Result of Service
The consultant will provide high-quality technical expertise to support the implementation of the aforementioned projects through the design and delivery of technical assistance activities, capacity-building workshops, and regional awareness-raising materials on TIP for FC in scam operations. The consultant will also develop technical guidance and knowledge products, prepare high-quality reports and briefing materials for donors and counterparts, and provide technical support to ASEAN activities and relevant stakeholders to strengthen regional cooperation and criminal justice responses to TIP for FC.
Work Location
Home-based with travel to Southeast Asia countries
Expected duration
1 December 2026 - 30 September 2027
Duties and Responsibilities
1. Background of the assignment: The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) provides technical assistance related to combating transnational organized crime, including on trafficking in persons (TIP) and smuggling of migrants (SOM), to requesting Member States. This assistance also aims to strengthen criminal justice systems of States and encourages ratification and successful implementation of international conventions and protocol related to transnational organized crime, in compliance with the rule of law and human rights.
TIP and SOM are significant forms of transnational crime affecting the Southeast Asia and Pacific region and are key areas of UNODC’s regional work. 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. The Regional Programme for Southeast Asia and the Pacific 2022 – 2026 is designed to address both present and emerging needs within these regions, with the ultimate objective, namely to secure and reinforce the rule of law in Southeast Asia and the Pacific and ensure vulnerable groups and communities in the region are protected from crime.
Within this framework, UNODC’s Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific (ROSEAP) implements a number of projects addressing TIP and SOM, including initiatives responding to the rapidly evolving threat of trafficking for forced criminality (TIP for FC) linked to scam operations. These projects include:
Strengthening International Legal Cooperation on Transnational TIP Cases
Building Awareness for Coordinated Response to TIP for Forced Criminality
Enhanced screening and protection of victims of trafficking for forced criminality
Ensuring Decent Work and Reducing Vulnerabilities for Women and Children in the Context of Labour Migration in Southeast Asia (PROTECT) UNODC ROSEAP is going to undertake various TIP SOM activities, including stakeholder engagement, workshops, awareness raising campaigns, and trainings related to TIP and SOM, and is seeking a consultant to support their implementation.
2. Purpose of the assignment: The purpose of the assignment is to work closely with the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Team at ROSEAP to support the implementation of TIP SOM project activities under the Regional Programme.
3. Specific tasks to be performed by the Consultant: Under the supervision of the Regional Coordinator for Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling, the consultant will undertake the following substantive tasks:
Contribute to the planning, oversight, implementation, management and delivery of technical assistance of the TIP SOM project activities, including through the organization and delivery of workshops, forums, clinics, and trainings as well as the preparation of substantive inputs for capacity development initiatives, under the above-mentioned projects;
Liaise and support activities with relevant ASEAN sectoral bodies (including SOMTC and its Working Groups) on TIP, including regional cooperation and policy development;
Support the design, coordination, and implementation of awareness-raising campaigns, including developing innovative approaches, technical materials, and implementation strategies;
Draft and review reports, guidance materials, project documents, concept notes, and other substantive outputs, ensuring high technical quality and consistency with UNODC standards;
Support the design and development of knowledge projects and briefing materials relating to TIP SOM, particularly TIP for FC;
Prepare briefings, presentations, and other materials on topics related to TIP and SOM, particularly TIP for FC.
Qualifications/special skills
An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in business administration, governance, international relations, law or international relations or related field is required. A first level university degree in similar fields in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
A minimum of five (5) of professional relevant experience in project management, coordinating and organizing capacity building workshops and trainings, including experience in the areas of human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and / or transnational organized crime at national, regional and international levels, is required.
Field-based work experience in developing and implementing TIP and SOM capacity building projects in Southeast Asia and the Pacific is required.
Experience engaging with ASEAN and ASEAN bodies (e.g. SOMTC; Working Groups) in the area of TIP and/or SOM is required.
Experience of liaising with mid- to high-level Southeast Asian government officials is required.
Demonstrated knowledge on trafficking in persons for forced criminality in scam centres is required.
Professional experience working within the United Nations system or other international organizations in Southeast Asia is required
Experience working with law enforcement and/or criminal justice practitioners in Southeast Asia is desirable.
Experience with donor relations, particularly Australia, the EU and the United States, is desirable.
Languages
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this position, fluency in English, with excellent drafting and communication skills, is required. Knowledge of another United Nations official language is an advantage.