Background

This consultancy for “Research Consultant on COVID-19 and its Socio-economic Impacts on Documented and Undocumented Women Migrants,” commissioned by UN Women, is part of a larger joint research initiative led by UN Migration Agency (IOM) Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) Regional
Office for the Arab States, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa, entitled, “Linkages between Trafficking, Smuggling, Labor and Migration Policy Regimes: Implications for Women’s Socio-Economic Empowerment and Integration, including in relation to COVID-19. Each agency will bring its expertise in these different and related policy fields to bear on the product of this consultancy through a joint technical team.
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. UN Women supports the UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programs, and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls worldwide. It works globally to make the vision of
the Sustainable Development Goals a reality for women and girls and stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on the following strategic priorities: (a) Women lead, participate in and benefit equally from governance systems; (b) Women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy; (c) All women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence; (d), Women and girls contribute to and have greater influence in building sustainable peace and resilience, and benefit equally from the prevention of natural disasters and conflicts and humanitarian action. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality, and in all deliberations and agreements linked to the 2030 Agenda. The entity works to position gender equality as fundamental to
the Sustainable Development Goals, and a more inclusive world. In line with the above priorities, UN Women has been supporting the UN Member States as they set global standards on the issue of trafficking in women and girls and on the issue of women’s labor migration. Likewise, UN Women has been working with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, Programmes, and services on trafficking in women and girls and women’s labor migration to ensure that Global standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls worldwide. Anchored in the above and based on regional trends and priorities the UN Women East and Southern Africa Regional Office, the UN Women Western and Southern Africa Regional Office, the UN Women Regional Office for the Arab States developed the UN Women pan Africa Strategy. This strategy identified three priorities: child marriage and female genital mutilation, the women’s movement, and trafficking and migration. In November 2019 UN Women, UNODC, and IOM Regional Offices for the Middle East and North Africa/Arab States, in partnership with the CEDAW Committee and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, co-organized the Experts Group Meeting on the CEDAW General Recommendation on Trafficking in Women and Girls in the Context of Global Migration. The EGM brought together gender experts from governments, civil society, and international organizations across the region with the aim of addressing synergies between the issues of trafficking in persons and migration in the Middle East and North Africa from a gender perspective and identifying priority recommendations to inform the CEDAW General Recommendation. Among the key recommendations that emerged from the EGM were: (a) the need to review, reform, and implement policies/laws across these 4 agendas in a synergized way and from gender equality
and women’s rights perspective. Currently, the deficits in each of these legal systems and the lack of policy, legal and programmatic coherence between these agendas contributes to trafficking, smuggling and exploitation of trafficking and smuggled migrant women and poor low skilled documented migrants in a myriad of ways; (b) the need to provide integrated services - primarily skills and employability, access
to information and education, access to health services, among others - related to social and economic empowerment and integration.
Following the EGM, UN Women, UNODC, and IOM decided to undertake a joint research initiative, “Linkages between Trafficking, Smuggling, Labor and Migration Policy Regimes: Implications for Women’s Socio-Economic Empowerment and Integration, including in relation to COVID-19,” which is part of a larger joint initiative on socio-economic integration of migrant women. The Covid-19 crisis and lockdown have magnified existing fault lines for these women. News reports and anecdotal evidence from the field reveals that the pandemic is already curtailing the identification of victims of trafficking and smuggling due to measures of confinement and the closure of social services which play
an important role in identifying them. Further, job losses, non-payment of wages, overcrowding in detention centers, and living spaces that increase risk of infection, violence, lack of access to testing and treatment are just a few of the increasing concerns of trafficked, smuggled and poor undocumented migrant women. This research complements a present study that is being conducted by IOM and UN Women titled “Socio-Economic Integration of Women Migrants in Tunisia and Morocco,” which also forms a part of the larger UN Women – IOM – UNODC joint initiative. The study analyzes: (a) the gender responsiveness of integration policies in the field of migration in the target countries and identify best practices within the region; b) assesses the vulnerabilities that women migrant workers face in the target countries and
how they impact their socio-economic integration; c) profiles the skills of women migrant workers in the target countries and how these can address local labor market gaps.

