Consultancy assignment: Mapping of Care Policies in Asia

  • Contractor
  • remote
  • TBD USD / Year
  • Oxfam profile




  • Job applications may no longer being accepted for this opportunity.


Oxfam

Terms of Reference

Mapping of Care Policies in Asia

1. BACKGROUND

Oxfam is a global movement of people who are fighting inequality to end poverty and injustice. Across regions, from the local to the global, we work with people to bring change that lasts. Our work is grounded in the commitment to the universality of human rights. Driven by diversity and founding our asks in evidence and experience, we take sides against poverty and injustice everywhere. Feminist approaches guide all our analysis, action and interaction.

Care work, both unpaid and underpaid, is mostly carried out by women, and still remains largely invisible in policies and projects across many organizations. Women undertake more than three-quarters of unpaid care work and make up two-thirds of the underpaid/paid care workforce. This unequal gender-based distribution of care work, both unpaid and underpaid is the main causal pathway that adversely influences women’s meaningful, active and productive participation in the formal economy. In addition, unpaid care work remains largely invisible, unrecognized and unaccounted for in national accounting systems, leading to a devaluation of women’s contribution to society and the economy at large.

Care work is also still largely invisible in policy and decision making. As such, there is an urgent need for policies that not only recognize care work but place it at the heart of economic thinking, planning and decision making. There is a need to help ensure the greater wellbeing of society, sustainable human development, economic growth and prosperity for all. To realize such a vision, care practices must become a universal standard and they ought to be transformative. Unfortunately, universal and transformative care policies are still a distant dream, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (Addati, et al. 2018). There is an urgent need to acknowledge care as a critical social and economic good and place it at the core of all development policy decisions and investments. This recognition needs to be understood in a multi-faceted way.

According to UN Women (2020), the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly exacerbated adverse conditions in the already neglected care sector. Overburdened health systems, successive lockdowns and the closing of many essential services such as schools, day-care centres and food services have increased the demand for care work across the board. This rising demand for care services is also likely to increase the already disproportionately high share of care work that women and girls perform. However, the pandemic has also thrown up an opportunity to build a gender-just future. Governments all over the world are working towards a strong and resilient economic and social recovery, with significant support from United Nations (UN) organizations, development finance institutions, (DFIs), multilateral development banks (MDBs), institutional donors, international non-government organizations (INGOs) and national non-government organizations (NGOs), as well as the private sector. The care sectors have seen an increase in innovative policy making and financing, especially in healthcare and social protection. Women’s groups across the world have highlighted the impact of the pandemic on care work.

As a result of their efforts, an understanding of the importance of the care economy is now much stronger within these institutions. There is both an opportunity and an obligation to bring unpaid, underpaid and paid care work into the frontline agenda of all recovery efforts in order to move towards a more equal and gender-just future. It is imperative that the care perspective is integrated within all development policy prescriptions, financial investments and institutions in a way that truly advances gender equality in the post-pandemic context.

It is important to note that when women and men with unpaid care responsibilities do enter the paid workforce, it is more likely to be in the informal economy. Here they face precarious labour conditions and are denied entitlements from both the government and the businesses benefitting from their labour, in comparison to workers without unpaid care responsibilities. The concentration of unpaid carers in the informal economy means they lose out on care-related (and other) rights and opportunities that are common in the formal economy, such as subsidized childcare and maternity/parental leave, etc

The advocacy for domestic workers as part of the care economy focuses on them being both as practitioners, or care service providers, and recipients of care. As workers who provide care services, care is understood as: (i). childcare; (ii). elderly/sick care; (iii). domestic work; (iv). community work. As domestic work is both an unpaid activity performed by women in familial relationships and a severely underpaid sector of the economy, and as care-work is a formal qualification of medical personnel but is also a labour performed by domestic workers, we stumbled upon multiple complex layers of what the care economy entails.

Most paid care workers are women, frequently migrants and working in the informal economy under poor conditions and for low pay. Paid care work will remain an important future source of employment, especially for women. The relational nature of care work limits the potential substitution of robots and other technologies for human labour. The conditions of unpaid care work impact how unpaid carers enter and remain in paid work, and influence the working conditions of all care workers. This “unpaid care work–paid work–paid care work circle” also affects gender inequalities in paid work outside the care economy and has implications for gender equality within households as well as for women’s and men’s ability to provide unpaid care work. (International Labour Organisation, 2018).

2. RATIONALE

Understanding these intersections better, in a contextual manner cognizant of the policy frameworks in Asia, will guide solutions that are more actionable for a feminist future of the economies. Building a safer work environment for care workers also entails the production of educational material on care work and gender-based violence in the sector.

To help develop this, this assignment requires a thorough mapping of existing legislative framework/ laws and policies, including gaps on policies dealing with care workers in different countries of Asia and establish a basis for care related advocacy within the region.

The primary audience for the reports is civil society organisations working on influencing and advocacy on care.

3. PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

Oxfam seeks to find an organisation to conduct a thorough analysis of selected policies, programme and legislation in at least 12 countries in Asia.

  • Create a depository of policies, programmes and laws that address care in Asia
  • Provide contextual understanding of care per country for unpaid, underpaid and paid care workers
  • Share the findings regionally and globally to:
    • strengthen the rights and conditions of care workers
    • form robust alliances with sister organizations in labour and feminist movements

This study would cover all relevant existing legislative framework/ laws, policies and practices including gaps in the Asia region that would help establish a base for the advocacy efforts on the care economy for civil society organisations and allies to push the government and policy makers to reduce gender inequalities through better care policies and infrastructure.

