UNDP Jobs - 81978- Consultant for Assessing the Human Rights Situatio

Consultant for Assessing the Human Rights Situation of communities living in Resettlement Sites in Cambodia (Open for International and National residence in Cambodia)

Location :

Phnom Penh and field visit, CAMBODIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Dec-2018

Application Deadline :

22-Nov-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

140 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

01 December 2018 to 30 April 2019

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

In May 2014, the Royal Government of Cambodia approved a new National Housing Policy. This Policy seeks to address serious long-standing problems related to inadequate housing in Cambodia, in particular in urban areas in the country. Following the adoption of this policy, the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction (MLMUP) convened a National Housing Forum with the view to raise awareness of the Policy to both civil society actors and the private sector. At this Forum, the Government also entered into an agreement with Habitat for Humanity for support for the implementation of the National Housing Policy. Even though the Government has made considerable advancements in addressing the right to adequate housing, including through the adoption of the National Land Policy and Housing Policy, problems related to housing at relocation sites remain in the country.

As part of its mandate to monitor the implementation of laws and the actions of state institutions responsible for respecting and upholding rights and reporting problematic areas to the Government and other relevant actors for corrective action, OHCHR continues to monitor instances of forced evictions and resettlement sites in Cambodia. Such monitoring resulted in the analysis “Eviction and Resettlement in Cambodia – Human Costs, Impacts and Solutions” which was released in 2012. Since then, resettlement sites have undergone several changes. With funding from the European Union, OHCHR will contract a consultant to help assess the current situation at relocation sites and the changes these have seen since 2012, with the view to prepare a follow-up study on evictions and resettlement in Cambodia, to be released in 2019.

The scope of this follow-up study is to review the current human rights situation at selected resettlement sites in Cambodia. In 2017-2018, a first part of the research was carried by a consultant who developed standard evaluation criteria – based on existing national and international standards -, an evaluation scale which will be translated into color coded ratings (e.g. one color for resettlement sites that have not reached the minimum standards, another for resettlements sites reaching most of the minimum standards but still needing improvements, and yet another one for resettlement sites respecting the minimum standards); as well as questionnaires for the household surveys.

Based on the findings, the report will include action-oriented recommendations to the Government on the measures needed to be taken to ensure that living conditions at relocation sites correspond to its internationally assumed human rights obligations and domestic standards. These recommendations will also support OHCHR’s engagement with the Government on the National Development Plan for Resettlement Sites, which is currently being considered by the Royal Government of Cambodia.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Contractor shall:

Conduct household surveys and focus group discussions in 17 resettlement sites in Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, Banteay Meanchey, Siem Reap, Stung Treng, Koh Kong and Kampong Speu. The number of households to be surveyed at each resettlement site will be discussed and agreed with OHCHR .
Interview village, commune and district level authorities. The questions for interview with authorities shall be drafted by the Contractor in close coordination with OHCHR. The interviews will allow for local authorities to explain their role in the process of relocation, allocating individual plots, securing provision of basic services within the area; and measuring changes to families’ livelihoods.
Interview local NGOs that work in the land sector, either through directly supporting evicted families at relocation sites, or, more generally, are active on advocating for land and housing rights (e.g. provincial offices of ADHOC or LICADHO, HRTF or STT). Interviews will be conducted to gather additional information about the process of eviction and relocation, but also to enquire what role local NGOs have played in these processes and any problems they have observed prior to, during and after the relocation and at the relocations sites.
Collate the information from the household surveys and interviews, and enter it into a database (i.e. Microsoft Excel or Access) where the cumulative totals for each resettlement site can be easily identified and analyzed.
Based on the findings, draft final evaluation report including a colour coded classification of the resettlement sites and concrete action-oriented recommendations to the Royal Government of Cambodia for the development of the National Development Plan for Resettlement Sites and the measures to be taken to improve the situation at current relocation sites and to be considered when establishing new relocation sites, in line with international human rights standards and best practices, and domestic laws and policies of relevance.

Competencies

Technical competencies:

Knowledge of national and international human rights and land and housing rights standards applicable in Cambodia;
Proven professional competence and knowledge of the areas of work. Proven expertise in land and housing issues in Cambodia;
familiar with the legal framework relevant to forced evictions and resettlement;
Ability to work independently;
Excellent drafting skills.

Functional competencies:

Ability to work quickly and responsively. Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity. Strong organizational and planning skills.

Corporate competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards. Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of OHCHR and the United Nations. Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Treats all people fairly without favouritism:

Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: University Degree in a relevant field, such as law/social sciences/human rights/anthropology is essential, a higher degree an advantage.

Experience:

At least 10 years of experience working in land and housing rights and human rights, including at least 5 years of experience working on land and/or eviction and resettlement issues in Cambodia;
Experience in conducting household surveys;
Experience in conducting interviews;
Experience in conducting focus group discussions;
Experience drafting research reports in English.

Language Requirement: Ability to communicate in English is essential, Khmer an advantage.

Interested Offerors must visit this link http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=51357 to download Individual Consultant Procurement Notice, Terms of Reference, and Document Templates to be included when submitting this online application.

UNDP reserves right to reject any applications that is incomplete.

Please be informed that we don’t accept application submitted via email.

Interested Offerors are required to submit application via UNDP jobsite system as the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP jobsite system. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file. Your on-line applications submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email aphikovith.phin@undp.org and cc procurement.kh@undp.org . While the Procurement Unit would endeavor to provide information expeditiously, only requests receiving at least 5 working days prior to the submission deadline will be entertained. Any delay in providing such information will not be considered as a reason for extending the submission deadline. The UNDP's response (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) will be posted in Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice page as provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to visit the page regularly to make obtain update related to this Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice.