UNICEF recruits 01 Individual Consultant

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The Sharia court system is a formal judicial entity with jurisdiction over family law/personal status cases in the State of Palestine. It’s mandate relates to marriage, divorce, custody, alimony and other family law issues. This mandate is regulated under a legal framework that is inherited from previous eras and was expanded under the Palestinian Authority.

Access to justice for women: Given the sensitivity of the areas that the Sharia courts cover, they play a significant role in enabling and protecting women and children’s rights and enhancing access to justice. To illustrate women are frequently beneficiaries of the sharia’a courts as the majority of legal claims are made by women. This is because women tend not to have easy access to external or extra-judicial mechanisms. Also, the majority of women’s cases that preside before the courts involve women who face multiple forms of violence, including social, physical, psychological, sexual and economic. Many children come into contact with the Sharia Courts as parties of dispute over custody/guardianship, visitation rights, alimony and inheritance, marriage and divorce of children and registration of children born out of wedlock. The Shari’a courts have guardianship over children placed in foster care, orphans and children of unknown parents.

Based on a study conducted by SAWASYA1 jointly with Birzeit University in 2016 on the Sharia’a court of Palestine, there is no system of responsibility and accountability within the Sharia court system. For example, a man who is guilty of having beaten his wife still qualifies for custody of his children. While a woman can lodge a complaint in regular courts, it is the sharia judiciary where this issue is raised frequently, and there is no current referral mechanism to the regular civil or criminal system in cases of domestic abuse. Further to that, it has been found that although sharia courts are an important legal resource for women, the judicial process is challenging for them. Women’s access to justice is often limited by circumstances and/or lack of resources, not to mention the lack of due protection, safety and security to them while at court, and lack of gender responsive environment that maintains women’s dignity, privacy and confidentiality.

Women do not have a sufficient and equal sources of information and/or awareness concerning the judicial process. Instead, they depend on informal sources (including relatives or fellow female claimants or work colleagues) or limited court sources. The Sawasya study highlighted that personal status law and family disputes involve a multiplicity of actors and points of reference, including judges, prosecutors, lawyers, counsellors, arbitrators, and others. While shari’a court judges may have particular legal, social, political and/or religious affiliations, certain convictions and attitudes that influence their work and interpretation to the law, these points of reference are unevenly distributed, and even at odds with the skill set of other main actors in the shari’a judicial process. Judges are regularly challenged by lawyers who have legal and sharia backgrounds, and by clergy and religious men who have religious frameworks and have to deal with counsellors and mediators who are sanctioned socially. The ability of judges to reconcile these references depends largely on their personalities, status and skills.

Access to justice for children:  On the other hand, a UNICEF assessment of the children access to justice system in 2017 highlighted that the Palestinian child law is not applicable in the Shari’a courts. An internal memorandum was issued in 2009 advising all Islamic religious judges to review and take into consideration the Child Law when dealing with children’s issues. The assessment also found some challenges in children accessing justice and services in the Sharia Courts. Children do not appear to have the right to address Sharia courts and, as a result, their testimony and statements are not required when making decisions in cases that have an impact on them. Social enquiry reports are not required for Sharia Court proceedings, and as a result the courts do not have the benefit of an independent assessment of the child’s background, circumstances and needs, the child’s attachment to each parent, and the parent’s capacities. The Shari’a Courts do not currently have a legal aid scheme and lawyers are not registered with the Palestinian Bar Association but fall under the responsibility of the Shari’a High Judicial Council. A number of NGOs provide legal aid for women on personal status issues but none of them are specialized in legal aid for children.

In the past, concerns have been raised about enforcement of the Sharia Courts decisions, to address this problem, a Presidential Degree-law was issued in 2016 to establish an execution department in each of the Higher First Instance Courts of the 11 governorates in the West Bank. The new execution department will manage visitations in cooperation with the Judicial Police and the Counselling Unit of the Shari’a courts. A number of visitation rooms have been established in Shari’a first instance courts to ensure a child friendly space.

