National Consultant/Interpreter to evaluator for the final evaluation of the eu/un women project “unite to fight violence against women”

Background

In November 2016, UN Women – the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women – with the generous support of the European Union (EU), launched a 3-year project “Unite to Fight Violence against Women.” The overall objective of the action is to prevent violence against women (VAW) and domestic violence (DV) and to eliminate its causes and consequences in Georgia. The specific objective is to create an enabling legislative, policy and service delivery environment in line with internationally binding standards on ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG) at national and local levels (Guria and Qvemo Qartli regions) in Georgia.

The project is aimed at realizing two inter-related results: 1) Key stakeholders conduct awareness-raising, preventive and corrective actions, based on reliable data and in such a way that they contribute to increased disclosure and prevention of violence and 2) Capacity of key policy and service delivery institutions strengthened to promote and protect women’s right to a life free from VAWG, including DV.

Compliant to UN Women’s Strategic Note 2016-2020, the project ensured realization of project results with interventions on policy, institutions and grassroots’ levels to bring about interrelated positive change and contribute to the achievement of the overall, as well as the specific objectives of the action. On level 1: Policies and Legislation – the action generated comprehensive data and evidence through conducting a National Study on VAW in Georgia and provided comprehensive support to the government of Georgia in streamlining national policies, laws and plans in line with generated evidence, as well as Georgia’s international and national commitments on EVAW. On level 2: institutions – capacity development – the project provided capacity development support to key institutional partners engaged in the national response against VAW/DV. On the level 3: grassroots, the project provided coordinated support to national and local partners on raising awareness to prevent and increase disclosure of VAWG and DV in Georgia.

Key partnerships with relevant government and civil society actors in Georgia have been strengthened or established to ensure delivery of project results and to enhance project sustainability and national ownership. In line with the project document, UN Women formalized frameworks of cooperation with responsible parties – the National Statistics Office of Georgia (GEOSTAT), the State Fund for Protection and Assistance of (Statutory) Victims of Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence, Legal Aid Service (LAS) and the Public Defender’s Office (PDO) – via Letters of Agreement. Effective and meaningful partnerships have been further sustained with the Inter-Agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence with UN Women providing robust technical assistance in development, implementation and monitoring of the national laws and policies on EVAW. The project further established partnerships with key state actors engaged in the national response against VAW/DV, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Ministry of Health (MoH) providing technical assistance in the area of enhancing safety of and strengthening service provision to the victims/survivors of violence. On the local levels, UN Women established close partnerships with the local governments and civil society organizations in project target regions of Guria and Qvemo Qartli via regular consultation meetings, capacity development trainings and awareness raising campaigns around VAW/DV.

Throughout the project lifespan, UN Women completed its administrative and financial obligations and implemented all project-related activities specified in the project document. A summary of highlight results and achievements are listed below:

