ILO outreach activity related to the “Impact Evaluation of Interventions to Expand Social Security Coverage in Jordan” under the Estidama++ Fund

I. Background & Context

In Jordan, the majority of the workforce is in the informal economy, where there is increased risk of exploitation and a lack of social protection coverage. The exact number of informal workers in Jordan is difficult to measure, but based on previous labour force surveys, certain characteristics appear to increase the likelihood of workers being informal, marked by their lack of social security coverage. Workers in micro and small enterprises, non-nationals and workers in particular sectors such as construction and agriculture, all have lower rates of social security coverage. A combination of factors such as legal exclusion, contribution cost, awareness and employer compliance, influence participation. Without some form of social protection, workers face higher financial risks and consequences to their well-being when contingencies, such as sickness, unemployment and work injury, occur. The right to social protection is universal, and one in which Jordan has taken important steps to realize.

The Estidama++ Fund was initiated as a response during the COVID-19 crisis. The crisis funnelled into pre-existing decent work deficits, in particular those related to gaps in social protection coverage. Workers themselves realized the consequences of inadequate coverage as firms slowed operations and put workers into Furlow. The programme leveraged the increased attention to social protection during the pandemic as an opportunity to extend social security coverage to vulnerable informal workers, including refugees, while providing short-term income support to incentivize registration with the Jordanian Social Security Corporation (SSC) and to support compliance with contributions in the medium/long-term. Phase 1 of the project started in June 2022 and will have a total duration of 18 months. Phase 2 (launched in August 2023) will run for 12 months, with a streamlined benefit structure.
Phase 2 of the design provides the following benefits:

• a) Coverage reward: The coverage reward seeks to cover the worker’s contribution to social security. In phase II it does it through 4 direct cash transfers of JOD 100 to workers.
• b) Contribution subsidy: The contribution subsidy funds the employer’s contribution to social security with a subsidy of JOD 30 a month.
• c) Outreach: A targeted communication and outreach campaign seeks to ensure workers and employers understanding of the system and its’ processes, and the benefits that can be accessed by workers and employers at different moments.

The project is innovative in bringing together donor governments to help offset some of the financial barriers vulnerable workers experience in accessing social security, and to help offset the risk incurred by the SSC in extending benefits to groups who may be unable to pay full contributions in the short-term. In Phase I, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Norway and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office of the United Kingdom pledged their support. The SSC mobilized operational and technical teams to oversee the programme operations and integrate it into the SSC architecture (IT, Finance, Operations, Media etc.), with technical guidance and oversight from the ILO. One key area of ILO led support is in monitoring, research and learning.

Under the research and learning agenda, the ILO and SSC have launched an experimental research study on different interventions aiming to increase coverage, to better understand how the SSC can lower the barriers for vulnerable workers to participate in social security. The study will comprise two Randomized Control Trials (RCT) to test different sets of interventions that address specific barriers to social security participation – misinformation, financial barriers, and attractiveness of the social security package.

First RCT: The first RCT will be conducted with firms with one to 10 registered workers. This RCT will test the effectiveness of different information content and delivery methods in increasing social security participation. This RCT will test whether participation and contribution will increase with varying information content, intensity of communication (such as remotely or face-to-face), and frequency of interaction. The information treatment will comprise of two components: (1) SMS message delivered on a bi-weekly basis to encourage firms to register any workers that are not participating in social security and (2) Face-to-Face outreach providing firms with information on the benefits and how to sign-up.

Second RCT: The second RCT will be conducted with firms with 11 to 20 registered workers. The main focus of this RCT is to test whether financial incentives or health insurance can improve participation and contribution to social security.
This TOR assignment relates to the coordination and management of the officials tasked to conduct the face-to-face component of the outreach activity during implementation of the first RCT.

II. Objective of the Face-to-Face outreach activity

The face-to-face outreach activity will require of a team of 50 trained SSC branch officials. The information treatment design requires that this team visit each of the targeted micro-enterprises (firms with between 1-10 workers) at their office premises, over a 6-week period. Tentatively, a total of 800 firms are targeted for the RCT implementation. During the visit, the branch officials will be provided with a script (and training beforehand) on how to conduct the outreach engagement. The officials will also present the target firms with a brochure on social security information and an opportunity to sign-up eligible workers via the tablet that officials will have with them.