In order to ensure the realization of women and children’s rights the assessment proposes to analyze the effectiveness and responsiveness of the Sharia courts. This assessment will focus on the Palestinian Shari’a courts in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip.  There are 3 levels of Sharia courts in Palestine:  35 first instance Sharia courts (25 WB and 10 Gaza), 5 Sharia Courts of Appeal (3 WB and 2 Gaza) and one Sharia Supreme Court.

How can you make a difference?

Major Tasks to be accomplished:

Under the overall guidance of UNICEF and UNWOMEN programme managers, and under the direct supervision of the technical working team, the consultant/s will undertake the following tasks, duties and responsibilities:

• Develop qualitative research design (including submission of an expanded methodology detailing how each specific study question/objective will be addressed) for carrying out the assignment.  Include an inception report that includes a description of the criteria and principles against which findings will analyzed and assessed for approval by relevant ethics committee;
• Develop research tools, and embark on field work for data collection;
• Conduct the necessary orientation and training and pilot the research tools developed;
• Conduct Focus Group discussions with women, children, shelters’ representatives and caregivers through MOSD, CSOs, and community-based organizations;
• Conduct key informant interviews with relevant stakeholders including Sharia court officials, legal aid providers, Civil Society Organizations, and other organizations to identify stakeholders and other partners;
• Collation of data and develop first report presenting the findings
• Finalization of report after incorporating comments received, including recommendations identifying potential entry points for capacity building of Sharia courts;
• Consultatively develop an action plan with defined outcomes, outputs, indicators, and responsible partners to address identified recommendations, and facilitate a consensus reaching workshop to finalize integrating final inputs from stakeholders;

 Specific study questions/objectives:

• Analysis and inputs regarding the following aspects:

Technical Working Group: The scope, results, and outcomes of the analysis and development of a coherent set of priorities for strengthening the current responses will take place through a Technical Working Group comprised of the Sawasya technical team, in particular UNICEF and UNWOMEN, and the Sharia Court Supreme Judge department.

This assessment is to take place in conjunction and partnership with UNWOMEN.

The consultant’s duties and timeframe are outlined below and are to be undertaken in line with UNICEF and UNWOMEN’s rules and regulations.

Specific tasks include:

Deliverables and deadline(s) for submission:  

The primary output is a finalized Shari Courts baseline assessment identifying key strengths, gaps and weaknesses in the Sharia courts in terms of realizing women and children’s rights, and a capacity building action plan.  This will include the contents of the inception report, findings of courts responsiveness to women and children’s cases, and capacity building plan.

1. Conduct literature review; hold planning meetings with Sawasya technical team and Supreme Judge department.  Deliverable:  logical framework of work schedule, and desk review bibliography (10 days) (By 10 July 2019)
2. Draft inception report which should include a plan and methodology, including key questions, a description for the methods and tools that will be used to collect and analyze the data; criteria and principles against which findings will be measured and outline of the assessment.  This should be submitted to the Sawasya technical team for review and approval; the methodology will be developed through a participatory process engaging Sharia Courts and other related stakeholders; Deliverable:  Inception report (5 days) (by 31 July 2019)
3. Conduct key informant interviews, stakeholder consultation workshops (national and sub-national levels) and focus group discussions Deliverable:  summary notes with observations from KIIs (15 days) (By 15 August)
4. Conduct data collection sessions from Sharia courts data collection system Deliverables:  Analysis of data and key findings (5 days) (15 August 2019)
5. Conduct field visits to court houses at different levels including family visitation rooms Deliverables:  Notes and observations of court houses (5 days) (31 August 2019)
6. Submit first draft assessment Deliverable:  Draft assessment report (5 days) (15 September 2019)
7. Incorporate comments / feedback, conduct additional meetings as needed and finalize draft assessment Deliverable:  Revised assessment report (10 days) (30 September 2019)
8. Submit final assessment Deliverable:  Final assessment report integrating all comments (20 October 2019)

Frequency of Reports: Deliverables

Payments are made upon certification of deliverables rendered satisfactorily and in accordance with agreed work plan and the following deliverables:

1. Submission of quality inception report and approval by ethics committee (20%) deliverable 1-2
2. Completion of field research and key informant interviews (20%) deliverables 3-5
3. Submission of draft assessment report and capacity building plan (20%) deliverables 6
4. Submission of final assessment report and capacity building plan integrating final comments (40%) deliverables 7-8

Official Travel Involved:

In country travel in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza. In the WB and Jerusalem consultant to provide own travel, in Gaza travel to be provided by UN agencies following UN security protocols. International travel – expect minimum of 3 visits, one for inception and planning phase, 2nd for a loner period during the data collection stage, and 3rd for final consultations and finalization.

