Request for Proposal (RFP) for Consultancy services for Capacity Strengthening of JLOS Institutions (Police, Prosecution and Judiciary) in Effective Investigations, Prosecution and Adjudication of

1. Introduction

UN Women, in partnership with UNICEF and UNDP, through financial support  from the Government  of Sweden and the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative to Eliminate Violence Against Women and Girls is launching this call for applicants to provide content and skills based training for police officers, prosecutors, and magistrates in gender-responsive, child-friendly, survivor-centered, and trauma-informed investigations, prosecutions, adjudication, and case management of cases of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Violence Against Children (VAC),[1] including harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM), child/early marriage, trafficking in persons, commercial sexual exploitation, and online sexual exploitation. This includes the knowledge, attitudes and skill necessary for effective prevention, investigation, prosecution,  adjudication, referral, data collection, analysis and reporting. A separate objective will be to develop relevant content and skills-based training for the same institutions on children in conflict with the law, which will more explicitly supported by UNICEF with its own resources. UNICEF will also provide financial resources for this joint initiative to address areas of online violence against children with financial support from the Global Fund to End Violence Against Children. The integration of the different UN-supported interventions in the justice sector is line with the approach of the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative and the UN agency shift to build one government system that can address all violations of vulnerable people’s right to protection from violence, whether male, female, adult or child, while addressing the specific vulnerabilities faced in Uganda.

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Grounded in the same international human rights framework, UNICEF works to promote the rights of all children to have the opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. In the area of child protection, UNICEF promotes the strengthening of all parts of the child protection system, including the justice mechanisms, to operate in the best interest of all children who come into contact with the law, whether as victims, witnesses, or alleged offenders.

The Uganda Police Force (UPF) is established and mandated under Article 211 and 212 of the Constitution of Uganda, 1995 (as amended) and section 2 of the Police Act, CAP 303 to protect life and detect and prevent crime. In fulfilling its mandate, UPF is also guided by international, regional legal regimes to which Uganda is a signatory. To adequately address the GBV needs emanating from the above mandate, UPF established specialized departments, including Child and Family Protection, Community Policing, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and Child-Related Offences Department within the Criminal Investigations Division, and Women Affairs.

The Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) is established and mandated under Article 120 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions Act to institute and handle all criminal proceedings against any person or authority. In fulfilling its mandate under the constitution, the ODPP is guided by international, regional legal regimes to which Uganda is a signatory. To adequately prosecute cases of GBV and VAC cases the ODPP has established a department of Gender Children and Sexual Offences.

The Judiciary is one the three arms of Government of Uganda charged with the responsibility to oversee justice in the country and ensure justice for all irrespective of their social or economic status. Article 126 (1)  of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda mandates the  judiciary to interpret the law and protect the rights of all individuals. In fulfilling its mandate, the Judiciary established the Judicial Training institute to contribute to the quality of judicial performance through programs that stimulate continuing professional and personal growth, change systems and Practices with in the Judiciary through evidence based research, institutional engagement and advocacy and build an Institution that is effective, efficient, relevant and responsive to program needs.

1. Context

Uganda is a signatory to international and regional instruments and conventions that provide for protection of women and children. These include: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; the Convention on Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) 1992; the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995); the Declaration on Elimination of Violence Against Women (DEVAW, 1993); the  57th Session of the Commission on the Status of  Women; Africa Agenda 2063; United Nations Security Council Resolution (UN SCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security; UN SCR 1820 on Sexual Violence in Situations of Armed Conflict; the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region Protocol (ICGLR, 2006); and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Uganda also has put in place national laws and policies on GBV and VAC including: The Constitution (1995); Domestic Violence Act 2010  (DVA) and its regulations (2011); Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act 2010 and the Regulations (2011); Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act 2009; the amended Penal Code Act Cap 120, National Policy on the Elimination of GBV (2016) and its Action Plan; the 2006 Persons with Disabilities Act, the Children’s (Amended) Act 2016.

