National Consultant: provide advanced training for professionals who obtained a licence to work as a Support Persons to the Child (in Family Law related proceedings)

UNICEF Montenegro is looking for and National Individual to provide advanced training for professionals who obtained a licence to work as a Support Persons to the Child (in Family Law related proceedings).

1. Background and Context

Equitable access to justice for children means that every child has is able to participate effectively in all matters that affect him/her, including criminal, civil and administrative proceedings, within  institutions that are accessible and adapted to the needs and rights of the child.

In line with the national access to justice agenda which required the harmonization of Montenegro`s family legislation with international standards, the Amendments to the Family Law of Montenegro was adopted in July 2016. The entire process was led by the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro. As a result, Montenegro`s legislator provided the child with full standing capacity in all proceedings affecting the child and introduced the institute of Support Person to the Child, which provided better guarantees for children’s voices to be heard and opinions considered throughout the entire court proceeding. Generally, the amended Family Law provides improved safeguards for the rights of the child to be adequately addressed and protected throughout the entire court proceedings and more opportunities for addressing child rights violations.

The role of the the Support Person to a Child introduced in the amended Family Law proceedings is to care for the rights and wellbeing of the child  - to convey to the court the child’s opinion; to build a relation of trust with the child; to inform the child of his or her rights; to offer information of the case, the stages and possible outcome of the proceedings, and offer explanations regarding possible consequences of the child expressing his or her opinion. Following the adoption of the Bylaw on education of the Support Persons to the Child in Family Law related proceedings, 17 professionals have been trained and licenced for the Support Person to a child since 2017.

From the Report on the assessment on the implementation of the institute of the Support Person to a Child commissioned in December 2019 one of the recommendations was to strengthen the capacities of support persons to a child and a number of topics for the capacity building training were proposed. UNICEF will provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro to conduct capacity building training to all licenced support persons that will cover topics recommended by the mentioned report. In addition, child friendly material will be developed for children to whom the support person is appointed for their better understanding of their role and children’s rights during the family law related proceedings.

2. Purpose and Objective

The purpose of this assignment is to improve the status and rights of children participating in family law related proceedings through effective support of children to meaningfully participate in justice proceedings.

The objective is to provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro for conducting advanced training for professionals who obtained a licence to work as a support persons to the child (in Family Law related proceedings).

3. Methodology and Technical Approach

The methodology will include desk review, written inputs, and consultations with the Ministry of Justice and licensed support persons, development of training methodology and delivery of the training.   The consultant will work on child friendly material for children on the role of the support person in the family related court proceedings.

A national consultant will work on preparing the agenda and material for the training and is expected to conduct 2 days training for 17 licensed Support Person to a Child. Further details are presented in the section below “Activities and Tasks”.

4. Activities and Tasks

The activities of the assignment will be conducted in close cooperation with the relevant representatives of the Ministry of Justice and UNICEF’s Child Protection Team. The Consultant is expected:

• To review, within the preparatory phase, the new Amendments to the Family Law of Montenegro (2016), Bylaw on the education of the Support Persons to the Child in Family Law related proceedings (Official Gazette, No. 046/17 from 18/07/2017), Law on Free Legal Aid; Strategy on realization of Child Rights (2019-2022);  Strategy for Judiciary Reform (2019-2022); Report on the assessment of the implementation of the Support Person to a Child from 2019;
• To make reference to the following documents: Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC); General Comments No.12 on children's right to be heard; General Comment no 14 on the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as a primary consideration; European Convention on the Exercise of Child Rights; Council of Europe`s Guidelines on Child Friendly Justice, UNICEF CEECIS Study: Children’s Equitable Access to Justice, etc;
• To review qualitative and quantitative data on the cases involving the Support Person to a child in to make a data analysis on its implementation;
• To communicate with the Ministry of Justice and licensed support persons and UNICEF to receive in-depth guidance on the training methodology and programme;
• To develop the training curriculum including development of templates for the reports Support persons to a child need to submit to the courts;
• To deliver the two training for 17 support persons to a child;
• To develop child friendly material for children on the role of the support person in family related court proceedings.
• Report including recommendations.  

5. Key Deliverables and Timeframe

This assignment is expected to commence on 20^th December 2020. The consultant is expected to spend 17 working days on this assignment.

The National Consultant is expected to produce the following key deliverables:

VI. Management and Organisation

Management: The Consultant will be supervised by the UNICEF Child Protection Officer.

Organization: National Consultant will be required for this consultancy. If more than one consultant is engaged for the assignment, the fee for each consultant will be negotiated depending on their qualifications, the scope of work required from each consultant and the duration of their engagement. 

Schedule: This assignment will commence on 20 December 2020 and will last until 31 March 2021.

7. Qualifications/specialized knowledge/experience required to complete the task:

The Consultant is expected to have the following qualifications/specialized knowledge/experience required to complete the task:

Education:

• University degree in law or social science;
• Master’s in law or social science will be considered as an advantage;

Experience:

• Ten (10) or more years of experience in child protection;
• Experience in direct work with children in justice proceedings is an asset;
• Familiarity with the access to justice area is a strong asset;
• Proven experience in conducting the trainings and development of training material in child protection sphere;
• Previous work experience with UN/UNICEF or other international organization will be considered as an advantage;

 Language:

• Excellent command of Montenegrin, whilst knowledge of English language will be considered as an advantage;

 Other:

• Effective communication and written skills;
• Demonstrate abilities to meet deadlines.

VIII. Application procedure:

• To apply for the vacant position please submit P-11 form through “apply” button;
• Candidates are requested to submit a financial offer as a separate document consisting of a daily professional fee.

8. Selection Method:

All applicants will be screened against qualifications and requirements set above. Candidates fully meeting all the requirements will be further evaluated based on the criteria below.

1.            Technical Criteria - Interview – 70 % of total evaluation– max. 70 points

• Education: 10 points
• Previous experience: 20 points
• Technical questions at the interview: 30 points
• Other: 10 points

Only candidates who obtained at least 70% of points from the technical part (who will score at least 49 points) will be qualified for considering for financial proposal evaluation.

2.            Financial Criteria - 30 % of total evaluation – max. 30 points.

• Financial scores will be calculated using the formula [lowest offer / financial offer of the candidate x 30].

REMARK:

Mandatory learning: Upon concluding the recruitment process and prior to signing the contract, all Consultants and Individual Contractors, including those working from home, must complete the following three online courses

• Ethics and Integrity at UNICEF
• Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Abuse of Authority
• Sexual Exploitation Abuse (PSEA)

​In addition, Consultants and Individual Contractors must complete the following course before commencement of any travel on behalf of UNICEF. 

• BSAFE security training 

The courses can be found on the following link: UNICEF Mandatory Training/Learning Classes . 

Budget and Remuneration

Payment schedule: The payments will be made upon successful completion of the deliverables and submission of invoices.

Recourse: UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs is incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines.

Budget and Remuneration: Interested contractors are requested to submit their financial offer consisting of fee for the services to be provided, travel and subsistence costs, as applicable.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities to apply.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process;