The minimum requirements for the evaluation team are:

Functional Competencies:

• Sound knowledge of international human rights conventions, including CEDAW and CRC.
• Sound knowledge of gender issues, including VAW, GBV, women’s access to justice and gender responsive judiciary;
• Sound knowledge of child issues, including child protection, children’s access to justice and child responsive justice systems;
• Sound Knowledge of the Sharia Judiciary system and codes in Palestine, including the applicable related laws, policies and procedures;
• Strong and proven expertise in conducting researches and baseline studies, particularly in the fields related to justice sector, criminology, victimology or any other related field;
• Strong analytical and conceptual thinking, with drive for results.
• Strong dialogue and communication skills;
• Experience in working with the Sharia Judiciary in Palestine is preferable;
• Establishes, builds and sustains effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of clients perspective; anticipates client needs and addresses them promptly.
• Strong written and oral communication skills in Arabic and English.
• Ability to work in teams and in a multi-cultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships across different organizations.
• Committed and motivated to achieve results in a given time frame.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have..

EDUCATION:

A Masters degree in law, International Law, Criminology, Gender Studies, Social Science or any other related field;

EXPERIENCE:

• At least 10 years of professional experience in the field of justice and human rights; previous experience with the Sharia judiciary is a great asset;
• Previous experience in social research;
• Proven experience in baseline writing, particularly on justice related issues and/or women’s access to justice;
• A minimum of 2 previous assignments related to baseline studies on gender justice, women’s access to justice or children’s access to justice or any other related field;
• Experience with the UN system or/ and International Organizations would be considered an asset.
• A sample of a previous baseline or analysis study related to access to justice and/or child protection and/or violence against women or gender based violence.

Language Requirements:

Fluency (both oral and written) in English is essential with excellent writing skills. Basic understanding of Arabic is an asset.  If not fluent ability to hire translation services for both the WB and Gaza.

The technical score will weigh 70% and financial score 30%.

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants qualification mentioned above; and financial proposal. A contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer receives the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria. Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 50 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for financial evaluation.

Technical Evaluation (70%) max. 80 points:

• Advanced University studies in Gender, Human Rights, Management, Criminology, Law, Sociology or related discipline; (max:5 points).
• At least 10 years of relevant professional experience in organizational development, including developing Standard Operating Procedures (SoPS), policy papers, guidelines and strategies ; (max:15 points).
• At least 4 years of professional experience in the area of gender based and sexual violence and victims protection (max: 10 points).
• At least 4 years of professional experience in capacity building and training, including coaching  (max:15 points).
• Social research experience (20 points) related to baseline qualitative research studies.
• Experience with the Palestinian governmental institutions, particularly with the Security Sector indicated by at least 2 previous assignments/ positions with or within the sector. (max:10 points).
• Experience with the UN system or/and International Organizations would be considered a strong asset; (Max:5 points)
•  Financial Evaluation (30%)  max. 20 points

General Conditions (Procedures and Logistics)

1. The selection process for the consultancy will strictly follow UNICEF and UNWOMENs internal procurement rules
2. The consultant/s will provide weekly verbal or short email progress updates and have review meetings with Sawasya technical team on a bi-weekly basis.
3. The consultant/s will provide draft report for review and amend as requested before submitting the final report
4. UNICEF and UNWOMEN may request that the Consultant/s submit original copies of all evaluation tools, discussion and interview guides, sampling procedures, field notes, completed questionnaires and any other material related to the implementation of the evaluation.

UNICEF and UNWOMEN will not provide office space to the consultant/ team. All requirements including venues for interviews and consultations, transportation, health insurance, secretariat services, interpreter, translator, etc. will not be covered by UNICEF or UNWOMEN unless agreed in writing between UNICEF and UNWOMEN and the Consultant/s.

For every Child, you demonstrate

UNICEFs core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.