Team Leader/Human Right Expert for National Human Rights Action Plan, Lilongwe, Malawi, closing date: Tuesday, 24 February 2015

closing date: Tuesday, 24 February 2015

TEAM LEADER/HUMAN RIGHT EXPERT FOR NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ACTION PLAN

Location : Lilongwe, MALAWI

Application Deadline : 24-Feb-15

Additional Category: Millennium Development Goals

Type of Contract : Individual Contract

Post Level : International Consultant

Languages Required : English

Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)

16-Mar-2015

Duration of Initial Contract : 45 working days

Background

Malawi adopted a new Constitution in 1995 which enshrines the separation of powers, independence of democratic institutions, and rule of law and contains a bill of human rights that guarantees fundamental freedoms, equality and development. Successive governments have made significant efforts to implement the Constitution by establishing key constitutionally mandated institutions such as the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Human Rights Commission, Law Commission and the Ombudsman's Office. Despite the progress made in developing and implementing a new multi-party constitutional dispensation, Malawi still faces some challenges in institutionalizing democratic governance. Most notably, specific challenges include: poor transparency and weak accountability manifested in high levels of corruption; limited levels of access to justice for the majority of the population due to an inefficient and ineffective justice systems; weak institutional capacities of the public service evidenced by poor service delivery at all levels; political intolerance; poor public participation in public affairs beyond voting; poor adherence to rule of law; and pervasive human rights violations.

A number of challenges also stand in the way of the effective realization of human rights by the people of Malawi despite some considerable progress in this area. Lately there have been more reports of lack of respect for human rights by a number of duty bearers. In a series of status of human rights reports, the Human Rights Commission has noted that although Malawi is a signatory to some major international treaties relating to the promotion of human rights and the rule of law such as ICESCR, ICCPR, CEDAW, CRC, ACHPR, the country continues to face pervasive challenges with respect to human rights across all the main categories. In the Civil and Political rights category the challenges have included: misuse of firearms by the police which has at times resulted in death, characterized with high levels of impunity on the part of the police; poor conditions in places of detention; problems related to access to justice; threats against human rights defenders; unwarranted limitations on the right to hold peaceful demonstrations; monopolisation of the public broadcaster by ruling parties and political intolerance. In terms of economic, social and cultural rights, Government has made efforts in making food available to the population and in the area of fiscal discipline that have led to economic growth in recent years. The country however still remains poverty stricken. Many people lack access to clean water, education and justice. Other challenges are evident in issues of: land dispossession from the poor by government or its agencies and other private players without due compliance with relevant legislation; huge unmet needs in the area of education and health and other challenges in the provision of education and health services. Various problems have also clogged the water, energy and electricity provision services and infrastructural development, with unprecedented levels of negative consequences on peoples' livelihoods.On the rights of women and children, the legal framework specifically provides equal rights for women, and forbids discrimination based on language or culture, race, disability, or social status and provides for equality and recognition before the law for every citizen. However, the capacity of government institutions, to assure equal rights for all citizens is limited. Gender-based violence particularly against women and children is still rampant.

It is important therefore that concerted efforts continue to be directed to promotion and protection of human rights by all duty bearers in Malawi. This requires public awareness and conscientization, strengthening of human rights institutions, harnessing stakeholder collaboration, and increased human rights protection interventions. This gives the impetus for the development of a National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, in order to ensure a strengthened regulatory framework for human rights promotion and protection work. Malawi produced the first National Plan of Action for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights (NAP), for the period 2004 to 2011. The objective of the NAP was to improve the promotion and protection of human rights in Malawi. In this regard, the NAP placed human rights improvement in the context of public policy so that the Governments and communities could set human rights improvement and practical goals, and devise programs to ensure the achievement of those goals, as well as engage all relevant sectors of Government and society to implement the Plan. In light of the phasing out of the initial 2004 - 2011 NAP, it is important that stakeholders should embark on the process of facilitating the development of a follow-up NAP. The Malawi Government wishes to develop a follow up plan in cooperation with the Malawi Human Rights Commission with the assistance of its development partners like UNDP and Royal Norwegian Embassy.

Duties and Responsibilities

The main objective of the assignment is to facilitate the process of the developing a follow-up National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Malawi. Specifically the assignment aims to:

• Examine Malawi's human rights record;
• Analyze existing national policies and plans in the framework of human rights-based approaches;
• Identify a mechanism for national coordination of measures to improve the promotion and protection of human rights as per the Constitution but also international law;
• Identify enforceable coordination mechanisms on implementation and reporting on international human rights treaty obligations.

The consultant's duties and tasks will include the following:

• Conduct literature review of relevant documents including but not limited to: the past National Action Plan for Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, the Malawi Constitution, Human Rights Commission Act, Malawi Growth and Development Strategy II, the Strategic Plans of different Governance Institutions and the Vienna Declaration and Platform for Action;
• Conduct interviews and participatory stakeholder consultations;
• Mobilize stakeholders for validation of interviews and consultation findings;
• Draft the National Action Plan for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in Malawi (2014 - 2024).

