Sri Lanka: Mapping of Existing Rating Mechanisms of Recruitment Agencies in the Colombo Process Member States - Extended

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Sri Lanka is seeking proposals from a qualified a Consultant or a team of Consultants for conducting a mapping study on “**Existing Rating Mechanisms of Recruitment Agencies in the Colombo Process Member States (CPMS)**”.

1.Background

IOM Sri Lanka is implementing a four-year regional project, entitled “Strengthening Labour Migration Governance through Regional Cooperation in Colombo Process countries”, with funding support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Through thematic-focused activities, the regional project supports the Colombo Process (CP)[1] in making progress on its current five thematic priorities, one of which is “Fostering Ethical Recruitment”.

In order to comprehensively address issues that are essential to the protection of migrant workers, including promoting ethical recruitment, curbing labour exploitation and monitoring the performance of private recruitment agencies the Colombo Process Thematic Area Working Group (TAWG) on Fostering Ethical Recruitment was activated in May 2016 with Bangladesh as the TAWG Chair. The TAWG members include five other Member States which are; Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Based on the discussions and recommendations made during the three Colombo Process regional symposiums on Ethical Recruitment respectively in August 2016, May 2017 and March 2018, IOM compiled a synthesis report with concrete action points to support the CP’s efforts to promote regulatory harmonization of recruitment intermediaries within CPMS as well as through enhanced cooperation with key countries of destination (CoDs). At the third symposium, one of the priority action points agreed by the Member States was to map the rating mechanisms of recruitment agencies of CPMS with a view to enhancing the systems in line with ILO’s General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment and linking to the IOM’s International Recruitment Integrity System (IRIS). This study contributes to the IOM 2015 study which discussed the possibility for establishing a regional monitoring and enforcement body to address exploitative and abusive practices by recruiters as one of the key recommendations. It was agreed that sharing of good practices and a mapping of existing mechanisms or gaps of private recruitment agencies would strengthen CPMSs’ consideration in policy and regulatory development nationally.

IOM Sri Lanka, through the CP Technical Support Unit (CP TSU), will oversee and support the implementation of this mapping study within the framework of the aforementioned regional project.

2.Purpose of the Consultancy

The primary purpose of this consultancy is to conduct a mapping study to collate information on the current rating mechanisms of private recruitment agencies[2] in CPMS so as to identify good practices, challenges, lessons learned for the sharing among CPMS. This mapping exercise will also take into account rating mechanisms in key COD of CPMS through secondary research. The mapping shall also cover the identification of key criteria for rating, such as the efficacy of a private recruitment agency in performing job matching, recruitment functions, compliance with regulatory and legislative frameworks, number of complaints received about the recruitment agency, and incorporate reflection of workers’ feedback where possible.

The study will be primarily desk research, supplemented by primary data to be collected from the 12 CPMS through a questionnaire, email/ phone correspondence. Field missions are limited to only up to five CPMS. The five CPMS will be selected by the CP TSU with approval from the TAWG Chair on Fostering Ethical Recruitment and with consent from the CP Member States taking into account the accessibility to relevant information and geographical balance. There will be no field missions to CODs nor primary data collection in relation to CODs.

3.Scope of the Consultancy Work

The consultant of this assignment shall undertake the following activities:

· Develop awork plan including the methodology and timeline for the mapping study;

· Carry out desk research to collect information through primary and secondary sources, such as publicly available information from the CPMS and existing relevant research and studies;

· Carry out primary research through survey questionnaires and online/ phone interviews with CPMS officials and field missions to the selected CPMS;

· First draft of the mapping report; and,

· Revised draft and Final draft of the mapping report by fully reflecting feedback from the TAWG and CPMS, relevant stakeholders and partners.

The consultant or team of consultants shall take into account the following points when conducting the study:

· Existing studies on rating mechanisms and regulating private recruitment agencies in the CPMS and key CODs by development partners, including the 2015 IOM publication which shall be carefully studied and utilized as secondary sources so as to avoid duplications and pursue complementarity.

· The ILO’s General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment shall be referred to so as to inform the design and methodology of the study. The design of the study shall also take into account IRIS as an audit and compliance framework and compare how it can support Member States to assess compliance with ILO principles and guidelines.

