Senior Research Consultant. Tender in Senegal - 31948533

Procurement Summary

Country: Senegal

Summary: Tender for Senior Research Consultant.

Deadline: 08 Apr 2019

Posting Date: 01 Apr 2019

Other Information

Notice Type: Tender

TOT Ref.No.: 31948533

Document Ref. No.:

Competition: ICB

Financier: United Nations Secretariat

Purchaser Ownership: -

Tender Value: Refer Document

CPV Classification

73110000 - Research services

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Tender Details

Tenders are invited for Senegal: Senior Research Consultant (UNOPS IICA-3).
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Regional Representation for West Africa

Call for applications

Duty station: Dakar, Senegal

Section/Unit: Asylum & Migration Unit, Protection

Duration: Full time, 2 May 2019 through 16 July 2019 (tbc)
General Background:

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect and assist displaced people around the world and to help find durable solutions for them. Set up in 1950, UNHCR has since helped tens of millions of people forced to flee their homes to escape war or persecution. Today, over 16, 700 people are working in 138 countries, as the number of displaced people worldwide – 68.5 million in 2017 – is at the highest level since the establishment of the Agency. Among them are nearly 25.4 million refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18. There are also an estimated 10 million stateless people who have been denied a nationality and access to basic rights such as education, healthcare, employment and freedom of movement.
West Africa is a region characterized by fast-evolving and complex population movements. The scope and the multi-dimensional, complex and often irregular nature of the mixed flows makes it particularly difficult to quantify people on the move, and assess their profiles, vulnerabilities and protection needs. While available data indicates that most of the people moving within the West Africa region are looking for better economic opportunities, mixed movements also include a significant number of persons in need of international protection, including refugees and stateless persons.
Although recent movements of refugees and migrants towards Europe represent a small proportion of the people on the move in the region, they have attracted much attention over the past years. In reality, the vast majority of mixed movements take place at the intra-regional level. At the end of 2017, 87% of the refugees registered in West Africa were from the ECOWAS region.
The principle of freedom of movement of community citizens within ECOWAS forms the cornerstone of the sub-regional integration process. In practice, however, populations continue to encounter a number of practical obstacles when moving, residing and working in West Africa. Moreover, people moving within the region have often been unable to access to essential services due to a combination of legal and practical impediments, as well as lack of information about their rights and entitlements. Unable to find the opportunities or effective protection they are looking for within the region, persons in need of international protection and migrants may be spurred to move beyond the region.
The research will inform the development of responses aimed at ensuring a better access to essential services for all people on the move within the ECOWAS space, such as establishment of so-called Humanitarian Service Points in collaboration between the IFRC, the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, UNHCR and other partners.
Aim of this consultancy is to conduct research on access to services, and obstacles to access to services, for refugees and migrants within and beyond ECOWAS region in selected countries (Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone).
Purpose and Scope of the Assignment
The envisaged research will provide UNHCR, IFRC and their partners with a detailed understanding of the legal framework and practical implementation of freedom of movement, residence and establishment in selected countries in the ECOWAS space, as well as of access to essential services for refugees and migrants (including victims of trafficking, children, stateless persons and migrant workers).
The first phase of the research project will focus on Guinea, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger and will be undertaken separately. This second concomittant phase of the research will focus on 5 other selected countries (The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone). The research questions, scope and methods are determined in the first phase of the research and the Consultant will work on this basis in close coordination with the consultant conducting the first phase.
More specifically, the research will focus on the following three aspects:
(1) An analysis of the legal aspects related to the specific rights and entitlement of refugees and migrants when it comes to accessing essential services in the concerned countries.
Access to health care, in particular emergency and maternal health, shelter, food and essential non-food items and education should be guaranteed to everyone, irrespective of their nationality or legal status.
For example, the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) guarantees a right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food, clothing and housing (Art. 11) and a right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (Art. 12). Most importantly, the ICESCR guarantees a right to non-discrimination in fulfilment of these rights (with some exceptions on economic rights), underscoring their equal applicability to all persons, irrespective of their nationality.
Access to information and legal counselling (e.g. in the case of asylum-seekers, refugees or victims of trafficking) as well as access to justice may also be considered among the essential services. Fundamental rights, such as access to education and access to work for non-nationals should also be included in the research.
Against this backdrop, the envisaged research will look at the legal aspects related to the rights and entitlements of refugees and migrants in the concerned countries and at the regional level when it comes to access to essential services, education and work.
The research will (a) identify potential discriminatory provisions or differences of treatment between nationals and non-nationals; and (2) identify the specific rights and entitlements of different categories of people on the move between the countries based on international, regional and national law, including with regard to refugees and asylum-seekers, victims of trafficking and children.
(2) A comprehensive overview of the obstacles (legal, practical, informal, social or cultural) to access essential services by refugees and migrants in the selected countries.
