International Consultant for Development of a Fair and Ethical Recruitment Strategy and Implementation plan (2023-2030) for Africa

Background

The promotion of fair and ethical recruitment has become a major concern globally as stakeholders have increasingly recognized the evident links between unfair and irregular recruitment processes and the risks of forced labour, child labour, trafficking in persons and debt bondage. Labour migration and mobility is at the forefront of political discourse in Africa: all countries are part of migratory movements, either as countries of origin, transit, or destination. Mixed migration has also increased the attention and dynamic in the region.

Migrant, seasonal and temporary workers are often exposed to decent work deficits, especially as they are predominantly recruited through informal networks into precarious employment in the informal economy. It is therefore necessary to develop a strategy for Africa to leverage the benefit of such movements, to create a level playing field in the recruitment industry and facilitate effective skills matching and labour market functioning, prevent human trafficking and forced labour, ensuring the protection of the rights of all workers, including female and male migrants, reducing the risks of abusive and fraudulent recruitment practices (such as false job offers, recruitment fees, costs charged to workers or contract substitution) and taking into account the prevailing informality of employment and prevalence of labour demand across the region and beyond, from other regions (i.e. Arab States).

The AU, in collaboration with partners and with the technical assistance of the ILO plan to develop, endorse and implement a Fair and Ethical recruitment Strategy for Africa, as part of its Continental frameworks to promote efficient labour migration governance and the protection of African migrant workers, throughout the migration cycle.

The ILO Regional Office for Africa in collaboration with the African Union Commission, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Organization of Employers (IOE) launched Phase II of the ILO Fair Recruitment Initiative (2021-2025) in March 2022. The regional launch of the FRI was an opportunity to expand the implementation of successful fair recruitment approaches to other countries in Africa. It was also an opportunity to advance with a common approach of the region, towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal number 8, which seeks to achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth with decent work for all, target 8.7 on the eradication of forced labour, as well as goal 10, and indicator 10.7.1 on worker paid recruitment costs. Such launch contributed to Aspiration 1 of the AU 2063 Agenda. The main objective of the event was to officially launch the ILO Fair Recruitment Initiative (2021-2025) in Africa and garner support for its practical implementation in the region.

The event gathered governments, social partners, civil society organisations, RECs, donors as well as association of migrant workers, with pledges confirming their commitment to promoting fair and ethical recruitment practices in the region. AU pledged its commitment to lead the development of a Fair and Ethical Recruitment Initiative Strategy for Africa that enables national, regional, and continental actors to generate knowledge, improve and enforce laws and policies, empower workers and encourage fair business practices.

The ILO Global Fair Recruitment Initiative (Phase II, 2021-2025)

The ILO’s Fair Recruitment Initiative, launched in 2014, aims to protect workers against abuse and exploitation, while meeting the needs of the labour market, and is based on the extensive experience of the ILO on labour migration, prevention of forced labour, and regulation of recruitment intermediaries, among others. Phase II (2021-2025) of the Initiative is anchored on progresses and tools developed in recent years and seeks to operationalize, institutionalize, and deepen knowledge and practices on fair recruitment and protect workers, particularly migrant workers. The Initiative supports law and practice reform which foster fair recruitment at the global and regional level, and it promotes national and cross-border recruitment practices and policies that are based on international labour standards, social dialogue and gender equality and are aligned to employment policies.

The ILO Fair recruitment Initiative is based on 4 main Pillars:

1. Enhancing, exchanging and disseminating global knowledge on national and international recruitment processes
2. Improving laws, policies and enforcement to promote fair recruitment
3. Promoting fair business practices
4. Empowering and protecting workers

The Fair Recruitment Initiative fosters strong alliances with international and local partners to complement the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

At the heart of the initiative are the General Principles and operational guidelines for fair recruitment and the Definition of recruitment fees and related costs, the implementation of which guides the ILO’s action in this field. Likewise, the second phase of the initiative includes the launch of a Global Knowledge Hub to develop, systematize, deepen, and exchange knowledge, experiences and practices on fair recruitment and promote communities of practice between experts and practitioners at global regional and national level.

Taking stock on achievements from the first five years of implementation of the FRI in different migration corridors, the ILO has systematized promising practices on fair recruitment, inspired by the General principles and existing international standards. These practices cover areas such as: migrant workers resource centres, public employment services capacity to support migrant workers, strategies of adaptation of recruitment practices to the context of COVID-19, employment centers to facilitate labour migration, revision of legal framework governing recruitment practices, inclusion of fair recruitment consideration in the negotiations of bilateral agreements, among others.

