1. Background. 2. Objectives of the Assignment:

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1 TERMS OF REFERENCE Training to build the capacity of service providers on effective legal services in prevention of and response to violence against women. Contracting Agency: Coordinating Agency: Place: Duration of Contract: National Commission for Women and Children (NCWC) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Bhutan Virtual with a two week-mission to Bhutan 21 working days over two months between August and October 1

2 1. Background Gender based violence (GBV) still on the rise in Bhutan. A study by NCWC in 2013 revealed that 72% of rural women in Bhutan believed a man is justified in beating his wife or partner for different reasons. The level of tolerance towards domestic violence is therefore high. More emphasis is placed on gender equality and empowerment of women in the 11 th Five year Plan to reflect government s responsiveness to the emerging challenges. Bhutan has made progress in development of an appropriate legal framework to ensure an effective response to violence against women and children, as well as programs and services for the prevention and protection to assist survivors and victims of violence, and strategies to bring about changes in attitudes and behaviors. UNDP, UNICEF and the National Commission for Women and Children are working together to develop Standard Operating Procedures and media guidelines for reporting cases related to gender based violence. Furthermore, a review of relevant policies to formulate Gender Equality Policy is being initiated in collaboration with NCWC. All these activities aim to boost the government and civil society s effort to ensure the provision of gender-sensitive legal support services, protection, and communicate and coordinate across different stakeholders in the country. Bhutan ratified the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women CEDAW in 1981 without any reservation, and in 2013 Bhutan enacted the Domestic Violence Prevent Act. The National Commission for Women and Children is mandated by the Government to lead the implementation of the Domestic Violence rules and regulations of Bhutan With emerging demand to provide legal support services to the victims and survivors of GBV, the NCWC has created a legal unit and the Royal Bhutan Police has created Women and Child Protection Unit. RENEW, a CSO for empowering and nurturing women, has also created legal support unit to provide legal advice, counselling and any other services or measures deemed appropriate for the victims. However, due to lack of required knowledge on the subject and experiences, the legal units cannot provide a complete wide-ranging package of services to the victims of GBV. Therefore, in order to strengthen the institutional capacity of service providers, UNDP Bhutan is supporting capacity development of the legal officers, social workers and the law enforcement body to provide services to the survivors of GBV. In order to ensure effective prevention of and response to violence against women in Bhutanese society, NCWC in collaboration with UNDP, and with funding from Austrian Development Cooperation, will organize a five day training to build the capacity of service providers from CSOs, health and police on the provision of legal services for on GBV cases as per CEDAW norms and standards. 2. Objectives of the Assignment: The overall aim is to improve the quality of legal support services to victims of GBV in Bhutan. A training will be conducted with the aim of imparting the participants with operational knowledge and understanding of international practices on case management, counselling services, and CEDAW norms and standards. At the end of the training, 2

3 the participants from the different agencies should be equipped to train others within their organization as well as support the development legal service provision within their organization. The training will be preceded by a detailed needs assessment conducted by the expert in Bhutan. The consultant is also expected to develop a report for recommendations for the way forward for the development of legal services for survivors of gender-based violence. 3. Scope of Work and key tasks 3.1 Training and Workshop The international expert will be responsible for the planning, development of module and conduct of the five day workshop for the legal officers, social workers and police officers. The training should be practical and based on case studies and practical exercises from across the region. It is expected that the workshop will provide participants with knowledge and skills on at least, but not exclusive to, the following three main sessions: 1. International Standards on GBV and Issue of Gender Based Violence This session would provide the context and introduction to GBV and the International Standards on Gender Based Violence. The session would be participated in by representatives from all different sectors, and cover at least the following. a) Convention on Eliminating all forms of Discrimination Against Women(CEDAW) The rationale behind the drafting of CEDAW including what each Article aims to meet, during the implementation of the DPVA it will be possible to synchronize and harmonize the contents of this to provide the victims of GBV the just and required support. b) Gender Based Violence (GBV) In order to provide support to the survivors of GBV, it will be necessary to have the required knowledge regarding the causes of GBV, prevention, and the sensitivities involved in providing support to clients. Applied to the Bhutanese context, the training should provide the participants with the tools to assess and analyze the gaps in domestic violence response and the best practices in tackling, as well as ways and rationale to reduce/eliminate GBV. 2. Legal Service Provision as Part of a Full-Cycle Support This session would provide and discuss best practice examples as far as the provision of legal support to survivors of gender-based violence is concerned. Practical case studies would be worked through in groups. 3

4 Through a detailed consideration and practical sessions developed based on an analysis of the Domestic Violence Prevention Act 2013, Rules and Regulations for the DVPA 2015 and the Standard Operating Procedures and current services provided by different actors, the session would support participants in developing approaches most suited for the Bhutanese context. The session would cover at least the following: a) Services related to Gender Based Violence The NCWC is the competent authority for implementation of Domestic Violence Prevention Act. However, RENEW (CSO for empowering women in Bhutanese Society) and the Royal Bhutan Police have been providing counselling services to the survivors and victims of GBV. The relationship between legal support and best practices in providing counseling support should also be discussed and covered within the training. The session should also cover the difference between referral of cases and the provision of legal advice. b) Legal services The training should expose participants to best practices in the world, related to management of cases and the various legal services provided to the victims of GBV. This is help us to obtain protection orders as and when necessary in order to protect and assist the victims of GBV. The participants should be able to critically reflect on the types of legal services provided by their organization, and how these could be further developed. c) Mediation Make aware of the guiding principles of mediation and as and on what issues we can facilitate mediation. This session would be co-facilitated by a national expert on the provision of mediation services. d) Counselling The training should include a module on counseling for service providers. The main goal in this area is to equip the counselors with the knowledge and skills in helping victims to cope with their situation, through group counseling and individual counseling. The training should expose best practices and types of counselling to the participants. During the workshop, the expert is also expected to provide the participants with relevant reference materials, which may help them in their work. The expert is expected meet with National Commission for Women and Children and UNDP Bhutan to discuss on the five day training programme to incorporate any feedback and suggestions. 2.2 Needs Assessment and Report with Recommendations for the Way Forward As a result of the needs assessment conducted prior to the training, as well as discussions during and after the training, the expert is expected to produce a report (max. 10 pages) outlining the main opportunities, challenges, remaining needs and suggested way forward for the development of legal service provision for survivors of GBV in Bhutan. 4

