Request for Proposal (RfP)

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is looking for Consultant/ Firm to develop indicators to track progress against Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and Seventh Five Year Plan (7FYP) as per below Terms of Reference (ToR):

1. Background/Context of the programme:

Bangladesh is a major labour sending country, with approximately 10.9 million Bangladeshis living in 162 countries of the world (BMET 2017). According to Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) of the Government of Bangladesh, around 690,046 migrant workers have been employed from January 2017 till August, 2017 in countries which include KSA, UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Sudan, Malaysia, Singapore, S. Korea, UK, Italy, Japan, Brunei, Mauritius, Iraq, and others.  It is estimated that around USD 13.6 million was remitted to the country during 2016, making labour migration, a major strategy for improving socio-economic conditions (BMET 2017).

Bangladesh continues to prioritize migration as a development strategy, for instance Bangladesh spearheaded the inclusion of migration in SDG as manifested in the Dhaka Declaration of the Global Leadership Meeting on Population Dynamics in the context of the Post-2015 Development Agenda and Global Expert Meeting on Migration in the Post-2015 Development Agenda organized in Dhaka respectively on 2013 and 2014.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) under goal 10.7 includes “facilitate orderly, safe, and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies” while many other goals are also relevant for migration. The progress against the target is measured through some globally developed specific indicators applicable to all the countries. The SDGs should be translated into nationally owned visions and objectives that countries will endeavour to achieve over the next 15 years. The original data for this reporting should be information produced nationally based on the indicators for the SDG targets, with support from international organizations. 7th Five Year Plan (7FYP) also has a subsection dedicated to migration under chapter 3, part 2 and includes some objectives aiming to create a robust evidence base of migration and development mutual effects in Bangladesh, promoting economic growth and equity, enhancing skills of migrants, ensuring protection of migrants, developing new markets, ensuring human development through education, health and gender equity and creating enabling framework for migration and development. To inform policymaking and design future interventions, it is necessary to track the progress against these objectives and targets.

Despite recent improvements in migration governance, migration cost in Bangladesh still remains one of the highest in the world along with low level of protection for migrant workers and low skill set of the migrants. There has been a lot of interventions ongoing to improve migration governance by different actors. While in a project based approach the evaluation of project serves the purpose of informing the stakeholders to what extent the interventions has been successful, from a macro perspective the results are often not readily measurable. This particular assignment will contribute toward government efforts by developing indicators intended to effectively measure progress made towards achieving SDG and 7FYP migration specific objectives. From macro perspective, this will allow more concentrated approach from relevant stakeholders to improve migration governance and guide relevant activities. 

Outputs of this assignment will also feed into a separate assignment, which IOM will commission to prepare an Annual Migration Report in close collaboration with Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment (MoEWOE). The consultant is expected to work closely with the consultant for that assignment and the ministry.

There is an existing initiative implemented by General Economic Division (GED) in close collaboration with United Nation Data Group to develop appropriate indicators to track SDG targets. A2i programme under Prime Minister’s Office has also developed a SDG tracker for Bangladesh. These initiatives are broader as they are focusing on most of the goals of SDG. The consultant is expected to coordinate and build synergies with these initiatives to for comprehensive migration specific indicators. Existing tracking mechanism uses available data to report against indicators. However, for many indicators data is not readily available, for some instances data is not being collected at present and in some cases methodology to collect data against indicators is not finalized. The assignment will address these gaps, specifically for migration sector.

2. Objectives:

Given this backdrop, IOM, under the project “Bangladesh: Sustainable Reintegration and Improved Migration Governance” funded by the European Union (EU), aims to develop migration specific indicators to track progress against the SDG and 7FYP.

3. Scope of work:

• Comprehensive review of existing surveys, census, SDG target and indicator related documents, Seventh Five Year Plan and related Actions Plans, Annual Performance agreement for Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment and propose indicators to track progress against SDG and 7FYP targets.
• Primary data collection and consult with relevant stakeholders in coordination with IOM and Planning Commission.
• Indicators for which data is not readily available, examine how data can be collected through existing surveys and census which are conducted at regular interval in coordination with Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). 
• Examine how information collected by different public agencies can be converted to useful data and indicator.
• Develop proxy indicators for cases where methodology for globally established indicator is not finalized/data is not readily available. 
• Facilitate a national consultation and present the indicators in the national consultation to seek endorsement from relevant stakeholders
• Prepare a policy brief based on the outcome of the research. literature review and national consultation.

4. Methodology:

The consultant need to detail out methodology for the proposed activities however, the following can be considered: 

1. Primary Information: Information collected through Focus Group Discussions/Key informants’ interviews in coordination with IOM and Planning Commission. (with representatives from the government; private recruitment agencies, CSOs/NGOs, migrant’s association)
2. Secondary information: Review of national policies/strategies, media monitoring, revenant publications.
3. All work submitted must be in line with the programme communication guidelines including IOM spelling list: 2013 and IOM House Style Manual.

5. Duration/ Timeline:

The total duration for this assignment is proposed to be approximately 4 months.

6. Method of Application:

The completed RFP should be placed in a plain, sealed envelope and clearly marked:  CFCV-56/2017/C-BD1: Developing indicators to track progress against SDG and 7FYP to Dhaka Office by 17/10/2017 in the below address:

Procurement Department
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
House 13/A, Road 136, Gulshan-1, Dhaka 1212
Phone: +880-2-55044811 – 13;

Contact Person: Mr. Ashfaqur Rahman Khan; Email: arkhan@iom.int

7. Required Documents:

Consultancy Firm/Individual consultant need to submit technical and financial proposal.

Each Submission Must Include the Following:

• Consultancy Firm/Consultant Profile: A brief summary of the organization and CV of the expert including records on past experience in similar assignments and name of the references.
• Technical Proposal with detailed methodology, tools and work plan along with samples of previous work;
• Financial Proposal listing all costs associated with the assignment. In particular, the financial proposal should itemize the following:

1. Consultancy fees in local or USD currency per day;
2. Variable costs inclusive of transportation costs, printing of study tools; research team (if applicable); meeting/FGDs/KIIs costs
3. Costs associated with the consultation (venue, food and others) held in Dhaka will be borne by IOM.

8. Professional and Related Experiences:

The proposed team from the consultancy firms or the consultants should have following competence.

• Must be an expert who has completed minimum Master’s degree in Social Sciences or related field with at least five years of relevant professional experience. PhD is an added advantage;
• Sound knowledge and demonstrated capacity in designing the tools and methodology and conducting research
• Solid understanding about migration sector of Bangladesh.
• A good knowledge of SDG, associated indicators and 7FYP.
• Demonstrated ability to draw lessons from relevant international, regional and national practices and processes;
• Excellent presentation, oral and written communication skills;
• Proficiency in English and good analytical, drafting skills.
• Ability to deliver according to specified timeline while maintain quality of the output.

The Proposal should be written in English.

Any attempt for persuasion will be considered as a disqualification

ONLY SHORT LISTED CONSULTANTS/CONSULTANCY FIRMS WILL BE ASSESSED

ORGANIZATIONS WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY TAX OR VAT ISSUES IF APPLICABLE.

IOM is an equal opportunity employer and women are encouraged to apply.
IOM Offices and vehicles have smoke-free work environment.