International Humanitarian Law Consultant

TERMS OF REFERENCE

International Humanitarian Law Consultant

Title: International Humanitarian Law Consultant

Duty Station: Home Based

Duration: 1 September 2022

Contract Type: Consultant

Closing date: Close of Business 26 July 2022

1. General Background of Project or Assignment:

Preserving the civilian and humanitarian character of sites and settlements is fundamental to the protection of civilians including refugees and internally displaced persons fleeing armed conflict. Severe problems of militarization and insecurity have been a recurrent feature of refugee camps as well as IDPs’ sites and settlements due to the presence of, or proximity to, fighters and armed activities which lead to major protection concerns for internally displaced people and refugees hosted in the sites and adversely impact humanitarian actors. Additionally, the increasing urbanization of armed conflicts jeopardize the safety and security of civilian populations, in particular displaced communities.

In light of the challenges and the continued need for effective cooperation among humanitarian actors, in 2016, the ICRC and UNHCR initiated consultations with field staff and other partners to collect operational practices and develop guidance with regard to maintaining the civilian and humanitarian character of sites and settlements in situations of armed conflict. In 2018, as a result of these consultations, the ICRC and UNHCR with valuable input from the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) developed the Aide Mémoire – Operational guidance on maintaining the civilian and humanitarian character of sites and settlements.

Following the initial roll out of the Aide-Mémoire in several operations such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic and discussions with relevant UNHCR and partners as well as protection cluster coordinators, UNHCR has received requests to expand the scope of the operational guidance and to collect new good practices and lessons learnt in order to better address emerging and recurrent challenges existing in the field. For this reason, the UNHCR’s Internal Displacement section in the Division of International Protection, in consultation and collaboration with ICRC, is currently looking for a consultant who will conduct a round of consultations and a preliminary assessment aiming at laying the foundations for the necessary update and defining parameters of the broadening of the Aide Mémoire’s geographical and thematic scope.

She/He will explore the relevance and possibilities to further expand the concept of civilian and humanitarian character of sites and settlements to cover several areas of interest, such as: the impact of urbanization on maintaining the civilian character of sites and settlements; the challenges in out of camps situations; the civilian character of IDPs movements: eg. humanitarian evacuations, relocations and returns as well as cross border movements. Following the request from colleagues to bridge the gap between both UNHCR’s guidance on the civilian character of asylum and the Aide-memoire on maintaining the civilian character of sites and settlements, the consultant will analyze the issue and come up with recommendations in this regard.

In doing so, she/he will conduct consultations with key stakeholders at Global and field levels as well as the tri-cluster (Protection, CCM and shelter) and prepare a questionnaire in order to better comprehend and analyze the challenges, needs and requests coming from the field.

Through this research and scoping exercise, the consultant will be tasked to produce an ‘’Issues ‘Paper’’ that intends to provide an analytical framework for the update of the Aide-memoire by clarifying the scope, relevance and focus of topics that need to be addressed.

In parallel and during consultations with selected Field operations, the consultant will be compiling good practices that would be presented to UNHCR and ICRC then added, after validation by both agencies, to the ones already included in the Aide-memoire.

Once these two deliverables finalized, the consultant will assist both agencies organize a workshop involving relevant stakeholders and field actors to present the findings of her research with recommendations on the way forward.

2. Overall purpose and Scope of Assignment:

This consultancy is task-based. Under the overall supervision of the Snr Legal Officer (IHL) in UNHCR DIP/IDP section and in close collaboration with ICRC IDP adviser and ICRC focal person in charge of urban warfare, the consultant will be responsible for producing the following four deliverables according to the following timeline:

Deliverables

Deadlines

1. Methodology and outline for the issues paper 20 days after starting date
2. Questionnaire/survey to facilitate consultations with field operations 20 days after starting date
3. Issues Paper and analytical framework 60 days after starting date
4. Compiled good Practices’ paper and updating the module on the civilian character of sites and settlements that already exists in the Protection in armed conflict (PIAC) toolkit 60 days after the starting date
5. Workshop on maintaining the civilian character and final report 90 days after starting date

– Additional tasks (eg. Webinars) as relevant and required. This will be agreed upon with the supervisor in writing.

– Report regularly on progress and challenges to UNHCR and ICRC Focal persons throughout the consultancy.

3. Monitoring and Progress Controls (report requirements, periodicity, format, deadlines):

1. 1. Final outputs:

• Deliver a questionnaire/survey that will facilitate consultations with field operations
• Deliver the scope analysis (issues paper and recommendations) required to set the basis for the Aide Mémoire’s update
• Deliver a compilation of good practices in selected field operations
• Draft concept note for the inter-agency workshop
• Assist with organizing the workshop
• Presenting the research findings and recommendations during the workshop
• Prepare the workshop’s report
• Deliver additional tasks as relevant and required

1. Delivery Periodicity, as applicable: To be agreed according to workplan; with bi-weekly meetings (on Teams) and regular email exchange (weekly delivery)
2. Work on the basis of time employed Yes ☐ No X

4. Qualifications and Experience

a. Education (Level and area of required and/or preferred education)

University degree in law or international relations with possible specialization in international humanitarian law with 6 years, or 5 years and a postgraduate university degree or 4years with Doctorate.

b. Work Experience

Required

• A minimum of four years of relevant experience from working within technical expertise area in a humanitarian context
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities

c. Key Competencies

Required

• In depth knowledge of legal and humanitarian work in conflict settings

• Good understanding of humanitarian coordination structures

• Ability to work autonomously

• Strong communication skills

• Strong drafting skills

• Fluency in English

Desired

• Knowledge of other UN languages a benefit