Background

I. 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. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. 

Before the COVID-19 outbreak, there were an estimated 10 million international migrants in ASEAN, of whom nearly 50 per cent were women. While women and men migrant workers in the region strive to protect their livelihoods and their health, many women migrant workers are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and the economic and health impacts of the pandemic. A number have faced cuts in pay and retrenchment. Those who remain employed may be forced or coerced to continue work in unsafe conditions, or without sufficient protective equipment.

In normal circumstances, women migrant workers are at risk of multiple intersections of discrimination and violence based on race, ethnicity, nationality, age, migration status or other sex- or gender-associated characteristics. The emergency situation results in increased risk of violence and harassment against women migrant workers perpetrated by employers, partners, law enforcement officials or front line service providers. “Social distancing” measures, particularly when implemented through movement restriction and quarantine procedures, may increase the risk of violence against women migrant workers. Women migrant workers may find themselves trapped with those who perpetrate violence against them.

Moreover, movement restrictions and quarantine procedures restrict women migrant workers from seeking assistance and accessing social networks and support services. The above mentioned increase in violence and harassment, and changing nature of labour rights violations, come at a time when violence response services, migrant support, and legal aid are hard to access.

Recognizing these challenges in normal times and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Union is supporting a regional programme, “Safe and Fair: Realizing women migrant workers’ rights and opportunities in the ASEAN region” (2018-2022). Safe and Fair (the Programme) is implemented by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Safe and Fair is part of the multi-year EU-UN Spotlight Initiative to Eliminate Violence Against Women and Girls. Officially launched on 20 September 2017, the Spotlight Initiative brings focused attention to the issue of violence against women and girls, moving it into the spotlight and placing it at the centre of efforts to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Safe and Fair delivers technical assistance and support with the overall objective of making labour migration safe and fair for all women in the ASEAN region. Safe and  Fair engages with ASEAN Member States’ government authorities; ASEAN institutions; workers’ organizations; employers and recruitment agencies; civil society organizations; community-based organizations; families and communities; research institutions and academia, media networks, youth, and the general public and supports programming across ten countries (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam).

The programme works in close cooperation with governments and social partners to achieve three inter-linking specific objectives: (1) Women migrant workers are better protected by gender-sensitive labour migration governance frameworks; (2) Women migrant workers are less vulnerable to violence and trafficking and benefit from coordinated responsive quality services; and (3) Data, knowledge and attitudes on the rights and contributions of women migrant workers are improved. The programme strategy mainstreams three cross-cutting topics: women’s voice and agency; rights-based approach; and broad engagement of stakeholders.

Since 2019, the Safe and Fair have hired a roving team of “VAW and migration technical specialists” who are responsible for enhancing capacities of national stakeholders on coordinated quality service provision to address violence against women migrant workers. With the COVID-19 emerging needs, Safe and Fair seeks to hire an “EVAW, migration and COVID technical specialist” to work in close coordination with and complement the support provided by the roving team.

Duties and Responsibilities

II. Duties and Responsibilities

Reporting to the Ending Violence against Women Programme Specialist, the “EVAW, migration and COVID technical specialist” will provide technical support to the programme partners in timely preventing and responding to violence against women migrant workers during the COVID-19 crisis, in terms of quality remote service provision through technology-based solutions to timely prevent and respond to violence against women migrant workers in countries of origin and destination.

III. Final products and deliverables

The “EVAW, migration and COVID technical specialist” will contribute to Safe and Fair Output 2.1, activity 2.1.3 “Provide technical inputs for UN Women Safe and Fair Programme countries on draft policy, strategies, accountability tools and legislation that prevents and respond to violence against women migrant workers”, Output 2.2, activity 2.2.3 ”Strengthening coordination of and access to quality services, informed by services data, for women migrant workers”  and Output 2.3,  activity 2.3.1 “Capacity building to women’s groups, CBOs and local government agencies to prevent violence and trafficking of women migrant workers, and increase access to quality services” through:

1. the review of technical briefs and reports on EVAW, migration and COVID
2. the development of instruments and tools that strengthen quality remote VAW service provision for women migrant workers
3. the facilitation of technical webinars on the provision of quality essential services through technology-based solutions during COVID-19 to timely address violence against women, including women migrant workers
4. the development of a training toolkit and the facilitation of an online training on prevention of violence against women migrant workers, including during COVID-19
5. the provision of technical inputs on draft policy, strategies, accountability tools and legislation that prevents and respond to violence against women migrant workers

IV. Duration of Assignment and Duty Station

The time required for the consultancy is from 28th September 2020 to 28th September 2021. The consultancy will be home-based.

V. Schedule of Payments

Each payment will be processed upon final submission and validation of the corresponding deliverable.

Competencies

VI. Required qualification:

Functional Competencies

• Master’s Degree or equivalent in International Relations, Social Science, Gender Studies, Research or other related fields
• At least 10 years working experience in the field of EVAW programming across humanitarian and development contexts. Additional years of experience will be considered an asset
• Working experience in the development of instruments and tools for frontline service providers and referral systems is a requirement
• Strong technical expertise on VAW prevention, including during COVID-19
• Working experience on remote service provision and/or ICT solutions
• Experience on the development of policies/recommendations on VAW prevention and response during COVID-19
• Working experience on migration is an asset
• Previous professional experience with the United Nations or similar organizations in this or a related field would be considered an asset
• Fluency in English is required

Core Values

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies

• Adherence to UN Women and ILO standards and rules;
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Required Skills and Experience

VII. Evaluation

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis.

• Technical Qualification (100 points) weight; [70%]
• Financial Proposal (100 points) weight; [30%]

A two-stage procedure is utilised in evaluating the applications, with evaluation of the technical application being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Only the price proposal of the candidates who passed the minimum technical score of 70% of the obtainable score of 100 points in the technical qualification evaluation will be evaluated.

Technical qualification evaluation criteria:

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 100. The technical qualification of the individuals is evaluated based on following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:

• Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation will be considered and evaluated.
• The total number of points allocated for the financial component is 100.
• The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened/ evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.
• Financial proposal: the financial proposal shall specify a lump sum amount breaking down the professional fee for each deliverable and travel related cost (i.e. round-trip airfare from consultant original country to the field locations, and visa fees).

VII. Submission of application

Interested candidates are encouraged to submit electronic application to hr.bangkok@unwomen.org  with -cc to younghwa.choi@unwomen.org with the email subject “EVAW, migration and COVID technical specialist” no later than 20 September 2020, COB.

Submission package in one file only includes:

• Curriculum vitae

• Cover letter
• Financial proposal: the financial proposal shall specify deliverable fees breaking down into the professional fee per deliverable and travel related cost (i.e. round-trip airfare from consultant original country to the field locations, and visa fees).

** Please note, you can only submit 1 file in the UNDP application system.   If you submit your application through the UNDP application system, please create one file with all the required documents. Applicants with incomplete submission will not be considered. **