Historique

The United Nations Action for Cooperation against Trafficking in Persons (UN-ACT) is a regional, UNDP-managed Project aimed at strengthening efforts to fight human trafficking in Southeast Asia by supporting a more coordinated response and prioritizing capacity building amongst key stakeholders. UN-ACT builds on its predecessor, the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP), which after 13 years in existence came to a close in early 2014. UN-ACT is designed as a 5-year initiative, from 2014 until 2018.
 
UN-ACT serves as the Secretariat to the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (better known as the COMMIT Process), a function that it has taken over from UNIAP, albeit with an increased focus on strengthening the sustainability and self-reliance of the Process. COMMIT was established in 2004 and brings together the six Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries, i.e. Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam, in a concerted effort to combat human trafficking in the sub-region. 
 
2014 is an important year for both UN-ACT and COMMIT for several key reasons:
  • UN-ACT was formally launched in May 2014 in all GMS countries and at the regional level. During this launch year, the project will make concerted efforts to strengthen its relationships with and image among partners and reach out to new partners with a view to consolidating the cooperative framework led by the project;
  • In 2014, COMMIT is designing a new Sub-Regional Plan of Action (SPAIV), which will guide its work for the years to come.   In addition, COMMIT is celebrating an important milestone, its 10th anniversary, in late 2014 (the COMMIT MOU, which formally established the COMMIT Process, was signed and endorsed by all GMS governments in 2004).

Devoirs et responsabilités

The Strategic Planning and Advocacy Consultant will address a broad cross section of strategic needs of UN-ACT during its first year of operation through advocacy and promotion efforts of the project’s mandate and mission. She/he will provide expert contribution for the promotion and development of communications and advocacy initiatives in support of UN-ACT's efforts and contribute towards the establishment and strengthening of key partnerships.
 
One of the consultant’s principal tasks will be to support the development of a commemorative publication to mark COMMIT’s 10-year anniversary, i.e. since the signature of the COMMIT MOU. The objectives of this publication is to celebrate and publicize COMMIT’s work over 10 years, record COMMIT’s contributions towards the achievement of its targets in line with the COMMIT MOU and under the COMMIT SPAs; advocate for continued and strengthened regional coordination efforts to combat human trafficking in the Mekong region and beyond; and provide a COMMIT promotion product for donors and other organisations that have contributed to COMMIT over the years.
 
Scope of Work
 
UN-ACT advocacy and promotion:
  • Advisory and technical services to assist UN-ACT in strengthening its relationship and image among partners, communicating UN-ACT’s message to those partners, reaching out to new partners, including donors, civil society, governmental actors and the media;
  • Services to promote UN-ACT’s activities in a strategic manner through media, publications and other means; and transferring knowledge to UN-ACT Country Office (CO) staff as necessary in order to strengthen their capacity in day-to-day communications functions;
  • Support to raise UN-ACT’s profile in the media and among Government agencies, NGOs and other partners, support UN-ACT’s advocacy and communications requirements.
 COMMIT 10-year commemorative publication:
  • Develop the publication in accordance with the existing publication plan and input guidelines as agreed with COMMIT governments;
  • Draft background narrative on COMMIT experience from inception to the present day;
  • Solicit, review and edit statements submitted by COMMIT government representatives;
  • Identify additional stakeholders to be featured in the publication among UN partners, members of civil society, victim representatives and donors who have played a key role in COMMIT over the past 10 years or have been affected by the work of COMMIT;
  • Conduct interviews with these stakeholders and compile related materials to include in the publication;
  • Consolidate and distill all inputs to ensure high quality, balance and consistency, as well as prevent repetition of information provided by the six countries;
  • Consult COMMIT governments, UN-ACT staff and Country Offices throughout the process of content development for feedback on draft content;
  • Obtain approval and endorsement of the final publication from the six COMMIT countries.
Final Products:
       
The assessment is expected to produce a report at the end of the assignment and according to the timelines in Table 2. The report will be drafted by the DFAA Team with advice and inputs on initial drafts by GoB, UNDP Country Office, and the Technical Peer Review Team. The key outputs in the course of the exercise include:
  • Initial Paper summarizing the data collected and identifying substantive issues for further investigation. This would be provided to the ERD-Finance Division DFAA Oversight Team as part of the DFAA Team debrief before after the in-country consultations are completed and departing Bangladesh;
  • Draft DFAA Report (by end of March). Provides an introduction and overview of the current development finance and aid situation in Bangladesh, future scenarios and prospects of development finance inflows to Bangladesh in the next 5 years, outlines key implications and provides recommendations for the Aid Policy, the Bangladesh Development Forum and the Seventh Five Year Plan;
  • Final DFAA .
Contract Duration:
  • July - December 2014
Duty Station:
  • Bangkok, Thailand

Provision of Monitoring and Progress Controls:

The Strategic Planning and Advocacy Consultant 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 UN-ACT country project 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 daily professional 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.
Financial Proposal:

The contract will be based on daily professional fee.  The financial proposal will specify the daily professional fee in USD and payments will be made to the Individual Consultant based upon completion of the deliverables. 
 
In the event of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

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: 50 points;
  • Expertise & Availability: 50 points.
Financial Criteria weight; 30%
 
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 350 technical points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Compétences

  • Ability to work independently;
  • Awareness of the need for development and operational effectiveness;
  • Ability to work under pressure in stressful situations and meet deadlines;
  • Excellent drafting skills;
  • Strong inter-personal communication skills, especially in cross-cultural settings;
  • Strong analytical skills, with an ability to identify programme opportunities and priorities;
  • Outstanding oral and written English skills, with an ability to write quickly and clearly;
  • Treats all people fairly without favoritism; fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment and respect for diversity;
  • Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment and respect for diversity.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education:
  • Advanced degree in a relevant social science discipline or other related field.
Experience:
  • At least 10 years of experience in communications and media work;
  • Knowledge about the field of human trafficking;
  • Creativity and innovation in communications and media outreach, with an understanding of branding, impact, and strategic approaches;
  • Experience in building partnerships and inter-organisational relations;
  • Experience in producing publications in the development field with UN or other international organization;
  • Familiarity with Windows-based computer applications;
  • Familiarity with the anti-trafficking community in the Mekong region including government, police, civil society, and their roles in response efforts.
Language Skills:
  • Fluency in English, both oral and written.