Consultant on eGovernance at Albania

Added Date: Monday, 04 August 2025

Tags: Human Rights Law translation language
Organization: UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)
Country: Albania
City: Tirana
Post Level: Unspecified

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Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)A (least hardship)

Family Type (not applicable for home-based)

Family

Staff Member / Affiliate TypeCONS Local

Target Start Date2025-08-18

Deadline for ApplicationsAugust 11, 2025

Terms of ReferenceTerms of Reference for Consultancy on Assessing and Enhancing Non-Nationals’ Access to Digital Public Services in Albania through e-Albania and Related Platforms
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Organisation: UNHCR
Location: Tirana, Albania
Type of Contract: National Consultancy (Individual Contract)
Duration of contract: 30 days in a timeframe of 3 months
Tentative starting date: 18/08/2025
Title: Consultancy focused on assessing digital services in Albania in terms of their accessibility, inclusiveness and quality to non-nationals (i.e., refugees and/or asylum-seekers) and identifying gaps to determine support needs to ensure inclusive digital access to the e-Albania and/or other online platforms.

1. Overview
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was established in 1950 with the mandate to protect and support people forced to flee their countries. UNHCR works with partners and communities to uphold the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge. In pursuit of durable solutions, UNHCR promotes economic inclusion, access to rights, and digital equity for persons of concern, including refugees, asylum seekers, and stateless individuals. For further information on UNHCR, its mandate, and operations, please see https://www.unhcr.org/
The initiative supports the goals of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) by promoting refugee self-reliance and equitable access to services. The Global Refugee Forum (GRF) highlights the importance of digital inclusion to ensure that displaced and stateless persons are notleft behind. It also advances key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—notably Goals 4, 10, 16, and 17—by tackling service access gaps and promoting inclusive digital governance. As Albania modernizes its digital systems, ensuring access for non-nationals is essential to upholding protection standards and sustainable development.

2. Project relevance
This consultancy will be developed under the EU4Migration project, which aims to support Albania in establishing effective, efficient, and EU-aligned border and migration management systems. A key focus of the project is the implementation of the National Strategy on Migration (2024–2030) and its Action Plan (2024–2026), both of which align with Albania’s EU integration objectives. The consultancy aims to strengthen refugees and asylum-seekers' access to their rights and ensure that they are included in social services and programs. Particular attention is given to the rights and needs of asylum seekers and persons with specific needs, ensuring that human rights standards and legal guarantees are respected and upheld throughout the migration process, in line with international and EU norms.
Albania is undergoing a digital transformation of public and administrative services. However, access to these digital services for non-nationals, such as asylum-seekers, refugees, migrants, and stateless (and/or at risk of statelessness) individuals, remains uneven.
Key issues include:
• Language and documentation barriers during administrative process and in digital portals
• Challenges in accessing public services through the online platforms
• Up-to-date and accurate information material for refugees and asylum-seekers to ensure that they have access to accurate information about their rights and available services in different languages
• Inadequate outreach and accessible support mechanisms for non-nationals (including asylum-seekers and refugees) in the digital platforms.
• Limited digital literacy among vulnerable groups
• Legal, administrative process or technological gaps restricting equitable access.
These challenges are especially relevant in light of Albania’s EU accession process, which under the interim benchmarks of Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) and Chapter 24 (Justice, Freedom and Security), calls for non-discriminatory access to public services, strengthened institutional accountability, and equal treatment of all individuals, regardless of status. Addressing these barriers is critical to ensure that digital transformation efforts are inclusive, uphold international obligations such as those under the 1951 Refugee Convention, and advance Albania’s alignment with the EU Acquis Communautaire and human rights standards.

