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 center 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.

UN Women Philippines is jointly implementing the project BRIDGE - Bridging Recruitment to Reintegration in Migration Governance: Philippines (BRIDGE) with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) seeking to support government of the Philippines in achieving Objectives 6 and 21 through the lens of the Global Compact for Migration Thematic Area 4: Facilitating regular migration, decent work and enhancing the positive development effects of human mobility.

This will be accomplished by ensuring a) Government initiatives to promote fair and ethical recruitment as well as reintegration services are evidence-based, gender-responsive and coordinated through a people-centered, whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach and b) the Government establishes mechanisms to translate evidence into policy and best practices pertaining to recruitment and reintegration through the migration cycle. Both results seek to ensure human mobility in the Philippines is fully utilized and facilitated in a regular, safe and orderly manner that contributes towards sustainable development effects for migrants, their families and even communities.

Furthermore, against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting large-scale displacement and return migration of OFWs, BRIDGE seeks to equip and strengthen the approach by Government and civil society towards effective reintegration frameworks and services that are tailored to the COVID-19 context, mindful of its gender differentiated implications on men and women migrants. Likewise, cognizant of the likely eventual surge of OFW deployments post-pandemic, and the increased risk of exploitation as a result, BRIDGE’s focus on fair and ethical recruitment seeks to strengthen and align national standards of recruitment to international standards, while ensuring there is a more consistent and impactful approach from recruitment to reintegration.

UN Women Philippines will contribute to the project by engaging government actors and organizations to ensure gender responsive mechanisms specifically addressing gender differentiated needs of migrants as well as coordinate partnership meetings, policy and knowledge exchange to further learn and understand the plight of migrant women.

The BRIDGE Programme document specifically mentions BARMM as a known location for adopting brokerage, trafficking, illegal recruitment, and human smuggling. Based on the National Migration Survey 2018, nearly 1 out of 4 households in BARMM (then ARMM) had an OFW member (current or former). This is the highest among the regions and is double the national average. Furthermore, 92% of Overseas Filipinos and Overseas Filipino Workers from BARMM were women in 2017. The region also accounted for the highest share of those who encountered difficulties on their return, with 82% of migrants and migrant workers from there doing so. At the same time, respondents from BARMM had the highest proportion (23%) who expressed having plans to migrate abroad in the next 5 years. The lack of capacity of the local government in the region to provide relevant and context-sensitive reintegration services is an important concern.

As part of the contribution of the BRIDGE Programme to strengthening migration governance in the BARMM region, UN Women seeks a National Consultant on Gender-Responsive and Sustainable Migrant Worker Reintegration in BARMM (hereinafter, ‘Consultant’) to help ensure the relevance of the reintegration policies, programs, and services proposed by the BRIDGE Programme to the BARMM context.

Duties and responsibilities

The Consultant shall map available migrant worker reintegration programs and services in BARMM, including those offered by government, civil society organizations, the private sector, and other players, drawing on both desk research and key informant interviews.

The Consultant shall assess the programs and services identified in the mapping according to gender-responsiveness and sustainability, using available tools and frameworks, including the National Action Plan (NAP) on Sustainable and Gender-Responsive Return and Reintegration developed with the support of the BRIDGE Programme.

The Consultant shall examine the particular context in BARMM, including labor migration patterns and practices in the region, from pre-departure to return and reintegration, as well as political, economic, social, cultural, and other factors that may play a role in the success and failure of reintegration programs and services. On this basis, the Consultant shall formulate recommendations on how to make reintegration programs and services in BARMM more sustainable and gender-responsive, as well as lessons learned that might be relevant to other Philippine regions.

As a point of reference and comparison, the Consultant will refer to the Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) Reintegration Mapping undertaken by the BRIDGE Programme, among other sources. 

Expected deliverables and timelines

Supervision

Consultant will work under the direct supervision of the BRIDGE National Programme Officer Philippines who will be responsible for the quality assurance of the deliverables.

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

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent analytical skills
• Excellent writing skills
• Strong knowledge of UN Women processes and systems
• Strong networking skills
• Strong inter-personal skills, communicate effectively with staff at all levels of the organization;
• Ability to work in a highly pressured environment

Required qualifications

Education:

• Master’s degree in Gender and Development Studies, Migration Studies, Public Administration, Economics, Social Work, Social Sciences, or other related field of studies;

Experience:

• At least 5 years’ experience working on gender and/or labor migration issues, preferably including experience related to migrant worker or migrant reintegration;
• At least 2 years’ experience working in BARMM or on issues related to BARMM;
• Previous working experience with UN agencies, civil society organizations, and/or women’s rights organizations in the Philippines is an asset;
• Strong professional report-writing skills (Please provide at least 2 writing samples);

Language requirement:

• Fluency in written and oral English and Filipino is required (Please indicate level of proficiency in these languages in your application).

Contract period and work location

The total duration of the engagement is from 10 February to 20 April 2023. The consultant will be based in Manila. For travel on mission, travel costs and Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) will be provided. Travel Authorization will be granted to the consultant prior to the travel date.

 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 utilized 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.

Only the candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% of total points will be considered as technically-qualified candidates who may be contacted for validation interview.

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 price 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.

Submission of application

Interested candidates are encouraged to submit electronic application to hr.bangkok@unwomen.org, with cc to catherinerose.torres@unwomen.org, not later than 01 February 2023.

Submission package includes:

• Cover letter outlining relevant work experience and other key qualifications;
• UN Women Personal History Form(P11);
• At least 2 writing samples;
• Financial proposal in PHP which shall specify a total lump sum amount, breaking down the daily professional fee. Please see the financial proposal template as below:

UNW Statement on Diversity and Inclusion

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need. 

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application. 

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)