Background

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 Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific leads and coordinates the efforts of the United Nations system to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the region.

Thailand is recognized as a key destination for labour migration in the Mekong region and is a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking, including trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. The country’s relative prosperity in terms of better economy, health services and social protection attracts migrants who flee conditions of poverty and political repression in neighboring Lao PDR, Myanmar and Cambodia without official documentation to improve their lives and the well-being of their families. People living in districts along the border of Thailand and neighbouring countries such as Lao PDR and Myanmar are vulnerable to human trafficking. Chiang Khong is located in the north of Chiang Rai Province, bordering Lao PDR. It is resided by nine distinct ethnic minority groups, migrant workers and stateless people including Akha, Hmong, Kachin, Lahu, Lisu, Lua, Karen, Mien and Shan.

Thailand has put in place protection mechanisms for women during criminal justice process; however, provision of essential services and support to victims of human trafficking and GBV in Thailand particularly for women migrants remains inadequate, not gender responsive and not inclusive of other vulnerable groups including people living with disabilities. Challenges remain in accessibility to complaint, reporting and services. Factors include lack of knowledge on rights, protection and entitlements, limited information available from relevant service providers, language barrier for non-Thais, etc.

The impact of COVID-19 could reverse the limited progress that has been made on gender equality and women’s rights. The pandemic is having devastating social and economic consequences for women and girls. This includes unemployment, increased unpaid care work, limited access to services such as education and health and increased risks of violence against women and girls.  Although COVID-19 is non-discriminatory, vulnerable groups tend to suffer the most from its impact. The vulnerable groups including migrants, ethnic minority and people with disabilities are likely to be employed in informal sectors with limited access to support, information and labour and social protections.

Since 2018, UN Women Thailand works to empower women as key drivers for in preventing and ending human trafficking, exploitation and gender-based violence in their communities particularly at-risk communities in Chiang Rai Province, applying a gender-responsive approach. The project has enhanced capacities and coordination between community members and local authorities on prevention of human trafficking and GBV through capacity building and establishment of community mechanism.

In this connection, UN Women is seeking to expand its efforts in preventing and responding to human trafficking, exploitation and COVID-19 impacts through empowering women, improve socio-economic empowerment and enhancing women’s roles in communities at risk in the border provinces of Thailand, applying a gender-responsive approach. It is aimed to build capacity of women’s leaders and community members in pilot communities in Chiang Khong on human trafficking, GBV and economic empowerment in order for them to be equipped with knowledge and skills in providing information and assistance to vulnerable populations and implementing socio-economic and livelihood initiatives. In addition, UN Women will continue to monitor situation of human trafficking, GBV and COVID-19 impacts particularly women migrants, ethnic minority and people living disability to assess the situation, gaps and challenges to existing policy and guideline implementation, referral systems and provision of holistic support in local contexts.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK

Under the direct supervision of Country Programme Coordinator for Thailand of UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, the consultant will perform the following tasks:

1. Conduct assessment of gendered situation and COVID-19 impacts including socio-economic, human trafficking and GBV on vulnerable groups with focuses on women, ethnic minorities, migrants and people living with disabilities in Chiang Khong, Chiang Rai.
2. Develop economic empowerment programme for vulnerable women in remote and hard-to-reach communities as approaches to improve socio-economic and livelihood and to prevent and reduce risks of human trafficking and gender based violence with engagement of women’s leaders, key community members and local stakeholders in Chiang Khong, Chiang Rai.
3. Document best practices and lessons learned of economic empowerment programme for vulnerable women and recommendations on future interventions on women’s economic empowerment and prevention and protection including access to services of human trafficking and GBV in Chiang Khong, Chiang Rai.

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES AND TIMEFRAME

DURATION OF ASSIGNMENT AND DUTY STATION

The time required for the consultancy is within the period from September 2020 to March 2021. For upcountry assignments, UN Women will be responsible for the accommodation and travel expenses for any cost incurred during assignment period.

CONTRACT SUPERVISION 

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of Country Programme Coordinator for Thailand, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific who will be responsible for the quality assurance of the deliverables. 

SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

Payment in full upon final submission and satisfactory deliverables submitted.

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 individual 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 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.

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

Required Skills and Experience

THE QUALIFICATIONS EXPECTED ARE AS FOLLOWS:

• Thai nationality
• Masters in Political Science, International Relations, Women Studies, Social Science or other gender and development fields.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant work experience, with demonstrable expertise in programmatic reporting on thematic areas ofMigration, Anti-Human Trafficking, GBV, Women’s Economic Empowerment and/or gender equality.
• Familiarity with the Thai national context is considered as an asset.
• Experience in conducting research and technical consultancy on thematic areas of Migration, Anti-Human Trafficking, GBV, Women’s Economic Empowerment and/or gender equality.
• Experience in liaising and coordinating with national counterparts, local authorities and civil society organizations
• Experience working with the UN Agencies or other international organizations is advantageous.

HOW TO APPLY:

Interested applicants are requested to submit documents listed below to UN Women via email: hr.bangkok@unwomen.org and cc somjai.noohuang@unwomen.org   

• Updated CV and P.11((available at https://www2.unwomen.org/-/media/field%20office%20eseasia/docs/misc/2012/p_11_form_unwomen.doc?la=en&vs=4602
• Proposed lump sum professional breaking down in daily professional fee and related cost (if any)

• Minimum of one writing sample

IMPORTANT NOTE: THE UNDP APPLICATION SYSTEM ONLY ALLOWS 1 FILE TO BE ATTACHED. PLEASE KINDLY MAKE THE BELOW LISTED DOCUMENTS INTO ONE FILE. CANDIDATES WITH AN INSUFFICIENT SUBMISSION PACKAGE WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.