Promoting Human Rights and Access to Justice for Social Inclusion and Legal Empowerment (PHASE Project)

The purpose of this consultancy is to produce a regional study on human rights and access to justice for the persons with disabilities, including recommendations for countries that have and those who have not yet ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The objective is to promote the ratification, implementation and monitoring of the Convention, through innovative programmes, review of legislation, inter-ministerial coordination and cooperation with disabled persons’ organizations. The objective of the regional project “Promoting Human Rights and Access to Justice for Social Inclusion and Legal Empowerment (PHASE)” is to promote a demand-driven social inclusion and legal empowerment agenda anchored on UNDP’s human development approach. The project will enhance the capacity of human rights and justice institutions and UNDP Country Offices to pursue a robust regime of human development, justice and human rights programming in the region. This involves, among others, the innovative use of legal services, legal and human rights capacity building and legal reforms by and for disadvantaged populations (i.e., Central Asia and Caucasus), often in combination with other development activities (i.e. Western Balkans, Black sea region etc.), to increase their freedom, improve governance, and human development. As pointed out by the Regional Human Development Report (RHDR), achieving high levels of human development is not possible if large segments of the population stay excluded, with limited opportunities to fully participate in economic, social, political and cultural life. According to the latest WHO report, there is an estimated billion of persons with disabilities worldwide , who are usually hidden from public life by being unnecessarily restricted to their homes or placed in institutions. Persons with disabilities are more exposed to poverty and lack access to services and information. The PHASE project strives to empower persons with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups by promoting their rights and expanding access to justice, and, most importantly choices. Based on the demands of the country offices and national institutions from the region, the PHASE Project has the following components: Strengthening of the National Human Rights System and Mechanisms; Greater engagement with International Human Rights Machinery: Supporting the implementation of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations of the UN Human Rights Council, promoting the application of a Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA) to development programming and related assessment etc.); Widening Access to Justice (Legal Aid, ADR, Judicial/Legal Reforms etc.) for the poor and marginalised communities; and, Promoting legal empowerment and social inclusion for the disadvantaged and vulnerable groups including women, minorities, and, persons with disabilities (cross-cutting with the three other sub-components above). The regional report on access to justice for persons with disabilities will support the ratification and strengthen capacities for implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, including examples of specific measures from 4 countries. It will build on the regional meeting on “Promoting Human Rights and Social Justice for the Persons with Disabilities”, which was held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, in June 2011. The regional meeting helped to consolidate information on UNDP activities in this area, establish connections with government and civil society counterparts, as well as identify key follow-up initiatives. Terms of Reference: The full terms of reference may be found at http://dl.undp.sk/ToR_Regional_Study_Consultant.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance and direct supervision of UNDP BRC Policy Adviser, the selected consultant will be responsible for producing a regional study which will describe measures taken preferably in 4 countries in Eastern Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in the areas of training, implementing, monitoring and reporting mechanisms for access to justice for persons with disabilities. Focus of the Report: institutional mechanisms at national, regional and local levels for policy coordination and monitoring, while promoting national ownership and participation of persons with disabilities in the decision-making process; preparatory measures and initiatives which can help promote the ratification of the Convention (i.e. ratification of other treaties and protocols, as OPCAT (institutional overlap with Article 16 (3) CRPD), legislative reviews, consultations with disabled persons’ organizations, ex ante assessments, cost assessments); capacity building initiatives for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, treaty-based reporting, legal empowerment and access to justice for persons with disabilities, as well as examples of outreach efforts. At least 4 of the following countries (two from each category) will be used as case studies for the regional report: Countries that have not yet ratified the Convention: Poland (signed the Convention in 2007) Georgia (signed the Convention and Optional Protocol in 2009) Belarus (has not signed the Convention) Tajikistan (has not signed the Convention) Countries that have ratified the Convention: Turkmenistan (ratified the Convention in 2008 and the Optional Protocol in 2010) Moldova (ratified the Convention in 2010 without the Optional Protocol) Montenegro or Serbia (ratified the Convention & Optional Protocol in 2009) Best practices are to be selected by the Regional Study Consultant/ Writer from his/her own research, as well as inputs received from UNDP Country Offices and/or national researchers, depending on the country. They should include examples from the Government, UN agencies and disabled persons’ organizations. Most of the writing will be done by the Regional Report Writer. S/he will receive documents, pictures and other inputs from the field and may consult UNDP Country Offices by phone, but will be solely responsible for producing the report. Contents and substance of the Report: Up to five general recommendations for (a) countries that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and (b) those who have not yet taken this step (addressing countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus). More specific, sub-regional recommendations for national governments, UN agencies, and civil society stakeholders in the three mentioned regions (up to 15 per region). Deliverables and Timeline: Outline of the report in English submitted - 30 September 2011 Draft report submitted and presented (approx. 50 pages) - 15 November 2011 Final report produced and presented, including a powerpoint presentation - 30 December 2011 The PHASE Project Manager will review and approve the consultant's reports.

Competencies

Excellent analytical, organizational and inter-personal skills; Excellent presentation and communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: Master degree in law/justice area; Experience: At least 5 years of experience in the justice sector; Proven record of the previously done analysis and/or relevant studies (2 most relevant articles/analysis are to be presented for shortlisted candidates); Excellent drafting skills; Strong analytical skills, ability to do desk research; Experience of working with the UN organizations is an asset. Language: Fluency in English, ability to understand Russian (some inputs / case study documents may be provided in Russian); Serbo-Croatian is an asset. Evaluation of Applicants Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal. The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: responsive/compliant/acceptable, and Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation. Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation (maximum 35 points) Experience sourcing, compiling and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data related to the rights of persons with disabilities (max 10 points) (Criteria A) Demonstrated report-writing skills, including the ability to incorporate quantitative data (max 10 points) (Criteria B) Regional expertise for Eastern Europe and the CIS (max 5 points) (Criteria C) Language: English, Russian and Serbo-Croatian (max 10 points) (Criteria D) Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation (max 15 points) Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation Application procedures: Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain: Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position and a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work (if applicable). Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application. Completed P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc); please upload the P11 instead of your CV. Financial Proposal* - specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this announcement. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials. Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...). Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner. Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org. General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://europeandcis.undp.org/home/jobs. Qualified women, members of minorities and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.