National Consultant to Conduct a National Perception Study on Implementation of Community Service as a Non-Custodial Sentence in Uganda

1. Inception Report developed, detailing the methodology, data collection tools, work plan, and approach for data collection, including consideration of gender and stakeholder perspectives. 2. Data collection tools (surveys, interview guides, and focus group discussion guides) designed and administered across selected districts, with documented fieldwork and datasets compiled. 3. Fieldwork completed, and qualitative and quantitative data on perceptions and implementation of Community Service collected, analyze, and synthesized. 4. Draft Assessment Report produced, presenting preliminary findings, analysis, and emerging recommendations on Community Service in Uganda. 5. Validation workshop conducted with UNODC and selected Community Service stakeholders to review, validate, and refine findings and recommendations. 6. Final Assessment Report submitted, incorporating stakeholder feedback and providing comprehensive findings, conclusions, recommendations, annexes, and supporting datasets. 7. Policy Brief developed, summarizing key findings and actionable recommendations for policymakers and relevant stakeholders.

Home-based with travel to Uganda

1May- 15 September 2026

Background of the assignment: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is the Office of the UN Secretariat mandated to assist Member States in countering and preventing illicit drugs, crime, corruption, and terrorism. As part of its efforts to support Criminal Justice reform in Uganda, UNODC is collaborating with the criminal justice actors including the Ministry if Internal Affairs (MIA) – Department of Community Service to implement a Five -Year Programme on Strengthening Prevention and Criminal and Criminal Justice Programme in Uganda. The Project among others aims to reduce the overuse of imprisonment by enhancing use of community service, rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders in line with expected outcome 3 of the Programme. The Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Internal Affairs adopted Community Service as an alternative sentencing mechanism. The Department derives its mandate from the Community Service Act, 2000 and Statutory Instrument No. 55 of 2001 - Community Service Regulations, 2001. Under the Act, Community Service is a non-custodial punishment by which after conviction, the court, with the consent of the offender, makes an order for the offender to serve the community rather than undergo imprisonment. Community Service aims at rehabilitating offenders within their communities, reducing recidivism and promoting social cohesion. During implementation, interventions are identified to help offenders reintegrate into their communities. The interventions aim at mitigating the criminogenic factors to avoid relapse into criminal tendencies. During implementation of the Programme, the Department is expected to adhere to national and international protocols, practices and standards on offender management. There is therefore need for a perception survey on attitudes towards implementation and use of community service. Since inception, there is limited documented evidence on public perceptions, stakeholder attitudes and beneficiaries. Understanding these perceptions is critical to strengthening implementation, enhancing acceptance, and informing policy reforms. The Ministry (Department of Community Service) with support from UNODC seeks to engage a consultant, to undertake a national perception survey on the use and implementation Purpose of the assignment The purpose of the assignment is to assess public perceptions and stakeholder views on Community Service as a sentencing option in Uganda, examine the perspectives of key actors within the criminal justice system and affected communities, identify challenges, opportunities, and best practices in its implementation, and provide evidence-based recommendations to enhance awareness, acceptance, and overall effectiveness of Community Service in Uganda. Expected tangible and measurable output(s)/deliverable(s) • Produce an inception report indicating process, outputs, outcomes and methodology of how the all the actions will be carried out. • Design and administer surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions across selected districts. • Collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data on perceptions of community service use/implementation. • Provide a mechanism for validation of collected data; and • Develop a Policy brief on Community Service implementation in Uganda

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in criminology, law, social sciences, business administration, or related discipline is required. A first level university degree in similar fields in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. At least 7 years of professional work experience in programme management, research, stakeholder management at the institutional level is required Prior work experience in conducting surveys of a national nature is desireabe Proven experience in conducting development evaluations, socio-legal research, or access to justice sector evaluations is required Strong knowledge of Uganda’s criminal justice system and community service framework is desireable Strong research and coordination skills, analytical capacities and ability to synthesize complex inputs into coherent support is desirable Knowledge of international standards in crime prevention and criminal justice—especially the Nelson Mandela Rules and the ability to integrate Sustainable Development Goals into programming is desirable

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this post, fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is an advantage

Not available.

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.