Back Burmese Volunteer Interpreter (Roster)

PROJECT BACKGROUND

With funding and support from Kindernothilfe (KNH), a German child rights NGO active in Thailand, and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), BDF is implementing a 3.5-year project, entitled Building Social Impact in the Thai construction sector, to scale up the systemic impact work and the BSI Initiative. The project area is the Bangkok Metropolitan Region.

The project has four key outputs 1) Camp managers and camp bosses from 12 construction companies apply the BSI Framework for Action and the related BSI Toolkit; 2) Relevant Thai Ministries create an enabling environment for integrating business and human rights principles in the construction sector‘s value chains; 3) Camp managers, camp bosses, camp residents, and the local service providers work together for the access to services for workers and children in the camps; 4) The voices of migrant workers and their children are incorporated into the BSI initiative.

MAIN OBJECTIVE

To monitor and evaluate the success of the project, it is necessary to conduct ‘spot checks’ in construction camps where BDF has so far been granted access by construction companies which have joined the BSI Initiative. These spot checks serve as a quality control mechanism through which the Initiative can verify actions or improvements made by the construction company under the BSI Framework for Action. For the purpose of understanding migrant workers and their families' current situation in terms of accessing public services, a survey will carried out with migrant workers to establish a baseline for the following two indicators;

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Volunteers will work under the supervision of the Research, Monitoring and Program Quality Coordinator and will be responsible for accompanying BSI Initiative staff and interviewing Burmese construction workers when conducting spot checks in construction camps. The volunteers will be provided with an orientation to Baan Dek Foundation and the BSI Initiative, child protection training, and training on conducting interviews with workers and their families. Volunteers will be placed on a roster and contacted in advance (at least 10 working days) to check their availability for a spot check.

PROFILE

• At least a Bachelor's degree (or in the process of studying) or equivalent in social sciences, political studies, international development or international relations
• Experience in performing quantitative and qualitative data collection in the field is a strong asset
• Experience interpreting and/or translating is considered a very strong advantage
• Experience working with vulnerable populations is preferred
• Native or fluent Burmese speaker
• Must be able to speak and read either advanced Thai OR advanced English
• Able to work as part of a team and under constrained timelines
• Flexible to conduct surveys on weekday evenings and/or weekends

WORKING HOURS: Flexible part-time volunteer contract. Successful candidates will be placed on a roster of volunteer interpreters and contacted at least 10 working days in advance on a needs basis. Spot checks will take place between Monday and Friday from 8.00 - 18.00 with occasional weekends and evenings. Each spot check takes no more than 2 hours. Transport from the BDF office in Sukhumvit 42 to the camp is provided.

SALARY & COMPENSATION: Unfortunately due to Thai regulations, Baan Dek Foundation is unable to financially compensate non-Thai volunteers, however, any work-related expenses will be covered.