GBV and VAC is highly prevalent and normalised. The prevalence of physical violence experienced by women in Uganda stands at 51%, far above the African average of 37.7%. This violence is perpetrated in both the public and private spheres. According to the 2016 Uganda Demographic Health Survey (UDHS 2016), 49% of women and 41% of men believe a man is justified in beating his wife in certain circumstances. The Uganda Violence Against Children Survey (2015) found that 35% of females and 17% of males between the ages of 18 to 24 have experienced sexual violence—with 59% of females and 68% of males reporting physical violence during childhood. Women and girls with disabilities are disproportionately affected, as are those who live with HIV/AIDS, widows, orphans, and other vulnerable groups. Little is known about the true extent of online violence against children, but a 2015 rapid assessment found that Internet usage amongst children is growing with children in remote communities also being vulnerable, in addition to children in urban areas, due to the lack of law enforcement and other services in these areas, the high rates of poverty, and the relative newness of the internet.[2]  The UPF 2017 Annual Crime Report, showed that 1,651 children were accused of crimes, while the JLOS Annual Report, showed that 75% of children’s cases that were eligible for diversion were in fact diverted from the justice system. However, a significant number of children accused of petty crimes still are held in detention and in remand homes beyond the statutory length of time as mandated by the Children’s Act and the CRC and related guidelines.  

As of February 2018, Uganda hosts 1,444,856 refugees and asylum-seekers originating from neighbouring States including South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Somalia and Rwanda. This population remains highly vulnerable—amongst South Sudanese refugees, women and children constitute 82% of the refugee population. From January-December 2017, 5,001 reported incidents of GBV, which occurred in either country of origin and/or refuge/asylum, were documented across 12 refugee settlements and in Kampala.

1. Justification

The UPF holds a critical role in deterring, preventing and responding to cases involving GBV and VAC, including harmful practices (such as female genital mutilation, trafficking in person, and child marriage), and upholding women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights in Uganda. It also holds a critical role in handling and investigating children in conflict with the law in line with their best interests. Within the UPF, three sections hold the mandate on GBV/VAC and children in conflict with the law—the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (CID), the Child and Family Protection Department (CFPD), and the Community Liaison Department. CID holds responsibility for the investigation of all criminal offences (including GBV/VAC-related offences and cases of alleged child offenders), while CFPD is often the first contact point for survivors of GBV/VAC and minor offenses committed by children within the formal justice system. The CFPD has officers designated to handle these cases at all stations countrywide, while CID has a designated unit for handling SGBV and child-related offences at district level.  Certain types of evidence requiring analysis for prosecution of GBV and VAC cases is handled by the Directorate of Forensic Services at Police Headquarters and at the Government Analytical Laboratory, both centralised in Kampala.  Other evidence related to online crimes are handled by the Cyber Crime Unit. The ODPP  is vested with powers to handle all criminal matters save for those in the court martial including related to GBV and VAC.

Although the number of defilement cases pending investigations in CID reduced by 6% between 2016 and 2017 (from 7,222 to 6,807), the case dismissal rate of 3.5 % for rape and 8% for defilement during the same period resulted in low overall conviction rates and impunity for many GBV/VAC-related crimes (2017 Annual Police Crime Report).  This is largely the result of poor investigation and prosecution capacity; lack of sufficient in-house GBV/VAC specialists within the ODPP, UPF, and Judiciary; and gender bias and negative attitudes of many police, prosecutors, and judicial officers towards GBV/VAC-related cases, as well as lengthy procedures and systematic gaps in the overall justice system and lack of procedural and personal sensitivity to the unique needs of women and children.  The lack of trained sign language interpreters for disabled witnesses also leads to dismissal of their cases.

