GENERAL STATEMENT OF THE PURPOSE OF THIS CONTRACT
Mission of the U.S. Department of State: The U.S. Department of State is the lead institution for the conduct of American diplomacy and the Secretary of State is the President’s principal foreign policy advisor. The Department of State’s mission is to advance U.S. national security interests, fight terrorism, protect U.S. interests abroad, and implement foreign policy initiatives that build a freer, prosperous, and secure world.
Mission of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL): The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) is responsible for the development, supervision, coordination, and implementation of international narcotics control and law enforcement assistance activities and international criminal justice issues for the U.S. Department of State (DOS). Since 1982, INL’s Afghanistan/Pakistan Program Office (INL/AP), through its in-country presence in the INL office at U.S. Embassy Islamabad (INL Pakistan or “INL/P”), has managed programs to build the Government of Pakistan’s (GOP) law enforcement, rule of law, corrections, and counternarcotics capacity through training, mentoring, commodity transfers, and infrastructure improvements. These programs have built strong relationships and produced positive results across the country. By including women serving in, and affected by, the law enforcement, counternarcotics, justice, and corrections sectors, INL/P programs support gender equality, counter violent extremism, increase women’s representation within justice sector institutions, support women’s access to justice, and enhance the role of Pakistani women in preserving law and order.
The Gender Advisor position is cross-cutting and directly supports the USG objective of empowering women politically, socially, and economically to confront persistent gender gaps and achieve more representative and effective governments in South and Central Asia. The Gender Advisor serves as the gender affairs subject matter expert in INL/P and is responsible for providing policy guidance and coordination on gender issues under INL’s mandate. Working with a locally engaged Gender Program Management Assistant, they will coordinate, develop, implement, and oversee INL’s gender programs in Pakistan. Most of INL/P’s current gender programs support Pakistani policewomen, and while a focus on women’s policing will continue, the Gender Advisor will also explore new programming and linkages between current INL efforts and gender in the areas of justice, corrections, and counternarcotics. The Advisor will maintain open, timely and effective communications with the INL/P team, with a particular focus on the Director and Deputy Director.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Under the direct supervision of the Islamabad-based INL Management Officer, the Gender Advisor will perform the following duties:
1. Design, coordinate, implement, and oversee INL/P Gender Programs, which include direct assistance to Government of Pakistan justice sector institutions and INL grants to Pakistani and international NGOs that address law enforcement, justice, corrections, and counternarcotics issues, among others.
2. Oversee the budget for INL/P gender programs to ensure it remains within authorized levels and that funds are spent appropriately. Coordinate with INL/P program and management officers to obtain concurrence for allocating program funds to specific gender programming.
3. Contribute to reporting on the status of INL/P gender efforts including activities, progress, challenges, and recommended solutions.
4. Ensure that programming complies with all USG requirements and legal restrictions, including Leahy vetting, and that it is coordinated with related USG police, criminal justice, rule of law, and corrections assistance programs.
5. In coordination with INL, INL/P Program Officers, and other Mission elements, produce a comprehensive INL/P gender strategy to guide short- and long-term objectives, programs, benchmarks, and funding requirements in the realms of law enforcement, justice, corrections, and counternarcotics.
6. Serve as gender and women’s policing subject matter expert and advisor within INL/P. Monitor and report on INL-funded efforts in support of Pakistani women; the status of Pakistani laws relevant to the rights of women; Government of Pakistan policies and procedures regarding women who work in the law enforcement and criminal justice system; the needs of Pakistani women who work in the law enforcement and criminal justice system; the unique requirements of Pakistani women with respect to drug demand reduction and the corrections system; and other developments related to women in the fields of law enforcement, justice, corrections, and counternarcotics.
7. Provide policy analysis and program guidance/reporting to INL/P, INL/AP, and the Embassy and INL Front Offices, upon request, on aspects of current program efforts, as well as those in planning or evaluation stages. Such guidance may include mission objectives; budgeting; development of Pakistani policing capacities and institutions; practical measures to improve U.S. and international capacities to provide assistance to women in the law enforcement and justice fields; and training plans.
8. Assess current program efforts to improve women’s policing and gender justice capacities and structures in Pakistan and the impact of ongoing programs; brief those assessments to senior INL and other DOS and interagency officials; and propose future activities, and/or remedial actions.
9. Prepare monthly status reports, monthly evaluations of contractor performance, and completion of assignment reports (compressive reviews of projects in which a contractor was involved). Each report will include a project critique and recommendations.
10. Work collaboratively with INL/P Program Officers (and INL Program Officers in Washington), INL Police Advisors, the Department of Justice Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training program (DOJ/OPDAT), the Counternarcotics Advisor, and other INL/P personnel.