AU framework relevant to labour migration governance and the protection of migrant workers in Africa

A Fair and Ethical recruitment strategy in Africa would contribute toAU’s extensive and solid frameworks at continental level, including:

1. The AUC First Ten-Year Implementation Plan (2014-2023) of its Agenda 2063.
2. The African Union (AU) Revised Migration Policy Framework for Africa and Plan of Action (2018–2030) offers multiple recommended strategies relevant to ensuring the fair recruitment of migrant workers, including among others: 1) create transparent (open) and accountable labour recruitment and admission systems; 2) align national laws, policies and regulations; bilateral and multilateral agreements; and voluntary codes of conduct with the ILO General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment; 3) monitor and enforce compliance with recruitment regulations, including standardised contracts of employment which are free, fair, fully consented to, transparent and enforceable; 4) promote consolidation and professionalisation in the recruitment industry and 5) Explore opportunities to put special procedures in place for citizens working overseas (limiting recruitment fees, licensing requirements, contracts registration and approval mechanism; payment of wages and banning deductions from wages for certain expenses, frequent labour inspections and introducing fines for employers who violate labour requirements…)
3. The 2014 African Union Commission’s Ouagadougou + 10 Declaration and Plan of Action on Employment, Poverty Eradication and Inclusive Development in Africa, under Key Priority Area 5: on labour Migration and Regional Economic Integration, refers to several strategies that Member States in Africa can adopt to promote fair recruitment including developing legal frameworks for fair recruitment in line with national and international standards, including through bilateral and multilateral agreements.
4. A Ten-Year Action Plan to Eradicate Child Labour, Forced Labour, Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery developed by African Union Commission in March 2019. The 2020-2030 Action Plan seeks to contribute to and support the acceleration of progress towards the achievement of the Agenda 2063 – SDG 8.7 target, and refers to the need to enhance recruitment related policies, legislation, enforcement, and public awareness, as well as to design and implement measures to address the root causes of debt bondage, which include access to finance, land tenure issues, exorbitant fees and unfair practices by unregulated manpower, recruitment and brokerage services; and to Implement measures protecting workers against human rights abuses in the recruitment process, including by all categories of labour recruiters and other enterprises, employers and private employment agencies.
5. The Declaration of the Fourth Ordinary Session of the Specialised Technical Committee on Social Development, Labour, and Employment (STC-SDLE-4) in April 2022 committed to Implement fair and transparent recruitment procedures and prohibit the charging or shifting of recruitment fees and related costs to migrant workers in order to prevent debt bondage, exploitation and forced labour. They further decide to uphold rights related to contracts of employment including the right to receive, before departure, a written contract covering all conditions of work and terms of employment, remuneration and contract duration in a language the migrant worker understands.

Africa regional fair recruitment report: The recruitment of migrant workers to, within and from Africa

Building on the global Fair Recruitment Initiative (FRI) Strategy for 2021-2025, the Fair Recruitment agenda of ILO in Africa aims to ensure that recruitment practices nationally and across borders are grounded in labour standards, developed through social dialogue, and ensure gender equality.

As part of its overall efforts under the FRI, over the past few years, the ILO has supported fair recruitment initiatives in several countries in Africa: in Tunisia, as one pilot country of the global FAIR Project; amendments to recruitment regulations in Ethiopia; work on self-regulatory industry code of conducts in Nigeria and Ethiopia; support toward ratification of ILO Convention 181, and piloting of the SDG 10.7.1 indicator methodology in Ghana; support to legislative review and worker’s voice in Madagascar. Capacity building of constituents on fair recruitment has also been supported in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar, as well as South Africa, amongst others, and knowledge has been generated, including through the continental Africa regional fair recruitment report: The recruitment of migrant workers to, within and from Africa, as well as national level knowledge building in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, South Sudan, and Egypt.

Under the umbrella of the Alliance 8.7, several countries in the region have developed national action plans to eradicate child and forced labour, and human trafficking. Cameroun, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Tunisia, and Uganda are amongst the Pathfinder Countries making progress towards meeting target 8.7 of the SDGs. Key events have been held in Cote d’Ivoire (Global Meeting of the Action Group on Supply Chains, in May 2019), which recognised the need to accelerate action in specific sectors such as mining, fishing and the garment industry. Amongst the priority areas of concern, the consultations identified data and research, fair recruitment, and the need to enhance collaboration at the lower tiers of supply chains.