The objective of the face-to-face outreach is as follows:

• Provide information on the benefits of registering workers within the social security system;
• Provide information on Estidama++ benefits and the contribution subsidy;
• Provide live support on the challenges in registering on the system;
• Encourage a commitment to sign-up unregistered workers into the social security system;
• Contribute towards achievement of the Estidama++ target of 34,000 beneficiaries by October 2025; and
• Contribute towards wider extension of coverage and formalization objectives of the Jordanian Social Security Corporation.

III. Assignment of the supplier

The selected service provider is expected to carry out the entire coordination and payment of the SSC branch officials selected to conduct the outreach activity planned under the “Impact Evaluation of Interventions to Expand Social Security Coverage in Jordan”. The face-to-face outreach activities will be carried out in Amman and Irbid.

The selected service provider will also support with other activities related to the Impact Evaluation information treatment; namely, organization of two training days for ILO to train SSC officials in Amman on the planned outreach activity including the venue, invitations and logistics on the day, as well as printing of the brochures supporting the face-to-face outreach.

IV. Tasks

The selected service provider will carry out the following tasks:

1. Documentation: collect documentation for 50 SSC officials selected to conduct the outreach activity, including IDs, signed receipts and tracking sheets per individual etc.
2. Organization of two training days: organise venue, ensure registration and attendance of 55 selected officials and ILO staff members.
   a. Venue booking for two days in Amman, in line with UN approved list of hotels. The training will take place in the first week of December 2023.
   b. Provide catering for one coffee break and a lunch for each day. (a total of two coffee breaks and two lunches for two days).
   c. Keep a record of attendees participating in the training. ILO will provide the template for the attendance sheet.
   d. Provide interpretation (EN-AR) for the one day of training.
3. Coordination of face-to-face outreach: ensure officials are visiting their designated firms each day (draft list to be provided on selection of supplier), collecting signatures for evidence of firm visits, according to ILO template.
4. Payments: verify outreach activity task has been completed in line with specification each day and make payment to the officials.
5. Appoint a photographer to take 100 high-quality photos the two training days.
6. Add a miscellaneous line for any prompt unexpected cost upon written requests 1,000 JOD.
7. Add a budget line for payment of SSC officials, costed at 15,000 JOD.

V. Timeframe & deliverables (Dec 2023 – Jan 2024 tentative)

The assignment is expected to require 2 months for completion and is planned to start on December 1st, 2023, and is expected to be completed no later than January 31st, 2024. The deadlines in the table below are a suggestion. However, it is preferable to abide by the starting date and finish date of the assignment.

• Deliverable 1 – due date: 01/01/2024
  Completion of 2 training days along with the submission of the invoice, attendance sheets, photos, etc in part V of the TOR. All to the satisfaction of the ILO.
• Deliverable 2 – due date: 31/01/2024
  Completion of the outreach activity, along with the submission of the invoice, receipts, tracking sheets, and other supporting documents, all to the satisfaction of the ILO.

VI. Payment Term

• Payment 1: 20 per cent of the total amount against deliverable 1 above approved by the project manager, all to the satisfaction of the ILO. Due by 01/01/2024.
• Payment 2: 80 per cent of the total fee against deliverables 2 & deliverable 3 above approved by the project manager, all to the satisfaction of the ILO. Due by 31/01/2024.

Please note that the estimated cost of the SSC branch officials along with the miscellaneous cost have already been included financial budget template at a total of 15,000 JOD, and 1,000 JOD. It is important to emphasize that the disbursement for the aforementioned expenses will be paid upon actuals.

VII. Application process

Suppliers are invited to send their quotations via email to [email protected] copying [email protected] and [email protected], using the following subject title: ILO.Estidama++_Outreach_Impact Evaluation_11.23
The email shall include:

1. Company’s registration form
2. Company’s profile
3. Stamped and signed ILO financial offer template (see annex 1).

The deadline for receiving the offers is Saturday 11/11/2023 (Midnight GMT +3). Only offers that fulfill all requirements indicated above will be considered.

VIII. Annexes

Annex 1: Budget template
https://we.tl/t-1084LoZcRf