The report prepared should be in Arabic and in electronic format. The report submitted should not be less than 30 pages. A 2 to 4 pages executive summary of the report. The completed parts should be edited and saved in MS-Word (*.docx file) or an alternate compatible format. PDF format will not be accepted. It should include a table of contents to be automatically updated followed by a list of all tables and figures. The various parts should be submitted in electronic form and sent to the email address of the designated focal point. Attention is kindly drawn to the need to ensure that the final draft of the outputs be thoroughly reviewed prior to submission and to indicate the sources of tables and diagrams. References to reports and other substantive material should be clearly indicated within the text and noted at the end. It is also essential to send, with the completed output, photocopies or scans of at least the first page of books, reports and bulletins, used as reference material as well as copies of the pages quoted. The content of the generated document shall be the sole property of ESCWA. The content cannot and must not be presented, discussed or published by the consultant without the express authorization of ESCWA. The consultant shall keep in mind that UN-ESCWA routinely checks all deliverables for plagiarism, using readily available electronic tools. All previously published content, even if written by the selected consultant, must be clearly referenced where required within the text and end-noted at the end of the study. The report submitted by the consultant must not contain quoted and/or previously published text equaling more than 20 per cent of the total number of pages. The consultant shall not publish or announce or reveal the content of the report, partly or entirely, on social media or any other public channel, without ESCWA permission.

Work Location

Remotely

Expected duration

16 weeks

Duties and Responsibilities

ESCWA, as a regional commission of the United Nations, implements a technical cooperation program in partnership with its member states. This program includes providing advisory services to public entities in the Arab region and conducting capacity-building workshops in partnership with these entities. In the field of e-Accessibility, there is a need to develop national policies to identify the vision, objectives, and focus areas to enable persons with disability from using technology devices in their daily life and to ensure the surrounding environment deploys technology and innovation efficiently to ease their access. There is also a need to develop national technical guidelines to implement e-Accessibility in government websites, e-services, procured ICT tools and devices, and in media channels and TV. These aspects are directly related to article 9 of UN-CRPD. The expected outcome of such plans and guidelines will be visible on national level: raised awareness among senior policymakers, launch of specific projects/initiatives to improve e-Accessibility, development of world-class accessible government services and websites, and monitoring the progress in achieving the identified objectives/targets. In addition, this national plan, once developed and adopted, will ensure the increase of participation of persons with disability in socio-economic development, therefore increasing national GDPs, improving education and health conditions for persons with disability, and hopefully this will contribute to poverty reduction. In 2020, ESCWA launched the Arab Digital Inclusion Platform (ADIP) to support policymakers in developing and improving their national policies and guidelines for enhanced e-accessibility, so as to bridge the digital divide and enable all people to access and use ICT. ESCWA developed two templates, namely the ESCWA template on national policy of e-accessibility for the Arab region: and the ESCWA template on technical guidelines of e-accessibility for the Arab region. These templates have been converted to interactive online tools, easily accessible by policy makers and interested users. Recently and under the framework of the above ADIP project, the General Information Authority (GIA) in Libya requested the technical assistance of ESCWA to develop digital accessibility policy. The provision of this advisory service is the subject of these terms of reference.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The consultant shall propose to the designated ESCWA focal point a detailed version of the national digital accessibility policy in Libya. To produce the draft policy, the consultant is requested to conduct, among others, the main following tasks: (1) Review and make use of the ESCWA e-accessibility templates and tools as well as selected regional and international best practices in the field of digital accessibility strategies and policies. (2) Hold interviews with the various stakeholders and realizing a summary of their remarks and observations. (3) Suggest the needed digital accessibility policy based on best practices, gap analysis and national needs. In addition, the consultant would also ensure the following activities: (1) Present the draft policy in a national workshop (physically or remotely) and capture the main comments and findings of the discussions. (2) Update the draft proposal according to all received feedback and comments during the reviewing process by ESCWA and GIA.

ESCWA promotes gender equality and integration of youth through its publications and therefore the consultant should pay attention, with the help of ESCWA staff, to gender considerations and youth dimension throughout the research work and thereby ensure that the narrative language should be gender sensitive.

Qualifications/special skills

A master's degree in ICT or any other related field is required; a high-level degree such as Ph.D. is desirable. All candidates must submit a copy of the required educational degree. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. A minimum of five years of experience and research in Technology related issues is required. A concrete knowledge in the domain of planning and strategies is desirable.

Languages

Languages English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat; and Arabic is a working language of ESCWA.

For this position, Fluency in Arabic is required. Fluency in English is desirable.

Note: “Fluency” equals a rating of ‘fluent’ in all four areas (speak, read, write, and understand) and “Knowledge of” equals a rating of ‘confident’ in two of the four areas.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.

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Potential interview questions

Can you describe your experience with developing accessibility policies?	This question assesses the candidate's direct experience and understanding of accessibility policy development.	Focus on specific policies you've developed, the stakeholders involved, and the desired outcomes.
How would you approach stakeholder engagement for this project?	The interviewer wants to know your strategy for involving stakeholders effectively in policy development.	Pro members can see the explanation.
What strategies would you use to ensure the policy addresses the needs of persons with disabilities?	Pro members can see the explanation.	Pro members can see the explanation.
How do you ensure the policies you draft are evidence-based?	Pro members can see the explanation.	Pro members can see the explanation.
Can you detail the steps you would take to revise a policy draft based on stakeholder feedback?	Pro members can see the explanation.	Pro members can see the explanation.