support to LWU to strengthen the governance framework and promote women’s participation (Sub-output 3).

UNDP and UNFPA will utilize the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence (henceforth referred to as “ESP”), guidance tool that outlines the essential services that should be provided to women and girls subject to violence, to strengthen the health, social, justice and policing sectors in order to achieve the sub-outputs outlined above.

To achieve this, UNDP has commissioned a capacity needs assessment of the four organisations of the justice and policing sector (J&P Sector) in Lao PDR: Ministry of Justice (MOJ), Ministry of Public Security (MOPS), Office of the Supreme People’s Prosecutor (OSPP), and the People’s Supreme Court (PSC); to assess capacity gaps preventing the full implementation of the NAPEVAW. The capacity needs assessment is due to be completed in October 2021.

During this assignment, the successful applicant will take the findings of the assessment and develop a capacity development plan for each organisation of the J&P Sector to be able to implement the NAPEVAW in alignment with the ESP. They will be supported by the national consultant who will provide supplemental information on the Lao context and ensure that cultural sensitivities are respected. This plan will be implemented through trainings and a mentorship programme. The international consultant will interact minimally with the government due to language barriers, and therefore, will need to provide adequate and sufficient support to the national consultant to ensure full understanding of the tasks at hand. The deliverables of the mentorship programme are not only to develop capacity of the organisations but also to produce an SOP for the J&P Sector and test its efficacy in pilot provinces in close collaboration with each organisation

OBJECTIVE:

There are three objectives to this consultancy. All three objectives must be achieved in close collaboration with the involved organisations.

1. Strengthen capacity of the J&P Sector, according to recommendations from the capacity needs assessment, to ensure quality justice service provision to victim/survivors of violence.
2. Draft an SOP for the J&P Sector to follow when responding and providing services to a victim/survivor of violence, including reporting to the LWU and NCAWMC.
3. Ensure proper implementation of the SOP through an experimentation of its efficacy in pilot provinces. Depending on the findings from this experimentation, changes may need to be made to the SOP.

SCOPE OF WORK:

The successful applicant will be expected to be responsible for the following:

Task 1: Deliver a training session to four J&P Sector organisations at national and sub-national levels

• Provide support to the international consultant to design and deliver a training session to four J&P Sector organisations on gender and justice. The consultant should support the international consultant to conduct research on materials for the session, such as providing knowledge on the Lao-context and customary practices, in addition to using the following:
  • Capacity needs assessment and recommendations (due to be completed in November 2021)
  • Module 3 and 4 of the Essential Service Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence
  • The Handbook on Gender-Responsive Police Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence
  • A Practitioner’s Toolkit on Women’s Access on Justice Programming
  • Five Key Guidelines for Providing Remote Legal Aid to GBV Survivors
  • Training Package for Prosecutors Responding to Violence against Women and Girls in Asia and the Pacific
  • Handbook on effective prosecution responses to violence against women and girls
  • Resource book for trainers on effective prosecution responses to violence against women and girls
• After this training session, participants should have a basic understanding of gender concepts and issues related to the justice and policing sector and those specific to the individual organisations, and their role in ending violence against women in Lao PDR.
• The national consultant will lead the sessions in Lao language. Therefore, the international consultant is expected to provide full support to the national consultant prior to the trainings to ensure that all of the material is prepared, and the national consultant fully understands when and how to use them.
• The national consultant will be responsible for reviewing the Lao translation of all materials or translating them themselves if necessary.

Task 2: Develop SOP for implementation of the NAPEVAW J&P Sector, in alignment with Module 3: Justice and Policing Sector of ESP, including specific guidance for each of the four organisations

• Following a desk review of SOPs in other countries and based on the recommendations from the capacity needs assessment, support the international consultant in the preparation for a two-day drafting workshop to be held with each of the four agencies, to draft the SOP. The SOPs should be developed based on Module 3 and 4 of the ESP, capacity needs assessment and recommendations, and aligned with the social and health SOPs being developed by UNFPA.
• The national consultant will lead the delivery with government officials in Lao language and will be responsible for reviewing the Lao translation of all materials or translating them themselves if necessary.
• During review of the draft SOPs, assist the international consultant to ensure feedback from agencies are well reflected and inputs are consolidated.
• A final consultation workshop should be held with all four agencies present to receive final feedback and inputs. The national consultant will deliver the workshop in Lao language.

