To contract the services of a National Consultant to Develop a National Social Accountability Strategy on Family Violence for Civil Society

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

The European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) have embarked on a new, global, multi-year initiative focused on eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG) - The Spotlight Initiative.

The Initiative is so named as it brings focused attention to this issue, moving it into the spotlight and placing it at the centre of efforts to achieve gender equality and women's empowerment, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Jamaica is one of five CARICOM Member States (the others being Belize, Grenada, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago) to receive support from the Spotlight Initiative. The vision of the Jamaica Spotlight Initiative (SI) is that the rights of women and girls to live free from violence are protected, promoted, and upheld. The impact that the SI will work towards achieving is that all women and girls, particularly those who are most vulnerable, live a life free of violence and harmful practices.

The main objectives are:

1. To contribute to the reduction of family violence against women and girls and;
2. To improve access for women and girls to essential, safe, adequate, integrated gender-responsive services.

Family violence (FV) is a manifestation of gender inequality, created through unequal gender power relations, which overlap with harmful masculine stereotypes. In addressing family violence, Jamaica will come face to face with powerful cultural family constructs and internal and external conflicts about the meaning of violence within the bounds of households, primary relationships, and intimate partners. To that end, the priority areas in Family Violence that will be addressed for the Jamaica SI are:

1. Child Sexual Abuse;
2. Intimate Partner Violence;
3. Discrimination against vulnerable groups.

The approach will be guided by the ecological theory that underpins the connections between family and society. The ecological model is seen as the best framework within which to address the causes, consequences, and response to family violence in Jamaica.

The key pillars of the SI include :

• Pillar 1: Laws and Policies;
• Pillar 2: Institutional Capacities;
• Pillar 3: Social Norms and Behaviours;
• Pillar 4: Services;
• Pillar 5: Data Availability and Utilisation;
• Pillar 6: Women’s Rights Groups, Autonomous Social Movementes and CSOs.

UN Women is the Technical Lead for the Spotlight Initiative in Jamaica and also leads pillars 5 and 6. UNDP leads Pillars 1 and 2 ; UNICEF Pillar 3 ; and UNFPA, Pillar 4.

UN Women, in its role as the lead agency for pillar 6 on Women’s Rights Group, Autonomous Social Movements and CSOs. In Pillar 6 the Jamaica SLI will work directly with women’s organizations and CSOs in the area of capacity building in programme design and monitoring and evaluation for CSOs that provide services to the most marginalized and vulnerable communities, the creation of a knowledge hub and CSO resource centre, facilitating spaces for multigenerational dialogue between young and older, men and women, development of a national accountability strategy, as well as, the formulation and execution of advocacy campaigns around legislation, policy and service delivery related to VAWG and family violence. Direct financial support will also be provided in the form of grants to select organizations in particular those working with young women facing the most adverse intersectional challenges arising from family violence to enable the acquisition and use of appropriate technological tools. Understanding that there is a digital divide which does negatively impact CSOs and those with whom they work at the grass roots, the modalities of support will utilize a mix of methodologies to expand the knowledge base, create a network of skilled civil society practitioners in social accountability, advocacy and engagement and institutionalize effective interventions to influence debate and decision making on eliminating VAWG.

Engagement and strengthening of CSOs and the women’s movement programme work is mainstreamed throughout the entire Jamaica SI in all pillars. Therefore, the interventions in Outcome 6 will be closely integrated and aligned to the interventions across all pillars. The work will be informed by the Women’s Health Sruvey 2016, the National Strategic Action Plan to Eliminate Gender-Based Violence (NSAP-GBV 2017 – 2027) and the knowledge and experience of survivors and those most affected by family violence in Jamaica.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective of the assignment

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women MCO - Caribbean Representative, the Consultant will develop a national level social accountability strategy for tracking, monitoring and evaluation on legislation, budget analysis and expenditure tracking around the state response to family violence; with a specific focus on developing CSO-led social accountability tools and approaches to monitor the implementation of the NSAP GBV 2017 – 2027.

Scope of Work and Deliverables

The consultant will be based in Jamaica for the full duration of the assignment and will be expected to deliver the following results noting that all deliverables will be jointly approved by UN Women and a CSO Network:

1. The NSAP GBV – Implementation Status Report (Timeframe: 5 Days)

• A report on the status of the implementation of official actions outlined in the NSAP GBV with a view to outlining the following:
  • A review of the status of implementation of stated interventions and actions;
  • Recommendations for addressing challenges with implementation.