· Ensure to capture the challenges, best practices of rating mechanism and lessons learnt in CPMS and selected CODs.

· This exercise is not an assessment, thus the study shall capture the existing mechanisms and practices objectively.

The consultant is also required to participate in relevant meetings primarily via an online video conferencing facility, including TAWG meetings, to present the work plan and receive feedback on the deliverables.

4.The Key Deliverables and Timeline

The study including the production of a report shall be completed within the timeline of six months (6 months). The Consultant is expected to deliver the following key deliverables (in bold) in close consultation and coordination with the CP TSU. The consultancy work shall commence no later than the 22^nd October 2018.

29^th October 2018

Submission of a work planincluding the methodology and timeline

Date to be confirmed

Presentation of work plan at the TAWG Meeting on fostering Ethical Recruitment (online meeting)

11^th January 2019

Completion of desktop research and primary research including field missions to the selected CPMS

25^th January 2019

Submission of the First Draft of the study report

1^st March 2019

Submission of the Revised Draft of the study report

29^th March 2019

Submission of the Final Draft of the study report

5.Qualifications or expertise required

The Consultant shall have the following qualifications and expertise:

Ÿ Relevant university degree in public administration and policies, social science or related field;

Ÿ At least 7 years’ experience in research and analysis on ethical recruitment and or international labour migration, including a proven record of primary research in countries of origin;

Ÿ Experience in assessing regulatory frameworks whether government or those of private social audits is advantageous.

Ÿ Demonstrable expertise in the area of international recruitment practices including regulations and monitoring of private recruitment agencies. Relevant work experience with international organizations, government and/or research institutions is an advantage;

Ÿ Work experience and in-depth knowledge of labour migration in South Asia and South East Asia (especially Colombo Process Countries) region.

6.Competencies required

The Consultant/research team shall have the following competencies:

Ÿ Ability to carry out research independently based on a robust methodology.

Ÿ Ability to deliver quality products consistently throughout the consultancy contract period.

Ÿ Demonstrated ability to analyse complex issues by taking into account the situations of multiple countries, synthesize the analyses and reflecting feedback from multiple stakeholders to produce a study report.

Ÿ Excellent command of English both orally and in writing.

Ÿ Excellent organizational skills and punctuality of the submission of the deliverables.

Ÿ Excellent coordination and communication skills and readiness to keep clients updated and consulted on the progress and challenges encountered.

Ÿ Demonstrated ability to effectively interface with stakeholders including government officials, to collate information.

Ÿ Flexible to accommodate certain changes to the timeline and methodology and responsive to changes as part of the review and feedback process.

[1] The Colombo Process is a Regional Consultative Process on the management of overseas employment and contractual labour for countries of origin in Asia. The process is currently chaired by Nepal and has eleven other Member States encompassing: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam (https://www.colomboprocess.org/).

[2] For the purpose of this study PRAs are defined according to Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181) (C181). Namely as any natural or legal person, independent of the public authorities, which provides one or more of the following labour market services: (a) Services for matching offers of and applications for employment, without the private employment agency becoming a party to the employment relationships which may arise there from; (b) services consisting of employing workers with a view to making them available to a third party, who may be a natural or legal person (referred to below as a "user enterprise") which assigns their tasks and supervises the execution of these tasks; (c) other services relating to job seeking, determined by the competent authority after consulting the most representative employers and workers organizations, such as the provision of information, that do not set out to match specific offers of and applications for employment.

IOM now invites Service Providers/ Consulting Firms to provide Technical and Financial Proposal for the following Services: *Mapping of Existing Rating Mechanisms of Recruitment Agencies in the Colombo Process Member States.* Request for proposal (RFP) for the services can be downloaded from the link here.

The Service Provider /Consulting Firm will be selected under a Quality –Cost Based Selection procedures described in this RFP.

The RFP includes the following documents:

Section I. Instructions to Service Providers/ Consulting Firms

Section II. Technical Proposal – Standard Forms

Section III. Financial Proposal – Standard Forms

Section IV. Terms of Reference

Section V. Standard Form of Contract

The Proposals must be delivered through e-mail to IOM at CPTSU@iom.int by 26^th September 2018**. No late proposal shall be accepted.

IOM reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal and to annul the selection process and reject all Proposals at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to affected Service Providers/ Consulting Firms