National Consultant – Assessment of recruitment practices in Ethiopia and revision of the worker’s registration and recruitment procedural manual 63 views

Vacancy No.

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Duty Station

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Closing Date

The Government of Ethiopia have put in place various legislative and institutional measures aimed at regulating labour migration and protecting migrant workers. Being among the major actors in the facilitation of labour migration, these measures focus on the practices of Private Employment Agencies (PEAs). Despite having a recent history of providing employment services in Ethiopia, PEAs play a role in connecting the demand and supply sides of the Ethiopian labour market. However, private recruitment industry is sometimes riddled with illegal and unethical recruitment practices.

Various recruiters operate in large numbers across the country, some providing forged documentation and false promises to migrant worker. In many instances, there is limited transparency around contract terms and clauses, which leads to contract substitution, discrepancies and fraud at the expense of workers. High recruitment fees and “deceiving workers by concealing facts about the destination country, place of work, type of job and working conditions” are common issues.  Many workers receive their information on job opportunities through brokers/unlicensed individuals and pay a certain amount to secure employment. Especially among the low-skilled migrant workers, the high costs of recruitment fee could lead to non-return or overstay in order to meet financial obligations made.

Unethical recruitment has a direct impact on the capacity of migration to yield its development potential. Unethical recruitment practices compromise migrant workers’ ability to exercise their labour and human rights as well as increase migrant workers’ risk to other forms of forced labour, exploitation and abuse. Intense competition among prospective migrant workers makes them vulnerable to exploitation during the recruitment and deployment phases of the migration cycle by unscrupulous labour brokers or recruiters.

Recruitment regulation is necessary to redress the structural inequalities that make international migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation.  Regulation is required to ensure that recruitment agencies function in accordance with internationally accepted standards of ethical recruitment – standards under which their services benefit migrants, their communities and countries of origin, and the businesses, economies and communities of destination countries.

Ethical recruitment embedded through a well-regulated recruitment industry and empowered regulatory agencies remains an important gap. Hence the need to assess the recruitment practice and revise the current registration and recruitment manual (which has been developed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) back in May 2017). The revision aims to better streamline the recruitment processes in line with international recruitment standards and further strengthen the capacity of the Government to help in prevent human trafficking and forced labour; eradicate abusive and fraudulent practices during the recruitment and placement process (including pre-selection, selection, transportation, placement and safe return); reduce the cost of labour migration and enhance development outcomes for migrant workers and their families, as well as for countries of origin and destination, and protect the rights of migrant workers.

To address recruitment related labour migration challenges and embed ethical recruitment practices in Ethiopia’s migration management systems, IOM and MoLSA are implementing an IDF (IOM Development Fund) funded project entitled “Facilitate safe and regular migration through ethical recruitment of migrant workers from Ethiopia”. Among other key activities, the project will assess the current recruitment practices and procedures in Ethiopia and make recommendations for updating the country’s worker’s registration and recruitment procedural manual.

The overall objectives of the exercise are:

Assess the current recruitment practices, procedures and processes of Private Employment Agencies (PEAs) in Ethiopia (facilitating recruitment of Ethiopian labour abroad) and analyze their  compliance with the existing legislation, regulations, ethical recruitment principles and standards such as the International Recruitment Integrity System (IRIS), and best practices

Make recommendations for updating the Government of Ethiopia’s worker’s registration and recruitment procedural manual and align it with ethical recruitment legislation, standards and best practice.

Specific objectives of the exercise are:

·       Conduct a desk review of national and international legislation, regulations/policies, bour standards and good practices on the recruitment and deployment of migrant workers

·       Develop data collection tools for gathering information from relevant stakeholders

·       Collect data from primary sources through interviews and focus group discussions

·       Prepare an analytical report on the assessment of the status, gaps and good practices related to the recruitment and deployment of migrant workers in Ethiopia. The report should include recommendations on strengthening/promoting ethical recruitment of migrant workers in Ethiopia

·       Update/revise the Government of Ethiopia’s worker’s registration and recruitment procedural manual based on the assessment findings and recommendations.

·       Present the assessment report and revised manual recommendations for review by key stakeholders.

    III.            Methodology

Both quantitative and qualitative methods will be used to collect primary and secondary data from key informants from the government, recruiters/PEAs and migrant workers. Review of relevant documents may include Government of Ethiopia legal frameworks and regulations, international recruitment standards, assessment and evaluation reports, good practices and lessons learned from the East and Horn of Africa region and beyond, academic and grey literature on the regulation of migrant worker recruitment. Interviews with key staff of organizations and institutions engaged in the recruitment of migrant workers and/or resolving their grievances shall be part of the exercise.

The technical expert who will be involved in this exercise is strongly advised to propose detailed, sound and evidence based methodological approach to conduct both the preliminary assessment and revision of the worker’s registration and recruitment procedural manual.

    IV.            Expected Deliverables and Detailed Timelines:

a)       Inception report consisting of a detail workplan including timeline and methodology for the consultancy – Two weeks after signing the contract.

b)      Analytical report of the preliminary on the assessment of the recruitment and deployment of Ethiopian migrant workers, and presentation of the same to key stakeholders – Four weeks up on submission of the inception report.

c)       Draft Revised Worker’s Registration and Recruitment Procedural manual and presentation of the same – Three weeks   up on the submission and presentation of the analytical report.

d)      Final revised Worker’s Registration and Recruitment Procedural Manual and presentation of the same  – Three weeks up on the submission and presentation of the draft revised Worker’s Registration and Recruitment Procedural manual.

      V.            Proposal Contents for Application

1. Interested consultant is required to submit technical proposal of maximum 3 pages, which must include the following items:

–          Summary of consultant’s experience and background.

–          List of the most relevant previous consulting projects completed, including a brief description of the projects and contact details for references.

–          Summary of the proposed methodology for the assignment.

–          Team structure, roles and responsibilities and time allocation if applicable.

The following items should be included as attachments (not included in the page limit):

–          Work plan.

–          CV for consultant,

–          At least three sample reports of similar works conducted from previous consulting projects or online links to such works. All samples will be kept confidential.

2. Submit a financial proposal that includes:

a)      A lump sum cost for the assignment

b)      A breakdown of the costs related to all aspects of the consultancy (e.g., consultancy fee & travel, if any, as it relates to the assignment deliverables).