National Researcher – Migrant Smuggling

Contract

This is a National Consultant contract. More about National Consultant contracts.

Background

Migrant smuggling is a global and widespread crime. The organized networks or individuals behind this lucrative crime take advantage of people who are vulnerable, desperate or simply seeking a better life. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is a global leader in contributing to an effective response to migrant smuggling. As the guardian of the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, which supplement the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, UNODC promotes global adherence to these instruments and assists States in their efforts to effectively implement them and combat the conduct that they criminalize. UNODC focuses, in particular, on assisting states in developing an effective criminal justice response to these crime challenges. Yet, several broader resolutions have also mandated UNODC to collect data, analyze and report on crime issues under its preview, particularly those with a transnational dimension. Research on the smuggling of migrants is essential to ensure evidence-based and effective responses from policymakers, based on accurate, up-to-date and reliable data and analysis.

UNODC’s Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific (ROSEAP) is implementing a project entitled Strengthening the prevention of, and response to, migrant smuggling in Malaysia to support Government authorities to effectively combat migrant smuggling and protect the rights of migrants. Addressing migrant smuggling is a key priority for Malaysia, but there is little data on the phenomenon and its relationship to irregular migration, both to and through Malaysia.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT

To carry out an in-depth assessment of migrant smuggling to and through Malaysia. The assessment will provide information on key smuggling routes, the profiles of smugglers and smuggled migrants, the modus operandi of smugglers, and the risks that smuggled migrants face. The assessment will also examine factors shaping the smuggling industry, such as its drivers and impacts as well as how smugglers are adapting to changes in policy responses and law enforcement strategies in Malaysia, including measures being taken to address irregular migration. Gender and human rights considerations should be taken into account throughout the assessment. The assessment will also identify and documents gaps in available data and data collection.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK

Under the direct supervision of the Regional Coordinator for Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling(based in Bangkok, Thailand) and working in close collaboration with the lead international law andpolicy advisor, the consultant will carry out the following tasks:

• Draft outline of assessment report
• Develop a proposed assessment methodology, including how information will begathered through surveys and / or interviews, in consultation with UNODC and leadadvisor
• Conduct literature and desk review, including review of existing data, statistics,reports, and media reports
• Review and analyze laws and policy documents related to migrant smuggling andirregular migration
• Conduct stakeholder mapping including who the actors are and what their role is inrelation to migrant smuggling (captured in an annex)
• Develop survey, interview, and / or focus group discussion instruments
• Collect data from government officials, civil society organizations (CSOs) assistingtrafficked victims and smuggled migrants, and other identified stakeholders.
• Analyze data collected from surveys, interviews and / or focus group discussions
• Draft interim assessment report for inputs and comments by UNODC and lead advisor
• Finalize report (max 40 pages) based on comments including a short ExecutiveSummary; proposed legal, policy and practice recommendations as well as annexes, which at a minimum, include: at least three detailed case studies to be used as discussion pieces / learning aids and a snapshot table of legislative responses capturing desk review findings. The final report should be visually appealing with the use of maps, boxes, quotes, and tables. Dense text should be kept to a minimum as the mainaudience will not be native English speakers.

DURATION OF ASSIGNMENT, DUTY STATION AND EXPECTED PLACES OF TRAVEL

From 02 August 2021 – 31 December 2021

Home-based assignment. No travel is required.

Note: It is understood that the consultant would not hold UNODC responsible for any unforeseen or untoward incident during the duration of the consultancy. It is recommended that the consultantsecure his/her own insurance coverage during the conduct of the consultancy.

FINAL PRODUCTS AND SUBMISSION DATE

Based on the Terms of Reference, the consultant will produce the following deliverables following the submission deadline:

Deliverables****Outputs****Estimated Working Days****Submission Deadline A- Draft outline of assessment report - Develop a proposed assessment methodology, including how information will be gathered through surveys and / or interviews, in consultation with UNODC and lead advisor

2 days07 August 2021B- Conduct literature and desk review, including review of existing data, statistics, reports, and media reports - Review and analyze laws and policy documents related to migrant smuggling and irregular migration - Conduct stakeholder mapping including who the actors are and what their role is in relation to migrant smuggling (captured in an annex)

15 days28 August 2021C- Develop survey, interview, and / or focus group discussion instruments - Collect data from government officials, civil society organizations (CSOs) assisting trafficked victims and smuggled migrants, and other identified stakeholders. - Analyze data collected from surveys, interviews and / or focus group discussions

25 days15 October 2021D- Draft interim assessment report for inputs and comments by UNODC and lead advisor

15 days10 November 2021E- Finalize report (max 40 pages) based on comments including a short Executive Summary; proposed legal, policy and practice recommendations as well as annexes, which at a minimum, include: at least three detailed case studies to be used as discussion pieces / learning aids and a snapshot table of legislative responses capturing desk review findings. The final report should be visually appealing with the use of maps, boxes, quotes, and tables. Dense text?should be kept to a minimum as the main audience will not be native English speakers

3 days15 December 2021PROVISION OF MONITORING AND PROGRESS CONTROLS

All the outputs should be submitted in English and meet UNODC’s satisfaction according to the following indicators:

• Quality of the materials produced
• Quality of the training delivered
• Technical competence
• Timeliness of the delivery

REVIEW TIME REQUIRED

At least 10 working days after service delivery by project staff implementing TiP/SoM projects.