Deliverables

The consultants will produce the following: An Inception Report: to be reviewed and approved by UNDP. The report should have a full plan of implementation including but not limited to:

• A clear outline of the proposed methodology for conducting the study and data collection strategies including instruments that will be utilized;
• Method of collecting and prioritizing the information;
• Proposed validation approach to collected information;
• Projected work plan with clear timeline for undertaking and completion of the assignment in keeping with the output/deliverables;
• Limitations to the proposed methodology and any risks to delivery of outputs.

Draft Report: to be submitted to the Technical and Steering Committee.

Final Report: the final report incorporating the comments from stakeholders' validation input will be submitted to the Committee within 5 working days following the workshop. A digital copy (formatted in Microsoft Word) and three (3) hard copies of the Final Report in color print will be submitted.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Demonstrate integrity by modelling the UN's values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent report writing and research skills;
• Excellent drafting ability in English;
• Ability to coordinate and lead a team;
• Ability to work cooperatively and constructively with counterparts.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• A university post graduate degree or its equivalent in Law or Human Rights or related disciplines.

Experience:

• Minimum of 15 years work experience in the field of Human Rights;
• Experience and familiarity with UNDP policies and programming as well as government and National Human Rights Institutions procedures;
• Computer competence in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Internet applications;
• In-depth knowledge and considerable experience on Human Rights pertaining to developing countries, preferably in Sub- Saharan Africa.

Language:

• Fluency in written and spoken English.

Working arrangements: The consulting team will comprise of two people, namely: an expert in Human Rights, and a gender specialist. The Human rights expert will also serve as a team leader while. The team shall work with a Technical Committee, Taskforce and a Steering Committee. Membership of these Committees shall be drawn from the Human Rights Commission, the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, and other stakeholders, including: the Office of the Ombudsman; non-state actors; Government Ministries and Departments; and Development partners. Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs as the policy holder shall provide the oversight and lead role. The Human Rights Commission shall coordinate and facilitate all the technical aspect of the NAP development process. All relevant stakeholders shall be closely involved in the process, including through the technical and steering committees as appropriate. The Consultants shall report directly to the Human Rights Commission. The Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development will be engaged to provide technical support as appropriate.

Time-frame: The assignment is for a maximum of 45 working days from the date the contract is signed. The assignment is expected to be carried out between March and June, 2014

Methodology: As a team leader, the Human Rights Expert will determine the most appropriate methodology with input from the Gender Expert. The whole process is expected to be conducted through a participatory manner involving wide stake holder engagement and consultations while working closely with a Gender Expert. The NAP is expected to be gender-responsive, therefore all processes in developing it shall entail gender mainstreaming at all the stages as well as in its content.

Report Requirements:

• Before each payment, the consultant will produce a progress report on his/her work;
• Before the final payment, the Consultant will produce a final report compiling all his/her deliverables

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals: Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications by the 24th February, 2015

Technical Proposal:

• Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work
• Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work

Financial Proposal

Personal CV or P11 Form including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references

Proposals must include all three documents. Proposals not meeting this requirement will be rejected

Financial proposal:

• Contracts based on daily fee

The financial proposal will specify the daily fee, travel expenses and per diems quoted in separate line items, and payments are made to the Individual Contractor based on the number of days worked.

Travel: All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station in Lilongwe /repatriation travel.

Evaluation: Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies: Cumulative analysis

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria weight; 70

• Criteria A: Educational background - up to a maximum of 15 points;
• Criteria B: At least 15 years' experience in the field of Human Rights - up to a maximum of 20 points;
• Criteria C: Demonstrated knowledge and experience in UNDP policies and programming as well as government and National Human Rights Institutions procedures. Experience in developing human rights national action plans is desirable - up to a maximum of 30 points;
• Criteria D: Ability to work cooperatively and constructively with counterparts. Previous work experience in the Southern African Region is desirable - up to a maximum of 20 points;
• Criteria E: Ability to work cooperatively and constructively with counterparts and coordinate and lead a team - up to a maximum of 15 points.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points in the Technical Evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

The financial score for the financial proposal will be calculated in the following manner: Sf 100 x Fm/F, in which Sf is the financial score, Fm is the lowest price and F the price of the proposal under consideration.

(Total Financial Maximum points 100 points)

Total Score

The technical score attained at by each proposal will be used in determining the Total score as follows: The weights given to the technical and financial proposals are: T= 0.7, F=0.3

The Total score will be calculated by formula: TS T x 0.7 + F x 0.3

TS - Is the total score of the proposal under consideration?

T - is technical score of the proposal under consideration?

F - is financial score of the proposal under consideration?

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.