• The project bridged the national data gap on VAWG/DV by conducting the National VAW Study in Georgia, in partnership with GEOSTAT. The study findings provided data on the prevalence of intimate-partner violence (IPV), domestic violence and non-partner physical and sexual violence, sexual harassment and stalking, as well as the perceptions and awareness of women and men on gender and violence in Georgia. The findings generated by the study established baseline indicators for a number of the nationalized Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and offered evidence to inform the design of policies and programmes by national stakeholders;
• The project ensured coordination and unity of action by state agencies in delivering awareness-raising interventions on EVAWG by supporting the Inter-Agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence in the development and adoption of two framework-setting documents: the National Communication Strategy and the National Communication Action Plan on EVAWG. To ensure effective implementation of these two documents, the project further supported the Inter-Agency Commission in the establishment and effective functioning of the EVAWG Communication Task Force. The project further contributed to encouraging disclosure of VAWG/DV by providing support to selected national partners and civil society organizations to promote zero tolerance for VAWG/DV and increase awareness around services available for the victims/survivors of violence nationwide, as well as in project target region of Guria and Qvemo Qartli;
• The project further provided coordinated support and trainings to policymakers and service providers in order to strengthen capacities for the implementation of laws and policies, as well as provide better service delivery. As a direct result of strategic technical support provided to the Inter-Agency Commission in the development of the 2018-2020 National Action Plan on the Measures to be Implemented for Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and Protection of Victims/Survivors (hereinafter referred to as 2018-2020 VAW/DV NAP), the Government of Georgia adopted the VAW/DV NAP on 13 April 2018;
• The project resulted in a milestone policy shift in the police response to DV through its support of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) in developing and adopting the DV risk assessment methodology. The DV risk assessment methodology has been integrated into the restraining order protocol for DV offenders in accordance with the ministerial decree issued on 13 July 2018 (Decree of the Minister of Internal Affairs No. 81 on the Approval of the Restraining Order and Restraining Order Protocol issued on 13 July 2018. Available at https://matsne.gov.ge/ka/document/view/4262664?publication=0.). It enables police officers to document the history of violence suffered and evaluate risks for lethality and re-offence, thereby informing restrictive measures to be applied using a standardized methodology;
• The project has further strengthened the police response to DV by contributing to the creation and effective functioning of the Human Rights Protection Department (HRPD), a specialized unit of the MIA to steer the ministry’s work, inter alia, on VAWG/DV issues. Strategic capacity development support has been provided to the HRPD via a series of specialized trainings and consultation meetings;
• The project contributed to improving the safety of victims/survivors via the introduction of Global Positioning System (GPS) ankle bracelets to monitor and track high-risk DV offenders. UN Women has further secured commitment from the ministry to take over the funding for the maintenance of the system after the project phaseout;
• The project expanded the geographic coverage of services available to the victims/survivors of VAWG/DV by supporting the State Fund in establishing two new crisis centers in the project target regions of Guria and Qvemo Qartli. The crisis centers provide psychological and socioeconomic assistance and rehabilitation, medical and legal services to victims/survivors of VAWG/DV as well as referral to shelters, as necessary. The project further contributed to bridging the gap on the provision of socioeconomic rehabilitation to the victims/survivors of domestic violence by supporting the State Fund in launching the development of the socioeconomic rehabilitation programme for the victims/survivors of VAW/DV.
• The project addressed the key gap in the provision of preventive interventions for the perpetrators of VAWG/DV by developing and piloting the rehabilitation/behavioral correction programme for perpetrators convicted of DV. The programme has been piloted in two penitential institutions of Georgia and is expected to become mandatory for VAW/DV offenders in 2019.
• The project addressed the key gap in the provision of the free-of-charge legal aid services to the victims/survivors of VAWG/DV by supporting the Legal Aid Service (LAS) in expanding its mandate to provide legal consultations and court representation services to the victims/survivors of VAWG/DV (regardless of their socioeconomic status) on civil and administrative legal matters related to their victimization. The project further strengthened the capacity of lawyers working for the LAS by conducting in-depth specialized trainings on VAWG/DV.
• The project further enabled Gender Equality Department (GED) of the PDO (Public Defender’s Office) to expand its geographic coverage and monitor implementation of the legislation in relation to GE and VAWG nationwide in 6 regions of Georgia (Adjara, Guria, Kakheti, Qvemo Qartli, Samegrelo and Samtskhe-Javakheti);

Evaluation objectives, purpose and use

The specific evaluation objectives are as follows:

• Analyze the relevance of the implementation strategy and approaches of the “Unite to Fight Violence against Women” project;
• Validate the project results in terms of achievements and/or weaknesses toward the outcome and outputs;
• Assess the potential for sustainability of the results achieved by the project;
• Document lessons learned, best practices, success stories and challenges to inform future work of UN Women and the EU in addressing violence against women and domestic violence;

Findings of the evaluation will inform UN Women Georgia’s future work in the area of EVAW. The external evaluation will further identify lessons learned, best practices and challenges of the “Unite to Fight Violence against Women” project and will greatly inform the development of the follow-up programmatic interventions.

The information generated by the evaluation will be used by different stakeholders to contribute to building of the evidence base on effective strategies for EVAW in Georgia and to facilitate UN Women’s strategic reflection and learning for programming in the area.

The evaluation will be conducted by the Evaluation Team, comprised of international consultant/evaluator and national consultant/interpreter in Georgia.

Scope of the Evaluation:

The final evaluation of the project is to be conducted externally by an international external consultant/evaluator in a team with national consultant/interpreter. It is planned to be completed in 12 working day in the period of 25 July 2019 – 30 September 2019.