At Regional and subregional level – African Union and RECs

The ILO’s 2019 Abidjan Declaration on “Advancing Social Justice: Shaping the future of work in Africa, Realizing the potential for a future of work with social justice» identifies the need for «Strengthening the efficiency of the institutions of work to ensure adequate protection of all workers through (inter alia) promoting fair and effective labour migration governance».

At the sub-regional level,[1] for most regional economic communities (RECs), provisions on recruitment – where these exist – are contained in free movement protocols or labour migration agreements. In West Africa, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Common Approach on Migration, the ECOWAS Regional Migration Policy, and the ECOWAS General Convention of Social Security all cite fair recruitment. However, the ECOWAS Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, Residence and Establishment is silent on recruitment.

Article 3 of the Protocol on Freedom of Movement and Rights of Establishment of Nationals of Members States of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) established the right of freedom of movement for workers – subject to national legislation – but is silent on recruitment practices or costs.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) adopted the Labour Migration Policy Framework in 2014 and thereafter the associated 2016–2019 Action plan. The former includes: a recognition of the need for “[h]armonisation of legislations & policies on recruitment & conditions of employment of SADC migrant workers & third country nationals towards a minimum floor of rights”; efforts to improve data collection and to regulate informal and illegal brokers, agencies, and work.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, Labour, Services, Right of Establishment and Residence (adopted in 2001) does not specifically mention recruitment but does envisage the progressive achievement of free movement.

Finally, the Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community (EAC) Common Market, which entered into force on 1 July 2010, contains provisions recognizing the free movement of workers (Art. 10). It further “provides for entitlement of workers in regard to application for employment, free movement in Partner States, conclude contracts of employment, and enjoy rights and freedoms of association”.

Social partners

Social partners have a role to play to promote fair business practices, protect workers’ rights and advocate for better regulatory frameworks and monitor their effective implementation. At the global level, ILO forged alliances with the International Organization of Employers (IOE), to promote the fair business practices in relation to recruitment of workers [2]; as well as with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) for the establishment of the global Recruitment Advisor and other initiatives to promote and protect workers’ rights in recruitment processes, through representation in social dialogue, policy advocacy, service provision and outreach to workers.

The ILO and AUC are seeking to hire a consultant to develop a draft Fair and Ethical Recruitment strategy and implementation plan for Africa, that builds on emerging practices and lessons learned from within and outside the region, and that sets strategic priorities, principles, and guiding parameters for the promotion of fair and ethical recruitment work in Africa, as part of the labour migration governance frameworks the region. The strategy will provide strategic direction, concrete targets and a common technical framework for the promotion of Fair and Ethical Recruitment practise in Africa, building on and contributing to the ILO FRI Global Strategy. The formulation process will be based on broad and meaningful consultations of key stakeholders in Africa (at Continental, regional, and national levels, including relevant international organisations, NGOs, constituents, private recruitment/employment agencies, development partners, academia’s, Civil society organisations and migrant associations etc…)

Objectives

The consultant will develop a draft Fair and Ethical Recruitment strategy and implementation plan for Africa, that will set strategic priorities, targets, principles, guiding parameters for the work on fair recruitment in Africa. The strategy should align to the 4 pillars of the FR initiative (1) Enhancing, exchanging and disseminating global knowledge on national and international recruitment processes; 2) Improving laws, policies and enforcement to promote fair recruitment, 3) Promoting fair business practices; 4) Empowering and protecting workers) and build, among others, on:

1. the General Principles and operational guidelines for fair recruitment and the Definition of recruitment fees and related costs, the implementation of which guides the ILO’s action in this field.
2. the Africa regional fair recruitment report: the recruitment of migrant workers to, within and from Africa,
3. The AU Declaration on the protection and promotion of the Rights of migrant workers, endorsed at the fourth ordinary session of the Specialised Technical Committee on Social development, Labour and Employment (STC.SDLE-4) in April 2022. In its article 7, AU MS agreed to “implement fair and transparent recruitment procedures and prohibit the charging or shifting of recruitment fees and related costs to migrant workers in order to prevent debt bondage, exploitation and forced labour”
4. The AU guidelines on developing bilateral labour agreements (BLAs),endorsed by STC.SDLE-4 in April 2022, contains with several recommendations on how to integrate fair recruitment provisions in BLAs.
5. The UN guiding principles on Human rights and businesses which highlights the responsibility of States and businesses to protect and respect human rights as well as ensure access to remedy.
6. National level knowledge in African Member States; best practices and lessons learned from within the region and beyond (including the compilation of promising practices for fair recruitment).
7. Additional relevant resources and tools available in the ILO FRI “Knowledge Hub”

The Fair and Ethical Recruitment Strategy for Africa is intended to provide strategic direction guidance for ILO, AUC, Member states and other relevant partners to move from policy to action and provide sustainable solutions to promote fair business practices in the region and extend protection to migrant workers.

