UN Women: Legal Consultant -Digital Child Protection Legislative Reform, Beirut, Lebanon - National Consultant - Home-Based

Background:

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.

As part of its work to advance women’s meaningful participation in public and political life and strengthen gender-responsive governance, UN Women provides targeted technical support to women leaders to strengthen their ability to engage effectively in legislative and policy processes. This includes facilitating access to evidence, legal expertise and policy analysis that can support women leaders in developing and advancing rights-based and gender-responsive legislative initiatives.

Within this framework, UN Women is supporting a legislative initiative led by a woman parliamentarian concerning the protection of children from digital and technology-facilitated harms.

Children and adolescents are increasingly engaging with digital technologies and online environments for education, communication, information, entertainment and social participation. At the same time, digital environments can expose children to evolving forms of harm, including online sexual exploitation and abuse, grooming, sexual extortion, image-based abuse, cyberbullying and harassment, trafficking and recruitment facilitated through digital technologies, privacy violations and exposure to harmful content.

The nature, prevalence and consequences of these harms may differ according to sex, age, disability and other factors. Girls and adolescent girls may face particular forms of sexualized and gender-based abuse online, including sexual harassment, image-based abuse, sexual extortion and other forms of technology-facilitated gender-based violence. Effective legal responses therefore require both a child-rights-based and gender-responsive approach, while ensuring protection for all children without discrimination.

Lebanon has existing legislation and institutional arrangements relevant to child protection, criminal law, cybercrime, electronic communications, privacy, sexual exploitation and abuse, trafficking, reporting, investigation and victim protection. Before determining the appropriate legislative response, there is a need to assess how the existing legal and institutional framework addresses digital and technology-facilitated harms affecting children; identify gaps, inconsistencies, overlaps and implementation challenges; and examine available legislative and regulatory options.

International and regional human rights and child-rights standards, as well as comparative legislative experience from other jurisdictions, can provide useful guidance. Such experience should, however, be assessed in light of Lebanon’s legal system, institutional architecture, legislative process and national context.

UN Women therefore seeks to engage a Legal Consultant to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the relevant Lebanese legal and institutional framework; conduct targeted comparative legal research; consult relevant national stakeholders; develop evidence-based legislative and regulatory reform options; and prepare an appropriate legislative reform package. The final form of the proposed reform will be determined on the basis of the legal analysis and consultations undertaken during the assignment. It may consist of a standalone law, amendments to existing legislation, regulatory or implementing measures, or a combination thereof.

The consultancy will contribute to strengthening the evidence base and legal expertise available to the designated woman parliamentarian in advancing a gender-responsive and child-rights-based legislative initiative.

The consultant will work under the overall guidance of the UN Women Country Representative and the day to day supervision of the Project Coordination Analyst. The Programme Associate will serve as the focal point for administrative and contractual matters.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

Under the overall supervision of UN Women, and in close coordination with the designated parliamentarian championing the legislative initiative, the consultant will provide specialized legal expertise to assess Lebanon’s existing framework, identify priority legal and institutional gaps, develop feasible reform options and prepare a technically sound, gender-responsive and child-rights-based legislative reform package. Throughout the assignment, the consultant shall apply a child-rights-based, gender-responsive and survivor-centred approach, taking into account the best interests of the child, evolving capacities, non-discrimination, privacy, dignity, participation, accessibility, due process and protection against secondary victimization. Particular attention should be given to forms of digital and technology-facilitated harm that disproportionately or differently affect girls and adolescent girls, while ensuring that the proposed legal framework protects all children.

The consultant will undertake the following tasks:

1. Inception, Methodology and Legal Review Framework

The consultant will:

• Develop an inception report setting out the methodology, detailed workplan, analytical framework and proposed sequencing of the assignment.
• Identify the principal areas of Lebanese legislation, regulation and institutional practice to be reviewed.
• Propose criteria for selecting comparative jurisdictions and legislative models.
• Develop a stakeholder consultation plan identifying relevant institutional and non-institutional actors.
• Identify key legal and policy questions to guide the national and comparative analysis.
• Agree with UN Women and designated parliamentarian on the scope of the review and the proposed comparative jurisdictions before proceeding with the substantive analysis.

2. National Legal and Institutional Mapping and Gap Analysis

The consultant will undertake a comprehensive review of the existing Lebanese legal, regulatory and institutional framework relevant to the protection of children from digital and technology-facilitated harms.

The review should examine, as relevant:

• child protection legislation and policies;
• criminal law and criminal procedure;
• sexual exploitation and abuse;
• trafficking in persons;
• cybercrime and technology-related offences;
• electronic communications and digital services;
• privacy and personal-data protection;
• online harassment and cyberbullying;
• online grooming and sexual extortion;
• image-based abuse and non-consensual dissemination of intimate material;
• digital facilitation of trafficking, exploitation or recruitment;
• reporting obligations and reporting mechanisms;
• investigation and evidence-gathering;
• victim/survivor protection, assistance and access to remedies;
• institutional mandates and coordination arrangements;
• responsibilities of relevant public authorities and, where legally applicable, digital service providers or other private actors.

