Small Arms and Light Weapons Control - National Strategy Consultant

UNOPS supports the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to serve people in need by expanding the ability of the United Nations, governments and other partners to manage projects, infrastructure and procurement in a sustainable and efficient manner.

Working in some of the world’s most challenging environments, our vision is to advance sustainable implementation practices, always satisfying or surpassing our partners’ expectations.

With over 7,000 personnel spread across 80 countries, UNOPS offers its partners the logistical, technical and management knowledge they need, wherever they need it.

A flexible structure and global reach means that we can quickly respond to our partners' needs, while offering the benefits of economies of scale. 

Peace and Security Centre

The UNOPS Peace and Security Centre (PSC) is a principal service provider in the field of mine action with the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), UNDP, UNICEF, Governments of mine-affected countries and other mine action partners. The Centre is responsible to administer, provide support and oversight of the day-to-day management of the Project Field offices, both according to the client requirements and in line with UNOPS rules and regulations.
It is headed by the Centre Director who has the overall authority and accountability for the performance of the Peace and Security Centre on behalf of its clients.

Background information – UNOPS DRC programme

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has suffered nearly three decades of turmoil, particularly in the eastern provinces. The use of landmines was a feature during the conflicts and Explosive Remnants of War from the fighting remain a hazard.

UNMAS established its presence in the DRC in 2002 to provide support to the Peacekeeping Mission (MONUSCO) and to conduct humanitarian mine action. It continues to work with all actors involved in mine action, and weapons and ammunition management and safety issues contributing to the Protection of Civilians.

Purpose and Scope of Assignment

Context and Purpose:

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, a post-conflict country, has experienced a long period of instability, recurrent wars in the DRC have also seen the involvement of several foreign armies, to support rebel groups or to support the Government. A major characteristic of these conflicts has been the uncontrolled possession and misuse of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW).  In this post-conflict situation, the GoDRC recognized a need for control and management of SALW stocks in order to reduce illicit circulation and armed violence in the short term and, in the long term, to regulate use and transfer, in accordance with regional and international standards in force.

In May 2008, the GoDRC established the National Commission for the Control of SALW and the Reduction of Armed Violence (CNC-ALPC) in order to comply with the requirements of the United Nations Programme of Action combating and eradicating the illicit circulation of SALW of July 2001 as well as the Nairobi Protocol of April 2004, among other international and regional commitments. In July 2011, the CNC-ALPC published the first National Action Plan (NAP) for the control and management of SALW. This covered a period of 5 years, 2012 to 2016, and estimated budget requirement of 27,000,000USD, the NAP was ambitious and comprehensive.

It is uncertain which aspects of the NAP have been achieved during the 5-year period. Some elements have been addressed, such as storage infrastructure development for state owned weapons and early weapons marking and registration. This work has predominately been conducted by international partners, including bilateral cooperation, UNMAS and implementing partners or bilateral funding to International NGOs. The NAP requires a complete review and revision to capture the work done so far and frame and prioritize the work still required..

UNMAS support to the NAP commenced at the beginning of 2016 with the receipt of funding from the Japanese government and MONUSCO to establish weapons and ammunition management projects in eastern DRC and Kinshasa. UNMAS efforts have been confined to the support of the Congolese National Police (PNC) for the capacity development of the weapons and ammunition infrastructure in terms of storage, management and training. To date UNMAS has constructed 11 armouries distributed in 3 provinces North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri. In addition, UNMAS has delivered 4 training packages to a total of 113 police officers in North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri and Kinshasa. A major component of the training is a weapon marking and registration element, which UNMAS further supported with the procurement of 5 weapon marking machines and associated database, for ultimate donation to the CNC-ALPC and PNC at the finalization of the projects.