3. Purpose of the consultancy
The consultancy aims to:
• Assess the inclusivity and accessibility of Albania’s digitalized public services for non-nationals, with a specific focus on refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons (and/or those at risk of statelessness).
• Identify key barriers, gaps, and challenges hindering access at both the legal and technical levels.
• Propose targeted solutions to improve access to digital services, customize services to match the needs of refugees and aysulum-seekers and ensure their dignified inclusion in e-Albania or other digital platforms. -
•

4. Scope of work
Under the supervision of the Protection Associate, the consultant will:
1. Map and Review Digital Services
a. Identify digital services used by the public, including government portals (e-Albania), healthcare, education, legal aid, and administrative procedures.
b. Determine which of these are relevant to non-nationals (i.e., refugees and asylum-seekers) and how they are accessed.
c. Identify challenges and gaps in accessing digital services
2. Accessibility Assessment
a. Analyse barriers (language, identification, literacy, connectivity) that affect non-nationals' ability to use these digital services.
b. Evaluate whether digital systems comply with accessibility standards and inclusivity principles.
3. Stakeholder Consultations
a. Engage with relevant institutions (e.g., government agencies, civil society organizations, service providers) and beneficiaries (non-nationals, i.e., refugees and asylum-seekers) to gather qualitative data, protection issues and concerns and perspectives.
b. Document real-life experiences, usage patterns, and challenges.
4. Support Needs Identification
a. Assess current support mechanisms (e.g., helpdesks, guidance materials, translation services) available to non-nationals.
b. Identify what is missing or insufficient and propose targeted interventions.
5. Comparative Review and Best Practices
a. Examine relevant best practices in comparable EU countries where digital inclusion for non-nationals (i.e., Third Country Nationals [TCN]) is effectively addressed.
6. Recommendations Development
a. Propose actionable policy, legal, or operational recommendations to improve digital inclusion.
b. Propose drafting of technical specifications for the online platform
c. Recommend developing a communication strategy to ensure the future effective user of the online platform by relevant institutions and end users (i.e., refugees and asylum-seekers)
d. Suggest awareness-raising strategies and training needs for service providers and non-nationals.
7. Reporting
a. Produce a final report consolidating key findings, gaps, challenges, and concrete recommendations.

Expected Timetable
This consultancy duration is 30 working days and is expected to last up to 3 (Three) months and be implemented between the period of 18 August and 17 November 2025, with the final deliverables submitted by 17/11/2025

5. Supervision/Reporting line
The consultant will report directly to the Protection Associate and the Project Coordinator

6. Consultancy Deliverables
 Inception Report: Outlining methodology, work plan, and initial findings.
 Draft Report: Presenting preliminary analyses and recommendations for stakeholder feedback.
 Final Report: Incorporating feedback and providing detailed recommendations, proposed solutions, including proposed legal amendments and implementation strategies.
 Presentation: Summarising key findings and recommendations to UNHCR and relevant stakeholders.

7. ToRs Amendment
UNHCR and the consultant may amend certain parts of the present Terms of Reference (ToRs) to ensure deliverables that better align with the context. The final report will reflect the amendments agreed upon. The amendments must be signed by both parties at the beginning of the consultancy.

8. Proposed Timeframe
18/08/2025 – 17/11/2025

9. Payment milestones
Payment will be made as per the proposed working plan and deliverables, and will be specified upon contracting

10. Qualifications
Academic Background
• Advanced degree(s) in Public Policy, Law, Digital Governance, Human Rights, Social Sciences, or related field(s).
Professional Experience
• Minimum 5 years of experience in legal review, digital service evaluation, public administration reform, migration policy, or digital inclusion.
• Strong background in assessing digital transformation and service accessibility, preferably in migration or vulnerable group contexts.
• Demonstrated ability to consult with a wide range of stakeholders and produce clear, actionable policy reports.
Skills
• Excellent research, analytical, and communication skills
• Familiarity with Albania’s legal, digital governance, and public service delivery frameworks
• Strong stakeholder engagement and facilitation capacity
Languages
• Fluency in English; proficiency in Albanian required.

11. Pre-selected candidates
UNHCR Albania will pre-select between 3 to 5 candidates. Interested candidates should present the following:
• 2 References from previous collaborators
• Detailed proposal with the budget and the work-plan for this consultancy (make sure to include breakdown of the consultancy costs).

Interested external applicants (not current UNHCR workforce members) should visit https://www.unhcr.org/careers and create a new account (“Sign In” on the top left corner >> Create account). Once successfully registered, you can start filling in your data and apply for vacancies. Sort out by location (Albania). In case of technical difficulties when applying, external applicants (not current UNHCR workforce members) can write to Global Service Desk at hqussd@unhcr.org.