Consultant: Southeast Asia CFT Project

About the IIJ

The International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law (IIJ) is a multinational organisation focused on building the capacity of justice practitioners to fight terrorism, violent extremism and transnational crime in line with human rights and the rule of law. It designs and delivers tailored training and capacity-building programmes as well as activities that help governments and practitioners address—in a practical, effective and collaborative manner—the evolving nature of contemporary transnational threats. The IIJ was founded in 2014 and has a Governing Board of Administrators consisting of 14 Member States and the European Union. For more information, visit the IIJ website: https://theiij.org/.

Background of the Consultancy

One of the core priority areas for the IIJ is supporting criminal justice practitioners and other relevant stakeholders to counter terrorist financing more effectively, following a systematic approach within the framework of the IIJ CFT Strategy. The IIJ has been implementing a multi-year comprehensive CFT capacity-building project in Southeast Asia since April 2024 with the aim of strengthening institutional capacities of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam to reduce illicit financial flows in the Indo-Pacific region and decrease the risks linked to the financing of terrorism in a manner that is effective, sustainable, gender-sensitive and complies with human rights and obligations under international law.

The project is being implemented across three pillars:

• Counter-Terrorism Academic Curriculum Courses on Financial Crimes and Investigations (FIN-CTAC), specifically developed to meet the needs of practitioners from the participating countries. 
• Thematic regional workshops on issues identified as of high priority for participating countries.
• Development of a good practice manual tailored to the needs of the CFT practitioners in Southeast Asia and Training of Trainers on its effective implementation.

The IIJ is seeking to engage expert consultant to support the development of the Good Practices Manual on Establishing Effective Public-Private Cooperation in Countering the Financing of Terrorism. 

The goal of the manual is to equip CFT practitioners and policymakers from Southeast Asia with a reference on good practices for public-private cooperation, presented in a user-friendly and practice-oriented manner. The manual is intended to be used in daily work and to help sustain improvements in CFT policies and practices. The manual will be developed with the support of an expert group consisting of practitioners from the beneficiary countries.  

The manual will incorporate findings and recommendations of two Expert Group Meetings, desk research, outcomes of each of the regional workshops, and individual consultations with state authorities and partners of the project. 

To start the development of the manual, the IIJ team will engage a consultant to complete the initial stage of preliminary research, gaps assessment, initial consultations and problem statement. The role of the consultant under this assignment will be to lay the groundwork for the development of the manual; consultancies for subsequent stages of work will be advertised on the IIJ website separately, once the preliminary stage is complete.

Specific key tasks and deliverables

Under the overall guidance of the IIJ Executive Secretary, the consultant will work closely with IIJ project team to complete the following tasks:

• Desk research on existing challenges in the area of public-private cooperation in CFT in Southeast Asia. This must include a comprehensive assessment of existing tools (e.g., publications, good practices manuals, and guiding principles compilations) to ensure that the IIJ manual does not duplicate existing materials but instead addresses identified gaps;
• Attendance at the IIJ Regional Workshop on Mitigating Terrorist Financing Risks Associated with Virtual Assets, Emerging Payment Methods and Fintech, which will take place on 15-17 April 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. During the workshop, the consultant will hold consultations with the country delegations to identify needs to be addressed by the manual;
• Based on the results of the desk research and consultations, the consultant will submit to the project team a report, which will include:
  • An overview of the regional context, needs and challenges;
  • An overview of existing tools available for Southeast Asian practitioners (including information on the tools under development, if available);
  • Outline structure/table of content for the manual.

Consultant criteria and qualifications

• At least 10 years’ experience as a practitioner, policymaker or researcher, including demonstrable experience in CFT research and in developing publications on countering the financing of terrorism.
• Experience working internationally with CFT practitioners (judges, prosecutors, FIUs, law enforcement), policymakers and private sector.
• Familiarity with the Southeast Asian region, and previous interactions with participating countries.
• Excellent, research, analytical and drafting skills.
• Fluency in English.

Application Submission

All interested applicants meeting the qualifications should submit a cover letter and resume to the IIJ Executive Secretariat at hr@theiij.org and  dyubanovaa@theiij.org clearly stating “PPC Manual_2025” in the subject line. The deadline for submission is 18th March 2025.