Review of ILO results achieved ( ) and strategic recommendations ILO Regional Office for Arab States

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1 TERMS OF REFERENCE TERMS OF REFERENCE Review of ILO results achieved ( ) and strategic recommendations ILO Regional Office for Arab States Introduction The ILO mandate The ILO embodies a vision of universal humane conditions of labour as an expression of social justice and a condition for peace among nations. This vision is rooted in the values of the Organization and its unique tripartite structure giving equal weight to Government, Employer and Worker representatives. The ILO is mandated to realize, through social dialogue and tripartism, social justice and the universal values of freedom, human dignity, security and non-discrimination in the world of work. The contemporary expression of the ILO s vision and strategy is the Decent Work Agenda. The ILO Regional Office for Arab States (ROAS) strives to promote decent work for women and men throughout the region, by supporting constituents in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, occupied Palestinian territory, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Decent work involves job opportunities that are productive and deliver fair income, security in the workplace, social protection for families, better prospects for personal development, and social integration. The concept of decent work also encompasses the rights of people to express their concerns, organize and participate in the decisions that affect their lives, as well as promoting equality of opportunity and treatment for all women and men. To reduce the decent work deficit in the Arab region, the ILO implements programmes guided by the four overarching pillars of the Decent Work Agenda: employment creation and enterprise development, social protection, standards and rights at work, and social dialogue. Informed by the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization, these programmes look into economic and financial policies in light of the fundamental objective of promoting social justice. The Global Jobs Pact and the 2008 ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization, together with the Arab Decade for Employment ( ) provide the overarching regional framework for ILO ROAS interventions. The ILO Middle East and North Africa (MENA) strategy, which was launched in 2011, outlined the vision for a common ILO response to the Arab uprisings. It was revised in 2013 to

2 take into account medium-term priorities for transition and reform 1. Key areas identified for interregional cooperation include youth employment, women empowerment, social dialogue, social protection and migration. Looking ahead, the ILO will seek to enhance its preparedness and capacity to work in fragile emergency situations and within the changing dynamics of the GCC. This assessment will be undertaken with a view of informing the preparation of forthcoming Regional Strategic Directions that respond to the current needs and challenges, while focusing on the ILO comparative advantage and strategic outcomes. Regional context The main socio-economic challenges confronting Arab States are employment creation for a rapidly expanding labour force, the improvement of living and working standards, ensuring respect for the fundamental rights of workers, and the strengthening of social dialogue. The region has the highest unemployment rate in the world. While the world average stood at 13 per cent in 2013, the youth unemployment rate in the Middle East and North Africa region was at 28.3 per cent and 30.2 respectively. Youth female unemployment stood at 46.1 per cent in the Middle East and North Africa region as against youth male unemployment at 23.6 per cent and 23.8 per cent respectively. 2 In recent decades, Arab countries have also suffered from persistent inequality, poor social protection regimes, weak institutions for social dialogue, and a considerable decent work deficit. The past few years, especially in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, many countries of the region have been affected by political instability, social unrest and conflict, the developmental implications of which are still unfolding. Undoubtedly the events in the region are based on and have resulted in a wide range of socio-economic challenges with major repercussions for the labour market. Conflicts in Syria, Yemen, and Iraq are having severe humanitarian and development consequences, affecting their neighboring countries as well. In Gaza, blockades and repeated cycles of violence have made the Gaza unemployment rate the highest in the world and with Gross Domestic Product at only 40 percent of its potential. 3 The current sharp decline in oil prices presents an entirely new fiscal dynamic for the countries of this region. Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which have yet to adopt a more private sector-led growth, have greater vulnerability to any downturn in oil prices, despite massive reserves. In fact, oil, gas and mining dominate among all sectors and contributed more than half of the GDP of the oil-rich countries in 1990, with a slight reduce by In the medium to long term, this may prompt those countries (such as Kuwait and Oman) to accelerate the pace of industrial policy development and labour market reforms. For non-oil exporting countries, low oil prices constitute a relief for their expensive subsidy 1 exrel/documents/genericdocument/wcms _ pdf 2 ILO (International Labour Organization) 2014.Global employment trends data. Geneva: ILO. 3 World bank, World bank, 2014