11. Coordinate gender programming and information sharing related to gender programs between different INL/P programs. Promote cooperation among relevant efforts.
12. Coordinate closely with other Mission elements including the Gender Coordinator, USAID, DOJ/ICITAP, DOJ/OPDAT, the Public Affairs Section, the Political Section, and the Office of the Defense Representative Pakistan (ODRP), to prevent programmatic gaps and reduce redundancy. The INL Gender Advisor represents INL at the Embassy Gender Working Group.
13. Attend meetings, briefings, seminars, and exercises with USG, host nation, and international organization representatives to develop plans and programs for implementation of women’s police and gender programming.
14. Develop and maintain a wide network of gender contacts within the Government of Pakistan (especially law enforcement and criminal justice agencies) and among international donors and Pakistani and international civil society organizations.
15. Attend INL/P office meetings.
16. When required, perform the role of Duty Officer.
17. Perform other duties as requested and assigned that are directly related to this Statement of Work.
TRAININGS & DISTANCE LEARNING COURSES
1. Complete the Contracting Officer Representative (PA296) distance-learning (DL) course through the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) within 120 days of arriving at Post.
2. Complete the Introduction to Working in an Embassy (PN113) distance-learning (DL) course through the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) within the first six (6) months of arriving at Post.
3. Complete the mandatory Foreign Affairs Counter-Threat (FACT) Course (CT650) prior to deployment to Post.
4. Consultations with the INL Program Office may be required.
PLACE OF PERFORMANCE & TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS
The place of performance is US Embassy Islamabad, Pakistan. Domestic travel within Pakistan for program monitoring and limited travel to Washington D.C. will be required.
RELATIONSHIPS
The Gender Advisor is directly supervised by the INL Management Officer. The Gender Advisor coordinates closely with the INL/P Police and Counter Narcotics Program teams and other elements in INL and throughout the Mission, and receives broad policy guidance and general direction from the INL/P Director and Deputy Director. The Advisor is responsible for planning and implementing many aspects of organizational and project and logistical operations. The Gender Advisor coordinates and communicates with INL/P and the INL/AP Pakistan Team. The Gender Advisor’s actions, decisions, and recommendations are reviewed on the basis of results achieved and conformance with appropriate laws and regulations.
The Contract Administrator is the INL Contracting Officer in Washington. In no instance shall the INL Management Officer or any other individual be authorized to alter or modify the terms and conditions of the contract or waive the Government’s requirements, price, delivery, or other terms and conditions. The Contracting Officer must authorize such changes in writing.
The INL Management Officer will provide yearly performance reviews to the INL/EX/GAPP Contracting Officer in Washington, D.C. to contribute to the incumbent’s official yearly review.
COMPLEXITY
The Gender Advisor is charged with developing detailed plans, goals, and objectives for the long-range implementation and administration of the program, and/or developing criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the program. Doing so effectively requires close coordination and managing complex relationships among other Embassy offices and international organization and Government of Pakistan partners.
Projects require dynamic leadership, expertise and innovation, strict adherence to high level policy with limited interpretive assistance, and the ability to resolve critical problems and achieve goals that may impact other programs. Projects are often broad in scope and complicated by technical, budgetary, administrative, and political factors.
SCOPE AND EFFECTIVENESS
Guidelines consist of USG and Department of State Acquisition Regulations and accepted legal principles and theories. The Gender Advisor must be able to determine application of basic administrative policy statements concerning the issue or problem being studied. They must consider the interaction between Department of State policies, legislation, the Foreign Assistance Act, and other authorizations and appropriations in the INL account, and adhere to existing federal regulations and applicable National Security and Presidential Decision Directives, OMB Circulars, and Department of State financial operating procedures and policies.
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE
The period of performance for this contract is twelve (12) months from the date of award with four (4) optional one-year extensions.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
1. U.S. citizenship with the ability to obtain and maintain Department of State Secret level security clearance, medical clearance, and ethics clearance (if applicable). (Security clearance upgrade to TS level may be required.)
2. Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited institution.
3. A minimum of ten (10) years of relevant work experience in the fields of gender affairs and program management.
4. Demonstrated experience developing and implementing international programs, to include
preparation and tracking of budgets, strategy development, grant/contract management, reporting, and monitoring and evaluation.
5. A minimum of two (2) years of international field experience.
6. Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a complex, fast-paced, insecure, dynamic environment with minimal direction or supervision.
HOW TO APPLY
Offerors proposal shall be in accordance with the requirements stated in this solicitation at the place and time specified. A proposal will be determined non-responsive and ineligible for consideration unless all required documents and information are included in the submission. Offerors shall ensure their resume demonstrates their possession of the minimum qualifications outlined in this Solicitation, as well as their ability to fulfill all required duties. The Government is not responsible for any costs incurred by the offeror during the solicitation process.
