Call for External Collaborators: Assessment of Fundamental labour rights Compliance in Export Sectors Linked to Free Trade Agreements in South-East Asia (Trade, Labour and FPRW in Southeast Asia Project)

The consultant will prepare an ASEAN regional trade–labour impacts mapping and assess compliance with the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (FPRW) in export sectors linked to free trade agreements (FTAs) across 3–4 ASEAN Member States. The work will include partner mapping; identification of FTA-exposed export sectors; development of a sector-screening matrix; and shortlisting of priority sectors based on export intensity, FTA relevance, and FPRW and informality risk indicators. For each selected sector, the consultant will conduct legal and institutional analysis, prepare an FPRW gap assessment distinguishing de jure and de facto issues, and document relevant enforcement touchpoints and supply-chain mechanisms. Field-based validation will be undertaken through key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) with ministries, labour inspectorates, employers’ and workers’ organizations, sector stakeholders, enterprises (where relevant), and ASEAN stakeholders including the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC). The assignment will also analyse how labour provisions in FTAs function in practice and assess the accessibility and effectiveness of existing monitoring, dialogue, and cooperation mechanisms. Findings will be consolidated through a technical validation process and synthesised into sector risk briefs and a final analytical report.