Purpose

Amnesty International is seeking a highly skilled and motivated research consultant with experience working on Myanmar and on situations of armed conflict to join its Crisis Response Programme, working closely with the Myanmar country team in the East and South East Asia and the Pacific Regional Office (ESEAPRO).

Your primary focus will be the documentation of human rights violations committed in the context of current crisis in Myanmar and of drafting high-quality research outputs.

Consultancy End: This is expected to be a nine-month consultancy, for a discrete research project

Deadline for Applications: 31 July 2023

Objectives and deliverables

As a research consultant on Myanmar, you will collaborate with, among others, Amnesty International’s Myanmar country team; other researchers as well as campaigners and communications experts in the Crisis Response team; and digital investigators in the Crisis Evidence Lab.

Your main responsibilities will include:

• Undertaking human rights investigations that are rigorous, timely, strategic, impartial, and multi-disciplinary, working closely with Amnesty International’s Myanmar country team and civil society actors in Myanmar. In the investigative work, combine on-the-ground and remote research methodologies to produce high-quality documentation, with an intersectional focus on age, gender, and disability;
• Interviewing survivors and other witnesses of human rights violations in a respectful and ethical manner; and
• Drafting research briefings and other research outputs, at times swiftly, and manage the process to publication, including through incorporating comments from specialist reviewers.

Requirements

• Extensive experience undertaking human rights documentation or comparable reporting on Myanmar, including on situations of armed conflict in Myanmar;
• Exceptional writing skills and experience drafting high-quality research outputs and other documents, such as reports, media articles, op-eds, and government correspondence under pressure and to tight timelines;
• Excellent awareness of security issues and ability to handle them appropriately, including experience in exercising sound judgment in situations of crisis;
• Experience of engaging appropriately and ethically with a variety of people, including survivors of human rights violations and others who may have recently experienced trauma, employing sensitivity and discretion;
• Experience working with a variety of research methodologies relevant to human rights investigations, including, for example, satellite imagery and the verification of photo/video material;
• Fluency and ability to draft for publication in English; and
• Fluency in Burmese strongly desired, in particular orally for undertaking interviews with survivors and other witnesses.

Bidding Instructions

To bid for this work, please submit the following:

• A CV.
• An expression of interest letter outlining your relevant experience.
• The daily fee you would charge for this work and your availability (i.e., when you could start).

As standard, payments are made by Amnesty International 30 days after receipt of a valid invoice for the agreed work milestone completed.

Applications must be in PDF, Word, PowerPoint or Excel format.

Please refer to the Terms of Reference attached for more information on this Consultancy opportunity.