Background
The United Nations Action for Cooperation against Trafficking in Persons (UN-ACT) is a regional, UNDP-managed project on human trafficking in Southeast Asia, supporting a more coordinated response to trafficking in persons and prioritizing capacity building amongst key stakeholders. It builds on its predecessor, the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP), and will run for 5-years, from 2014 until 2018.
A key role of UN-ACT will be support to the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (the COMMIT Process), taking on this role from UNIAP. Established in 2004, COMMIT brings together the six Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries, i.e. Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, in a concerted effort to combat human trafficking in the sub-region. 2014 is an important year for COMMIT as it designs a new Sub-Regional Plan of Action (SPA IV), guiding its work for the years to come.
Duties and Responsibilities
Objectives:
- To enhance research and data system capacities of relevant stakeholders in the GMS;
- To develop guidelines and tools for more standardized approaches to research and data systems on human trafficking in the GMS;
- To make widely available and actively disseminate research publications, tools and guidelines to relevant anti-trafficking actors;
- To help ensure that relevant research and data analysis is conducted on human trafficking in the GMS.
The assignment will focus on the following areas and activities:
Establish research priorities and partnerships (15%)
- Establish and maintain partnerships with key research institutions and individuals in the interest of research cooperation, including for capacity building purposes;
- Identify research and knowledge gaps on human trafficking in the GMS;
- Engage with relevant partners to define guidelines and tools.
Develop systems for improved data collection (30%)
- Identify key data collection systems in COMMIT countries
- Provide analysis to optimize systems
- Focus on two country data collection and analysis systems for development
Implement research and data collection (30%)
- Design and conduct research on human trafficking in partnership with other relevant actors and/or individuals;
- Conduct training on research, data collection methods, interviewing techniques and research ethics as necessary.
Dissemination of research through UN-ACT (25%)
- Pool resources on human trafficking in Southeast Asia and make them available on UN-ACTs website;
- Disseminate research and analysis on human trafficking widely and pro-actively, including in the COMMIT framework;
- Oversee implementation and finalization of UN-ACT research publications.
Final Products:
- Three sets off instruments for guidelines and tools for standardized research agreed with relevant organisations/institutes (first instrument after three months, second after five months and third after seven months;
- Data systems and reporting on human trafficking developed in partnership with two partner COMMIT governments (after eight months);
- Three relevant research reports on human trafficking in the GMS co-initiated and technically supported in cooperation with relevant organizations/institutions (final draft submitted after four months, final draft of second research after eight months and final draft of third research submitted after twelve months);
- UN-ACT website equipped and promoted to function as a directory for anti-trafficking resources in the GMS (by ten months).
Contract Duration:
- August 2014 - August 2015.
Duty Station:
- Bangkok, Thailand with travel to Cambodia (approximately 15 days), China (approximately 5 days), Lao PDR (approximately 15 days), Myanmar (approximately 15 days) and Viet Nam (approximately 10 days).
Provision of Monitoring and Progress Controls:
The Regional Research Analyst will report to UN-ACT’s Regional Project Manager. S/he is expected will be based at the Regional Management Office (RMO) whilst in Bangkok, and maintain regular communications with RMO during visits to support country offices.
Documents to be included when submitting proposal:
Interested individual consultant must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate your qualifications:
- Brief motivation letter: indicating why the applicant thinks is an outstanding candidate for the job;
- Financial proposal: indicating lump sum fee in USD;
- Personal CV and/or signed P.11: including past experience in similar projects and the name and contact details of 3 references.
Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments
Consultant must send a financial proposal based on lump sum amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:
- Deliverable 1 Directory on anti-trafficking research and other publications equipped and promoted on the UN-ACT website: 10% of total contract amount;
- Deliverable 2 First research project initiated and first set of draft tools and guidelines produced: 15% of total contract amount;
- Deliverable 3 Second research project initiated and second set of draft tools and guidelines produced: 15% of total contract amount;
- Deliverable 4 Government-operated data systems on human trafficking introduced in 2 COMMIT countries: 15% of total contract amount;
- Deliverable 5 Third research project initiated and third set of draft tools and guidelines produced: 15% of total contract amount;
- Deliverable 6 Draft research reports from research projects submitted: 30% of total contract amount.
Evaluation:
The award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
- Responsive/compliant/acceptable;
- Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
Technical Criteria weight; 70%
- Experience related to services: 40 points;
- Written proposal/test AND/OR interview result: 40 points;
- Expertise & Availability: 20 points.
Financial Criteria weight; 30%
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 350 technical points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
Competencies
- High level of analytical skills;
- Excellent writing and editing proficiencies;
- Outstanding communication skills;
- Proficiency to handle sensitive information with discretion and professionalism;
- Cultural, gender, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
- Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines;
- High level of integrity towards the Project and the UN’s broader mission, values and ethical standards;
- Excellent skills in Windows-based computer applications;
- Knowledge of SPSS statistical analysis software.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
- Master's Degree or equivalent in Social Sciences or related fields.
Experience:
- At least three years of professional experience working in research, including designing methods and tools; conducting data collection; analyzing and report writing; as well as delivering trainings and supervising teams of data collectors;
- Demonstrated familiarity in dealing with GMS governments, including in a research context;
- Proven background in migration and human trafficking, especially in the GMS and Southeast Asia more broadly;
- Knowledge of the key anti-trafficking stakeholders in the sub-region, particularly those engaged in research and data analysis work.
Language Skills:
- Fluency in English, both oral and written.