Consultancy to conduct evaluation of juvenile justice diversion modelTerms of Reference Consultancy to conduct evaluation of juvenile justice diversion model UNICEF Azerbaijan (Only for International Consultants) 1. Program information: Program (No. & Name) : Social System Strengthening 2. Background and Context: (Attach background documents, if necessary) Current practice shows that juveniles, who committed misdemeanors, including status offences, can be deprived of liberty through placing them in pre-trial detention centers, special correctional institutions and juvenile prisons, without determining the guilt, and proper assessment of whether the placement is in the best interests of the child. Furthermore, children spend years in the aforementioned institutions with no formal review of their cases, which contradicts the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Situation Analyses of Juvenile Justice system in Azerbaijan conducted by Prof. Carolyn Hamilton from Children’s Legal Center at the Essex University as well as the report of the monitoring mission of juvenile justice institutions conducted by NGO Alliance with the support from OSCE office in Baku in 2006 and recent Assessment supported by the UNICEF Regional Office revealed that protection of juveniles within the police custody, residential institutions, pre-trial detention facilities and juvenile prison does not correspond to the international standards. The majority of juveniles kept in investigatory isolators and in juvenile prison mention that they either were not provided with a lawyer at all or the role of the lawyer was limited to the symbolic representation in the court room. The report also stressed the necessity for the establishment of specialized legal services for children in conflict with the law and children from families in crisis. Although the overall system and mechanisms are not in place, still there is an obvious progress in the area of juvenile justice achieved with the support of the government and civil society. From the legislative perspective the progress in the area of juvenile justice was denoted through the development of the draft law on juvenile justice. The draft law was elaborated based on the patterns of respective legislation documents passed in Kosovo, Poland, Albania, etc. The National Task Force on Juvenile Justice represented by the relevant governmental bodies and civil society organizations made provided necessary inputs and contributions to the development of the draft law as well. The practical part of the system change was introduced through the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Ministry of Internal Affairs, UNICEF, OSCE and NGO Alliance on Child Rights encompassed the establishment of model diversion scheme and capacity building for police officers in 2007. UNICEF played an essential coordinating role bringing partners like the OSCE, OHCHR, British Embassy and the NGO Alliance for Child Rights on board to advocate for putting the juvenile justice issue on the political agenda. The diversion project for diverting children into non-custodial alternatives started in 2007 and was covering diversion centre, legal clinic and police child room components. Initially the project was targeting only one district of Baku, Narimanov. Nowadays it expended to cover 7 districts of Baku. The staff of the diversion scheme is represented by social workers, pedagogue, psychologist, lawyer and managements staff. Juvenile are being referred to the diversion scheme by commissions on minors, police departments, Ombudsman Institute and even courts. Specially trained staff of the centre provide psychological counseling for children and their parents/extended family members, social work with family, sport rehabilitation, psychotherapy (individual and group) for parents and children, game-therapy. In 2009 eighty children have benefited directly in the Centre by receiving counselling services (group, individual, and family), art therapy, IT training, English language training, sports, and recreational outings. About two hundred sixty children at risk benefited indirectly through meetings with them and their families and visiting their schools. About one hundred children passed through the new police child rooms during the year. Three rooms were allocated based on the UNICEF request by the Ministry of Interior in 2008, which were equipped and new draft guidelines used, for piloting child oriented approaches in formal procedures of the police including investigation. A wide range of information and legal assistance are provided to children and their families through the pilot Child Rights Legal Clinic, which was established by the Ombudsman, the Ministry of Interior, UNICEF, NGO Alliance and other partners in 2007. In 2009, 132 children and their families received professional legal advice and peer counselling, 106 cases out of which were civil cases. As a result of capacity development programmes co-organised with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Police Academy and Judicial Legal Council sixty police officers from targeted districts have increased their knowledge on child rights and juvenile justice. As a part of the official annual training programme, the Judicial Legal Council organized a training session for thirty judges and prosecutors to develop their knowledge on international standards for child rights and juvenile justice. This enabled some of the trained professionals to put into practice the knowledge they had obtained by introducing new approaches. In addition, formal agreement on introduction of child rights into the curriculum of the Justice Academy and JLC was reached and UNICEF will assist the Government in this regard. Based on UNICEF and its partners’ advocacy, the MIA and Police Academy officially agreed on inclusion of the suggested topics on children’s rights and juvenile justice into the official curriculum of the Policy. In addition to that, the Police Academy has established a specialized unit on juvenile justice within its formal structure. 3. Purpose of the assignment To conduct evaluation of “Juvenile Justice Diversion” project, including diversion center, child rights clinic and child police rooms, and provide recommendations on its sustainability for handing over the model project to the Government and civil society organizations. Particular emphasis will be put on: 4. Duty station: Baku, Azerbaijan (in and outside of the country) 5. Supervisor: The work will be supervised by the UNICEF Child Protection Officer. The overall supervision and implementation reports will be submitted to the Government and UNICEF Representative. The consultant will be responsible for: 1. Desk review of activities carried out by UNICEF during the period 2007 – 2010. Study the available data and information on UNICEF/Government activities regarding the project – with special focus on the activities related to the implementation of the “Juvenile Justice Diversion Modeling Project” 7. Outcomes and deliverables: 1. Comprehensive evaluation report of the “Juvenile Justice Diversion model ” project in line with UNICEF Evaluation Report Standards (attached). The evaluation report should include the executive summary prepared in line with UNICEF guidelines (attached) 8. Time-Frame: The selected consultant will work for the period of 12 days within one month. It is envisaged: 5 workdays spent in Azerbaijan (during one travel) and 5 workdays out of country. The exact schedule of the activities will be agreed with the consultant based on the consultancy implementation progress. The deadline for submission of final deliverables to UNICEF is 10 MAY 2010. Phase 1: Out of the country: 2 working days. Desk review of project related documents Phase 2: Baku. 5working days: Briefing implementing partners, stakeholders, building essential contacts, gathering data, following up gaps in data collection. Developing and presentation of the analysis methodology. Phase 3: Out of the country. 5 working days. Analysis and preparation of the draft evaluation. Phase 4: Out of country: 2 working days. Collection of missing data and consideration of the comments for the final draft report. Presentation of the final report to UNICEF. 9. Qualifications or specialized knowledge/experience required: • Advanced university degree and/or academic background in a legal/social field; 10. Procedures and logistics: UNICEF will cover the international travel costs and DSA for the period spent in the country. Whenever the consultant will be required to travel within Azerbaijan a travel authorization (TA) will be issued to the consultant and travel expenses provided on the basis of UNICEF standards. UNICEF does not provide or arrange health insurance coverage for consultants. UNICEF will also introduce the consultant to the major related counterparts and facilitate meetings and consultations. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. Deadline: March 19 , 2010 For further information please contact: Munir Mammadzade , Child protection Officer, mmammadov@unicef.org; 99412 4923013 (ext 102)
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