The consultant will:

• Identify gaps, inconsistencies, overlaps, ambiguities and implementation challenges within the existing legal framework.
• Identify areas where existing legislation may already provide a basis for addressing relevant forms of harm.
• Assess whether gaps relate primarily to legislation, regulation, implementation, institutional mandates, coordination or enforcement.
• Examine whether existing provisions adequately address the specific protection needs of girls and adolescent girls and other children who may face heightened vulnerability or barriers to accessing protection and remedies.
• Identify potential legal or institutional barriers to reporting, investigation, protection and access to justice.
• Assess the extent to which relevant laws and procedures provide child-sensitive and survivor-centred safeguards.

The analysis should distinguish clearly between gaps in legislation and gaps in implementation, to avoid proposing new legislation where existing provisions may instead require stronger implementation or regulatory measures.

3. Targeted Comparative Legal Research

The consultant will conduct a targeted comparative review of selected international and national legislative frameworks addressing digital and technology-facilitated harms affecting children.

Comparative jurisdictions should be selected according to agreed criteria, which may include:

• relevance to Lebanon’s legal system or legislative architecture;
• demonstrated experience regulating digital harms affecting children;
• relevance of institutional and enforcement arrangements;
• applicability to Lebanon’s context;
• alignment with international human rights and child-rights standards;
• consideration of gender-responsive approaches.

The comparative analysis should focus on approximately four to six relevant jurisdictions or legislative models, unless otherwise agreed with UN Women.

The consultant will review relevant international and regional instruments, standards, guidance and recommendations, including those relating to:

• children’s rights;
• protection from violence, exploitation and abuse;
• trafficking and sexual exploitation;
• privacy and data protection;
• gender equality and violence against women and girls;
• digital rights and online safety.

The comparative analysis should identify approaches relating to:

• legal definitions and scope;
• prohibited conduct and offences;
• prevention obligations;
• reporting mechanisms;
• investigation and evidentiary provisions;
• victim/survivor protection and support;
• institutional mandates and coordination;
• responsibilities of relevant digital actors, where applicable;
• enforcement and sanctions;
• regulatory and oversight mechanisms;
• cross-border cooperation;
• implementation mechanisms.

The purpose of the comparative review should be to identify relevant and transferable legislative options for Lebanon, rather than to produce a broad descriptive survey of global legislation.

4. Stakeholder Consultations and Technical Validation

The consultant will conduct targeted consultations with relevant stakeholders to validate the legal analysis, understand institutional and operational realities, and obtain technical input on possible legislative and regulatory reforms.

Stakeholders may include, as appropriate:

• relevant parliamentary actors and committees;
• concerned ministries and public institutions;
• judicial authorities;
• law-enforcement bodies;
• child-protection institutions and practitioners;
• national human-rights and gender-equality institutions;
• legal practitioners;
• civil society organizations, including women’s rights and child-rights organizations;
• organizations working on digital rights, online safety and protection;
• academia and legal experts;
• other relevant technical stakeholders.

The consultant will:

• Facilitate structured technical consultations on identified legal gaps and reform options.
• Assess the feasibility and institutional implications of proposed measures.
• Document the principal views and recommendations emerging from consultations.
• Assess stakeholder feedback against applicable international human rights, child-rights and gender-equality standards.
• Incorporate relevant feedback into subsequent reform proposals, where appropriate.

Where appropriate and agreed with UN Women, consultations should seek to reflect the experiences, and protection concerns of children and adolescents through existing evidence, specialist organizations or appropriate safeguarding mechanisms rather than through direct engagement that could create protection risks.

5. Development and Drafting of Legislative and Regulatory Reform Options

Based on national legal analysis, comparative review and stakeholder consultations, the consultant will develop a Legislative and Regulatory Options Paper and prepare the corresponding legal and regulatory drafting required to operationalize the recommended reforms.

The consultant will:

• identify priority legal, regulatory and institutional gaps requiring action;
• distinguish between legislative, regulatory, institutional and implementation-related gaps;
• develop feasible reform options for addressing the identified gaps;
• assess the advantages, limitations and legal and institutional implications of each option;
• identify implications for existing legislation and regulatory frameworks;
• assess institutional responsibilities and implementation requirements;
• identify potential legal, procedural and enforcement challenges;
• assess compatibility with Lebanon’s international human rights and child-rights obligations;
• assess the implications of proposed measures for gender equality and the rights and protection of girls and adolescent girls;
• recommend the most appropriate legislative and/or regulatory approach for Lebanon; and
• translate the recommended approach into concrete legal and regulatory texts, including the drafting or amendment of relevant legislation, regulations, decrees, decisions and other legal or regulatory instruments, as applicable.

Potential approaches may include:

• development and drafting of a standalone legislative framework;
• drafting of targeted amendments to existing laws;
• drafting of harmonized amendments across several pieces of legislation;
• drafting or revision of implementing regulations, decrees, decisions or other regulatory instruments;
• development of institutional or procedural measures required to operationalize the proposed legal framework; or
• a combination of the above approaches.

