Department: Migration Management
Consultant specialization: Regional Migration Research Officer
Duty Station: Pretoria, South Africa
Duration of Consultancy: April – July 2021 (4 months). Curriculum Vitae to be submitted to IOM by close of business on 19 March 2021 using [email protected]
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Despite the high volume of population mobility, migrant stocks and the notable contribution by migrants to the Countries of Destination (CoD) and Countries of Origin (COO) in the Southern African region, data on international migration are often unavailable, or fragmented and non-comparable between countries. This hampers the capacity of relevant stakeholders to design and develop migration policies and operational responses based on solid evidence and affects the accuracy of national and regional reporting on policy and development progress. Timely, disaggregated and quality data would also serve to inform the United Nations system as a whole, as well as government and other societal partner platforms with regards to internal and policy-related programmatic design, Monitoring and Evaluation, and adaptation for both upcoming and current programmatic interventions.
The need for timely and reliable data to inform migration policies and programming within Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) has been evidenced by one of the recommendations emerging from the 2017 Ministerial Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA) held in Eswatini, which encourages the Member States to “Build capacities to collect and analyse migration data to strengthen evidence-based policy-making.” The 2019 Ministerial MIDSA, held in Namibia, further stressed the importance of enhancing migration data outputs in the region by highlighting the need to strengthen migration data coordination mechanisms and work towards the harmonization of migration data management methodologies in the Southern African region.
In view of the above, IOM Regional Office based in Pretoria is supporting the SADC Member States and the National Statistical Offices in the following areas: (i) strengthening of national coordination and migration data harmonization mechanisms, (ii) regional coordination and capacity building, (iii) establishment of measures to enhance migration data, (iv) enhancing the use of administrative data and, (iv) addressing data gaps on underreported migrant groups.
SUPERVISION, DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Consultant is expected to work under the overall supervision of the Regional Director for Southern Africa in Pretoria, the direct supervision of the Southern African Migration Management (SAMM) Regional Project Coordinator and in close coordination with the Migration Research Division at IOM Headquarters and the Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC) in Berlin, the successful candidate will be responsible for research and knowledge production undertaken by IOM Regional Office for Southern Africa in the context of the SAMM project. The Consultant is responsible for the following tasks:
- Undertake, develop and support policy-relevant research on migration and contribute to IOM’s regular research publications, including through conducting field research, on behalf of the Regional Migration Data Hub (RMDHub) for Southern Africa. Provide support and guidance for both the Regional and Country Offices in Southern Africa in
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implementing projects and activities with research and knowledge production components. - Act as a focal point for the SAMM project-related and other IOM research activities of both the Regional and Country Offices in Southern Africa with a view to responding to external and internal research queries.
- Provide inputs and support for the development of policy-relevant research and other relevant activities on migration in the context of the Regional Migration Data Hub for Southern Africa (RMDHub).
- Contribute to the development of an outreach strategy to secure potential contributors and build a community of researchers, academics, policymakers, practitioners and other interested parties working on migration issues related to the Southern African region.
- Assist in the organization and implementation of national and regional training on migration data collection and research methods, including regarding the development and consolidation of migration data harmonization guidelines.
- Maintain close working relations with governmental research institution counterparts.
- Organize appropriate trainings and workshops with Implementing Partners and staff on issues related to research with an aim to introduce and strengthen understanding of the importance of research.
- Draft reports and identified sections of mission policy and strategy documents as well as mission public information materials.
- With a focus on research and knowledge production, assist in the identification of new programme/project possibilities consistent with expressed Government needs and IOM’s mandate and strategy in Southern Africa; on this basis, assist in the formulation/development of project proposals.
- Perform such other duties as may be assigned.
EDUCATION
• Master’s degree in Political Science, Social Science, Law or a related field from an accredited academic institution with two years of relevant professional experience or
• University degree in the above field of study with four years of relevant professional experience.
EXPERIENCE
• Experience in research, in particular quantitative and qualitative methods;
• Experience in drafting policy briefs;
• Experience managing research projects, working with consultants and content editing;
• Good knowledge of, and previous experience working on, migration issues in the Southern African region;
• Experience producing visibility materials, publications, reports and other documents;
• Experience working with statistical software, such as SPSS or STATA, and databases is a distinct advantage.