Request for Proposal (RfP) for Development of Training Toolkit on Fair Recruitment and Conducting Trainings for Private Recruitment Agencies and Labour Inspectors in Nepal

1.   Problem Analysis:

Labour migration has become an intrinsic aspect of Nepali society. Lack of productive jobs at home and the higher earning potential migration offers are key factors driving Nepal's workforce abroad. The Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) has granted over 3.5 million labour permits in the last nine fiscal years. Accounting for those who migrate irregularly and also to India, the number of Nepali workers abroad is much higher. Although labour migration from Nepal has predominantly been a male phenomenon, the number of women migrating abroad for work has also significantly increased in recent years with women now constituting 5% of total population migrating for foreign employment.

The inflow of remittance has been pivotal in enhancing overall economic activities within Nepal, along with its contribution in improving the socio-economic conditions of Nepali households. In 2018 alone, Nepal received USD 1.8 billion in remittances i.e. equivalent to 28% of the Gross Domestic Product, making it the 19th largest receiver of remittance. Remittances have been crucial in covering the country’s trade deficit. Many Nepali households are also dependent on remittances for their survival. Over half of all Nepali households receive remittances from within or outside Nepal, and the remittances from foreign countries account for over 80 percent of the total remittances received by Nepali households.

Recruitment challenges

Globally, while some cross-border recruitment is facilitated by social and informal networks or public employment services, private employment agencies play an increasing role in matching labour demand and supply. In Nepal, official data on the labour permits issued by the Government indicates that using the services of a private employment agency has been the most prevalent approach among Nepali migrants when seeking foreign employment.

There are over 1,000 private recruitment agencies licensed to operate by the Government of Nepal, with only 47 branch offices located in the districts. As a result, the majority of private recruitment agencies rely on intermediaries to identify and recruit potential migrants. In turn, migrants often have to rely on these intermediaries to navigate the bureaucracy of migration, to connect with private recruitment agencies, and to secure work, government approvals, visas, transport and accommodation. These intermediaries often make the first contact with potential migrant workers in the local communities who then are able to link the workers with private recruitment agencies.

However, the recruitment industry is marred with host of reported problems including misinformation regarding the nature and terms of employment, overcharging of recruitment fees, delaying or cancelling departure, intimidation by threat to delay or cancel departure, as well as failure to provide correct documents such as payment receipts and contracts. These failures persist due to the lack of transparency in the recruitment process, monitoring and accountability.

Recruitment costs and fees

A key principle of fair recruitment is that no recruitment fees or related costs should be charged to or otherwise borne by workers or jobseekers. Under Target 10.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals there is a specific commitment towards reducing the recruitment cost borne by workers as a proportion of yearly income earned in the country of destination. However, reports, such as those by the ILO and the World Bank-led Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development, and anecdotal evidence highlight that majority of the Nepali migrants pay high recruitment fees and costs. Nepali migrant workers most often take up loans with high interest rates to finance their migration. Research shows that six or seven months up to one year of salary is equivalent to the payment of principle and interest on the loan.  In such situations, workers can be highly dependent or even bonded to the employers or recruiters to pay back the credit acquired to access the employment in the first place thus increasing the vulnerability to forced labour.

ILO’s Fair Recruitment initiative

ILO’s Fair Recruitment Initiative strives to alter the recruitment culture and practices through the following four-pronged approach with social dialogue at its core:

• Enhancing global knowledge on national and international recruitment practices
• Improving laws, policies and enforcement to promote fair recruitment
• Promoting fair business practices
• Empowering and protecting workers

In particular, one of the key outcomes under the Integrated Programme on Fair Recruitment (FAIR), one of the projects of ILO’s Fair Recruitment Initiative, is to implement fair recruitment corridors in select migration corridors including Nepal to Jordan. In its first phase, the FAIR project piloted its first model on fair recruitment in the Jordanian garment sector. The pilot built synergies with the Better Work Jordan programme which works with garment factories in Jordan to enhance compliance with international standards, including the rights of workers to join a union, resulting in a significant improvement in working and living conditions. In the second phase, the FAIR project aims to upscale the Nepal-Jordan corridor and will also pilot Nepal-Qatar corridor.

