ICLA Consultancy, Myanmar

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a non-governmental, humanitarian organization with 60 years of experience in helping to create a safer and more dignified life for refugees and internally displaced people. NRC advocates for the rights of displaced populations and offers assistance within the shelter, education, emergency food security, legal assistance, and water,sanitation and hygiene sectors.

The Norwegian Refugee Council has approximately 5000 committed and competent employees involved in projects across four continents. In addition, NRC runs one of the world’s largest standby rosters -NORCAP, with 650 professionals, ready to be deployed on 72 hours notice when a crisis occurs

                     TOT Consultancy on Collaborative Dispute Resolution,NRC Myanmar

TERMS OF REFERENCE

1.         BACKGROUND

Myanmar is undergoing fast, deep, multiple transitions in the economic, political, and legal fields which are however not resulting in an improved protection environment for persons affected by conflict.^[1] The trends are contradictory and reflect the double-headed (army and civilian) nature of the Burmese official system. HLP and legal identity rights are in a state of obvious lack of protection, often leaving individuals highly vulnerable to human rights abuses.

HLP rights

The situation in Mon State reflects to a certain extent the complexities of the wider Myanmar HLP situation. There are, however, significant local nuances and dynamics which are specific to the area. The NRC has found through its micro-level questionnaire-based HLP profiles as well as through more than two hundred villages visited through the civil documentation One Stop Services (OSS) a series of worrying trends concerning HLP protection throughout Mon State (and the Southeast).[2] Micro-level assessments have been conducted inter alia in Upper Pein Nae Taw in Thaton Township, Zee Phyu Thaung in Ye Township, Win Ta Pan in Bilin Township, and Sou Pan Nu in Kyaikto Township. The picture painted by these assessments is one of widespread landlessness where large portions of the population lack any documents concerning land and legal identity.[3]

Over the years, the NRC’s Information, Counseling, and Legal Assistance (ICLA) programme has built a considerable wealth of knowledge in HLP and legal identity matters, including on CDR. Globally, the NRC’s ICLA programme is being implemented in 21 countries. The NRC has more than 8,000 staff and aims inter alia to remove obstacles to the enjoyment of citizenship and HLP rights that hamper durable solutions for displaced persons and refugees. The NRC has become an increasingly leading agency in this area and has gathered a large amount of experience in different contexts on HLP issues.^[4]  

The NRC and the Karen Development Network are collaborating on this project to enhance avenues for particularly vulnerable communities to pursue their HLP rights. By introducing and supporting the roll-out of Collaborative Dispute Resolution processes, local capacities for property dispute resolution outside of formal legal systems will be strengthened. In addition, rights holders will be empowered to demand of duty bearers that policies and procedures related to HLP rights as well as access to civil documents are developed, implemented, and streamlined where possible, especially for communities where both the Government of Myanmar and the legal systems of ethnic armed groups (EAGs) are present.

The present consultancy aims to implement Output 1 of the project “Promoting Housing, Land, and Property (HLP) rights protection, including Collaborative Dispute Resolution (CDR), and access to civil documentation in Mon State”, funded by the British Council. The output is as follows:

Output 1: Community-based collaborative property dispute resolution processes are introduced which utilise inclusive and accountable approaches and methods within the communities that they serve

Activity 1.1: Train community mobilisers, figures from grassroots-level power structures, and activists from KDN-supported villages on CDR basics

In the past, the NRC’s ICLA team has focused primarily on providing legal education, assistance, and advice to displaced people, sometimes representing them before authorised statutory or customary decision makers. Over the last few years, the NRC’s ICLA programmes worldwide have started to use CDR procedures—such as interest-based negotiation, facilitation, mediation, and many other means—as effective approaches to address and resolve a range of HLP conflicts of concern to displaced people in conflict and post-conflict settings. In certain circumstances, these procedures have been found to be useful and effective in developing durable solutions to many types of disputes.

In Mon State, the NRC will seek to train the stakeholders on CDR processes so that these can expand their conflict solving capabilities. The trainings will be focused on process and skills in order to empower participants—disputants (clients and/or benefi­ciaries) and third parties (customary or religious authorities, NGOs/CBOs, judicial staff or government officials)—to identify and use effective dispute resolution procedures that are more likely to result in voluntary and mutually acceptable settlements and improve working relationships between contending parties.[1]

Activity 1.2: Mentor the beneficiaries of CDR trainings in operationalising CDR mechanisms for HLP issues outside of formal legal structures

The NRC and KDN will mentor village-level authorities and CSOs in operationalising CDR processes and approaches at the local level. This will be done through the selection of targeted areas and cases which will be followed up by the mobile teams as well as the country-level advisors in order to provide regular feedback and advice. A “do no harm” and non-interventionist approach will be always used to ensure that the desired outcome (capacity development) is achieved, rather than solving the disputes themselves. In this sense, addressing concrete disputes will be the means to improve conflict resolution capabilities and not the other way around. Early on, the focus of CDR methodology application will be small in scale; taking on easier cases will allow for CDR mechanisms to be refined without complicating more delicate or intricate disputes.

Activity 1.3: Facilitate quarterly analysis with communities on successes and areas of improvement for CDR

Every quarter, the NRC and KDN will organise a stakeholders meeting in which progress in the project will be discussed and particular issues will be analysed in detail. The quarterly meetings will provide a forum for the participation and learning of justice actors. The possibility of doing thematic meetings will be explored during project implementation (e.g., quarterly meeting on land registration procedures, on displacement issues, etc.). This will result in advocacy efforts, which will be approached through mediums dependent on the actors involved and what is considered to be the most appropriate tone given the situation.

2.         OBJECTIVES

The main objectives for the consultancy are, thus, in order to facilitate the implementation of Output 1, including the following activities:

• Conduct a Training of Trainers for the Karen Development Network, NRC (ICLA), CSO and CBO actors on Collaborative Dispute Resolution.
• Conduct a Workshop to advance the project´s implementation.
• Provide advice and guidance to KDN, ICLA and stakeholders on the project and on CDR mechanisms which may be useful for advancing HLP rights in Mon State.
• Any other activity which may be feasible and necessary during the timeframe and given the resources available.

3.         PROGRESS PLAN

Progress plan with milestones and delivery dates

Delivery dates:	Milestones:
28 March – 7 April	(I) Consultations with NRC ICLA, KDN and relevant stakeholders. (I) Workshop and Training of Trainers on CDR
October 2017	(II) Consultations with NRC ICLA, KDN and relevant stakeholders, revision of projects quality outputs. (II) Workshop and Training of Trainers on CDR
April 2018	(III) Consultations with NRC ICLA, KDN and relevant stakeholders. (III) Workshop and Training of Trainers on CDR

 

5.         ENQUIRIES

All enquiries regarding this agreement shall be directed to:

		For the NRC:
Name:		Jose Arraiza
Position:		ICLA Specialist
Telephone:		00 95 9776310548
E-mail:		Jose.m.arraiza@nrc.no