3 systems and may provide an opportunity to implement subsidy reform. Several of the region s governments had already begun to overhaul their subsidy systems, led by Jordan, which abolished all fuel subsidies in November The overall unstable political situation across the region is not conducive to sustainable policy development. Because of the difficulty of accessing countries and territories such as Iraq, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen, the effective delivery of ILO programmes remains a challenge. Background ILO s strategic framework The Strategic Policy Framework (the SPF) is the ILO s medium-term planning document. It is the expression of the strategic orientation of the Organization, what it aims to achieve and how. It applies RBM in identifying the results expected for the period, within a framework of outcomes, indicators and targets. This results framework drives ILO assistance to constituents and forms a coherent basis for cooperation with ILO partners and for the design of ILO development assistance programmes. The Strategic Plan for the Strategic Policy Framework was developed immediately after the adoption of the 2008 ILO s Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization, which emphasizes the inseparable, interrelated and mutually supportive nature of the four strategic objectives of the ILO s Decent Work Agenda: the promotion of rights at work, employment, social protection and social dialogue. In turn, the strategic objectives provide the framework for the nineteen outcomes that capture essential priorities in the world of work. The Transitional Strategic Plan further prioritises work in line with RBM. It is structured around ten policy outcomes, centred on key world of work challenges of relevance to member States, and three enabling outcomes, covering the advocacy, governance and support functions of the Organization and the Office. It positions the ILO to align its planning cycle with that of the UN as of The Programme and Budget of the Organization which sets out the strategic objectives and expected outcomes for the Organization s work is approved every two years by the International Labour Conference. It specifies the strategies the ILO will implement to achieve results over the biennium, alongside the capacities and the resources required to deliver those results. This is translated into a biennial Results Framework at Regional level that reflects the SPF and P&B outcomes using Country Programme Outcomes. Purpose and scope Purpose

4 The purpose of this assignment is to provide useful insights into the overall results achieved ( ) and to strengthen the Office s capacity to make decisions in an evidence-based manner from evaluation results and other reporting mechanisms. It aims to guide the ROAS strategies by providing useful recommendations in light of the regional evolving context. The review has three objectives: Objective 1: To conduct a concise assessment of the results of the ILO interventions in the region during Objective 2: To provide a general assessment of the current state of affairs and developments in countries covered by ROAS in the region and how they affect ILO s work; and a SWOT analysis of ROAS in the light of the regional evolving context. Objective 3: To provide recommendations on strategic direction pertaining to the Arab States Region, while aligning with the ILO Global strategies, and identify opportunities for interventions with potential of creation of large impact in view of the regional developments. Scope Under Objective 1, the assessment will cover interventions that have been implemented by the ILO in the region within the framework of the ILO strategic objectives of the P&B, and country programme outcomes (CPOs) for the 3 biennium ( , , and ). The interventions will cover all ILO s work delivered through DWCPs, Technical Cooperation projects, and advisory services provided to constituents. Under Objective 2, the general assessment will cover key developmental and political developments affecting ILO s work in the Arab States countries categorized within 2 typologies: - GCC countries: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. Recent developments in this category pertain to fall in oil prices, international pressure towards labour rights, and recent opening towards the ILO for collaboration. - Crisis affected countries: Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Jordan, Iraq, and opt. Methodology a- Desk Review The review approach will identify and synthesize information on results, lessons learned, and good practices in the context of the Decent Work agenda. The work will mainly consist of a desk-based review of evaluations and studies/reviews, as well as reports related to the ILO s interventions in the region. Given that the purpose is to contribute to organizational learning, the core source of information is evaluations, complemented by other documents (see annex I).

