Lowongan RESEARCHER

TERMS OF REFERENCE

RESEARCHER

Follow-up Activity on the AICHR High Level Dialogue on Managing Freedom of Opinion and Expression in the Information Age

1. General background

On 11 – 12 April 2018, AICHR had successfully organised the High-Level Dialogue (HLD) on Managing Freedom of Expression in the Information Age in Medan, Indonesia and was attended by the representatives of various relevant ASEAN Sectoral Bodies, the United Nations (UN) and CSOs. One of the suggestions from the Dialogue for the AICHR was to organise a roundtable dialogue on the articulation of the Article 23 of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD) with the aim of related to freedom of expression, freedom of opinion, freedom to information, right to privacy and media freedom;


Based on this suggestion, the AICHR Indonesia, in collaboration with the AICHR Malaysia, aims to develop the AICHR Recommendation to Article 23 of the AHRD on Freedom of Opinion, Expression and Information (FOEI) to serve as a common language for human rights cooperation and actions related to Article 23 of the AHRD in the context of regionalism project in the region, which may include the following content:

Clarification of the norms related to Article 23 of the AHRD regarding the right to FOEI;
(b)  State obligations and duties to address the disadvantaged related to Article 23 of the AHRD;

(c)  Operationalisation of Article 23 of the AHRD in the implementation of the ASEAN Community blueprints and other related ASEAN instruments on human rights;

(d)  International and regional cooperation, especially in the ASEAN regionalism context related to the promotion and protection of Article 23 of the AHRD;


The Recommendation is to be used by the ASEAN Sectoral bodies with the purpose of providing a guidance to respect, protect and fulfil FOEI while implementing the ASEAN regional projects of Community building. To realise the development of the recommendations, different information/inputs will be obtained from different groups, such as:


Type of information/inputs/analysis

Source

Clarification of norms as included in Article 23 of the AHRD;
(b)  State obligations and duties to address disadvantage related to Article 23 of AHRD;

Scholars/Experts

(c)  Experiences on the operationalisation of the FOEI (Article 23 of AHRD) in implementing the ASEAN Community blueprints and other related ASEAN instruments on human rights;

(d)  International and regional cooperation, especially in the ASEAN regionalism context;


Relevant sectoral bodies and CSOs


The proposed activities for the above outcome document are as follows:

No
Activities
Dates
Purpose
Stocktaking and Consultations with Stakeholders
1
AICHR Consultation on FOEI and Information in ASEAN
8-10 Dec 2019
To discuss contemporary issues in the FOEI in ASEAN with stakeholders


To explore the possible content of the Recommendations to Article 23 of AHRD from stakeholders, experts, and AICHR Representatives


2
Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with Experts on FOEI and Information in ASEAN.


Feb/March 2020

To obtain inputs specific inputs to the outline of the Recommendation on the Implementation of Article 23 of AHRD.

Writing Workshop

3
Writing Workshop (or Write-shop) on Recommendation on the Implementation of Article 23 of AHRD and Consultation with AICHR Representatives


April/May 2020
To provide an avenue for the writing team to finalise the draft of Recommendation with the guidance from the AICHR Representatives


Consultation and AICHR discussions

4
AICHR Consultation on FOEI in ASEAN

June/July 2020

2. The Purpose of this ToR


The objective of this TOR is to hire a Researcher to work as a consultant to the Representative of Indonesia with the following assignments:

To provide a background paper related to the state of freedom of opinion, expression and information which consist of the analysis of provisions as provided in the international and regional for legal protection as well as its dimension in the existing legal framework of the ASEAN Member states and the elaboration on the state obligations, rights and the violation of rights; ASEAN’s approach to FOEI; the available grievance and remedy mechanisms; national and regional gaps, and challenges;
2.    To prepare the draft of the Recommendation on the Implementation of Article 23 o the AHRD that is built from the literature review, participants and experts’ inputs and suggestions from the ASEAN bodies and organs (including the AICHR).

3.    To provide inputs to AICHR Indonesia and AICHR Malaysia for the recommendation to the AICHR for appropriate follow-up actions.

4.    To assist in finalizing the draft Recommendations on Article 23 of AHRD (with possibly be a part of a writing team)

5.    To prepare summary records of two AICHR Consultation on FOEI/workshops

It is expected that the Researcher will provide the following results:

•        A Background paper to be circulated in the AICHR Consultation on FOEI in ASEAN;

•        Draft of Recommendation on the implementation of Article 23 of the AHRD related to FOEI;

•        Report on the process (proceeding) in the developing the Recommendation on the Implementation of Article 23 of the AHRD.

•        Summary Records of two AICHR Consultation/workshops


3. Expertise required

The to-be-hired Researcher must possess the following qualifications and experience including (but not limited to):

•        At least a university degree in human rights, law, journalism or political science, or equivalent professional experience in related fields of a minimum of 12 years;

•        Extensive experience in the field of human rights, in particular on issues related to FOEI, has an extensive knowledge of gender perspective and familiar with international and regional human rights instruments;

•        Experience in conducting research and/or assessments preferably on human rights and has a good analytical skill;

•        Experience working with government and international organizations, preferably in ASEAN;

•        Can work independently or in a team;

•        Ability to deliver quality output on time while working under tight deadlines;

•        Can communicate effectively and, if necessary, facilitate discussions with government officials;

•        Knowledge of one or more languages of the ASEAN countries would be a strong advantage;

•        Good verbal and written command of English is essential;

•        Cultural sensitivity to deal appropriately with interlocutors in ASEAN countries.


5. Timeline and Location of Assignment


The assignment shall take place intermittently in 20 November 2019 to 31 September 2020. Location of the assignment will be in home country of the Researcher with possible travels to the venues of activities.


6. Reporting

The Researcher will report to the Representative of Indonesia to the AICHR and submit the following document:

1.    Background paper;

2.    Draft of the Recommendation on the Implementation of Article 23 of the AHRD;

3.    Proceeding of the process in developing the Recommendation on the Implementation of Article 23 of the AHRD.

4.    Summary record(s) of the two AICHR Consultations on FOEI


7. Submission Requirement

Interested candidate shall submit his/ her CV including three (3) references, previous publications and/or research work related to FOEI.


Applications shall be submitted by 14 November 2019 before 11:59 p.m. WIB (Western Indonesian Time) to the ASEAN-USAID Partnership for Regional Optimization within the Political-Security and Socio-Cultural Communities (PROSPECT), addressed to prospectconsultant@dai.com <mailto:prospectconsultant@dai.com> with subject of email Researcher AICHR FOEI.


PROSPECT is a joint project of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), U.S. State Department and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)