Consultant to Conduct a Rapid Assessment of Kenya Probation and Aftercare Services (PACS) Offender Empowerment Programme

Posting Title: Consultant to Conduct a Rapid Assessment of Kenya Probation and Aftercare Services (PACS) Offender Empowerment Programme

Department/Office: United Nations Office on Drugs and CrimeDuty Station: NAIROBI

Posting Period: 04 August 2021 – 12 August 2021

Job Opening Number: 21-United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime-161116-Consultant

Result of Service

Outputs
• An inception report
• A comprehensive assessment report
• A report on workshop on the current empowerment programme and final comprehensive assessment report
• A draft implementation plan on the way forward
• Report on validation workshop and a validated final assessment report and recommendation report
Payments will be made upon satisfactory completion and/or submission of outputs/deliverables.

Work Location – Home-based, with travel to and within Kenya

Expected duration – 50 Working Days between August and December 2021

Duties and Responsibilities

Background of the assignment
As the global guardian of the United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice, UNODC is mandated to support Member States in upholding the rule of law, promoting crime prevention and effective, fair, humane and accountable criminal justice systems. Within the framework of the UNODC Regional Programme for Eastern Africa (2016-2021), and in close cooperation with the Regional Section for Africa and the Middle East at UNODC headquarters, the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme of ROEA seeks to implement these objectives through support to major justice reforms processes undertaken by East African States.

In line with this mandate the UNODC project ‘Strengthening the Administration of Justice and operationalising alternatives to imprisonment in Kenya’ aims to support the Government of Kenya to strengthen efficiency in delivery of judicial services, enhance coordination within the criminal justice sector and widen the use and application of alternatives to imprisonment. The project is designed to implement a part of the Programme for Legal Aid and Empowerment in Kenya (PLEAD). The Programme is funded by the European Union and targets the counties with the five largest urban centres of the country (Kisumu, Mombasa, Nairobi, Nakuru and Uasin Gishu) and seven counties of the most marginalised area within the country (Garissa, Isiolo, Lamu, Mandera, Marsabit, Tana River and Wajir).

The PLEAD component implemented by UNODC targets support to the following institutions in the justice chain (national partners):

The Judiciary;
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP);
The Kenyan Probation and Aftercare Service (PACS);
The Witness Protection Agency (WPA);
The National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ).

PACS is a department currently under the State Department for Correctional Services within the Ministry of Interior and Coordination. The department derives its primary mandate from the Community Service Act 1998 and the Probation of Offenders Act 2012. In addition, it derives additional mandates from other statutes, for instance, the Power of Mercy Act 2011, the Prisons Act 1960, the Children’s Act 2001 and the Sexual Offences Act 2006. PACS currently operates 11 regional offices, 47 county offices, 130 probation stations, 6 probation hostels and 2 probation community resource centres as well as a probation staff training centre.

PACS is the sole authority of community-based sanctions in Kenya. Community-based sanctions offer a proven way to facilitate the social reintegration of offenders and reduce recidivism. PACS, therefore, plays a key role in the criminal justice chain through the supervision and rehabilitation of offenders in the community.

One of the main interventions employed by PACS is the empowerment of offenders. Accordingly, key result area 4 of the PACS Strategic Plan for 2018-2022 aims to enhance offender reintegration and resettlement and foresees to achieve this objective through, inter alia, the strengthening of its offender empowerment programme. Empowerment measures include payment of school fees, provision of tools and vocational training. Given the programme’s potential benefits, UNODC is looking to recruit a consultant to support a comprehensive assessment of the PACS empowerment programme.

2.Purpose of the assignment

The purpose of the assignment is to take stock of the PACS empowerment programme, evaluate its effectiveness and provide recommendations on how to improve it through improved design of support measures and optimise the cost-effectiveness of the support provided. The assessment shall emphasise the participation and views of beneficiaries and their communities. In addition, the assessment shall be published and thereby taking steps to increase the accountability of the programme to the society at large.

3.Specific tasks to be performed by the Consultant

Under the overall supervision of the Regional Representative and direct supervision of the Head of the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme UNODC ROEA, and within the framework of the UNODC Project ‘Strengthening the Administration of Justice and operationalising alternatives to imprisonment in Kenya’, the consultant will perform the following tasks:

a) Development of an inception report
The consultant shall develop an inception report for approval by UNODC detailing the methodology for carrying out the assignment and a work plan, including timelines and itineraries for travels.

The consultant shall determine and stipulate the most appropriate research methods to carry out the assignment. Nevertheless, the following approaches should be considered in order to obtain an in-depth understanding of the empowerment programme:

Desk review of background documents, including manual and guidelines, relevant to the PACS empowerment programme and relevant internal reports and data on beneficiaries.
Key informant interviews (eg with PACS staff members, beneficiaries, key community members or CSO representatives) on the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance and timeliness of empowerment measures.
Focus group discussions with beneficiaries to understand their perception and experience of the programme, including the ongoing relevance and appropriateness to their context.