While numerous in-service trainings have been conducted by different partners using various training manuals, the trainings have been inadequate to sufficiently equip prosecutors, police, and judiciary; are uncoordinated and at times inconsistent; often fall short of applicable national and global standards; and lack a mechanism to mentor and monitor impact and hold duty bearers accountable to the set standards. To help address these gaps, the ODPP is developing a handbook on prosecution of SGBV cases. The UPF is developing standard operating procedures for the management of GBV and VAC cases and the findings of this consultancy will also feed into the finalization of these SOPs. The Judicial Training Institute is developing a GBV/VAC training curriculum for judicial officers, and the ODPP developed a Handbook on the Prosecution of Children’s cases, which was rolled out in 2017 and 2018. In 2016, the Judiciary developed a  Gender Bench Book (GBB) to support and enhance the capacity of judicial officers to deliver gender-sensitive justice to the general population of Uganda ensuring that judgments are increasingly gender-sensitive and improving access to justice for women.  It is the first tool in Uganda available to assist the judiciary in making court processes and judgments more gender-sensitive. JLOS is currently developing a similar bench book for children’s cases. Furthermore, the fact that child protection is handled by different departments (e.g. CFPD and CID) brings into question the efficiency of the police in investigating all children’s cases in a child-friendly manner that avoids re-victimization.  To this end UN Women in partnership with  UNICEF and UNDP is seeking consultancy services to support capacity strengthening for JLOS Institutions  (Police, Prosecution and Judiciary) in effective Investigations, prosecution  and  adjudication of  GBV/VAC Cases and children in conflict with the law in Uganda.

Scope of work  

Under the supervision of UN Women,  UNICEF and with support from  UNDP, and working in close coordination with UPF, ODPP, and the Judiciary, the consultancy firm will be responsible for:

Conducting a rapid assessment on the capacity gaps (skills, knowledge, attitudes, practices, logistics and equipment) of police officers, prosecutors, and judicial officers (in particular at the Magistrate Court level) in GBV, VAC (including online violence against children and children in conflict with the law) and SRHR-related laws, investigation, prosecution, adjudication, and survivor centred and child-friendly case management in line with international standards.  The rapid assessment should be at a national level and more deeply within the programmes’ priority districts.   

• Develop a capacity building strategy for the UPF, ODPP, and Judiciary (with emphasis on Magistrate-level) to strengthen their knowledge, attitudes, and skills to effectively investigate, prosecute, and adjudicate cases involving GBV/VAC and children in conflict with the law, in line with applicable standards and in a gender-responsive, child- and victim-friendly, survivor-centred, and trauma-informed manner. This includes knowledge of the applicable laws and guidelines, case management and documentation, referral and support for survivors to accesses other essential services, and hands-on techniques and skills for effective (and gender-sensitive, trauma-informed, and child-friendly) investigation, prosecution, and adjudication, including in cases involving children in conflict with the law. We anticipate that this may require tiered trainings, for example a certain level of training for all police officers and specialized skills-based training for CID officers (including hands-on techniques and skills for evidence collection, preservation, and submission in court and in interviewing children).
• Strengthening institutionalization of GBV, VAC, HP, SRHR and children in conflict with the law in-service training in ODPP and UPF, including by reviewing and developing/revising relevant training programmes and curriculums, identifying gaps in the judicial GBV/VAC training curriculum, currently under revision and  which departments are responsible for pre- and in-service trainings in each of the institutions.
• Developing the capacity of UPF and ODPP trainer of trainers (TOT) by conducting TOTs based on the revised curriculum.     
• Support the UPF, ODPP, and Judiciary to roll-out the trainings to target districts, by co-training along-side and mentoring the institutional trainers.  The mobilization of trainees and costs of running the trainings themselves are not included in this call. 
• Developing a mechanism for monitoring compliance and for holding duty bearers accountable to the set standards for service delivery.  

The trainings will target police officers[3] and prosecutors[4] responsible for the management, investigations and prosecution of cases in 21 districts, and judicial officers and magistrates.