The final outputs should include draft legal and/or regulatory texts that are sufficiently developed to support subsequent review, consultation and consideration by the relevant Lebanese authorities, accompanied, where appropriate, by explanatory notes setting out the rationale for the proposed provisions and their relationship with the existing legal framework. 

The recommended option will be reviewed with UN Women and the designated parliamentarian before commencement of detailed legislative drafting.

6. Drafting of the Legislative Reform Package

Following agreement on the preferred reform approach, the consultant will prepare the corresponding legislative reform package.

Depending on the agreed approach, this may include:

• a standalone draft law;
• amendments to one or more existing laws;
• proposed regulatory or implementing provisions;
• or a combination thereof.

The legislative package should, as appropriate, address:

• purpose and scope;
• definitions;
• prohibited conduct and offences;
• prevention measures;
• child-sensitive reporting mechanisms;
• investigation and evidentiary requirements;
• procedural safeguards;
• victim/survivor protection, assistance and remedies;
• protection of privacy and confidentiality;
• institutional mandates and responsibilities;
• referral and coordination arrangements;
• enforcement and sanctions;
• oversight and accountability;
• responsibilities of relevant digital actors, where legally appropriate;
• cross-border cooperation, where relevant;
• implementing and regulatory measures;
• monitoring and review;
• transitional or consequential provisions.

The draft should ensure that proposed provisions:

• are consistent with Lebanon’s constitutional and legal framework;
• align with applicable international human-rights and child-rights standards;
• are gender-responsive and child-sensitive;
• incorporate survivor-centred safeguards;
• provide clear and legally workable institutional responsibilities;
• avoid unnecessary duplication with existing legislation;
• avoid over-criminalization;
• respect due process and proportionality;
• avoid unnecessarily broad restrictions on lawful expression or children’s access to information;
• are implementable within the Lebanese institutional context.

7. Explanatory Memorandum and Finalization

The consultant will prepare an explanatory memorandum accompanying the legislative package.

The memorandum should:

• explain the rationale for the proposed reform;
• identify the principal gaps addressed;
• explain the relationship between proposed provisions and existing legislation;
• summarize relevant international standards and comparative practice;
• explain key legislative choices;
• identify institutional and implementation implications;
• highlight gender-responsive and child-protection considerations;
• identify any areas requiring subsequent regulation or implementation measures.

The consultant will present the draft package for technical review and revise it based on consolidated feedback from UN Women, the designated parliamentarian and relevant stakeholders, as agreed.

The consultant will submit a final legislative package and explanatory memorandum in both Arabic and English, unless otherwise agreed with UN Women.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy.

The consultant may be required to participate in virtual and/or in- person consultations and validation meetings with relevant stakeholders, as requested by UN Women and the MP.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent legal research, legal analysis and legislative drafting skills.
• Strong knowledge of Lebanese legislation, legal institutions and legislative processes.
• Demonstrated ability to identify and distinguish legislative, regulatory, institutional and implementation gaps.
• Strong knowledge of child-rights and child-protection legal frameworks.
• Knowledge of relevant areas of criminal law, cybercrime, digital governance, privacy, data protection and technology-related legal frameworks.
• Understanding of gender equality, gender-based violence and technology-facilitated forms of violence and abuse.
• Ability to apply international human-rights and child-rights standards to domestic legislative analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to undertake targeted comparative legal research and assess the applicability of international practice to the Lebanese context.
• Strong analytical and policy-development skills.
• Strong facilitation, consultation and stakeholder-engagement skills.
• Ability to communicate complex legal issues clearly to non-specialist audiences.
• Ability to produce high-quality legal and policy documents within agreed deadlines.
• Excellent drafting skills in Arabic and strong professional drafting skills in English.
• Excellent legal drafting skills in Arabic.

Required Qualifications:

Education and Certification:

• An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Law, International Law, Human Rights Law, Criminal Law, Technology Law, Cyber Law, or another closely related legal field is required.
• A first-level university degree in Law combined with additional years of relevant qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible professional experience in legal analysis, legislative drafting, legislative reform and/or legal policy development is required.
• Experience in drafting, reviewing or proposing legislation, regulations or legislative amendments in Lebanon is required.
• Demonstrated knowledge of the Lebanese legal system, institutional architecture and legislative process is required.
• Experience in at least two of the following areas is required:
  • child rights and child protection;
  • criminal law and criminal procedure;
  • cybercrime and technology law;
  • privacy and personal-data protection;
  • digital rights and online safety;
  • gender-based violence and/or technology-facilitated violence.
• Experience undertaking legal gap analyses and comparative legal research is required.
• Experience applying international human-rights and/or child-rights standards to national legal reform is required.
• Experience in facilitating consultations with government institutions, parliamentarians, judicial actors, law-enforcement authorities and/or civil society organizations is desirable.
• Experience working with the United Nations, other international organizations or development partners is desirable.
• Experience supporting parliamentary or legislative reform processes is a strong asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Arabic is required.

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.