Expert Adviser on Repatriation, Reintegration and Rehabilitation (RRR)

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; the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development; human rights; as well as humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women's rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations (UN) system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

More than 30,000 individuals, including family members, from more than 80 countries are believed to have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join Da’esh and other UN designated terrorist groups. While some family members joined voluntarily, many others were forced, manipulated, or coerced to travel with family members or to follow them. Moreover, thousands of children were born into the conflicts in Syria and Iraq to foreign parents. UN Security Council resolutions 2178 and 2396 call for, among other things, the assessment, repatriation, prosecution, rehabilitation, and reintegration of alleged foreign terrorist fighters, including their family members, in accordance with international human rights law, international refugee law, and international humanitarian law.

In response, the Government of Uzbekistan became one of the first countries to repatriate and reintegrate some of their nationals from Iraq and Syria in two separate campaigns known as Mehr-1 and Mehr-2. Since May 2019, Uzbekistan has implemented three campaigns to repatriate its citizens from Iraq and Syria. Of its 220 repatriated Uzbek nationals from Syria and Iraq, 172 were children, and 48 were women who were given legal amnesty which allowed them to be reintegrated into communities with their children or family members. In December 2020, an additional 25 Uzbek women and 73 children who had been living in armed conflicts zones in Syria were repatriated. In addition to repatriations from Syria and Iraq, Uzbekistan has repatriated a number of women and children from Afghanistan. Currently, 257 additional Uzbek nationals have been identified in North-Eastern Syria which the Government is committed to repatriate in a third operation. This repatriation may include the return of a significant number of adult males alleged to be foreign fighters who have been held in detention by local security forces.

Throughout the process of repatriation and reintegration of children and caregivers, the Government has closely engaged with the UN (specifically, the UN Resident Coordinator and UNICEF, which has been the lead in terms of programmatic response to date), providing access to repatriated individuals and seeking advice and technical assistance. Drawing on UN advice and guidance (including the UN Key Principles), the Government established an inter-ministerial working group and adopted an inter-ministerial action plan (#2157/2019) to support the reintegration of repatriated families. The Government’s close collaboration with the UN in Uzbekistan has contributed to ensuring a reintegration process consistent with applicable UN Security Council resolutions, human rights and child rights law and principles, and UN guidance, such the Madrid Guiding Principles on Foreign Terrorist Fighters.

The Government acknowledges the long-term effort required to ensure reintegration and rehabilitation of the returnees, the need to repatriate the remaining individuals from Iraq and Syria and the broader implications of these activities for the Government’s policies and programmes to prevent violent extremism. The Government intends to continue to rely on UN support in this regard. This presents a unique opportunity to provide comprehensive support, to expand UN support to the return of adult males alleged to be foreign fighters, drawing on the full range of UN system mandates and capacities, to guide the next phase of the repatriation and rehabilitation process, as well as the broader Government’s approaches to the prevention of violent extremism and protection of children more generally based on the lessons learned from this cooperation.

In this context, continuous advice and engagement with the Government and a coordinated, inter-disciplinary joined-up UN response, harnessing the UN system’s normative mandates and technical capacities, will be critical, drawing on the emerging UN Global Framework, existing policies and the wider support on offer from global, regional and country-level UN entities.

Under its regional Women, Peace and Security, and Humanitarian Action portfolio, UN Women will focus on four countries in Central Asia including Uzbekistan and will work under specific results areas relevant to each country’s context. The overall objective of the project is to support States in Central Asia in the rehabilitation and reintegration of their citizens returned from conflict zones. The project is being implemented through two joint UN Programmes in Central Asia: (i) with the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and European Union (EU) in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and possibly Kyrgyzstan; and (ii) with the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Uzbekistan. In cooperation with UNOCT, UNICEF and the UN system in Uzbekistan the project envisions to provide child and human rights-based, age and gender-sensitive technical assistance to Uzbekistan to support families of the returnees from primarily Syria and Iraq. The project will increase advocacy and contribute to national efforts to effectively mainstream gender and human rights perspectives in policy frameworks, processes, and measures to address Repatriation, Reintegration and Rehabilitation (RRR) at the national level.

Reflective of the above, the UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Office is seeking to recruit a National Expert Adviser to be based in the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Duties and Responsibilities

GOAL AND OBJECTIVES

The main objective of this consultancy is to provide expert programme implementation support in delivering UN Women’s project in Central Asia on the rehabilitation and reintegration of their citizens returned from conflict zones. This includes (a) providing technical expertise to programme implementation, preparing and delivering trainings, and knowledge building, (b) supporting implementation efforts with national partners and other stakeholders, and (c) providing technical inputs to the monitoring and reporting of the programme.

The Expert Adviser will report to the Resident Coordinator and the Programme Coordinator the UN Women Office in Kazakhstan, with additional reporting lines to UNOCT and UNICEF, in their capacities as designated coordinators of the UN Global Framework.

