Call for Expressions of Interest: research on conflict and intersectional discrimination in Thailand’s Southern Border Provinces
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Title
Call for Expressions of Interest: research on conflict and intersectional discrimination in Thailand’s Southern Border Provinces
Terms of Reference (ToR): Consultant researcher to draft a briefing paper relating to the realities of marginalised communities in Thailand’s Southern Border Provinces and the intersectional impact of the conflict on person’s facing intersectional discrimination.
Objective
The researcher will draft an 8 to 10 page briefing paper on issues of concern for marginalised communities in Thailand’s Southern Border Provinces, in particular:
- Using a minority rights lens, analyse how the conflict has had an impact on those experiencing intersectional discrimination (women, widows, women with disabilities, persons with disabilities, LGBTQI+, youth, reintegrated fighters, accused fighters and torture victims.)
- How the peace process has unfolded in consideration (or lack thereof) of persons experiencing intersectional discrimination.
- How the peace process and processes of peace could address the concerns of those experiencing intersectional discrimination, while respecting key provisions of minority rights.
The researcher will work through MRG’s existing network of partners and community members. This research will be building on primary data that has already been collected by local partner organisations, and is expected to be supplemented by desk-based research and interviews. The briefing paper will be used in advocacy with decision-makers as a means to advance the peace process that is inclusive of all those experiencing discrimination in the SBPs, and include a set of recommendations to key target stakeholders. The briefing paper will be an overview of the peace process to date, a background to the situation, the realities of marginalised communities in the deep south and the intersectional impact of the conflict, with a prioritisation of issues that have not received a lot of attention, locally, nationally or internationally. Regardless of which issues are prioritised, the publication will utilize a minority rights lens, using anti-discrimination and gender/ sexual equality as a framework for analysis.
Project Context
This study is part of MRG’s ongoing work in Thailand which focuses on inclusive peacebuilding, non-discrimination and equality in the Southern Border Provinces, primarily funded by the European Union. More details can be found here.
Timeline for the study
Call for applications: 1 October 2024
Deadline to apply: 25 October 2024
Start of the consultancy: 1 November 2024
Deadline for the delivery of the first draft: 11 December 2024
Review by MRG and delivery of feedback on the first draft: 20 December 2024
Deadline for the delivery of the second draft: 31 December 2024
Role and Responsibilities
The desired candidate (or team) will write and provide Minority Rights Group (MRG) with an 8 t0 10 page briefing paper.
The consultant(s) will be expected to:
- Conduct a desk review to identify existing evidence as well as the gaps in knowledge to answer the research questions;
- Review the primary research that has already been gathered under the project
- Collect supplementary data through interviews or through other suggested participatory methods, considering a gender and intersectional lens;
- Submit a first draft that presents a clear structure, sources review, referencing system and publishable and clear writing style that respects gender inclusive language.
MRG will provide support in accessing existing MRG’s data and guidance in identifying key interviewees. MRG will also provide its expertise on the selected theme and supervision in the reviewing of the study.
The study must be delivered in English, but the interviews and the field research will have to be conducted mainly in Thai and/or Melayu. The study will be then translated to the other relevant languages by MRG.
Experience and expertise required
- In-depth knowledge and experience working on human rights in Thailand, the SBPs in particular; knowledge and experience on the rights of indigenous people and/or ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural minorities, migrants, LGBTQI+ persons, and/or persons with disabilities, as well as the rights of women is highly desirable.
- Extensive experience in conducting research and/or analysing primary data (academic experience and/or extensive experience conducting research with and for NGOs).
- Fluency in Thai, and Melayu desired. If the main consultant is not fluent in Thai, they will be required to work in a team with people who can access sources in Thai (both written and through interviews).
- Sensitivity to the questions of security, confidentiality and research ethics.
How to Apply
Please apply by 18 October by sending the following documents to [email protected]
- A CV including a list of publications, with links to open access if available. If applying in a team, please send CVs for all members of the team.
- If open access articles/publications are not available in the CV, please send one selected paper. If applying in a team, please send a publication per member.
- A proposal including your experience in conducting this work and the relevant topic at hand.
- Translation costs for the study be arranged by MRG once the final version of the brief is approved.
MRG reserves the right not to publish the study if we do not consider it of publishable standards, in line with our values, or for any other ethical and/or safety consideration.
Renumeration: 3,000 EUR
About MRG
Minority Rights Group (MRG) is a non-governmental organisation that has been working for more than 50 years, with nearly 150 partners in more than 60 countries, to defend and promote the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples through strategic training, advocacy and litigation.
Through training, legal action, our publications and our support of cultural programmes, we support minorities and indigenous peoples in their efforts to safeguard their rights – from the land that they live on, to the languages they speak, and to the equality of opportunities in education and access to employment, in order to enable them to participate fully in public life.
MRG has over 50 years of experience working with minority ethnic, religious and linguistic communities and we take a long term vision of all these issues in our work. We work with a diversity of minorities such as the Batwa in Central Africa, the Roma in Europe, the Christians in Iraq and the Dalits in India and Nepal, to name a few.
MRG is an observer member of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the African Commission on Human and People’s rights.
Featured image: at the Inclusive Learning Center on Disabilities in Mai Kaen, Patani. Credit: Yostorn Triyos.