Refugees and migrants often have challenges in accessing the assistance they need, in particular those deemed “irregular”. In some circumstances, they are not eligible for State-provided services that can be of critical importance for their survival (such as emergency medical care). This can be due to laws that restrict access based on immigration status, where services are unaffordable and non-nationals are not eligible for State subsidies provided to citizens, or where policies in place require fulfilling requirements for accessing certain services, such as providing a national ID card or other form of identification, with which persons in an irregular situation may not be able to comply.
There are also many informal barriers that may prevent refugees and migrants from accessing the services they need. This can include a lack of information about their rights and entitlements, as well as linguistic obstacles and financial hurdles. Irregular migrants may fear approaching service providers to access assistance or report abuse due to the possibility of arrest or deportation (related to the existence of firewalls).
Moreover, access to assistance is further limited when there are restrictions placed on the provision of humanitarian assistance by humanitarian actors, whereby humanitarian activities benefitting people in an irregular situation are discouraged and in some circumstances even criminalized. The research should pinpoint such laws and policies if they exist.
The envisaged research will thus provide an overview of the diverse obstacles faced by refugees and migrants in accessing their specific rights and entitlements to essential services as well as an understanding of any applicable differences in the services made available to people with different status (e.g. asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants), based on discussions with a broad range of stakeholders as well as with affected populations.
(3) A set of recommendations regarding ways to overcome the obstacles to access to services that have been identified
Based on the analysis of the legal framework and the obstacles to services identified during the research, including related ECOWAS framework, the consultant will provide a set of recommendations regarding ways to overcome some of the obstacles that have been identified during the research.
The recommendations may be directed to regional (ECOWAS) and national authorities, to international organizations and to the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
The main outcome of this consultancy is the production of a high-quality report (ready for publication) covering the three aspects highlighted above – i.e. an analysis of the legal aspects related to the freedom of movement, residence and establishment in the selected countries specifically: an analysis of the legal aspects related to the specific rights and entitlement of refugees and migrants when it comes to accessing essential services in the selected countries; a comprehensive overview of the obstacles (legal, practical, informal, social or cultural) to access essential services by refugees and migrants in the selected countries; a set of recommendations regarding ways to overcome the obstacles to access to services that have been identified.
The report should include stories, quotes and experiences of refugees and migrants, as well as of practitioners.
The report should also include:
a. list of acronyms
b. glossary
c. summary of key findings
d. bibliography
The report shall be written in clear English. UNHCR and IFRC reserve the right to edit the report as is deemed necessary. The consultant is expected to present the draft report findings in two stakeholder meetings.
The Consultant is expected to follow the approach and the methodology set. The approach will include the following phases and sets of activities:
(1) an extensive desk review and analysis on legal aspects relating to access to essential services for people traveling within mixed movements within/from West Africa;
(2) interviews/consultations with selected stakeholders, in particular (but not limited to) the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, IOM, IRC, the Danish Refugee Council as well as academics, many of them being present in Dakar;
(3) discussion/interviews with refugees and migrants on their experience in trying to access aid.
Depending on the availability of partners at the country level, field trips in the concerned countries may be organized as part of the research. In such cases, the consultant will have the opportunity to consult with the key stakeholders at country level. A preliminary list of interlocutors will be provided by UNHCR and IFRC.
The Consultant will be based in Dakar, Senegal, for part of the Consultancy. The proposed timeline (subject to discussions with the Consultant) will be as follow:
Week 1: Meeting with UNHCR and IFRC, and familirization with the methodology in coordination with the first phase consultant. Presentation of a work plan.
Week 2: Analysis of the legal framework in selected countries.
Week 3: Submission of an inception report and interviews with stakeholders (Dakar)
Weeks 4-6: Missions in selected countries / Work on the report
By the end of week 7: Draft of the final report / Report to be shared with other stakeholders for comments (Dakar)
Week 8: Preparation workshops Mixed Migration Working Group (MMWG) + academic circles and other tasks as necessary (e.g. harmonization with other consultancy) (Dakar or home based)
Week 9: Presentation report MMWG + academic circles (Dakar)
By the end of week 10: Incorporation of comments and finalization report (Dakar or home based)
Note that the dates of the two last weeks of the consultancy may vary depending on the dates of the planned workshops.
Qualifications and experience
Advanced university degree in international law/human rights/refugee law or related degrees in political or social sciences.
Minimum 7 years of relevant professional working experience of which minimum 2 years should be in an international environment.
Required Competencies
• Excellent drafting/ writing skills
• High proficiency in using human rights-based approach
• Excellent research skills
• Knowledge of current protection challenges in mixed movements situations
Desired Competencies
Knowledge of current protection challenges in mixed movements situations in West African region

Skills to analyze statistical information.

Languages: Essential - High proficiency in English. Good working knowledge of French is an asset.
How to apply:

Please send an email with the exact job title in the subject line to [email protected] by 8 April 2019 (midnight Dakar time). Attach your CV in the PHF format to be dowloaded here https://unhcr.org/recruit/UNHCR_Personal_History_Form.docm#_ga=2.2314113...

Documents

 Tender Notice