5 Evaluations and DWCP reviews: Internal and independent evaluation documents will be collected through the evaluation database. ROAS will also provide the consultant with a DWCP independent evaluation (Cluster evaluation for opt, Jordan, Lebanon) and three Country Programme Reviews (Syria, Yemen, Jordan). High level policy and strategy evaluation reports will also be identified and provided (Evaluation of ILO s work in Fragile States-2015; Evaluation of ILO s DW strategy in the Arab region 2013; FPRW; Synthesis Review of lessons learned in youth and women employment; etc.). Implementation reports: Relevant results reports will be included, for example the PROGRAM Implementation Report of ILO outcomes over the last 3 biennium, and will serve as background information. This also includes other reports such as the ROAS Development results reports , and ; the GB paper: Regional perspectives on development cooperation in the Arab States; the regional reporting on the Social Justice Declaration evaluation; etc. Other studies: (Recent studies to be added upon consultation with DWT) Constituents recent feedback will be provided as available through previously conducted surveys. b- Key informant interviews The review will also include interviews with key ILO informants (around 10 interviews). c- Literature based SWOT analysis The SWOT analysis is used to match an organization s resources and capabilities to the context and environment in which it operates. As such, it is instrumental in strategy formulation and selection. SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Key Deliverables An inception report, which will include a draft report outline, a detailed work plan; a list of possible additional data/information sources to be consulted; a detailed methodology; key questions to be addressed; analytical approach. The ROAS will review the inception report and the consultant will respond in writing to all comments received. A draft report based on the approved inception report. The report will present three sections based on the three objectives, in addition to an executive summary. The review report will be written in English and be no longer than 30 pages, excluding annexes. A final report will present the completed analysis, and must respond appropriately to comments and feedback from key ILO officials. A debrief of the results presented to the ILO ROAS during a strategic retreat organized by the office.

6 Management arrangements The Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Officer in the ILO ROAS office will act as review manager, with overall guidance from the RD and DRD, and in coordination with C/RPU and DWT. The selected consultant will receive logistical and administrative support from the ILO to manage fieldwork. The consultant will report to the ROAS on all aspects of consultancy deliverables and day-to-day work schedules. The ROAS will provide support in accessing key internal documents and reviewing protocols and will facilitate discussion with key ILO officers, if necessary. Monitoring or progress will be ensured through weekly exchanges between the ROAS and the consultant. Schedule and Reporting Key dates and deliverables It is expected that the work will be carried out over a period of three months. Tentative Timeframe Contract start date: 24 June 2016 Contract end date: 24 September 2016 Suggested period for interviews: July 2016 Output Description Approximate Length Inception Report Draft Report The inception report will include a draft report outline, a detailed work plan; a list of possible additional data/information sources to be consulted; a detailed methodology; key questions to be addressed; analytical approach. The ROAS will review the inception report and the consultant will respond in writing to all comments received. The draft report will be based on the approved inception report. The report will present three sections based on the three objectives, in addition to an executive summary. The review report will be written in English and be no 4 pages 30 pages

7 longer than 30 pages, excluding annexes. Final report The final report will present the completed analysis, and must respond appropriately to comments and feedback from key ILO officials. Debrief There will be a debrief of the results presented to the ILO ROAS during a strategic retreat organized by the office 30 pages 5 pages Completion Criteria Specifications: - Deliverables will be regarded as delivered when they have been received electronically by the Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Officer and confirmed acceptance of them. - All deliverables must be prepared in English, using Microsoft Word, and delivered electronically to ILO. ILO will have ownership and copyright of all deliverables in accordance with the provisions of the Terms and Conditions applicable to ILO Contracts for Services. - Gender equality issues shall be explicitly addressed throughout the evaluation outputs including final reports need to be gender mainstreamed as well as included in the evaluation summary. - Acceptance by the ILO will be acknowledged only if the deliverable(s) concerned are judged to be in accordance with the requirements set out in the contract, to reflect agreements reached and plans submitted during the contract process, and incorporate or reflect consideration of amendments proposed by ILO. Quality assurance - The consultant will be required to ensure the quality of data (validity, reliability, consistency and accuracy) throughout the analytical and reporting phases. It is expected that the report will be written in an evidence-based manner and that all observations, conclusions, recommendations etc., will be supported by evidence and analysis. Application Requirements

8 Selection of the contractor will be done by the ILO based on their technical and commercial proposals. Proposals to undertake any work under these ToRs will be submitted in English and must contain the following information and documents: 1. Technical Proposal - A short summary of profile and capacity of the Contractor to conduct the assessment, including a record of relevant work executed in the past five years; - A proposal on how the contractor intends to complete the work described in the ToRs; - The CV(s) of the lead evaluator and other team members that will undertake the work; - A timeline with proposed dates for contract start, end dates, and tentative dates for few key interviews. 2. Commercial Proposal A proposal setting out the total cost for the required services including a daily fee (or daily fees in case several team members will be involved in the evaluation), nr. of work days per staff, and tentative travel costs per mission. The Financial Offer form is enclosed as Annex II-F. Qualifications of the evaluating company - Evaluation must be a work area of the company. The company must have carried out similar assignments for a development programme or policy (by bilateral and/or international organisations) in the past five years. Familiarity with the quality standards required by the Cochrane or Campbell Collaborations would be an asset. - Minimum of 7 years of experience in strategic planning and advising. - Minimum of 5 years of experience in the region and understanding of regional context is essential. - Demonstrated analytical skills are essential; five or more years of experience in systematic review, and/or on the synthesis of large volumes of quantitative and qualitative information is preferable. Qualifications of the key staff Lead Evaluator - Minimum 7 years of experience in the area of performance assessment, strategy development and SWOT analysis. - Minimum 5 years of experience as evaluation/project manager/leader. - Minimum 5 years of relevant knowledge/experience of labour marker issues and Decent Work. - Work experience in countries in the region is preferable. - Fluency in English (spoken and written) is essential. Terms of payment