Scope of Work

The Fair and ethical recruitment strategy for Africa (including it implementation plan) should be a short document (approximately 25 pages), results orientated, practical and living document with key objectives, targets and interventions for the AU and its MS to achieve, which align to relevant frameworks mentioned above; summarising the who, what, where, when and how to achieve a fair recruitment culture throughout Africa that translates into increased protection of the rights of the migrant workers during the migration cycle and decent working benefits. The structure of the Fair and ethical recruitment strategy could be as follows:

1. Vision and mission for 2023-2030
2. Theory of change of Fair and ethical recruitment strategy in Africa
3. Budgeted action/implementation plan per FRI Pillar 1, Pillar 2, Pillar 3, Pillar 4.
   1. Regional specific targets, outputs and activities
   2. Lead stakeholders- Roles and Responsibilities
   3. Priority countries /regions
4. Monitoring and evaluation
5. Partnership, communication/visibility and resource mobilisation

Key tasks to be undertaken by the consultant include:

• Conduct a DESK REVIEW: Building on the information collected in the Africa Regional Fair Recruitment Report, collect and synthesise all relevant frameworks, reports, and supporting documentation/evidence (internal and external to the ILO/AU), with a view of identifying gaps, common grounds, and other vital information to the strategy. This would include rapid assessment of the work on regulatory review/reform conducted since the publication of the Regional Fair Recruitment Report and institutional strengthening needs for the effective implementation of the strategy.
• CONSULTATION: The consultant will conduct virtual consultation with the following countries and stakeholders[3]:
  • Tunisia, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Ethiopia, Morocco, Cote d’ Ivoire, Cameroun, Madagascar, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, South Sudan, Lesotho taking into account whole of society and whole of government principle, including social partners, civil society, migrant workers, Diplomatic Mission of CoO academics in MS where they exist.
  • With RECs: ECOWAS, EAC, IGAD, SADC, ECCAS, COMESA, UMA
  • With selected Countries of destination outside Africa: GCC (countries to be agreed with ILO): Possible countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, etc…
  • Social partners: ITUC – Africa, ATUMNET, IOE, Business Africa, Private Employment Agencies and their associations/federations.
  • Civil society organisations: diaspora associations, NGOs, migrants’ associations.
  • Migrant workers.
  • UN agencies : IOM, UNWOMEN, UNODC.
  • Donors: UK, SDC, EU, Sida, Italy, Swedish and GIZ.
• Propose a NARRATIVE: clear, strategic and thematic narrative of fair and ethical recruitment in Africa that is based on the available evidence, as well as past reports, lessons learned, promising practises, from key internal and external stakeholders. Key elements of such a narrative could include (inter alia):
  • Lessons learnt from within the region and beyond, on fair and ethical recruitment, policies and practices,
  • Summary of challenges such as the fragmentation in fair and ethical recruitment work (across the development partner landscape, RECs and MS) and other gaps in the area of fair recruitment (including sustainability, scalability, ownership, capacities etc);
  • Level of engagement of private recruitment agencies and how compliance is strengthened, including through business case models and compliance checklists?
  • Status of the cooperation between private recruitment agencies and public employment services to enhance fair and ethical recruitment practices across borders.
  • Status of the implementation, monitoring and impact of fair and ethical recruitment interventions?
  • Analysis of the role of labour inspectors/specialized corps of inspectors play to monitor agencies.
  • Assess the value added of model employment contracts to support the protection of migrant workers in Africa? Assessment of the roles of stakeholders for example 1) the role of Migrant Resource Centers (MRCs) in providing info and services to migrants to orient them towards practical implementation of fair recruitment practices; or the role of trade unions and civil society in promoting FR.
  • Role of the media their capacities to promote and support fair recruitment in the continent.
  • The narrative should propose a theory of change for Fair and ethical recruitment strategy in Africa.
• IMPLEMENTATION PLAN- Articulate evidence and result-based and realistic objectives, targets and milestones (short term, medium and long term) to be achieved by AU with its partners as well as member states and RECs;
• CONSULTATION – Participate in and lead a number of consultative meetings (see proposal) and (One) face to face validation workshop with internal and external stakeholders, including, ILO constituents and AU members states and RECs, as well as development partners, NGOs and other key stakeholders. The purpose of these workshops will be to garner inputs on the fair and ethical recruitment strategy as well as to enrich and validate the draft strategy.
• RESOURCE MOBILIZATION- identify relevant donors and propose steps and milestones to engage with donors for the financing of the strategy, including how to engage in particular with non -traditional donors.