The evaluation will cover almost the full project implementation period that started in November 2016 will end in October 2019.

The review will be conducted in Georgia, where the project has been implemented, in the capital Tbilisi with a travel to project target regions – Guria and/or Qvemo Qartli to collect data as defined by the evaluation plan.

Duties and Responsibilities

The interpreter will work under the direct supervision of the international evaluator and will benefit from   technical and operational support of   UN Women Country Office in Georgia. In more   specific terms,  the   assistant will be providing assistance to the international evaluator in the process of the project evaluation in Georgia and will be responsible for the following tasks:

• To collect, review and provide outline/translation of all key documents from Georgian into English, as needed;
• To support in arrangement of meetings, focus group discussions, interviews with key beneficiaries and stakeholders of the project together and in consultation with UN Women;
• To participate in all the meetings, focus group discussions and interviews, provide interpretation, take notes and prepare minutes in English;
• To be available if further clarification is needed by the international evaluator during the drafting and finalization process of the evaluation;
• To prepare a brief narrative report on fulfillment of all the tasks assigned by this ToR.

Deliverables:

• Outline/translation of all key Georgian documents, as needed collected, reviewed and provided to the international evaluator – 10 August 2019;
• Meetings, interviews and focus group discussions as advised by the International Evaluator arranged – 10 August 2019;
• Translation provided in the meetings, interviews and focus group discussions, and relevant minutes prepared – 25 August 2019;
• Input/clarifications provided to the evaluation report prepared by the international evaluator – 20 September 2019;
• Brief narrative report on fulfillment of all the tasks assigned by this ToR submitted – 20 September 2019;

The timeframe for the work of the expert is planned for 25 July 2019 – 30 September 2019 for a total of 12 working days.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: http://www.unwomen.org//media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• At least BA degree in English Language and Literature or in social sciences;

Experience:

• At least two years in providing administrative support, including arranging meetings, producing meeting notes etc.;
• At least two years of experience in human rights/gender equality and women’s empowerment issues;
• At least 1 year of experience in providing interpretation and translation services;
• Excellent writing and reporting skills with ability to prepare minutes and document key findings of the meetings/consultations/interviews;

Language:

• Proficiency in English and Georgian (Knowledge of Russian will be an asset).

Evaluation procedure:

The candidates will be evaluated against the following technical and financial criteria:

• At least BA degree in English language and literature or in social sciences (max 40 points);
• At least two years in providing administrative support, including arranging meetings, producing meeting notes etc. (max 70 points);
• At least two years of experience in human rights/gender equality and women’s empowerment issues (max 70 points);
• At least 1 year of experience in providing interpretation and translation services Georgia (max 70 points);
• Excellent writing and reporting skills with ability to prepare minutes and document key findings of the meeting/consultations/interviews; (max 70 points);
• Proficiency in English (max 30 points).

Maximum total technical score amounts to 350 points. Only candidates who have passed over the minimum qualification criteria and have accumulated at least 245 points out of maximum 350 under technical evaluation will qualify for the next stage i.e. evaluation of their financial proposals.

Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 150

S – score received on financial evaluation;

Fmin – the lowest financial offer out of all the submitted offers qualified over the technical evaluation round;

F – financial offer under consideration.

The winning candidate will be the candidate, who has accumulated the highest aggregated score (technical scoring + financial scoring).

Management Arrangements:

The contractor will work under the guidance of the International Evaluator and “Unite to Fight Violence against Women” project manager and will benefit from technical and operational support of UN Women Georgia office.

Financial arrangements:

Payment will be disbursed upon submission and approval of deliverables and certification by the Project Manager that the services have been satisfactorily performed:

• Brief narrative report on fulfillment of all the tasks assigned by this ToR – 100%

Application submission package:

• CV;
• Duly filled Personal History Form PHF11 that can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
• Financial Proposal - lump sum proposal/offer* in USD (including breakdown of this lump sum amount, indicating all necessary costs to complete this assignment).

*The applicants are required to submit an aggregated financial offer: “aggregated financial offer” is the total sum of all financial claims of the candidate, including travel costs (ticket, DSA etc.) for accomplishment of all tasks spelled out in this ToR.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

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