PAYMENT TERMS

Candidates shall quote a lump-sum “all-inclusive” fee for the completion of each deliverable. The term “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables, translation and other services, travel costs within state, etc.) that could be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment are already factored into the lump-sum submitted in the proposal. Payments shall be done upon verification of completion of deliverables and approval by the IC’s supervisor.

Deliverables (list them as referred to in the ToR)****Percentage of Total Price (Weight for payment)Deliverable A & B28.3%Deliverable C41.7 %Deliverable D25%Deliverable E5%INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

All information and production of the knowledge product to the assignments, as well as outputs produced under this contract, shall remain the property of UNODC who shall have exclusive rights over their use. The products shall not be disclosed to the public nor used in whatever format without written permission of UNODC.

Competencies

Technical: *All candidates should show evidence of technical competencies in a portfolio included in the application

• Posses research experience and/or experience in researching migrant smuggling and / or irregular migration
• Experience in conducting and analyzing in depth surveys, interviews with key informants, and focus group discussions
• Experience in handling sensitive data and ethical collection, analysis and presentation of data (from key informants)
• Demonstrated a good knowledge of the current body of research literature on migrant smuggling, human trafficking, and irregular migration and/or acquainted with criminal justice responses to transnational organized crime
• Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.

Corporate:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UNs values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Strategic vision and strong technical and analytical capabilities;
• Strong written, interpersonal and oral communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

DEGREE OF EXPERTISE AND QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

• Minimum Master’s Degree or equivalent in social sciences, research or other related fields

EXPERIENCE

• Minimum 5 years of research experience
• Experience in researching migrant smuggling and / or irregular migration in Malaysia is desirable
• Being well acquainted with the current body of research literature on migrant smuggling, human trafficking, and irregular migration
• Being well acquainted with criminal justice responses to transnational organized crime
• Experience in conducting and analyzing in depth surveys, interviews with key informants, and focus group discussions
• Experience in handling sensitive data and ethical collection, analysis and presentation of data (from key informants)
• Having a proven record of published relevant research publications is desirable
• Experience using research findings to identify policy recommendations
• Ability to work independently with minimum supervision in a team

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

• Excellent English spoken, reading and proven writing skills

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS

Interested individual applicants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Document 1 : Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability (Annex 1) provided by UNDP;https://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/Letter%20of%20Interest%20_Annex%201.docx?download
2. Document 2: Technical Proposal:Brief description of why the individual considers themselves as the most suitable for the assignment, including portfolio/evidence of past work, testimonies from past collaborators and/or employers, proposed partners or collaborators (individuals or organizations), and a brief methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment;
3. Document 3: Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution and expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP, https://www.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/Financial%20Proposal%20Template-Deliverables_MYR_IC2021-021.doc
4. Document 4: Personal CV / P11 including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 referenceshttps://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/P11 for Consultant_Optional.docx
5. Please submit this information in one file as Document 1, 2, 3 and 4.
6. Candidates who fail to submit all the information requested above will be disqualified.

How to Apply:

• Kindly download the Letter of Confirmation of interest and availability, Financial Proposal Template and General Terms & Conditions mentioned below;
• Read and agree to the General Terms & Conditions;
• Click the ‘apply’ icon and complete what is required;
• Scan all documents into 1 pdf folder and then upload;
• For clarification question, please email to [email protected]. The clarification question deadline is three (3) days before the closing. When emailing for clarification questions, please put "MyIC/2021/021"as the subject matter.

General terms & conditions to be downloaded:

• The General Terms & Conditions for Individual contract is available at:https://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/AC_AntiFraud_General%20Conditions%20of%20Contract%20for%20Individual%20Contracts%20(2).pdf

Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA): A legal instrument between UNDP and a Company/institution, according to which, the latter makes available the services of an individual delivering time-bound and quantifiable outputs that are directly linked to payments

• The General Terms & Conditions for Reimbursement Loan Agreement is available at:https://www.my.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/Reimbursable%20Loan%20Agreement%20_%20Terms%20&%20Conditions.pdf

Incomplete proposals may not be considered. Only short-listed candidates may be contacted, and successful candidates will be notified.

Kindly note that the system will only accept one attachment , please merge all documents and submit as one file.

EVALUATION METHOD & SCORING

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

The award of the contract will be made to the Individual Consultant who has obtained the highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP and UNODC’s General Terms and Conditions. Only those applications which are responsive and complaint will be evaluated. The offers will be evaluated using the “Combined Scoring method” where:

a) Technical Proposal including education background and experience on similar assignments will be weighted a max. of 80% (100 points). The evaluation criteria are:

Technical Criteria as Evident in the submitted application (100 points)

• Criteria 1: Relevance of educational background (15 points)
• Criteria 2: Posses at least five (5) years of research experience and/or experience in researching migrant smuggling and / or irregular migration (25 points)
• Criteria 3: Posses experience in conducting and analyzing in depth surveys, interviews with key informants, and focus group discussions (20 points)
• Criteria 4: Posses experience in handling sensitive data and ethical collection, analysis and presentation of data (from key informants) (20 points)
• Criteria 5: Well acquainted with the current body of research literature on migrant smuggling, human trafficking, and irregular migration and/or acquainted with criminal justice responses to transnational organized crime (10 points)
• Criteria 6: Bonus points for additional relevant experience and technical competencies or/ a proven record of published relevant research publications (10 points)

Only those candidates who obtain a total technical score of 70 points and above (out of 100 points) on the technical evaluation will be considered for evaluation and will be asked to submit a financial proposal.

b) Financial Evaluation will weigh as 30% of the total scoring.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend a virtual interview to ascertain suitability, competency, and areas of interest.