SCOPE OF WORK AND SPECIFIC TASKS

Under the guidance of the of the UN Women Regional Office and the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, and under the supervision of the Programme Coordinator (UN Women in Kazakhstan), the Expert Advisor will work in close consultation with UNOCT as coordinating agency on Pillar 1 activities and with UNICEF as coordinating agency on Pillar 2 activities. The Expert Adviser will:

1. Support analysis regarding Uzbek nationals with alleged links to listed terrorist groups returning from Syria and Iraq.

2. Drawing on the Global Framework, global UN guidance (including the ‘Key Principles’), international law and good practice, provide consolidated advice to the Government of Uzbekistan, the UN Resident Coordinator and relevant UNCT members on measures pertaining to the repatriation, prosecution, rehabilitation, and reintegration of Uzbek nationals with alleged links to listed terrorist groups returning from Syria and Iraq, including with regard to:

repatriation of remaining Uzbek nationals from Iraq and Syria;
reintegration and rehabilitation needs of repatriated alleged fighters and their families and response options including preparation of host communities, and integration of human rights and gender-based approaches;
capacity development of involved Government actors and inter-ministerial coordination to facilitate a cross-sectoral gender-and child sensitive response when required;
operationalization of respective UN Security Council resolutions 2178 and 2396, and guidance in the context of Uzbekistan; and
further development of Government policies and programmes on counterterrorism pertaining to the repatriation, prosecution, rehabilitation, and reintegration of Uzbek nationals in accordance with applicable UN SC resolutions and international human rights and gender equality obligations.

3. Provide secretariat support to a UN Country Team Working Group on Repatriation, Reintegration and Rehabilitation (RRR) that will be set up under the leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator, in order to ensure joined-up, coherent and comprehensive UN support to the Government of Uzbekistan (including joint workshops, trainings and capacity building efforts wherever possible, between UNOCT, UNODC, OHCHR, UN Women, and UNICEF and other relevant members of the UNCT).

4. Provide technical support to project implementation, preparing and delivering trainings, and knowledge building, including with regards to:

maintaining documents on relevant programme activities, issues, and risk;

identify gender specific challenges and gender dimensions of returnees to inform and strengthen gender responsive rehabilitation and reintegration measures drawing on the existing documentation with support of a gender and human rights expert;
support the conducting of a gender analysis in Uzbekistan;

prepare training materials and conduct trainings co-organized with UNICEF;
organize a workshop for media to sensitize them on the issue of returnees from conflict zones to promote community-based reintegration, strengthening resilience, social cohesion, coexistence and reconciliation (including addressing stereotypes, stigma and discrimination while addressing public concern and fear);
support the adaptation of a module "Gender and PVE in Asia";
capacity development of Mahalla committees, other relevant national stakeholders and civil society organizations supporting women´s economic empowerment, resilience, social cohesion as well as psycho-social programmes through trainings on strategic planning, resource mobilization and communications;
offer informal translation services related to study and training materials, and provide simultaneous translation during the regional meetings and trainings related to the "Gender and PVE in Asia” module; and
support the organization of advocacy campaigns, events, trainings, workshops, and knowledge products development.

5. Facilitate knowledge exchange and information sharing and contribute lessons learned from Uzbekistan’s experience to relevant global and regional policy discussions, including those led by UNOCT and UN CTED as well as UN Development System entities.

6. Liaise and develop partnerships with the UN system at large, non-governmental organizations, research institutions, the international community and other stakeholders in Uzbekistan, Central Asia and globally.

DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINE

The International Consultant will be required to support and produce the following indicative key deliverables within a period of 10 months:

Deliverables

Amount of payment

Work plan with list of monthly deliverables to be updated each month and cleared by Supervisor and the Resident Coordinator Office

By 5th of each month

NA

Summary report of tasks performed under expected duties and responsibilities and deliverables.

On a monthly basis, by 25th of every month

Monthly lumpsum

Final consolidated report with indication of key achievements and handover notes

By 20 June 2022

Final month’s lumpsum

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

Education and certification:

Advanced (Masters) university degree in international relations, international law and/or the social sciences.

A bachelor’s degree with two additional years experience (9 years) is accepted in lieu of masters.

Experience:

A minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience in international relations, development, gender equality, human rights and/or conflict resolution is required.
A minimum of 4 years of experience in providing policy advice to senior government officials, including on human rights is required
Direct experience in negotiating politically sensitive matters with state and non-state actors is required
Experience advising Governments on counter-terrorism, violent extremism, and accountability and rehabilitation and reintegration issues is an asset
Experience within the UN system in Central Asia is an asset

LANGUAGE AND OTHER SKILLS REQUIREMENTS:

Fluency in written and spoken English and Russian is required.
Good computer skills in Windows, knowledge of internet communications and command of MS Office applications (Power Point, Word, Excel) required.