Lead Researcher – Rakhine Joint Assessment

Background

Rakhine is one of the poorest and most densely populated states in Myanmar. It has a history of ethno-political conflict, chronic poverty, social exclusion and low resilience to climate change impacts and natural disasters. The Government of Myanmar (GoM) is strengthening its efforts to achieve socio economic development of the Rakhine State. At the Union level, the State Counsellor has established the Rakhine State Committee for Peace and Development.

The Government of Myanmar together with the Kofi Annan Foundation established on the 5th of September 2016 the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State. The Commission was mandated to analyse the present situation of all communities in Rakhine and seek to identify the factors that have resulted in violence, displacement and under-development. The Commission released its preliminary recommendations in March 2017. One of the key findings was the need for adoption and implementation of the Socio-Economic Development Plan for Rakhine State.

The Union Minster of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement on the 14th of March 2017 formally requested the Resident Coordinator for the UN to support the Government of Myanmar(GoM) represented by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement in its effort to conduct an assessment of households’ basic needs in the state. It was envisaged that the assessment initially would be piloted in certain areas of Rakhine with the possibility of expanding it to cover the entire state later on. The Resident Coordinator delegated the UNDP to lead this exercise in close collaboration with the other members of the UN Country Team (UNCT).

The UN Technical Support Group will be composed of international and local technical experts in the areas of conflict prevention, livelihoods, survey design/implementation and communication. This TOR is for the Lead Researcher who will be responsible for conducting the desk review, qualitative and quantitative survey analysis and writing up the research results and recommendations.

The current work plan includes the start of the qualitative assessment in June 2018, to be followed by quantitative assessment in August 2018. The field work is expected to be completed by September 2018, while the analysis and results will be ready by end of October 2018. The survey operations covered under this TOR are focused on three townships of Rakhine (Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U and Minbyaw) and will need to deliver representative estimates of the major ethnic communities living there. The topics/themes to be covered by the assessment include basic needs in the areas of livelihoods, health, education, food security, housing, as well as perceptions of intercommunal dynamics, etc. The survey methodology, tools and implementation plan will be designed and led by the survey expert. A Survey Implementation Firm which will be responsible for the overall design of the survey including, sampling strategy, questionnaire design, field staff training and survey implementation. The researcher takes the lead in analyzing, interpreting and writing up the data.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the Head of office, UNDP, the Lead Researcher will work closely with the UNDP team based in Sittwe and UN Technical Support Group.

The Lead Researcher will be responsible for the following key tasks:

1. Lead UN support to the GoM in the analysis of the survey findings, both qualitative and quantitative;

2. Develop research reports based on the findings of the Rakhine Joint Assessment.

The tasks of the Lead Researcher will be to:

Lead in the analysis of the collected data, drafting of reports and recommendations in partnership with the Government of Myanmar, more specifically:

• Lead analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data from three township research areas.

• Lead in drafting reports presenting research findings with recommendations, including a report on the qualitative findings, a report of both qualitative and quantitative findings.

Please see details and supporting documents as following link: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=48060

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;

• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;

• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;

• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNDP.

Technical competencies: 

• Ability to provide guidance on implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS), including design and implementation of ABS and traditional knowledge policy and bioprospecting projects;

• Knowledge of environmental issues, NRM concepts, principles and policies and ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations;

• Ability to work with multiple stakeholders across a wide range of disciplines.

Functional competencies:

• Development and Operational Effectiveness:

• Ability to contribute to strategic planning, change processes, results-based management and reporting;

• Ability to lead formulation, oversight of implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;

• Ability to apply development theory to the specific country context to identify creative, practical approaches to overcome challenging situations.

Knowledge Management and Learning:

• Demonstrates practical knowledge of inter-disciplinary development issues;

• Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside of UNDP. 

Client Orientation:

• Maintains relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;

• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude; 

• Proven networking, team-building, organizational and communication skills.

Professionalism:

• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure.
• Excellent reporting skills;

Required Skills and Experience

Qualification:

• Master’s degree preferably in political science, international development or other relevant social science studies.

Experience:

• At least 7 years’ experience in international development and humanitarian response.

• Ability to create a robust research design based on concrete hypotheses (essential).

• Strong understanding of qualitative and quantitative survey methodologies and able to process and synthesize results (essential).

• Prior experience of working in Myanmar or another Least Developed Country (desirable). Prior experience of working in Rakhine State or another conflict-affected or post-conflict environment would be a significant advantage.

• Proven ability to write research papers based on qualitative and qualitative research.

Language:

• Excellent communication and writing skills (essential).

• Fluency in English language (essential).