TOR022 – SADC Labour Market Observatory Data Coordinator

  • Contractor
  • Gaborone Botswana
  • TBD USD / Year
  • ILO profile




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


ILO

Consultancy – Call for Applications

Terms of Reference

SADC Labour Market Observatory Data Coordinator

1. Background and context

The Southern Africa Migration Management (SAMM) project is a model of a ONE-UN approach collaborative effort between 4 UN development and humanitarian agencies: the ILO, the IOM, UNODC and UNHCR. The (SAMM) project forms part of the European Union Regional Indicative Programme (11th EDF RIP) for Eastern Africa, Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean (2014–2020) which includes among its objectives the facilitation of safe, orderly and regular migration and the prevention of irregular migration. It focuses on South-South migration flows, identifying positive spill-over effects of international migration on regional integration and regional economic development.

Its overall objective is to improve migration management in the Southern Africa and Indian Ocean region guided by, and contributing to, the realisation of the 2030 Development Agenda (goals 8 and 10).

It is comprised of two main project components: 1. Labour Migration; and 2. Mixed Migration. The first component supports the implementation of the UN Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) and the second one the application of the UN Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), as well as of the GCM.

Regional Economic Communities (RECs) are key stakeholders in SAMM’s implementation. One of SAMM’s key project priorities is to support the formulation and realisation of International Labour Migration and Mixed Migration Frameworks of: i) the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), ii) the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and; iii) the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC).

The project focuses on the Southern African Region, and targets the following 16 SADC countries: Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

This consultancy will contribute to Output 2.1: establishing a labour migration observatory that has the capacity to support collecting data on (labour) migration indicators, and activity 2.1.1.4: Technical assistance to the institution hosting the observatory.

2. Technical Context (Global and at the SADC level)

This document is intended to identify responsibilities and tasks of a Data Coordinator for the SADC Labour Market Observatory (LMO), to be based at the SADC Headquarters, in Gaborone, Botswana.

SADC Ministers of Employment and Labour and Social Partners, at their meeting of 28-30 April 2021, approved the broad parameters of a Labour Market Observatory (LMO) and directed the Secretariat to establish an inclusive Labour Market Observatory Steering Committee to facilitate broad participation during implementation and to report on progress at the next meeting.

The SADC LMO is an institution which integrates critical information on labour markets, including statistical and non-statistical information, to inform the development and implementation of regional policies and strategies. It encompasses, among other things a regional Labour Market Information System (LMIS).

An LMIS provides an essential basis for employment and labour policies, and inform the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies that are better focused and targeted. LMIS also contribute to a reduction in the transaction costs of labour markets as they help overcome incomplete information of labour market agents.

One of SADC’s aspirations is to harmonize labour market regulatory regimes across Member States and to ensure a progressive improvement of labour standards. For progress in these areas to be realized, a functional LMIS is a pre-requisite. To date, however, the region has no capacity to produce integrated, timely and reliable labour market information for policymaking, and for tracking labour market trends that should inform regional integration initiatives. There is also need for Member States to produce up-to-date and comparable labour market data, which can be integrated at regional and continental levels through appropriate digital technologies to enhance analysis and accessibility. The African Union Plan of Action on Employment Creation, Poverty Eradication and Inclusive Development, adopted by the Assembly in 2015, includes a Key Priority Area on well-functioning and inclusive labour market institutions, which requires Regional Economic Communities to support or facilitate the establishment of national structures on LMIS.

At national level, while Member States have prioritized the development of LMIS, most countries are often constrained by data availability limitations, both in terms of complex information such as informality, as well as infrequent data collection. This has resulted in a situation where labour market information among member states does not interact with each other, thus pushing back on the feasibility of a regional LMIS. Critical information on such issues as minimum wages, vacancies and skills needs, labour migration and labour market institutions is not easily obtainable nor is it analyzable across the region. These limitations constrain policy makers from developing, implementing and monitoring responsive labour market policies. They also impair decision making by labour migrants who have no signals about where and how to best integrate into the regional labour market. The business sector is also disadvantaged by the status quo due to the absence of efficient matching of labour demand and labour supply.

The SADC Labour Market Observatory (LMO) is a network of national and regional institutions, which integrates critical information on labour markets, including statistical and non-statistical information, to inform the development and implementation of regional policies and strategies. It encompasses, among other things a regional Labour Market Information System (LMIS) which covers labour market, skills, and labour migration indicators, with the following objectives:

  • Ensure aggregation and the availability of up-to-date and comparable labour market information across SADC Member States;

  • Track an agreed set of labour market, skills, and labour migration indicators among Member States and at the regional level;

  • Promote harmonization of statistical concepts, classifications, and methods among Member States;

  • Provide a technical platform to discuss analytical work on labour markets, skills, and labour migration through peer-to-peer exchanges and knowledge sharing;

  • Contribute to implementing the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP 2020-2030), the SADC Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap’s (2015-2063) action plan, the SADC Protocol on Education and Training, and the SADC Labour Migration Action Plan (2020-2025).