Beneficiaries consulted shall include Children, youths and women. The inception report shall detail how the perspectives of these groups will be captured.

The research methods deployed should respect relevant principles related to data protection and thus not disclose the identity or sensitive information about beneficiaries of the empowerment programme.

The inception report shall not be longer than 10 pages.

b) Development of a draft comprehensive assessment report on the PACS empowerment programme
The consultant shall develop a draft comprehensive evaluation report on the PACS empowerment programme. The report shall consider, inter alia, the normative framework underpinning the programme as well as the administrative and decision making structures currently in place. In addition, the report shall describe the eligibility criteria for support, what records are kept in terms of the assistance provided, the arrangement for monitoring the use of the tools provided and how the academic record of those which are supported through payment of school fees is evaluated. It shall also explain how the programme interacts and complements other PACS activities, such as training and rehabilitation programmes.
The parameters within which support was provided under the empowerment programme shall also be described in the report. This shall include the number of beneficiaries, the nature of the support provided, the geographical locations of the offenders, the programme they had been positioned under (probation, CSO or aftercare), the types and quantities of tools provided and the nature and number of trainings given.

Furthermore, the report shall provide information on the beneficiaries. This shall include their perspectives on the relevance and the appropriateness of the empowerment measures for them, including the views of young and female offenders. It shall explore issues such as, what is the current source of income of beneficiaries, rates of employment, how aspects of the empowerment programme (school fees, trainings and tools) facilitated or assisted in the reintegration process; social and community involvement, do the beneficiaries feel safe and secure in their environment (are they accepted by the society) and what do they perceive as the most significant challenges to the success of the programme.
The report shall also assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the programme and its measures. It shall, inter alia, consider issues such as whether the skills and tools provided were market demand-driven and thus enabling employment and if the tools which have been provided are being used by the offenders for the intended purpose. Moreover, it shall examine how PACS has managed to cooperate with stakeholders, such as learning institutions, NGOs and religious organisations, in the delivery of the empowerment programme. Finally, the report should point out good practices found in areas where empowerment has been successfully implemented and identify any shortcomings and bottlenecks.

The assessment report should not be longer than 25 pages.
c) Facilitation of a workshop on the current empowerment programme
The consultant shall facilitate a validation workshop with PACS staff members which shall be dedicated to reviewing and improving and finalizing the draft evaluation report on the PACS empowerment programme. It will also highlight challenges, lessons learned and ways of improving the programme. The consultant shall submit a succinct report on the outcomes of the workshop.

d) Draft Implementation Plan on the way forward for the empowerment programme
Based on the comprehensive assessment of the empowerment programme, the consultant shall draft a recommendations report/implementation plan, which shall detail the way forward for the programme and outline how to increase effectiveness, efficiency and impact. The report shall consider such measures as the development of strategic or normative documents, management and security of inventory, clarity on division of labour, terms of reference for committees and monitoring tools.
The report shall incorporate international best practices, and all of its recommendations shall take into account the PACS 2018-2022 Strategic Plan and the overall objective of a safer Kenyan society. It shall emphasise measures and modalities that provide the greatest impact and the optimal use of available resources.
In addition, the report shall include an itemised procurement plan for equipment and tools in support of the empowerment programme as an annex. The plan shall consider the current PLEAD workplan and rationalise all of its recommendations as to how they support the empowerment programme and the outcomes of PLEAD.

The recommendation report should not be longer than 15 pages (excluding annexes).
e) Facilitation of an external validation workshop of the assessment and recommendation report/ implementation plan
The consultant shall deliver a one-day validation workshop for both the assessment and recommendation report/implementation plan. The consultant shall submit a succinct report on the outcomes of the workshop. Following the validation workshop, the consultant shall, in consultations with PACS, incorporate the inputs received and submit both a validated, comprehensive assessment report and a validated recommendation report on the PACS empowerment programme.

Qualifications/Special Skills

Academic Qualifications: An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in social sciences, criminology, sociology, international relation, political science or other relevant discipline is required. A first-level university degree in similar fields in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
Experience:

A minimum of 10 years’ experience in working in the justice or development sector, particularly in the areas of crime prevention, governance, sustainable development or rule of law is required.
Experience in conducting various types of evaluations and assessments is required.
Experience of conducting monitoring and evaluation in Kenya is desirable.
Knowledge of quantitative and qualitative methods is required.
Demonstrable understanding of capacity development/strengthening of the rule of law sector in Kenya is desirable
Experience with implementation of rehabilitation and reintegration programmes is desirable.
Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this position, fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of another United Nations Secretariat language, is an advantage.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.