International Consultancy _ Strengthening Access to Legal Identity of Border Communities in Ghana – Accra
JOB DETAIL
Context
Improving border governance and facilitating access to basic services in the northern border regions of Ghana are increasingly crucial not only to national socio-economic development, but also national and regional security and stability. These regions face vulnerabilities that make them susceptible to the activities of violent extremist organizations (VEOs) currently operating in the southern border regions of the northern neighbour Burkina Faso. These vulnerabilities include, but are not limited to, relative poverty between the north and south that creates a sense of marginalization; porous land borders; already existing smuggling and trafficking networks; and inter-communal conflict.
As seen in the Sahel, VEOs could exploit these vulnerabilities to sow the seeds of political instability and insecurity. Hence, the emphasis should be on enabling inclusive and accountable governance and access to basic services as an important part of the response in countering the spread of VEO activities. Key to this approach is increasing the access to legal identity for border communities and mobile populations. For border communities and mobile populations, such as pastoralists, for example, legal identity also means protecting their livelihoods and ensuring their inclusion in formal systems. Without proper documentation, these populations whose livelihoods, socio-cultural lives, and access to basic services, depend on cross-border mobility, face challenges in regard to their socio-economic resilience and inclusion in local governance structures, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and marginalization.
These border communities and mobile populations face some hindrances in accessing legal identity in general, including the national identity card. Recently, IOM in partnership with the National Identification Authority (NIA) undertook a pilot mobile registration exercise in Pusiga District in the Upper East Region. During the exercise some key barriers were encountered, including a lack of awareness and information about the procedures of obtaining the ID card; difficulty in accessing the NIA registration offices due to the distance and poor access roads; the low coverage of birth registration in the targeted border communities which is the first step to obtaining legal identity and one of the pathways to obtain the national identity card; a general lack of understanding of naturalization processes for eligible foreigners seeking Ghanaian citizenship; and logistical challenges, resulting in delays in printing cards for already registered persons.
Pursuant to above, IOM is seeking to hire a consultant to conduct a legal identity assessment to identify and further understand the reasons for these barriers at the legal/ policy, operational, and technical levels and proffer solutions based on global, generally accepted best practices. The overall aim of this consultancy is to assess the barriers hindering border communities and mobile populations in accessing legal identity to proffer recommendations for strengthening legal identity system in Ghana.
The consultant will undertake the following tasks using IOM Legal Identity Unit’s methodology:
- Literature Review:
- Analyze current legal identity documents, policies, and procedures
- Review previous assessments and audits related to legal identity
2. Stakeholder Consultation:
- Conduct interviews and meetings with key stakeholders, including government officials, legal experts, and representatives from relevant organizations, USAID/Ghana and USAID/OTI, different demographics of border communities and mobile populations)
- Gather insights on the practical challenges and needs related to legal identity management
3. Gap Analysis:
- Identify gaps and weaknesses in the current legal identity framework
- Compare existing practices with best practices and standards in legal identity management
4. Regulatory/legal Assessment:
- Assess the compliance of current legal identity practices with national and international regulations
- Identify areas of non-compliance and recommend measures to address them
5. Recommendations:
- Provide detailed recommendations for improving the legal identity framework
- Suggest practical steps for implementation, including potential timelines and resource requirements
6. Reporting:
- Prepare a comprehensive report summarizing findings, analysis, and recommendations
- Present the report and present to key stakeholders and address queries for validation
- Inception Report: Outlining the literature review findings, methodology and work plan
- Interim Report: Providing preliminary findings based on stakeholder consultation, gap analysis and regulatory assessment conducted with detailed recommendations to improve the legal identity framework in Ghana
- Deliver a detailed presentation of the final report to key stakeholders for validation
- Final Report: A validated comprehensive document with findings, gap analysis, and recommendations
- Advanced degree in Law, Public Administration, or a related field
- Minimum of 10 years relevant working experience post-degree
- Proven experience in legal identity assessments or related areas
- Strong understanding of national and international legal identity standards and regulations
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Experience in stakeholder engagement and consultation
- Ability to make decisions independently and strong problem-resolution skills
- English
- Travel to some border communities in the Northern region of Ghana will be required
- Inclusion and respect for diversity: Respects and promotes individual and cultural differences. Encourages diversity and inclusion.
- Integrity and transparency: Maintains high ethical standards and acts in a manner consistent with organizational principles/rules and standards of conduct.
- Professionalism: Demonstrates ability to work in a composed, competent and committed manner and exercises careful judgment in meeting day-to-day challenges.
- Courage: Demonstrates willingness to take a stand on issues of importance.
- Empathy: Shows compassion for others, makes people feel safe, respected and fairly treated.
- Teamwork: Develops and promotes effective collaboration within and across units to achieve shared goals and optimize results.
- Delivering results: Produces and delivers quality results in a service-oriented and timely manner. Is action oriented and committed to achieving agreed outcomes.
- Managing and sharing knowledge: Continuously seeks to learn, share knowledge and innovate.
- Accountability: Takes ownership for achieving the Organization’s priorities and assumes responsibility for own actions and delegated work.
- Communication: Encourages and contributes to clear and open communication. Explains complex matters in an informative, inspiring and motivational way.
The submission should include:
- Motivation letter and CVs
- A financial proposal outlining the consultancy fee
- Summary of previous consultancies
- Reference of similar or related work done in the past
Notes
- Any offer made to the candidate in relation to this vacancy notice is subject to funding confirmation.
- Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, verification of residency, visa, and authorizations by the concerned Government, where applicable. Vaccination against COVID-19 will be required for IOM personnel who are hired or otherwise engaged by IOM. As part of the mandatory medical entry on duty clearance, candidates may be requested to provide evidence of full vaccination. Consultants engaged to work on a home-based consultancy who do not need to travel do not need to provide vaccination records, regardless of the length of the consultancy contract.
- IOM covers Consultants against occupational accidents and illnesses under the Compensation Plan (CP), free of charge, for the duration of the consultancy. IOM does not provide evacuation or medical insurance for reasons related to non-occupational accidents and illnesses. Consultants are responsible for their own medical insurance for non-occupational accident or illness and will be required to provide written proof of such coverage before commencing work.
- IOM does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, processing, training or other fee). IOM does not request any information related to bank accounts.
- IOM only accepts duly completed applications submitted through the IOM online recruitment system. The online tool also allows candidates to track the status of their application.
Level of Education: Bachelor Degree
Work Hours: 8
Experience in Months: No requirements