Over the years, the ILO has been working with Nepali private employment agencies on various issues around fair recruitment. This has entailed working with the association of Nepali private employment agencies to increase their understanding of fair recruitment.

2.   Project Methodology/Work plan

As part of its activities in Nepal, the FAIR project aims to support Nepali licensed private employment agencies (PRAs) in Nepal that are committed to respect core human rights instruments including international labour standards in establishing fair recruitment process in their business model. The ILO is also seeking to develop capacity of labour auditors / inspectors. The applicant will be responsible for delivering two main outputs:

2.1 Toolkit on Fair Recruitment

The applicant will develop two sets of toolkits in coordination with the ILO. The toolkits along with trainings will:

• Support PRAs to adopt fair recruitment standards and
• Equip labour auditors/inspectors with the skills to monitor recruitment practices against the GP&OG.

The toolkits will be comprised of text-based tools that will be developed in English and Nepali and made available to the ILO. The toolkit will be comprised of a set of training, assessment and monitoring tools  for the abovementioned target groups to understand and adopt policies and procedures in line with international labour standards and the ILO General Principles and Operation Guideline on Fair Recruitment in particular, as well as relevant tools on ethical recruitment.

The content of the toolkit could include the following which can be adapted for PRAs and auditors:

• A training manual
• A sample of produce code of conduct that covers ethical recruitment
• A sample of service agreement
• A sample of contract between worker and PRA and worker and employer
• A self-assessment tool focused on recruitment practices
• Guidance on interviewing workers and establishing grievance mechanisms to collect information from workers on recruitment practices
• Guidance on developing corrective action plan to reduce the risk of recruitment abuses, including the strengthening of management systems
• Performance indicators and benchmarks on recruitment practices.

The toolkit will be developed in three stages taking into consideration the two sets of audience that it is catering to:

• Stage 1: Needs and gaps assessment and proposal for toolkit. The applicant will begin the project by carrying out a desk review on recruitment issues in the Nepal, as well as existing standards and tools on fair recruitment. The applicant will attend a meeting (virtual or in person) with ILO, Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) and any other such PRA in order to:

• Define what fair recruitment looks like for PRA in Nepal
• Identify the external and internal challenges to applying it, and the pre-existing enabling factors, both exterior and interior to the PRAs.

 Informed by the needs and gaps assessment (desk review and stakeholder input), the applicant will draft a list of tools to be developed, which THE APPLICANT  will submit to the ILO for input and finalization, along with a brief summary of the needs and gaps assessment.

• Stage 2: Draft toolkit development. The applicant will then create a first draft of five to eight tools, which it will submit to the ILO for feedback. Once the tools are modified based on ILO feedback.

• Stage 3: Trainings and in-person feedback sessions. The applicant will pilot the tools with a group of labour recruiters selected in consultation with ILO. The sessions will be used to present the toolkit, carry out interactive trainings, and solicit qualitative input on the tools. The trainings will cover labor and recruitment laws, recruitment violations detected in the Nepal recruitment sector, and ways to reduce recruitment-related risks, including through the application of best practices and the tools developed by the applicant and the ILO. The trainings will include a live demonstration of the tools and interactive workshops in which the tools are applied through hands-on role-playing exercises. These exercises, along with the feedback sessions, will provide the applicant with valuable input on the appropriateness and usability of tools, allowing for the further refinement of the tools.

• Stage 4. Final toolkit. Based on the information collected and input received during the sessions, the applicant will make final modifications to the toolkit and add in information about best practices collected during the tours. The applicant  will submit the final toolkit to the ILO, which will make any final adjustments and will format the toolkit.

• 2.2 Training (plan, tools and delivery)
• Firstly, the applicant will conduct at least two trainings for PRAs supplying workers to Qatar, Malaysia and Jordan to build the capacity of participating/selected PRAs. The training should have 20-30 PRAs. The training will be followed by results of an independent audit which will be one of the pre-conditions for the PRAs to participate as ILO partners in the fair recruitment corridors.
• Secondly, the applicant in collaboration with ILO, will conduct one training with labour inspectors and/or potential labour auditors on how to conduct an audit/how to monitor a labour agency.

