Selection of an individual consultant on social protection and labor statistics

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING SERVICES – INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT)

Country: Eastern Africa Region

Name of Project: Eastern Africa Regional Statistics Program for Results

Grant No: P176371

Assignment Title: Consulting Service for the Development of Guidelines on Labor Statistics in Africa

Reference No. TN-STATAFRIC - AUC-339247-CS-INDV

The African Union Commission has received financing from the World Bank toward the cost of the Eastern Africa Regional Statistics Program for Results, and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services.

The consulting services (“the Services”) include Consulting Service This assignment will focus on developing a set of guidelines for labor statistics starting by an assessment of the status of the production of Labour Statistics within AU Member States. Specific tasks include:

• Desk research assessment of the status of the production of Labour Statistics within AU Member States;
• Development of set of guidelines to facilitate the production of Labour Statistics within the AU Member States;
• Listing of both international and continental best practices related to the production of labour statistics.
• Recommendation of tools to strengthen the coordination, collaboration, data sharing and communication of labour statistics at national, regional, continental and international levels;
• Drafting a suggested roadmap for the implementation of these guidelines.

The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment are attached to this request for expressions of interest.

The African Union Commission now invites eligible individuals (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. The shortlisting criteria are:

The consultant must have at least a master’s degree in statistics, demography, econometrics, social sciences or a related field with at least 20 years of professional experience. Other proficiencies:

• Profound experience in socio-economic statistics with a focus on Labour Statistics preferred;
• Demonstrated effective, oral and written communication skills;
• Excellent Analytical and quantitative skills;
• Teamwork: the ability to work in a multicultural environment;
• Proper multitasking abilities and the ability to deliver in a timely manner;
• Excellent drafting ability, especially in the preparation of clear, concise and understandable reports for decision-makers;
• Ability to extract, interpret and analyze data format from a variety of sources;
• Language proficiency in at least one of the AU languages (Arabic, English, French or Portuguese). The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to Section III, paragraphs, 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” July 2016, revised November 2020 (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest.

A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Individual Consultant selection method set out in the Procurement Regulations.

Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours i.e. 0900 to 1700 hours.

Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form to the address below (in person, or by mail, or by e-mail) by 21 September 2023

African Union Commission,

Attn: Head of Supply Chain Management Division

Building C, 3rd Floor,

P.O Box 3243, Roosevelt Street

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Tel: +251 (0) 11 551 7700 – Ext 4305

Fax: +251 (0) 11 551 0442; +251 11-551-0430

E-mails: [email protected]

Terms of Reference

Introduction

In January 2021, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union adopted the Second Strategy for the Harmonization of Statistics in Africa (SHaSA II) as a continental strategy for the development of statistics in Africa for Next 10 years, and its action plan, financing plan and resource mobilization strategy. To implement this strategy, 18 Specialized Technical Groups (STGs) were set up. The objective of these specialized technical groups is to create a framework for discussions and exchange so as to accelerate the production and harmonization of statistics in Africa to support the planning, monitoring and evaluation of Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030. These STGs discuss national practices, international standards, and methodological guides for statistical harmonization in respective fields in Africa.

One of the 18 specialized technical groups of SHaSA 2 is the Working Group on the Employment and Informal Economy Statistics (EIES). The objective of the STG-EIES is to develop and/or adopt standard methodologies in the labour market and the informal economy in Africa. The statistical standards and methodologies adopted by the working group are key in supporting the African Union in planning, monitoring and evaluation of the flagship programs on the labour market in Africa, in particular, the 2014 AUC’s Ouagadougou + 10 Declaration and Plan of Action on Employment, Poverty Eradication and Inclusive Development in Africa; the targets and objectives of Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030 on the labour market, national and regional labour market programs at national level and regional economic communities.

In order to support African Union Member States in strengthening their technical tools on the labour market information system, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union adopted in 2010, Labour Market Information System-Harmonised Coordination Framework (LMIS-HCF). This framework has enabled the African Union Commission to develop the following tools: A minimum list of labour market indicators and a harmonized questionnaire for household and business employment surveys. Also, this framework provides guidance for Member States on how to strengthen or develop an integrated labour market information system for better management and policy development on the labour market at the national level.

In 2021, the STC SDLE adopted the guidelines for the establishment of labour market information systems in Africa through the support of the AU/ILO/IOM/ECA Joint Labour migration programme and GIZ-YouMatch programmes and called on AUC to develop an implementation plan for establishing integrated labour market information systems at the national level and provide feedback on the progress.

Likewise, many studies have shown that 60% of the African economy is informal; with more than 86% in Sub-Saharan in Africa. Despite the importance of the informal economy in African economies, very few African countries have good, reliable, and quality information for measuring the informal economy. Therefore, it is important to harmonize the different approaches used for measuring the informal economy at the country level and initiate advocacy campaigns for African countries to set up national surveys on the informal economy.

The 21st International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS), which will take place in October 2023, will review and discuss for possible adoption of a draft suite of international standards for statistics on informal economy. If adopted, the revised statistical standard will replace the previous resolutions concerning statistics on employment in the informal sector (adopted in 1993, 15th ICLS) and the Guidelines concerning statistics on informal employment (adopted in 2003, 17th ICLS). Hence, it is necessary to engage in productive discussion with stakeholders in the African statistical system to enhance their participation in the 21st ICLS, and to obtain their feedback on the challenges facing African Countries.

Over the last decade, African governments have made significant efforts to develop a range of contributory social protection schemes. Despite this, majority of the population remains without access to social protection. Reliable, accurate and comparable data are needed for the formulation, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment of effective social protection policies and programmes. Thus, strengthening data availability is mandatory for monitoring progress in social protection towards achieving SDG target 1.3. In addition, there is a necessity to progressively harmonize social protection data and develop common standards, principles and guidelines on social protection statistics and indicators.

According to SHaSA II, STGs must meet at least twice a year, and present a report with recommendations to the annual meeting of the Committee of Director Generals of National Statistical Institutes for analysis and adoption. Thus, to this end, the African Union Commission in collaboration with the International Labour Office would like to organize the first meeting of the specialized technical group on the Employment and Informal Economy Statistics (EIES) of SHaSA II in 2023. The main items on the agenda of this STG-EIES meeting will focus on:

(i) Labour Market Statistics;

(ii) Informal Economy statistics;

(iii) Social protection statistics.

These items are included in the joint programme between ILO and AU in the area of labour statistics.

To complement the above, The 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians, Recognizing the need to promote the development of international standards, common methodologies and approaches on labor migration statistics, Taking note of the ILO’s constitutional mandate to protect “the interests of workers employed in countries other than their own” (ILO Constitution, 1919, Preamble, recital 2), and the ILO-specific international standards for the governance of labor migration and protection of migrant workers, the Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97), and the Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143), and the ILO Action Plan for Migrant Workers, adopted at the 2004 International Labour Confere