        2. Budget Analysis and Expenditure Review Report: the NSAP GBV 2017 – 2027 (Timeframe: 15 Days)

• A Budget Analysis and Expenditure Review: The Implementation of the NSAP GBV, to include the following:
  • A review of actual expenditures on the implementation NSAP GBV and comparison with stated/recommended official budget allocations;
  • Recommendations for filling financing gaps.

3. Development of Scorecards and Tools to be utilised by CSOs to monitor and tracking implementation of the NSAP-GBV 2017 – 2027 (Timeframe: 10 Days)

• Scorecard and Tools to monitor and track implementation of the NSAP GBV taking into account the following:
  • The scorecards and tools (including budget tracking tools) must be designed to suit the context and capacities in which women’s/gender equality CSOs operate.

4. National level social accountability strategy for tracking, monitoring and evaluation on legislation, budget analysis and expenditure tracking around the state response to family violence (Timeframe: 10 Days)

• Preparation of a Costed CSO-led National Social Accountability Strategy and Action Plan for Monitoring the Implementtion of the NSAP-GBV to include:
  • Short, Medium and long term actions led by women’s/gender equality CSOs;
  • Scorecards and Tools to monitoring implementation of the NSAP-GBV.

5. Presentation of of the National Social Accountability Strategy and Action Plan for Moniotoring the Implementation of the NSAP-GBV (Timeframe: 5 Days)

• Preparation and delivery of presentation of National Social Accountability Strategy and Action Plan for Monitoring the Implementation of the NSAP-GBV at a national CSO meeting;
• As part of the above, presentation of the scorecards and tools for CSOs to utilise to monitor the implementation of the NSAP-GBV.

NB: UN Women will separately conver the costs of organising this meeting.

Reporting Requirements

The consultant will work under the overall supervision of the UN Women MCO-Caribbean Representative, with direct reporting to UN Women Programme Specialist for Economic Empowerment and Statistics.

Competencies

 

Core Values / Guiding Principles:

• 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:

https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Functional Competencies:

• Strong gender responsive budgeting, economic analysis, social research and analytical skills;
• Excellent written and oral communications skills including the conveying complex concepts and recommendations, in a clear and persuasive style tailored to match different audiences;
• Ability to interact independently as part of a team;
• Ability to multi-task and operate effectively in stressful situations.

Required Skills and Experience

The consultant should meet the following criteria:

Required skills and experience:

Education:

• A Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Economics, Public Policy or Social Policy or other relevant social science field is required;

• A first-level University degree with at least 2 years’ qualifying experience in gender responsive budgeting, social budgeting or gender and economic analysis may be accepted.

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible and relevant experience working on gender and development issues in Jamaica;
• At least 3 years’ experience in leading and conducting research on gender responsive budgeting or social budgeting or gender and economic analysis;
• At least 3 years’ experience in working with women’s groups ;
• At least 3 years’ experience in the use of results-based methodologies;
• Familiarity with the gender equality policy and programme reform context in Jamaica is required;
• Prior experience in the UN System will be an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in oral and written English is required.

References:

• Minimum of three client references that include the name of the contact person, title and contact information.

Remuneration:

• The consultancy fee will be negotiated before contracting. Each payment will be based on a predefined and formal agreement between UN Women and the consultant and will be disbursed based on satisfactory completion of agreed deliverables.

Hardware, Software and Communication:

• The consultant must be equipped with a fully-functional laptop, which must run at least Windows 7. The consultant must be reasonably accessible by email and telephone (preferably mobile). The use of reliable, internet-based telecommunications application software (Skype or equivalent) is required.

Location and Duration:

• The consultancy will be based in Jamaica (no travel is required);
• The consultant will be engaged for a maximum of 45 working days during the 4th May 2020 – 31st July 2020.

Other:

• Interviews will be conducted with the shortlisted applicants;
• The consultant contracted will be required to sign a statement of confidentiality and freedom from any conflict of interest with potential future contractors with respect to the TORs and work that they will be delivering.

Note:

Submissions to UNDP Jobs are limited to a maximum of 10 MB, virus-free or corrupted contents to avoid rejection, and no more than 1 email transmission.   As such, all application materials must be scanned into one document and submitted.

All applications must be submitted through UNDP jobs.  Please do not send applications to UN Women staff as they will not be accepted.