Open Call for Interpreters - CALL001 - Beirut, Lebanon

General Background of Project or Assignment:

RST

In the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and in response to the associated risks and restrictions, UNHCR Lebanon has taken exceptional measures to ensure that critical activities, including resettlement, are not delayed, and that vulnerable persons of concern continue to benefit from essential services to the extent possible. As resettlement remains a life-saving intervention for many refugees in Lebanon, UNHCR and the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) are collaborating closely throughout 2022 in facilitating the implementation of In-Person Selection Missions for the purpose of resettling vulnerable refugees to Norway.

In 2021, UDI has conducted 3 VSM to Lebanon and 1 in-person Selection Mission, during which refugee families were interviewed through remote modalities at the UNHCR reception centers countrywide and at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Verdun. UDI does not have an agreement with IOM for facilitating VSM or in-person selection missions during 2021 and 2022. Instead, UDI requested UNHCR for direct implementation, hence this request for interpreters to be hired on an individual contract basis. As several resettlement countries, including Norway, are planning to further engage in VSM and in-person Selection Missions in Lebanon in 2022, the availability of interpreters on an ad hoc basis is essential for the continuity of the program and further processing of resettlement cases pertaining to the most vulnerable refugees. In addition, the interpreters’ tasks during the VSM and in-person selection missions are not limited solely to interpretation; they include additional activities relating to logistics when required, as administered by the Resettlement Support Staff Member, under the supervision of the Resettlement Officer.

We have planned so far 3 more in-person missions for Norway in March, September, and November 2022.

Furthermore, the interpreters are also assisting RST interviewers (mainly non-Arabic speakers) with resettlement interviews at UNHCR reception centers as needed.

RSD

The Refugee Status Determination (RSD) Unit in UNHCR Lebanon usually relies on interpretation services for the following activities: 

• To interpret from Arabic to English and vice-versa for non-Arabic speaking eligibility officers during RSD interviews 
• To interpret for applicants who want to be interviewed at RSD in their preferred language, other than Arabic, English or French – such as Amharic or Farsi
• To translate Notification of Reasons for Decision (NRDs) and final rejection letters from English to Arabic
• To translate documents submitted by applicants 
• To transcribe recordings of interviews for non-Arabic speaking eligibility officers 

The RSD unit is assisted by an Amharic/Arabic interpreter in interpreting during RSD interviews, once per week for an average of 4 – 5 hours of interviewing, and in translating documents.

The RSD unit also relies on a Farsi/English interpreter to interpret during RSD interviews twice per month for an average of 5 hours per interview, and to translate documents. 

As for Arabic/English translation, there are currently two non-Arabic speaking eligibility officers who respectively conduct an average of three interviews per week. Each one is assisted by an Arabic/English interpreter. These interviews are usually longer because of their complexity (in average 4 – 5 hours/interview). For some of these interviews, interpreters also transcribe recordings of previous interviews (on average once per month). 

The RSD unit conducts on average 25 – 30 interviews per week and for a majority of these interviews, NRDs and final rejection letters need to be translated from English to Arabic.

Since July 2020, the RSD unit has been taking operational advances to pay interpreters for their services. As the interview processing capacity increased since 2020, which led to more interpretation needs (NRDs, documents, interview interpretations), the RSD unit seeks to hire:

• One Amharic/Arabic interpreter
• One Farsi/English interpreter
• Two Arabic/English interpreters

Duration and dates of the assignment:

Overall Purpose and Scope of Assignment:

Concise and detailed description of activities, including measurable outputs and delivery dates, impact indicators (what qualitative and quantitative results would be achieved upon completion of individual contract), performance indicators (timelines, value of the service rendered in relation to the cost, timeliness) and work plan: 

With RST : 

Interpret from Arabic-English and English-Arabic to facilitate resettlement selection interviews conducted by resettlement country officials and resettlement interviews conducted by non-Arabic speaking interviewers, as well as additional activities related to logistics when required.

With RSD:

A. Amharic/Arabic interpreter: 

• The Amharic/Arabic interpreter will have to:
• interpret during RSD interviews with Amharic-speaking applicants 
• translate documents submitted from applicants from Amharic to Arabic
• interpret during counseling on RSD decisions for Amharic-speaking applicants whenever needed

Outputs: 

• on average 6 hours of interpretation per week 
• on average 1 hour of document translation per week

b. Farsi/English interpreter:

B. The Farsi/English interpreter will have to:

• interpret during RSD interviews with Farsi-speaking applicants
• translate documents submitted from applicants from Farsi to English
• interpret during counseling on RSD decisions for Farsi-speaking applicants whenever needed

Outputs: 

• on average 10 – 12 hours of interpretation per month
• on average 2 hours of document translation per month

C. Arabic/English interpreters:

• The Arabic/English interpreters will have to
• interpret during RSD interviews with non-Arabic speaking eligibility officers 
• translate documents submitted by applicants from Arabic to English
• translate NRDs and final rejection letters from English to Arabic 
• transcribe recordings of interviews from Arabic to English 

Outputs for each interpreter: 

• on average 12 interviews are interpreted per month
• on average 60 NRDs and final rejections are translated per month 
• on average 8 hours of document translation per month 
• on average 1 or 2 recordings of interviews transcribed per month

Monitoring and Progress Controls (report requirements, periodicity, format, deadlines):

The final product (e.g. survey completed, data collected, workshop conducted, research documents produced specify): 

The interpreters, under the supervision of the relevant Resettlement Support Staff Member, will complete and sign a daily attendance sheet reflecting the hours of work completed. The Resettlement Support Staff Member will confirm the information and submit the completed attendance sheets to HR at the end of the assignment.