3. Objectives and Outputs

A Data Coordinator for the SADC Labour Market Observatory will be in charge of implementing an annual LMO programme of work, as well as oversee the daily technical activities of the LMO .Stat architecture and supporting its regular users. The Data Coordinator will also take the lead, with support from the Employment and Labour Section, Education and Skills Development Section, and Statistics Unit of the SADC Secretariat, in reporting progress and submitting annual workplans to the LMO Steering Committee and Technical Working Group for approval.

Specific tasks include:

· Coordinate activities of the Labour Market Observatory, including drafting annual workplans, monitoring progress and drafting progress reports, and reporting to the Steering Committee.

· Modeling data to comply with SDMX IM.

· Managing structural metadata for the entire LMIS.Stat architecture.

· Managing data dimensions.

· Ensure that data sets and metadata are in the correct format for LMIS.Stat upload.

· Use the Data Lifecycle Manager (DLM) of LMIS.Stat to upload metadata and data sets.

· Collect data and metadata to be uploaded from available data sources.

· Identify challenges in comparability and harmonization of data within Member States to ensure submitted labour indicators are internationally comparable.

· Work with the member states and International Cooperating Partners to provide technical assistance (identifying training needs, proposing new questions/modules/standards for data compilation and analysis, along with accompanying training) to bridge gaps in comparability and harmonization of data.

· Set up default visualizations for faster data access.

· As a “super-user” of LMIS.Stat, provide training and support to regular users.

· Produce annual labour market, skills, and labour migration reports at SADC level, based on submitted data.

· In general, provide data and metadata management tasks for the LMO.

Expected outputs of this consultancy are:

  1. A draft annual LMO workplan for 2022.

  2. One SDMX data modelling report.

  3. A (semi-annual) progress report on establishment and implementation of the LMO, including a user-facing web platform.

  4. A (semi-annual) report on uploaded national data, including challenges faced and recommendations to national statistical offices to improve future uploading procedures and strengthening harmonization of data.

  5. A draft technical report on labour market, skills, and migration statistics in SADC of no more than 40 pages, excluding annexes.

  6. A final progress report on implementation of the LMO as well as a handover document for future data coordinators.

4. Qualifications and Experience Required

Education: Advanced university degree in IT, Statistics, or Computer Science.

Experience: **

• Understands statistical concepts, multi-dimensional dataset or data cubes.

• Able to interpret between conceptual data model and physical data model.

• Knowledge of Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange (SDMX) standard and information model.

• Able to model data to comply with SDMX IM.

• Knowledge of SQL query language, or able to search for information in SQL databases will be extremely useful in case of troubleshooting or research.

• Basic knowledge of web application, IIS, Windows web server, CSS style sheet and HTML is desirable.

• Strong understanding of the collection, production, analysis and use of official national labour market statistics.

Languages: Excellent command of English. Working knowledge of French and/or Portuguese is an advantage.

5. Terms of Contract for Consultant The service provider will be responsible for all expected outputs mentioned in the terms of reference and will be expected to be physically present at SADC Headquarters in Gaborone, Botswana for the working days of the contract. Please note no additional fees will be paid for relocation, subsistence or work permits.

Fees will be determined depending on the knowledge and experience by the consultant(s) and in SADC countries on the technical area of interest: statistical data management and labour migration statistics.

The ILO will separately cover the cost of travel and DSA of the consultant in case of need to organise face to face meetings.

5. Timeline and payment breakdown

The consultant will work for a total of 100 non-consecutive working days*.*

Starting date: 1 Jun 2022__**

End date: __15 Dec 2022**__**

Payments will be disbursed as follows:

  1. 20% of the total remuneration upon the completion and delivery of output 3.1 to the satisfaction of the ILO.

  2. 25% of the total remuneration upon the completion and delivery of output 3.2 to the satisfaction of the ILO.

  3. 25% of the total remuneration upon the completion and delivery of output 3.3 and 3.4 to the satisfaction of the ILO.

  4. 30% of the total remuneration upon the completion and delivery of all outputs to the satisfaction of the ILO.

6. Supervision and Reporting

The LMO Data Coordinator will report to Ms. Gloria Moreno-Fontes, Chief Technical Advisor of the Southern Africa Migration Management (SAMM) project, with daily coordination handled by the SAMM labour migration and data officer, and in consultation with senior management of the SADC ELS and Statistics Units.

The ILO will liaise with SADC, IOM, UNHCR and UNODC (where pertinent) and be in charge of the overall supervision for incorporating inputs and comments and validation of the work.

7. Application

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications by midnight South African Standard Time 1 May 2022 to the International Labour Organization ([email protected]). Applicants should include the following documentation:

· CV/resumé;

· Cover letter;

· 3 links to evidence past work done in a data management position and/or technical reports (or attach 3 writing samples, preferably of published material);

· 3 references;

· A half a page financial proposal indicating the consultant’s daily professional fees in USD and (if necessary) a breakdown of costs.

How to apply

Application

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications by midnight South African Standard Time 1 May 2022 to the International Labour Organization ([email protected]). Applicants should include the following documentation:

· CV/resumé;

· Cover letter;

· 3 links to evidence past work done in a data management position and/or technical reports (or attach 3 writing samples, preferably of published material);

· 3 references;

· A half a page financial proposal indicating the consultant’s daily professional fees in USD and (if necessary) a breakdown of costs.


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