National Consultant – Gender responsive COVID-19 Response for Women Migrants in Mae Sot, Tak Province

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; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific leads and coordinates the efforts of the United Nations system to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the region.

Thailand is recognized as a key destination for labour migration in the Mekong region and is a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking, including trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labour. The country’s relative prosperity in terms of better economy, health services and social protection attracts migrants who flee conditions of poverty and political repression in neighbouring Lao PDR, Myanmar and Cambodia without official documentation to improve their lives and the well-being of their families.

Mae Sot District in Tak Province is one of the transit and destination hubs for economic migrants coming from Myanmar to seek economic opportunities. The majority of them are irregular migrants working in low-skilled workforce and are at risk of different form of exploitations including trafficking. This is because it is one of the cheapest routes from Myawaddy Township in Myanmar into Thailand, it is used most by the agents/traffickers. Myanmar migrants are trafficked into a variety of sectors including domestic work, low wage labour in factories or agricultural areas, commercial sex and fishing industries. Myanmar’s continued economic mismanagement and the unavailability of job opportunities pushes more Burmese to migrate into neighbouring countries, where they may become prey to human traffickers.

The impact of COVID-19 could reverse the limited progress that has been made on gender equality and women’s rights. The pandemic is having devastating social and economic consequences for women and girls. This includes unemployment, increased unpaid care work, limited access to services such as education and health and increased risks of gender-based violence. Although COVID-19 is non-discriminatory, vulnerable groups tend to suffer the most from its impact. The vulnerable groups including migrants, ethnic minority and people with disabilities are likely to be employed in informal sectors with limited access to support, information and labour and social protections.

Since 2018, UN Women Thailand works to empower women as key drivers for in preventing and ending human trafficking, exploitation and gender-based violence in their communities particularly at-risk communities in Tak Province, applying a gender-responsive approach. The project has enhanced capacities and coordination between community members and local authorities on prevention of human trafficking and GBV through capacity building and economic empowerment. In response to COVID-19, UN Women supported the distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and information on vaccination, information on health related and GBV.

UN Women Thailand is part of The United Nations Network on Migration in Thailand with the aim to enable effective, system-wide support to the Royal Thai Government (RTG) in the implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM). The Network prioritizes the rights and wellbeing of migrants and their communities of destination, origin, and transit. Through the Network, key migration issues can be addressed using a common UN system approach that would add value to interventions, maximize resources and result in targeted and tangible achievements. In 2020, the Network focused its efforts largely on responding to the impacts of COVID-19, working to ensure the inclusion of migrants in overall efforts to mitigate and respond to the effects of the pandemic in the country. In addition, UN Women and International Labour Organisation (ILO) have been in collaboration in implementing the European Union’s supported project entitled “Safe and Fair: Realizing women migrant workers’ rights and opportunities in the ASEAN region” (2018-2022). Safe and Fair delivers technical assistance and support with the overall objective of making labour migration safe and fair for all women in the ASEAN region.

In this connection, UN Women is seeking to expand its efforts in ensuring migrants inclusive services in response to COVID-19, applying a gender-responsive approach through strengthened coordination among government agencies, CSOs and host and migrant communities and innovations that can effectively reach out and address the needs of migrants as well as service providers in Thailand

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of Country Programme Coordinator for Thailand of UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, the consultant will perform the following tasks:

Coordinate relevant service providers on COVID-19 response including government agencies, CSOs, host and migrant communities in Mae Sot, Tak to ensure services are gender responsive and migrants inclusive.
Monitor COVID-19 situation and identify response innovations and program, applying a gender-responsive approach to provide health care and emergency services for migrants. The innovations and program should respond the needs of migrants and strengthen coordination and capacity of service providers.
Monitor and document the implementation of the innovations and program and provide recommendations on future interventions and programming for UN Women Thailand to ensure program sustainability and replication

Expected deliverables and timelines

Tasks and Deliverables

Target Dates

Workplan, methodologies and list of stakeholders

6 September 2021

Draft situation report identifying COVID-19 response innovations and program, applying a gender-responsive approach to provide health care and services for migrants in Mae Sot, Tak

1 October 2021

Report of the implementation of the COVID-19 response innovations and program documenting best practices and lessons learned, recommendations on future interventions and programming for UN Women Thailand for program sustainability and replication

1 December 2021

Supervision
The consultant will be supervised by Country Programme Coordinator for Thailand, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific who will be responsible for the quality assurance of the deliverables.

Schedule of Payments
Payment in full upon final submission and satisfactory deliverables submitted.

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

Functional Competencies:

Excellent analytical skills
Strong networking skills
Strong inter-personal skills, communicate effectively with staff at all levels of the organization
Ability to work in a highly pressured environment

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree in Political Science, International Relations, Women Studies, Social Science or other gender and development fields. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

Minimum 5 years of relevant work experience with technical knowledge and expertise on thematic areas of Migration, Anti-Human Trafficking, GBV, Women’s Economic Empowerment and/or gender equality.
Familiarity with the Thai national context is considered as an asset.
Experience in liaising and coordinating with national counterparts, local authorities and civil society organizations.
Experience working with the UN Agencies or other international organizations is advantageous.

Language requirement and report writing skills:

Proficiency in Thai and English.
Proven experience in report writing and technical consultancy on Migration, Anti-Human Trafficking, GBV, Women’s Economic Empowerment and/or gender equality.