For these, the applicant will be responsible for developing training plans and tools (ex: Powerpoint Presentations, case studies, template, etc.) corresponding to the content of the toolkit. These will be adapted to PRAs and labour auditors/inspectors accordingly.

3. Timeline

Please see the RFP Document.

       4. Deliverables

1. Needs and gaps assessment and toolkit/s proposal

The applicant organization will submit a brief 2-3-page report on the findings from the needs and gaps assessment, along with a list of proposed tools to be created, which the ILO will have 15 days to comment on and approve.

2. Draft toolkit/s

The applicant organization will submit a draft of each of the five to eight tools to the ILO.

3. Second draft of toolkit/s

Based on feedback received from the ILO, the applicant organization will develop a second draft of the toolkit.

4. Piloting of the tools

The applicant organization will pilot the tools with a group of PRAs in order to gauge feedback and incorporate the feedback for finalizing the toolkit taking into consideration what works and what does not.

5. Report on trainings/feedback sessions and final toolkit

The applicant organization will provide the ILO with a report on the number of participants and content of the trainings and feedback sessions, as well as a final toolkit, which will include information on best practices obtained through desk research and participation in the meetings and training. The toolkit will be turned over to the ILO, both in English and Nepali for formatting.

6. Conduct trainings for PRAs

The applicant organization will conduct at least two trainings for PRAs supplying workers to Qatar, Malaysia and Jordan to build the capacity of participating/selected PRAs.

7. Conduct trainings for labour inspectors and/or labour auditors

The applicant organization, in collaboration with ILO, will conduct one training with labour inspectors and/or potential labour auditors  on how to conduct an audit/how to monitor a labour agency.  

     5. Application

Applicants must adhere to the following procedures when applying:

        5.1 Eligibility

• Applicant organizations must be legally registered by relevant national, regional or local authority.
• Implementation partners currently contracted ILO are not eligible to apply.
• The applicant organizations must have valid bank account in the name of the organization.
• Applicant organizations are required to have of prior experience of developing tools and conducting trainings.
• Familiar with labour migration from Nepal, and the recruitment landscape in particular
• Sound knowledge of the concept of fair/ethical recruitment

• 5.2 Technical Proposal

Applicant organizations are requested to submit a technical proposal to execute the proposed activities. The proposal should include a logical framework providing and overview of the key activities, the outputs of each activity and the timeframe for completing each activity. 

Application must be made in English and must be typed. The application must be dated and signed by a responsible official and bear the organization’s stamp.

     5.3 Financial Proposal

Based on the activities proposed above, the applicant organization will be required to propose a detailed budget corresponding to all the listed activities outlining both technical and administrative costs. The proposed budget have to justifiable and rational.

The ILO holds the right to negotiate the proposed budget.

    5.4 List of Documents to be Submitted

Applicant organizations will be required the following supporting documents along with their technical and financial proposals:

• Cover Letter
• Registration and renewed license
• Organization Profile
• Tax Office Registration and Tax Clearance Certificate
• CVs of key personnel who will be engaged in the proposed activity

      6. Clarification

Clarification can be sought by e-mail to Ms. Neha Choudhary, choudhary@ilo.org , no later than February 23rd 2020. Responses will be provided to all participants no later than February 26, 2020 by 16:00hrs (Nepal StandardTime)

       7.  Award Criteria

The proposals should include two separate doucments/files: one with the technical proposal along with supporting documents and one with the financial proposal. Evaluations will follow a two stage processes whereby only proposal that have been found technically feasible will be financially evaluated. Proposals submitted will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Technical Proposal (80%)
  • 30% - Quality of proposal (understanding of context, problem analysis, implementation strategy)
  • 20% - Experience of proposed resource person
  • 30% - Experience of organization in similar initatives
• Financial Proposal (20%)

       8. Submission and Deadline for Proposals

The deadline for the receipt of the proposal is February 29, 2020 by 17:30hrs (Nepal Standard Time). Proposals received after this will not be considered. The proposals must be submitted to kathmandu@ilo.org with subject line “FAIR_PRA Training”. Proposals can also be hand delivered to ILO Country Office for Nepal, Dhobhighat-Nayabato, Lalitpur or can be sent to ILO Country Office for Nepal, P.O. Box: 8971, Kathmandu, Nepal.