The purpose of this assignment is to support the GoDRC in developing an updated “National Action Plan for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons” in line with the priorities identified during the Baseline Assessment and the findings from consultations with key national stakeholders. The revision should include the GoDRC plan of action to address the control and management of state and civilian owned weapons and cover the period 2017 to 2021 (5 years). The NAP should realistically outline the measures required to address the control and management of SALW in DRC.  It should also consider all the international and regional applicable mechanisms and conventions as well as regional frameworks and strategies and align the activities to them whenever possible. The support should be provided through a consultative and inclusive process involving all the relevant stakeholders in the DRC including governmental stakeholders as well as international and national stakeholders

The consultant will report to the UNOPS DRC Programme Manager and will work in close collaboration with the Programme and Operations teams.  A designated Programme Officer (PO) will provide liaison support and will assist in identifying institutions and individuals that the consultant is expected to engage with. The PO will also liaise with the Operations Team to assist with the provision of relevant tasking information and documentation.
In close consultation and coordination with CNC-ALPC and UNMAS, the following are the key activities and deliverables expected from the Consultant involved in developing the National Action Plan for DRC.

Review of related literature and existing policy documents

• This will include the National Action Plan (NAP) for the control and management of SALW 2012 – 2016 and mapping of all projects conducted to date in support of the NAP objectives. The desk reviews shall include:
• Research publications (published and unpublished);
• Relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, international and regional treaties;
• Relevant government SALW policies/strategies;
• Relevant reports and statistics related to SALW;
• The NAP 2012-2016;
• The UNIDIR/CNC-ALPC WAM Capacity Baseline Assessment;
• Data related to progress to date;
• Legislations/ acts relating to SALW;
• UNMAS and CNC-APLC internal documents i.e. reports, evaluations, etc. to determine both the strengths and weaknesses of CNC-ALPC

Work closely with relevant CNC and UNMAS staff

This includes liaising with CNC-ALPC as well as the UNMAS policy and programme unit in developing work schedule, methodology and processes including identifying key stakeholders to be included in the scope of work.

Deliverables

• The consultant is required to develop a detailed plan and timeline from commencement of the process until the validation of the final strategic plan. The plan is to be validated by UNMAS DRC.
• Consultation/Validation workshop: Subject to deliberation with UNMAS, the Consultant is expected to organize and facilitate at least two separate consultation meetings or workshops with relevant stakeholders to receive input for, and validation of, the national action plan. The meetings/workshops will be delivered in Kinshasa to ensure maximum participation from the various stakeholders and the first meeting/workshop will be delivered as a participatory workshop to develop and design the main elements of NAP of the Government on addressing SALW control. The purpose of the second meeting will be to review and endorse (validate) the final version of the NAP. Subject to requests from the National Authority, earlier consultative sessions or a small workshop may need to take place following the release of the WAM Baseline Report & priorities. The consultant is required to develop a detailed plan and timeline for these events and lead the organization thereof.
• A brief bi-weekly update by email to UNMAS DRC Programme Manager
• In-country de-brief with UNMAS DRC Senior Management Team (SMT) in Goma.

Methodology

Data collection methods and process shall consider all programming and other crosscutting issues as appropriate. The analysis must be evidence-based and build on available data sources, statistics and other primary sources.  The Consultant must be familiar with evaluation tools that do not rely upon a comparative analysis of baseline data.  The Consultant should be familiar with qualitative approaches that can be used to understand significant change.

Methods of data collection can include but not necessarily be limited to:

• Document review, focusing on The NAP 2012-2016;
•  Interviews with key stakeholders including donor representatives, regional entities,  UNIDIR, UNMAS DRC staff, relevant think-tanks and implementing partners.
• Discussions with CNC-ALPC, FARDC, PNC and Government officials.

The data collection methodology will depend on availability of existing evidence, logistical constraints (travel, costs, timing, etc.), and other considerations such as access to and availability of relevant stakeholder and beneficiary groups given the size of DRC and that parts could be inaccessible owing to security issues, particularly given the current situation in central DRC.

As per the conditions of the contract, the evaluation will be the sole property of UNOPS. The Evaluation consultant will submit all products, reports and etc. for review and acceptance to UNOPS and UNMAS DRC at the end of the assignment.

Timing

The duration of the consultancy is expected to be three months from the start of the contract.  

• Advanced University Degree (Master’s Degree or equivalent) in Social Sciences, Political Sciences, International Affairs, or other relevant Field) with a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience; OR

• a First Level University Degree (Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent) with a minimum of 7 years of relevant experience;

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns. Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.