ThaiNGO

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) seeks to appoint a:

Title:      Research Consultant:  situational analysis  of migration context in the countries of the Mekong river basin ( Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia and Lao PDR)                      

Reports to:                         Senior Migration Officer              

Working period:                 November 2015 to February 2016, 67 working days

Organizational background

The consultancy is being sought within the frameworks of the Regional Migration Initiative that aims at  supporting National Societies of Red Cross Red Crescent (National Societies) to plan, prepare and provide assistance to migrants and victims of human trafficking  including positioning themselves with authorities as a credible humanitarian voice. Further, this study will contribute to the Civil Society Action for Promoting the Rights of Migrants program, implemented by the IFRC and selected  National Societies, as a globally coordinated effort among civil society organizations to assist migrant workers and victims of human trafficking.

The research intends to examine the overall  migration and human trafficking context in the countries of the Mekong river basin (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam) including the analysis of  existing national, regional, international legal frameworks and National Societies  policies/plans/strategies.   The research will consist of a desk-based review, mapping of the current policy and legal landscape (including a gaps analysis), and an overview of the most vulnerable groups of migrant workers and potential victims of human trafficking  including the analysis of available data disaggregated by gender and age. Travel to the countries of focus may be required.

The overall objective of the consultancy is to support operational activity and policy formulation of the National Societies, governments and concerned  stakeholders through providing an evidence based  and reliable research.

Project Objectives:

The overall objective of the project is to  promote and protect the human rights of migrants in targeted countries, migration corridors and regions through a globally coordinated civil society action, with a specific focus on migrant domestic workers and victims of human trafficking.

Alignment to the IFRC’s objectives and strategy

(IFRC’s Strategy 2020)

The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in the world’s largest humanitarian network, reaching 150 million people each year through its 189 member National Societies. The IFRC acts before, during, and after disasters and health emergencies in order to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people. Our work is guided by seven fundamental principles (humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality) and by Strategy 2020, which voices our collective vision and determination to move forward in tackling the major challenges that confront humanity in the present decade. Strategy 2020 guides the actions of the IFRC. It defines three strategic aims for the IFRC and its member National Societies, in order to align under a common vision:

1.            Save lives and help people prepare for and recover from disasters and crises.

2.            Enable safer and healthy living, and make better provision for marginalised people.

3.            Promote social inclusion and a culture of non-violence and peace.

In line with the migration resolution adopted at the 31st International Conference, the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement has officially committed to playing a greater role in the area of migration.

This initiative supports the National Societies in Cambodia, Lao, Thailand and Viet Nam  in realising all three strategic aims and the migration resolution.

Desired outcomes

The desired outcome of this study is through a comprehensive literature and documentation review and discussions with key informants to acquire analysis of contexts and capacities of National Societies and key stakeholders as well as situation of migrants with attention to the level of protection of their rights and highlighting the prevalence of and underlying causes for human trafficking and labour migration. The research will identify existing gaps at national, regional and international legal frameworks, capacities of National Societies, including availability of relevant plans/strategies and adequate resources  for meeting needs and rights of the most vulnerable groups of migrant workers and victims of human trafficking. In addition, the desktop study will constitute, along with the results of planned focus groups, a baseline to be used to inform project target setting, monitoring and evaluation. The results will equally be used to provide strategic orientation for inclusive integration of  the migration initiative with health, gender, disaster management  related interventions.

Consultancy outputs

The expected output is a  regional and country analysis on the situation of labor migrations and human trafficking. A report template will be issued to the researcher.

Support to be provided to the consultant

The IFRC will support the work of the consultant in terms of access to information and documents, booking of meetings with key informants.

The IFRC will also reimburse transportation required for the implementation of the activity outside of Bangkok. If the field trip is more than 10 hours, the consultant will get 35 CHF per day and deduct a provided meal as per IFRC regulations.

As per IFRC guidelines, the consultant will have to take care of his own insurance, working equipment (including computer, communications, etc.).

Time Allocation, for budget purposes

1. Meeting with IFRC regional delegation  in order to (2 days):

a)  Agree on specific consultancy outputs, methodology and timeline

b)  Agree on the report format (to be proposed by IFRC)

c)  Validate the list of documents to be reviewed as well as the key persons to be interviewed

d) Agree on data collection plan (data collection events and logistics

2. Carry out the research (30 days)

3. Submit first draft of the report to the IFRC and organize meeting to gather feedback (15 days)

4. Produce the final report of the consultancy in English (20 days)

Total time frame 67 working days

Management of consultancy

- The work of the consultant will be overseen by the Senior Migration Officer  based in the IFRC South-East Asia regional delegation.

- Contractor’s performance will be evaluated using key performance criteria: e.g. rigor, stakeholder consultation, accuracy, timeliness, and quality of the products (coherence, clarity, and usability).

- IFRC will have editorial control over the final version of the Report. The design of the Report shall be taken into most serious consideration as it is produced for further publishing.

Qualifications, experience and skills required:

- Preferably a Master’s degree in international development, public/business administration, social sciences, or related discipline or the equivalent experience.

- Experience with research, developing research studies, conducting quantitative data analysis and writing technical reports in English.

To apply, candidates are requested to send:

- Cover letter and CV in MS Word

- A financial proposal consisting of the consultant's daily rate, in U.S. dollars (Maximum of 67 working days)

- Earliest availability and proposed schedule for consultancy.

Both individual consultants and individual employed by a company or institution are welcome to apply.

Candidates are requested to send the application to anchalee.limpiponpaiboon@ifrc.org. Closing date: 13 November 2015. Only short listed candidates will be acknowledged. More information about IFRC, please see www.ifrc.org.