Scope of Research and Proposed Countries:
The overall objective of this research is to inform the understanding and action on the socio-economic empowerment and integration of trafficked, smuggled, poor documented/undocumented migrant women workers. The proposed research will follow a two-fold approach combining:

• A review and analysis of the design and implementation of migration, trafficking, smuggling, and labor laws/regulations from gender equality and women’s rights perspective, to explore how discriminatory and contradictory provisions and implementation contribute to these phenomena.

This review will also take into consideration key regional policy frameworks;

• An analysis of the socio-economic, political impacts of COVID 19 on trafficked, smuggled, and documented/undocumented migrant women.

As the research focuses on traffic, smuggled migrant women, and poor low skilled documented women migrants, it will have a  cross country/cross-regional scope, especially because smuggling is across national boundaries. Two corridors of movement will be addressed: West and Central Africa to North Africa and East and Southern Africa to Egypt.

The following selected countries will be examined:

• North Africa: Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia;
• West and Central Africa: Ivory Coast and Senegal;
• Eastern and Southern Africa: Sudan.

The objective of the Assignment:
This consultancy commissioned by UN Women with technical support from IOM and UNODC under the ‘3 agency joint initiative’, will focus on the collection and analysis of primary data on the socio-economic implications of COVID 19 on trafficked, smuggled migrant women and poor low skilled documented/undocumented women migrants. It will feed into an analysis of secondary data on the socio-economic implications of COVID 19 on trafficking and smuggled migrant women and poor low skilled documented women migrants, undertaken by a separate consultant.
This COVID research will inform the reviews of migration, labor, smuggling and trafficking laws and their implications for socio-economic integration of trafficking and smuggled migrant women and poor low skilled documented women migrants, commissioned by IOM and UNODC under the technical guidance of UN Women, as part of the ‘3 agency joint initiative’.
 

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct guidance of the Senior Global Advisor of International Migration, UN Women, with the technical support from the UN Women-UNODC-IOM joint initiative technical team, the consultant will perform the following:

Document and analyze the socio-economic, political impacts of COVID-19 on trafficked, smuggled, and poor documented/undocumented migrant women which will include the following:

• Conduct a total of 60 KIIs (10 per each country) with policymakers, service providers (and service-based data from hotlines, case reports, etc.), embassies, researchers/academia, NGOs, women labor, migrants, trafficked and smuggled labor migrants.
• Prepare a report of the KIIs which includes a comparative analysis of KIIs between countries to the extent possible including summary of main points and key conclusions.
• Analysis of rapid assessment survey, conducted by UN Women, on the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on trafficked, smuggled, and poorly documented/undocumented migrant women, and prepare a report on the same.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity;
• Integrity;
• Professionalism.

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 Core Values and Competencies:https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637 

Functional Competencies:

• Familiarity with qualitative and quantitative data collection methods and proven ability in conducting primary research and analysis remotely;
• Substantive knowledge and understanding of gender and women’s rights especially its linkages with migration, and/or trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling;
• Excellent writing and analytical skills in English, French, and Arabic;
• Attention to detail.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, Economics, Political Science, Development, Public Administration, Gender is required;
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• A minimum of 3 years of work experience in both quantitative and qualitative research and analysis;
• Demonstrated knowledge of gender equality and women’s rights, migration, and/or trafficking in persons, migrant smuggling;
• Knowledge and working experience in North Africa and/or West and Central Africa, and/or Eastern and Southern Africa is strongly desired.

Language Requirements:

• Excellent command of written and spoken English, French, and Arabic is required.

Evaluation Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the financial evaluation.
Criteria Weight Technical: 70% (70 points)

• Criteria 1: Education (14 points)
• Criteria 2: Substantive Experience and Skills (28 points)
• Criteria 3: Regional Experience (14 Points)
• Criteria 4: Language Skills (14 points)

Financial: Lowest Financial Proposal: 30% (30 points)
The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:

• The contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combined score (financial and technical);
• The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula: (Lowest Bid Offered*)/ (Bid of the Consultant) x 30;

Lowest Bid Offered' refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in the technical evaluation.

Financial payment:
Payment of a lump sum technical fee will be disbursed upon submission and approval of deliverables and certification by UN Women Senior Global Advisor on International Migration that the services have been satisfactorily performed

Application:

Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work and link to the portfolio of work;
• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
•  Personal CV; and Financial proposal; Proposed inclusive daily rate.

The above-mentioned documents should be merged in a standalone file including all them since the online application submission does only permit to upload one file per application. Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.

Note:

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.