1. BACKGROUND
Universal Ranger Support Alliance (URSA) is an alliance of conservation organisations committed to advancing the professionalization of rangers globally. In July, URSA launched a global action plan to improve ranger working conditions and welfare, while at the same time building trusting relationships with communities and ensuring the responsible conduct of rangers. Under the Objective C of the Action plan, URSA is committed to develop and promote a set of global minimum standards for ranger employment and welfare with an aim to improve the welfare and wellbeing of rangers in all IRF regions.

The proposed consultant will work under the guidance of the URSA Welfare Standards Working Group and any other individual or institution recommended by the group to deliver the outputs mentioned in section 3 below. The main purpose of this consultancy is to;

● To present a concise minimum welfare and employment requirement of rangers that can be communicated to a wider audience that include ranger employers, conservation organisations, ranger association and other important stakeholder such as ILO.
● To lay out the linkages between ranger rights, broader human rights and welfare needs of rangers.
● To provide a basic framework for welfare and standards of rangers that can be further developed and adapted for different contexts, culture and geographies.
● To map out/align the welfare standards with ILO Decent Work Indicators.

2. MAJOR TASKS
● Review existing materials and publications related to ranger working and employment conditions and the preliminary framework prepared by URSA.
● Review major frameworks for labour standards (including ILO, Sustainable Development Goal 8) Review relevant existing standards from comparable sectors (e.g public service, law enforcement, land/water-based sectors such as forestry, fisheries, agriculture).
● Based on reviews, prepare a proposed scheme of work and suitable format for outputs; discuss with and agree with the URSA Working Conditions and Welfare working group.
● Lead the development of and prepare the first draft of the standards. Process to include widespread sectoral consultation with labour standards experts, employers, human resource managers and at least two virtual workshops
(i) with ILO, PSI and URSA Welfare Standards Working Group
(ii) with rangers association through IRF to gather their inputs.
● Propose and lead two rounds of written consultation on the latest draft with URSA members, the URSA Social Safeguards working group and other external stakeholders (ILO, PSI, OHCHR).
● Prepare final versions of the standards in the agreed formats (see outputs) .

3. OUTPUTS/DELIVERABLES
● Scheme of work and detailed proposals for final outputs (to be agreed by URSA)
● A set of global minimum standards for ranger employment, working conditions and welfare in a format compatible with that used by the ILO and with other major frameworks for labour rights (max 10 pages)
● A summary document setting out the standards using language and a format accessible to the ranger community. (max 2 pages)

4. WORKING RELATIONSHIP
1. Internal: URSA Ranger Welfare Standards Working Group and URSA members.

2. External: IRF Member associations, International Labor Organisation, Public Service International and any other individual or institution suggested by the working group.

5. CONFIDENTIALITY, RESOURCES & AUTHORITY
1. This job may from time to time involve access to confidential data, which should not be divulged to external bodies without the prior consent of the URSA.

2. All information and material collected during the course of the project / work as well as all outputs shall remain the property of URSA (or otherwise agreed).

Please send your proposal with budget and CV to rsingh@wwfnet.org by 30th of June 2022.