The consultant will be required to analyse the laws and policies of the following countries:

  • Bangladesh
  • Cambodia,
  • Hong Kong, China
  • India,
  • Indonesia,
  • Malaysia,
  • Nepal,
  • Philippines,
  • South Korea,
  • Sri Lanka,
  • Thailand,
  • Taiwan

4. Breakdown of the Assignment

The assignment will be conducted in three phases.

Phase 1:

Establishing the framework for analysis for the research

The framework is expected within two weeks of the contract signing

Phase 2:

Mapping for 4 countries:

The findings are expected to be delivered by 15th October 2022

Phase 3:

Mapping for 8 countries

The findings are expected to be completed by February 2023

The guidance for development of the analytical framework can be found at Annex I and the statistics to include in care mapping background can be found at Annex II.

5. SCOPE OF WORK

Oxfam seeks the services of a consultant to:

  1. Conduct a study of the existing laws, policies and gaps dealing with care work both unpaid and under paid in 12 Asian countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan)
  2. Socialize the findings amongst partners in the Asia region
  3. Compiled data is available into a repository of knowledge to be used during regional meetings (e.g. ASEAN in October) by partners and allies for advocacy

These set of researches will inform Oxfam and its allies’ future work on care will serve as a depository to inform our organizing and advocacy needs from the government(s) and other relevant stakeholders.

6. DELIVERABLES /OUTPUTS

The consultant will be expected to produce well researched report of existing laws and policies in the mentioned Asian countries. The Consultant will do the following:

  • Develop work plan and framework for analysis and share with Oxfam for review and approval
  • Submit a first draft of the report for review
  • Incorporate feedback and suggestions by the Oxfam team
  • Present and submit final report and a factsheet for each country: 1 consolidated report, 12 country reports, 1 consolidated factsheet, 12 country factsheets
  • Participate in events to socialise the research findings with partners across Asia

7. IMPORTANT NOTES

  • The selected candidate will report to and coordinate with the Project Coordinator for Feminist Futures at Oxfam in Asia.
  • The contract period for this assignment will be 7 months
  • Oxfam in Asia will have the right to use the communication product whilst attributing the consultant’s credit.
  • All the deliverables need to be approved by the project team before being finalized.
  • The Consultant will seek the team’s feedback and incorporate it to improve the quality of the deliverable. Oxfam has the right to suggest changes to the deliverables at any time during the period of this consultancy.
  • All content produced will be a property of Oxfam and may not be used for other commercial purposes without permission. The consultant will work in close collaboration with Oxfam’s Communications team to ensure delivery of the required products on pre-defined standards, using Oxfam’s branding guidelines. The final products will be subject to approval by Oxfam.
  • The candidate/agency is expected to deliver two rounds of edits of the report during the process of completing the consultancy.
  • The scope of work will be refined and finalised based on the analytical framework.

8. TIMELINES

The entire assignment’s timeline is expected to be 6 months. Phase 1 and 2 of the assignment is expected to be delivered by 15th October 2022 and Phase 3 of the assignment is expected to be completed and delivered by February 2023.

9. PROCEDURE FOR SUBMISSION

Interested candidates should submit:

  1. Organisation profile
  2. Narrative proposal including methodology, timeline.
  3. Submit the contact details of two referees
  4. Financial Quotation (all-inclusive budget which includes professional fees, transportation, communications, etc.)

10. SELECTION CRITERIA

The proposals will be evaluated through a competitive selection process. Following criteria will be followed.

  • Consultant’s Profile: 50 points
  • Sample of Previous Work: 20 points
  • Proposed Budget: 30 points

11. SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

This consultancy is open for women rights organisations and/or feminist organisations to apply for. Previous work experience with other international non-government organization is desirable.

Thematic knowledge:

  • The consultant must have knowledge on gender, care economy, covid-19 issues, unpaid, paid and undervalued care work.
  • Demonstrated knowledge and experience of working research and advocacy on care work

Professionalism:

Excellent interviewing skills and demonstrated ability to independently develop research products. Conscientious and efficient in observing deadlines and achieving results.

Communication:

Listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Annex I: Guidance for development of the analytical framework

The framework should be developed using existing Oxfam and other tools to analyse care responsiveness of policies, programmes and laws. These include but are not limited to Care Policy Scorecard, the Generic Care Principles and Barometer and the second tier of the Care Responsive barometer for IFIs.

The study can be accessed on the following levels:

      • Paid, unpaid and underpaid care – Care sensitive language in policies and laws – Protection of rights of care workers in laws – Government investments in care infrastructure services – Representation of Women’s groups and care workers’ associations (collectives and unions) as important stakeholders in the policy dialogue and engagement process – Government support/ policy support of childcare services – Legal changes/reforms that support the care economy introduced in the last five years

Annex II: Statistics to include in care mapping background

      1. Paid care work as a percentage of GDP
      2. Public sector spending/investment in care sectors as a percentage of GDP
      3. Female workforce participation
      4. Universal access to affordable and quality care infrastructure services: water, sanitation and electricity
      5. Universal access to affordable and quality care services: childcare, care for older persons and people living with disabilities, healthcare, early childhood and primary education
      6. Percentage of the employed population working in the care sector
      7. Percentage of care workers who have access to decent work, social protection, the right to association and collective bargaining rights
      8. Level of statistical and administrative capacity to capture time use statistics and care work

How to apply

To apply Send your proposal by 8 August 2022 to [email protected]

(**Please DONOT send the queries in this email id as it will be administered after the deadline only).

For any confusion or EOI related queries, please contact Saleha Shah: [email protected] (**Please DONOT send the proposal in this email id)

NOTE: Only complete applications will be considered in this cost-competitive process.

Oxfam reserves the right to rescind this agreement in case of unsatisfactory performance by the consultant.


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