Deliverables and timelines

This assignment will be carried out over the period of 5th December 2022 to 30th of April 2023.

The consultant will deliver on the following outputs to the ILO and AUC by the dates indicated below. The timeline estimates should allow for 10 working days for receiving comments from the ILO, AU, and other key stakeholders (where applicable):

Task /deliverable

Timeline

• An inception report that interprets the TOR, proposes key themes, concrete methodologies, a tentative outline, as well as a realistic work plan for the strategy formulation process; list of consultations (identified partners and secondary data) to be done. 16th December 2022
• Meeting reports of the virtual consultative workshops (at least 3 meetings) with internal and external stakeholders (; the consultations in addition to the country reports and practices through desk review should identify complementary frameworks, reports and other supporting documentation/evidence. 27th February 2023
• A draft Fair and ethical recruitment Strategy (including its implementation plan and resource mobilization strategy) for Africa, building on the 4 pillars of the Global Fair recruitment strategy. 2nd March 2023
• Presentation for the validation w/shop. 17 March 2023
• A final Fair and ethical recruitment Strategy which incorporates all comments received and has been validated by internal and external stakeholders. 30th April 2023

Payment Schedule

The payment schedule for this assignment will be as follows.

1. 25% of the agreed sum upon submission of the final inception report agreed upon by partners (ILO and AU).
2. 50% of the agreed sum upon submission of the draft report for review by partners detailing all the contract items as listed in the ToR.
3. 25% of the agreed sum upon submission of the final Report incorporating the comments from key stakeholders and to the satisfaction of the partners (ILO and AU).

Required experience and qualifications

The consultant should be bilingual (FR and EN), should hold advanced university degrees (preferably doctorate level) and possess at least 10 years of expertise in migration, preferably on labour migration. Knowledge of AUC frameworks, good knowledge of the ILO, its tripartite constituents, as well as the UN multilateral systems will be a significant advantage. Demonstrated analytical ability and excellent communication and report writing skills.

Reporting and Supervisory Arrangements

ILO in partnership with the AUC is coordinating the delivery of this assignment, and all reporting will be to the ILO. The focal points are Mr Peter van Rooij ([email protected]) and Coumba Diop, ([email protected]). All deliverables must be submitted by e-mail.

All data is to be kept confidential. All information relating to this study, including any copyright or ownership of documents generated during the process, is owned by the ILO and its project partners.

Evaluation Criteria

The successful candidate will have a mix of expertise and qualifications in the focus areas related to this assignment. Evaluation of the suitability of the Consultant to work on this assignment will be made against the following technical criteria:

Evaluation Criteria

Maximum mark

1. Expertise/Qualification

Advanced university degree in relevant disciplines as highlighted in this ToR 10

Proven experience on migration, preferably on Labour migration at the international level. 10

Previous experience of assignment with ILO/UN or AU in similar contexts. 5

Fluency in English and French is mandatory. 5

Maximum Point 30

1. Proposed approach to deliver the ToR’s scope of work

Applicant demonstrates (via submitted technical proposal) their expertise working as a research consultant. The technical proposal includes a realistic action/work plan. The evaluation to assess the understanding of scope, objectives and completeness of response. 40

Quality of the sample report suggests that the applicant(s) possess the required level of knowledge, analytical skill and ability to develop the strategy and implementation plan. 30

Maximum Points 70

Total for Both Section A (30 Points) and Section B (70 Points) 100

Minimum Acceptable Score for the Proposal to be considered for financial evaluation. 70

Recommended presentation of proposal

Interested individuals must submit the following documents/information:

• Technical Proposal, specifying the understanding of the assignment, methodology, approach, proposed work and management plan, key personnel qualifications and relevant experiences; Sample(s) of accredited publication(s)/reports of similar work done previously. Personal CV, indicating all experience from similar assignments, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate and at least three (3) professional references.
• Financial proposal, the interested individual consultants are requested to provide a financial offer that is deliverable based AND includes separately professional fees related to the activity and costs for field mission dates and days, travel cost and daily allowance if needs be.

The ILO promotes equal opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive employment in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity.

[1] Fair recruitment references in REC frameworks is provided in the Africa fair recruitment report – page 29 wcms_806628.pdf (ilo.org)) – At a subregional level, eight regional economic communities are active players in Africa’s political economy. These are the: Arab Maghreb Union; the Economic Community of West