Task 3: Develop a capacity development plan for each organisation of the J&P Sector

• Arrange consultation meetings with agencies to develop a capacity development plan for each agency based on the SOP drafted in Task 2. The national consultant will lead the meetings in Lao language.
• Support the consolidation inputs, ensuring that all feedback from agencies are captures, and support the preparation of an outline of the plan for each agency’s capacity development plan. This outline should be shared with the agencies to get their feedback and incorporate into the final plan to be followed.
• A survey at the beginning of the capacity development should be administered to establish a baseline against which participants’ progress will be measured.
• Knowledge assessments should be conducted to measure progress against the baseline at the mid-term and end of the SOP implementation. Assessments should also capture lessons learned.
• The national consultant will be responsible for reviewing the Lao translation of all materials or translating them themselves if necessary.

Task 4: SOP implementation

• Based on the consultations with agencies in Task 3, support the preparation of and deliver a kickoff of the SOP with each agency. The national consultant will lead the kickoff in Lao language and will be responsible for reviewing the Lao translation of all materials or translating them themselves if necessary.
• Support the implementation of the SOP over 3 months to be decided with the agencies.
• In close collaboration with the international consultant, develop an implementation monitoring plan for 3 months, 2 days for each organisation. The following should be included in the plan:
  • Assess the level of understanding of the SOP by relevant ministries at the central level
  • Assess the ability of the ministry at the central level to transfer information to provincial and/or district levels
  • Collect data on number of reported GBV cases, number of cases that progress through the judicial process, user satisfaction of services, user trust in services, and any other data, before and after experimentation.
• Make amendments and adjustments to the SOP as needed throughout monitoring over the 3 months.

The national consultant will be responsible for liaising with agencies as well as reviewing the Lao translation of all materials or translating them themselves if necessary.

• Additional training on gender issues, gender-sensitive approach or related is an asset
• Fluency in English and Lao is essential

• Master’s degree in Law, Justice Administration, Criminal Justice, or related discipline, or Bachelor’s degree in Law, Justice Administration, Criminal Justice, or related discipline with at least 5 years of relevant experience
• Good understanding of working in the justice sector in Lao PDR
• Experience in capacity development, especially with government officials
• Experience working with the LWU and/or NCAWMC 

Requirements for submission of proposals 

All interested and qualified International or National Independent Consultant should apply on-line using the following links: 

UNDP Lao PDR Country Office website at https://www.la.undp.org/content/lao_pdr/en/home/jobs.html  or  

In order to make your submission, please read the relevant documents available on the link below 

1. FULL TOR (Annex I) 
2. IC General Terms and Conditions _ Annex II; 
3. OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY _ Annex III 
4. P11 Form 

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals: 

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications: 

1. Technical Proposal 

            (i)  Explaining why you are the most suitable for the work; 

            (ii)  Providing a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work including the work 

                  schedule for the delivery of outputs/deliverable; 

1. P11 Form  Education and work experience, including past experience in similar projects and contact references of at least 3 references for whom you have rendered preferably the similar services; 
2. Financial proposal:  Detailed financial proposal: Lump sum offer with clear cost breakdown against each deliverable. Please use this template OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP CONFIRMING INTEREST AND AVAILABILITY _ Annex III 

Instructions for on-line submissions: 

Step 1:  Please prepare all required documents electronically; 

Step 2: Combine all documents in ONE SINGLE FILE (preferably in PDF however Word format can be also accepted) and upload to the UNDP Jobs using the links above; 

Step 3: After that you will receive an auto reply from the UNDP jobs if your offer is received successfully. 

Incomplete proposals or proposals received after the deadline will be rejected. 

Note:  Any request for clarification must be sent in writing before the submission deadline to the following emails:                                 

[email protected] with copy to [email protected]