International Expert for developing the guideline on measures oriented towards the needs of Persons with Disabilities in emergency situations

“Human Rights for All – Phase 2” is a joint initiative of the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN). It will be implemented as a joint programme by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The JP will build directly on the achievements of “Human Rights for All” which was likewise a partnership between the EU and the UN agencies. It will continue to strengthen and promote human rights in areas covered in first phase while identifying and tackling human rights issues in new areas. The JP will seek to bringing tangible result to the local level through various forms of engagement, including with dedicated support to local authorities.

The overall objective of the project – Citizens of Georgia, and primarily those in vulnerable situations, enjoy better protection of their human rights – complies with the national priorities of Georgia enshrined in the Constitution and major policy documents of the country, as well as with the international obligations of Georgia, including EU-Georgia Association Agreement, Sustainable Development Goals and UN human rights treaties.

UNDP and OHCHR will work in close coordination to achieve the overall objective of the JP, inter alia, through the support to the implementation and monitoring of national human rights policy and related frameworks, improvement of the independent investigation of crimes committed by law-enforcement officials, combatting torture and other forms of ill-treatment, protection of personal data, addressing challenges to the protection of human rights in the regions of Georgia and human rights of minority groups and persons in vulnerable situations, including LGBTQI+ and persons with disabilities, and increasing awareness of human rights among rights-holders.

The Action has five specific objectives:

1. Relevant public bodies (duty-bearers) develop, implement and monitor national human rights policy and related frameworks;
2. Law-enforcement and human rights protection bodies effectively implement their duties related to policymaking and enforcement with due oversight and transparency;
3. The human rights of minority groups and persons in vulnerable situations are recognised in law and protected in practice;
4. Local authorities more effectively protect human rights of all citizens, primarily those in vulnerable situations and minority groups;
5. Citizens are informed on, favourable to and supportive of human rights for all and efforts to protect them.

The five SOs will ultimately aim to create enabling environment for human rights protection through advocating to reflect human rights in national laws and policies in compliance with international standards, facilitate use of human rights based approaches (HRBA and rights-based approach (RBA) are used as synonyms in this document.) in policy making at national and local level, promote human rights culture through targeted awareness raising and knowledge building activities for rights holders and duty bearers, enabling people to claim their rights through their knowledge building and capacitating CSOs/NGOs advocating for human rights, as well as support to the creation and/or operation of strong, effective and accountable state institutions at national and local levels for the protection of human rights for all.

The overall objective of the consultancy is  to support the Emergency Situations Management Agency to analyze international standards and practice for supervising and supporting the elaboration and implementation of measures oriented towards the needs of persons with disabilities in emergency management plans. An expert will also offer recommendations on how to improve existing policy documents and practice to meet the obligations set by the CRPD and the LRPD.

The Expert will be expected to:

• Undertake study for analyzing international standards and best practices on measures oriented towards the needs of persons with disabilities in emergency situations;
• Study the Georgian legislative, policy and institutional framework related to the rights of persons with disabilities, with special emphasis on the needs of PwDs during potential emergency situations and get familiar with existing challenges in this respect;
• Closely cooperate with the Emergency Situations Management Agency, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, persons with disabilities and their representative organisations and other relevant stakeholders throughout the consultancy to obtain their input and feedback;
• Elaborate the draft guidelines on measures oriented towards the needs of persons with disabilities in emergency situations and develop relevant recommendations for improving existing policy documents and practice;
• Hold workshops / meetings with the Emergency Situations Management Agency and other relevant stakeholders on the proposed guidelines and recommendations;
• Based on the workshops / meetings take a final review and finalize the guidelines on measures oriented towards the needs of Persons with Disabilities in emergency situations;
• Develop the final activity report.

All documents shall be developed in English.

Deliverables and payment modality:

100% One lump sum payment – Upon completion of all deliverables and submission of the final activity report.  

Management arrangements:

The International Expert will work under the overall supervision of the Project Manager. The expert will have close working relations with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, the Emergency Situations Management Agency and other relevant stakeholders during the implementation of the assignment under this ToR.

The expert will be directly responsible for, reporting to, seeking approval from, and obtaining a certificate of acceptance of outputs from the Project Manager. In addition, the respective project team will be responsible to share relevant documents, contact details and other necessary information with the expert.

UNDP will cover the costs for venue and interpretation of the workshops / meetings. The relevant institutions will ensure participation of the staff/workshop participants.

Competencies:

Core Competencies

• Demonstrated commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
• Sensitivity and adaptability to cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age;
• Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

Functional Competencies

• Excellent communication skills (spoken, written and presentational);
• Good interpersonal skills and ability to work in and with teams;
• Ability to set priorities and manage time effectively.

Education:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, law, human rights and/or international law or other related fields (Minimum qualification requirement – 15 points).

Experience:

• At least 7-years of professional experience in working on rights of persons with disabilities (minimum qualification requirement: seven years – 5 points, more than 7 years of experience – additional 5 points;
• 3-years of experience in working for international organizations on consultancy assignments related to the needs of PwDs in emergency situations – additional 5 points;
• At least 3-years of experience in research and analysis (minimum qualification requirement 5 points; more than 3 years of experience – additional 5 points);
• Experience in developing guidelines and/or recommendations on measures oriented towards the needs of PwDs in emergency situations – at least three guidelines drafted (alone or in cooperation with other authors) should be presented upon request by the Project team (Minimum qualification requirement 10 points);
• Experience in working in the region (Eastern Europe and South Caucasus) will be a strong asset.

Language Requirements:

• Excellent written and verbal English skills.

Evaluation: 

Individual Expert will be evaluated based on cumulative analysis method. Offerors will be evaluated against combination of technical and financial criteria. Maximum obtainable score is 100, out of which the total score for technical criteria equals to 70 (desk review: 50 points and interview: 20 points) and for financial criteria – to 30. Offerors not meeting any of the minimum qualification requirements will be automatically disqualified. Only offerors obtaining minimum 35 points as a result of the desk review will be considered as qualified offerors and invited for the interview. Those offerors passing 70% threshold of maximum obtainable scores as a result of interview, i.e. obtain minimum 14 points, will be shortlisted and requested to provide financial proposal.

Finanacial Proposal: 

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in instalments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payment shall be made upon submission of respective deliverable, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR approved by the Project Manager in line with the table of deliverables.

Payments are made based on delivery. The delivery has to be accepted and approved by the Project team prior to any payment. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount based on deliverables.

Maximum 30 points will be assigned to the lowest price offer. All other price offers will be scored using the formula (inverse proportion): Financial score X = 30* the lowest price offer/suggested price offer x.