5 3.3. Summary of key deliverables: 1. Undertake virtual survey and needs assessment for the participants to be trained. 2. Develop interactive and detailed training modules/training session plan and all accompanying background material for the delivery of training workshops on capacity building of service providers on effective legal services in prevention of and response to violence against women. 3. The training workshop shall include components on the types of legal support services and inter-sectoral collaboration and coordination of various sectors in providing response and ensuring effective prevention coordination, provision of support to victims, mediation and communication skills. The training workshop shall also include detrimental effects of gender based violence on women, short and long term consequences (educational achievements, productivity, mental and psychological health) and gender sensitivity. 4. Deliver five-day training for selected service providers on violence against women for different sectors. At the training, participation will be from different sector representatives providing legal advisory services (legal, social protection, police, education and health). The training should cover the identification and detection of victims/violence, reporting, response and inter-sectoral cooperation. 5. Develop a detailed evaluation of the modules/workshop(s) by the participants so that the workshop/training materials can be improved according to the participant feedback. 6. As part of the training, deliver the training guidelines in addition to content and tools. 7. Develop training workshop report. 8. Develop a report (max. 10 pages) outlining the main opportunities, challenges, remaining needs and suggested way forward for the development of legal service provision for survivors of GBV in Bhutan. The report should include recommendations for further addressing of violence against women by-service providers and state bodies. 4. Participants Participants are expected from National Commission for Women and Children, RENEW, Ministry of Health, Office of the Attorney General and Royal Bhutan Police. The total number of participants will be Outputs and schedule The precise dates of the assignment will be agreed with UNDP and NCWC and expert prior to signature of the agreement. However, a tentative scheduling is provided in the table below. 5

6 Task Develop and conduct a needs assessment survey, and conduct virtual meetings with key agencies in order to develop a tailored training package. Develop and submit a detailed workshop plan and background materials. Number of days required 4 2 Tentative date Travel to Bhutan 1 Set up meeting with NCWC, UNDP and other stakeholders to discuss and refine the training program 3 Training 5 Debriefing NCWC and UNDP on 5 day workshop and way forward 1 Return travel 1 Submit training workshop report and a report with recommendations for developing legal support services to service providers. 4 Total working days Remuneration and Expenses UNDP Bhutan shall pay the consultancy fee to the consultant as agreed between both the parties by contract agreement. All travel and local expenses shall also be included in the contract agreement. Initial payment of 30% will be made upon the submission and approval by UNDP and NCWC of the detailed workshop plan and background materials, with the remainder being paid upon the delivery of the training and completion of all previously outlined activities. 7. Institutional Arrangements The Expert shall work in close consultation with the NCWC, UNDP Bhutan and other relevant key agencies. The Expert shall be reporting to UNDP Bhutan DRR and relevant official in the National Commission for Women and Children, and work closely with the UNDP Governance Portfolio. 6

7 8. Qualifications and Experience The international expert with the following experience are welcome to apply: a) Advanced University Degree in law, gender, development studies, international relations or other related disciplines. b) Minimum 7 years of progressively responsible relevant experience, preferably in the promotion of women s access to justice, legal training and international and national laws and policies on gender equality and women s rights. c) At least 5 years of experience in the development and provision of support programmes for survivors of Gender Based Violence, including legal services and advice. d) At least 3 years professional experience in women s human rights programming, including in the development, mainstreaming and implementation of CEDAW training. e) Sound knowledge of international standards on human rights, women s rights and related instruments such as CEDAW, SCR 1325 etc. f) At least 5 years of experience in programme design, implementation, reporting, and monitoring, preferably in the field of Access to Justice or Gender Justice. g) Good experience in conducting workshop and management, including participatory training approaches; h) Good knowledge of latest development in international best practices related to the topic, including work of the UN bodies. i) Excellent writing and oral communication skills in English 9. Evaluation The criteria which shall serve as basis for evaluating offers will be: Technical Qualification weight [70%] Financial/Price Proposal weight [30%] A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Only the price proposal of the candidates who passed the minimum technical score of 70% in the technical qualification evaluation will be evaluated. Criteria Weight Max. Point Technical 70 Academic background 20 7

8 Criteria Weight Max. Point Relevant experience in the promotion of women s access to justice, legal training and international laws and policies on gender equality and women s rights. 5 years of experience in the development and provision of support programmes for survivors of Gender Based Violence, including legal services and advice. Sound knowledge of international standards on human rights, women s rights and related instruments such as CEDAW, SCR 1325 etc. Good experience in conducting workshop and management, including participatory training approaches Sub-total A. (Technical) Financial Sub-Total B.(Financial) 30 Total (A+B) Submission of Application Submission of package: a) Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability; b) Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details ( and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references; c) Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment. d) Financial proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount with a clear break down costs. All applications must include, as an attachment, the CV, P11 and the financial proposal. The proposal should be submitted in electronic format by August 21, 2015 to procurement.bt@undp.org no later than 5:30 PM. Application letter explaining why the candidate the most suitable for the work. Late applications will be rejected. Applications without financial proposal will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further processing. 8