International expert on counterterrorism and Trafficking in Person (TIP) at UNDP

Background

In the context of global counter-terrorism, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is mandated to provide assistance to requesting countries in their efforts to address the legal and criminal justice aspects of countering terrorism.

UNODC, through its Terrorism Prevention Branch (TPB), is one of the United Nations’ key providers of counter-terrorism technical assistance in the legal and related areas. Since 2003, UNODC/TPB has been implementing a technical assistance program with the objective of assisting requesting countries to strengthen the criminal justice responses to terrorism. TPB does this by: (i) providing legal advice to States becoming parties to the universal legal instruments related to terrorism; (ii) assisting states to incorporate their provisions into national legislations; (iii) providing training to criminal justice officials to implement rule of law-based criminal justice measures against terrorism and on related international cooperation in criminal matters; and (iv) providing assistance to strengthen national institutions dealing with terrorism. To achieve sustained impact, TPB has also been developing and disseminating legal technical assistance tools.

The scope of assistance provided has been broadening, with ever increasing attention being given to implementation assistance, as more countries have ratified more of the universal instruments. Special attention is given to assisting countries to implement the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (resolution A/RES/60/288, adopted on 8 September 2006) and the relevant Security Council resolutions, especially resolution 1373. The Strategy encourages UNODC to enhance its provision of technical assistance to Member States and it encourages Member States to resort to the technical assistance delivered by the Office.

Assistance delivery at the field level is pursued under the substantive leadership of TPB (within the framework of a global project on “Strengthening the Legal Regime against Foreign Terrorist Fighters in the Middle East and North Africa” and the operational leadership of the respective UNODC regional or country offices, as an integral component of UNODC’s respective regional and country programs.

Countries in North Africa and the Middle East have been a major focus of assistance delivery. Many of these countries continue to require extensive assistance to undertake rule of law-based criminal justice responses to prevent and combat terrorism – an essential component of an effective counter-terrorism strategy. There is an urgent need to strengthen the criminal justice response of Member States including to conduct effective investigations, prosecutions and adjudication of terrorism cases, through rigorous investigative interviewing of suspects, victims and witnesses.

Trafficking in persons (TiP) has become a source of increasing concern worldwide. It constitutes a serious crime and often involves organized criminal groups. UNODC is mandated to support Member States in implementing the key international instrument addressing trafficking in persons i.e., the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (hereinafter referred to as “ UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol ”) supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). The UNTOC and the Trafficking in Persons Protocol proscribe the crime of TiP and call upon States to adopt such measures as may be necessary to implement their provisions and effectively combat TiP.

As the custodian of the UNTOC and the UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol, UNODC has a comparative advantage in providing technical assistance to Member States to prevent and combat TiP while protecting the rights of the victims. This assistance covers a number of issues, including ratification and development/revision of legislation; development of national policies and strategies; capacity building/strengthening of criminal justice officials in investigating, prosecuting and adjudicating TiP cases; international cooperation in criminal matters; support and assistance to TiP victims; awareness raising. Technical assistance activities are tailor-made to the specific needs of each country and/or region and are implemented at national, regional and global levels.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has shown a strong commitment to addressing TiP and undertaken significant efforts in that regard. Such efforts include, among others, the enactment of the 2009 Royal Decree M/40 criminalizing trafficking in persons for both purposes of labour exploitation and sexual exploitation; the Council of Ministers Decision166 criminalizing certain actions that make temporary contractual workers more vulnerable to trafficking; the adoption of the National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons (2017-2020) as well as the establishment of the National Committee on Combatting Human Trafficking (NCCHT) within the National Human Rights Commission (HRC) to coordinate national efforts across agencies and sectors to combat and prevent TiP. Furthermore, over the past eight years, the NCCHT as well as other national stakeholders have consistently participated in a number of capacity-building activities that were implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), whether at national or regional level.

UNODC through its Office for the Gulf Cooperation Council Region (OGCCR) received an official request from the HRC in its capacity as the chair of the NCCHT to engage in further technical cooperation, with the aim of strengthening the NCCHT’s role and capacity for leading and coordinating national consultations and efforts towards effectively preventing, suppressing and punishing TiP while providing victims with adequate protection, support and care, in compliance with the Kingdom’s relevant international obligations. UNODC has designed the present project proposal to respond to the needs and priorities jointly identified with representatives of the NCCHT during discussions held in 2018 and 2019. As a result of these discussions implementation of a technical capacity development project entitled “Support and strengthen national capacities to effectively prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons (TiP) in accordance with international standards and best practices” was initiated on 13 February 2020 by signing of a funding agreement between HRC/NCCHT and UNODC.

Duties And Responsibilities

Purpose of the assignment

The Consultant Will Support The Implementation Of Below Activities Under The Framework Of The Project Entitled “Support And Strengthen National Capacities To Effectively Prevent, Suppress And Punish Trafficking In Persons (TiP) In Accordance With International Standards And Best Practices”as Follows

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide technical advisory as well as design, develop and delivery of series of training activities (on-site and on-line) to a select group of government officials and criminal justice officers in KSA on National Referral Mechanism and its implementation.

Academic Qualifications

Required Skills and Experience

• A university degree in law, security studies or related fields, preferably with a specialization in criminal

Years Of Experience

• A minimum of seven (7) years of professional technical experience as a criminal justice practitioner, specifically as an investigator, intelligence officer.
• Previous experience in the provision of capacity-building/training courses in the area of organized crime, terrorism or a related area
• Experience in the Middle East and North Africa region
• Previous working experience with the United Nations (UN) is an advantage;

Language Requirements

• Fluency in Arabic and excellent Arabic report writing skills is required;
• Fluency in English is desirable.

FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

Interested candidates should provide daily fees for requested services with detailed breakdown. This amount must be “all-inclusive”. Please note that the terms “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, consumables,…. etc.) if any. that could possibly be incurred are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal. Also, please note that the contract price will be Deliverables/Outputs based

The contractor will be paid an all-inclusive Deliverables/Outputs based on number of working days for each deliverable ms over the assignment period, subject to the submission of Certification of Payment (CoP) duly certified and confirmation of satisfactory performance of achieved work (deliverables/outputs) in line with the schedule of payments table hereunder,