The Maldives Study on Women’s Health and Life Experiences revealed that 1 in 3 women between ages of 15-49 have experienced some kind of physical or sexual abuse at some point in their lifetime[1]. The study also revealed that among those women who have experienced violence, very few sought helps from formal services including formal justice system. The ratification of the Domestic Violence Prevention (DVP) Act in 2012 was a significant milestone towards strengthening the legal framework for combating and preventing domestic violence (DV) in the Maldives. Since the enactment of the act, the public has been proactively reporting on DV cases to the relevant authorities Research indicates this is largely due to the increased awareness among individuals and communities on the issue[2]. To ensure the swift delivery of justice mandated in the legislation, the act requires special measures from duty bearers.
The DVP Act clearly establishes the roles and responsibilities of the duty bearers which encompasses agencies of various sectors in the Maldives. The Family Protection Authority, the lead agency for the act was established under the DVP Act with the aim to combat domestic violence; create public awareness on issues of domestic violence; provide the required services to the survivors of such violence; co-ordinate the work of the relevant government institutions including the Police and the Health Sector by bringing such efforts under a national policy and implementing such policies. Similarly, the Act, mandates the Justice Sector, to take special measures in dealing with cases of domestic violence on investigation, prosecution and trial stages. In this regard, Section 66 of the DVP Act, requires the courts to lay down special set of regulation to guarantee justice for survivors and victims of domestic violence.
The Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) mandated to organize, implement and oversee all administrative matters of the Judiciary is working to ensure the proper and effective implementation of the DVP Act in the Judiciary through formulation of regulations, guidelines, sensitization and training.
UNDP has been supporting the efforts to strengthen response to domestic violence and sexual gender-based violence over the years to ensure access to justice for all. In this regard, training and capacity building programmes have been conducted for justice sector stakeholders on domestic violence and sexual gender-based violence. In view of the existing needs, UNDP under its Integrated Governance Programme (IGP) with the Department of Judicial Administration is seeking the support of a local consultant to draft the regulation of the judiciary under the DVP Act.
[1] Ministry of Gender and Family, 2007, Maldives Study on Women’s Health and Life Experiences
[2] UNDP, HRCM, FPA, 2019, The Third Rights Side of Life Survey
Under the guidance of DJA, FPA and UNDP, the consultant will draft the judicial regulation under the DVP Act. The tasks to be undertaken by the consultant under the Terms of Reference include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following;
Expected Outputs and Deliverables
All documents shall be submitted as stipulated below and all documents will be submitted as drafts and upon review by the UNDP, DJA and FPA, the consultant shall revise the draft documents. Once, the revised reports are accepted by DJA, FPA and UNDP, they will be termed as final documents for the consultancy.
The consultant will be responsible for the following deliverables;
The following table shows an indication of the duration for the deliverables;
Deliverables/ Outputs
Estimated Duration to Complete
Final inception report
7 days
Draft regulation (including consultations)
20 days
Final Consultation meeting and final draft of the regulation
6 days
Roadmap
5 days
Institutional Arrangement
The consultant is expected to work with the technical committee established for the consultancy which includes staff from DJA, FPA and UNDP. The consultant will be accountable to the Programme Analyst of IGP, for each deliverable as stipulated in the proposal. Fortnightly meetings will be held with the UNDP, DJA and FPA. A briefing and debriefing meeting will be organized with UNDP senior management at the beginning and end of assignment.
Duration of the Work
This assignment will approximately take 9 weeks and is expected to start early-July. The consultant should come up with a clear timeline while submitting the proposal taking into consideration the estimated time durations for each deliverable as stipulated above.
Duty Station: Home-based
Education
Experience
Language requirement
Application process
Interested individuals must submit the following as proposals in order to demonstrate their qualifications:
Note: Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into one single file.
This vacancy is archived.