9 Fees: To be determined 1. First payment: 20% upon submission of the inception report 2. Second payment: 40% upon submission of the draft report to the quality that is acceptable to the ILO 3. Final payment: 40% upon submission of the final report to the satisfaction of the ILO Special conditions Contractor s Personnel Further to paragraph 4.5 of the Terms and Conditions applicable to ILO Contracts for Services in Annex IV, the following provisions will apply: 1. The Contractor s project team will be composed of Personnel listed below: [name and title of Personnel] [name and title of Personnel] 2. The Contractor s project team is considered essential for the performance of the Services. In consequence: 2.1. Prior to replacing any Personnel of the Contractor s project team, the Contractor will notify the ILO reasonably in advance and will submit detailed justifications together with the curriculum vitae of members of the proposed replacement Personnel in order to allow, firstly, their evaluation by the ILO and, secondly, an estimate of the impact of the said replacement on the planning of the Services; 2.2. The Contractor will not replace any Personnel on the Contractor s project team without the prior written consent of the ILO, which approval will not be unreasonably withheld; and 2.3. The Contractor will not remove the Personnel listed in clause 1 from the project without obtaining a written approval from the ILO except for (i) the voluntary resignation of the Personnel from employment with the Contractor; (ii) dismissal of the Personnel from employment with the Contractor for misconduct (e.g. fraud, drug abuse or theft); (iii) removal of such Personnel following his or her material failure to perform obligations pursuant to the Contract; or, (iv) the death or disability of such Personnel. 3. If any Personnel of the Contractor s project team are removed by the Contractor or for any reason are no longer available to perform the Services, the Contractor will propose replacement Personnel acceptable to the ILO of equal or better knowledge, experience and ability to carry out the assigned tasks. The provisions of clauses 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 of this Contract will apply. 4. Further to sub-paragraph of the Terms and Conditions applicable to ILO Contracts for Services in Annex IV, in the event of demonstrable poor performance or misconduct by Personnel of the Contractor s project team, or if the Personnel of the Contractor s project team do not meet the ILO s requirements, if the ILO so decides, after consultation with the Contractor, the

10 Contractor will provide an appropriate replacement or replacements for such Personnel. The Contractor will provide suitable replacement Personnel within ten (10) business days. The provisions of clauses 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 of this Contract will apply. 5. In the event that an agreement between the ILO and the Contractor upon the replacement Personnel has not been reached within ten (10) business days, the ILO reserves the right to terminate the Contract immediately. The delay stated in sub-paragraph of the Terms and Conditions applicable to ILO Contracts for Services in Annex IV will not apply.

11 Annex I: The desk review will include: Objective 1: Evaluations and DWCP reviews: - Internal and independent evaluation documents; - DWCP independent evaluation (Cluster evaluation for opt, Jordan, Lebanon); - Three Country Programme Reviews (Syria, Yemen, Jordan). High-level policy and strategy evaluation reports: - Evaluation of ILO s work in Fragile States-2015; - Evaluation of ILO s DW strategy in the Arab region 2013; - Independent evaluation of the ILO s strategies on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work; - MENA Synthesis Review of lessons learned in youth and women employment; - (more to be identified with consultant) Implementation reports (background info): - Implementation Reports of ILO outcomes over the last 3 biennium, - ROAS Development results report ; - GB paper: Regional perspectives on development cooperation in the Arab States; - Regional reporting on the Social Justice Declaration evaluation; Other studies: (Recent studies to be added upon consultation with DWT) Constituents feedback will be provided as available through previously conducted surveys. Objective 2: Literature review by consultant of documents and reports (ILO, UN, and other) that provide recent regional and country specific contextual information.