Consultancy
No.: [[DC/SUV/EXCOL/2024/01]]
Publication date: 11 January 2024
Application deadline :15 January 2024 (5:00pm)
Job ID: 11545
Department: [[CO-Suva]]
Organization Unit: [[CO-Suva]]
Location: [[Suva, Fiji]]
The ILO is issuing a call for expressions of interest for experts in the Technical support for output delivery, partnership building and expert advice on the Strategic Compliance model in fisheries who wish to be included in a consultancy database currently being compiled by the department of CO-Suva.
Interested consultants are invited to submit their application on-line in order to establish their profile in the database from which they may be considered for consultancy opportunities that may arise. Inclusion in the database does not guarantee a contract with the ILO. Applications will be maintained in the database for a period of one week. You will be contacted directly by the concerned departments/office if preselected.
Candidates also applying for fixed-term employment positions with the ILO are encouraged to respond to this call for expression of interest if they so wish.
The ILO values diversity. We welcome applications from qualified women and men, including those with disabilities. If you are unable to complete our online application form due to a disability, please send an email to ilojobs@ilo.org
Background
The ILO Country Office for Pacific Island Countries is committed to interventions that progress Pacific Island Countries towards decent work. The ILO Office for Pacific Island Countries, in collaboration with the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), is implementing part of a four-year project to improve labour standards on fishing vessels in the Pacific.
The Project covers 15 countries in the Pacific:
- ILO Member States: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
- Non-Member States: Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue and Tokelau.
Broadly, the project includes activities to help government agencies improve how they enforce laws as well as promote relevant ILO instruments such as the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188) and the Work in Fishing Recommendation, 2007 (No. 199)
Background (cont)
- The provision of information, opportunities for collaboration and coordination, and technical support to PICs to improve working conditions on fishing vessels.
- Technical and operational support to Pacific Island Countries (PICs) to develop, implement, monitor and enforce labour standards, including the national implementation of MTCs for Crew Employment Conditions.
- The provision of knowledge and tools for advocacy, awareness raising and social consensus building on improving working conditions on fishing vessels.
- Technical support and advice to fishing entities in PICs establish and maintain safe, decent and worthwhile working conditions on fishing vessels.
Background(cont)
The ILO is implementing particular elements of the Project, which is funded for four years and was due to start in 2021. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, effective implementation did not begin until early 2022. It is not expected that all 15 countries will benefit equally from ILO project interventions.
In the framework of the joint project, the ILO is working in four areas:
- Promoting responsible business conduct;
- Promoting enhanced worker representation and voice for fishers;
- Assisting government to work more effectively to promote compliance with national laws and where they do not exist, defer to the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188); and
- Providing information and awareness-raising to communities whence where fishers come, both Pasifika and international, and aiding Pacific Island governments to engage with countries with out-migration to the industry.
Context
Fishers suffer decent work deficits in their work around the globe. In an effort to reduce these and realise decent work for all, in 2007, the ILO adopted the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188). The Convention (C188) provided a new international legal standard that addresses specific issues in the fishing sector.
Since its existence in the Pacific, the ILO has provided technical assistance to PICs in facilitating national labour law reform, so it is aligned with the ongoing changes and realities of employment and labour markets in the PICs; whilst identifying priority directions for shaping decent work in the future. The adoption of labour laws and regulations is an important means of implementing ILS, promoting the ILO Declaration and the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and putting the concept of Decent Work into practice.
Fiji became a member of the ILO in 1974, four years after its independence in 1970. In 1975, the ILO opened its Office in Suva and continues to enjoy a progressive and cordial relationship with its tripartite partners โ the Ministry of Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations (MEPIR), the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation (FCEF) and the Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC).
Through the Labour Standards On Fishing Vessels project, Fiji has been implementing a strategic compliance model to improve labour conditions for fishers. Within this model, legislative reform is anticipated, alongside an eventual ratification of C188.
More broadly, the project needs additional technical support in its final year of delivery to ensure the ILO is strategically placed to benefit from an anticipated second phase. An External Collaborator or team with specific experience in strategic compliance and the fishing sector is required to backstop the technical outputs of the project.
Objective
The primary objective of this consultancy is to support anticipated technical outputs of the project, and guide participation in key events and forums.
Scope of Work
The External Collaborator/s will deliver:
1.Support to the updating of a comprehensive assessment of current labour standards and working conditions on board fishing vessels in the Pacific to ensure the document demonstrates the highest technical standards and is able to be published in accordance with ILO guidelines.
2.IEC materials that ensure full utilization of research products commissioned in earlier stages of the project, including support for the mapping of private sector initiatives to be posted on the Global Business and Forced Labour Network platform.
3. In Fiji particularly, strategies to strengthen and enforce existing regulations and standards related to labour in the fishing industry and the ongoing work to deliver a strategic compliance approach.
4. Guidance to the ILO in its engagements with the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and participation in the annual meeting of WCPFC; participation in FFAโs Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Working Group (MCS-WG) meeting held Honiara, Solomon Islands in March 2023; and contribution to the FFA Maritime Seminar held in Honiara, Solomon Islands in February 2024.
Scope of work (cont)
5. A roadmap to strengthen and enhance the MTCs as they relate to crew standards over time.
6.Strategic collaboration with relevant stakeholders, including government agencies, fishing industry representatives, and civil society organizations, to build awareness and commitment to improving labour standards.
7.Input into training materials on labour standards and the fishing sector to ensure regional relevance and utility.
8.Logistical and administrative support to a proposed โthink tankโ around fishersโ organizing needs, models and interventions and their (potential) links to industry initiatives/codes of conduct.
Deliverables
The consultant shall work under the technical guidance of the project staff, the International Labour Standards and Labour Law Reform Specialist and under the overall supervision of the ILO Country Office for Pacific Island Countries in Suva, Fiji. The consultant will complete and submit the following deliverables, to the satisfaction of ILO Country Office for Pacific Island Countries:
(1)
Key Activities
Deliverables
Tentative timeline
Support to the updating of a comprehensive assessment of current labour standards and working conditions on board fishing vessels in the Pacific to ensure the document demonstrates the highest technical standards and is able to be published in accordance with ILO guidelines.
Assessment of labour standards is of a publishable standard and technically sound (a separate contract will be issued to deliver the bulk of this work, this deliverable expects a technical review). Support to assistance with publication process.
Jan-Sept 2024
(2)
Guidance to the ILO in its engagements with the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and participation in the annual meeting of WCPFC; participation in FFAโs Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Working Group (MCS-WG) meeting held Honiara, Solomon Islands in March 2023; and contribution to the FFA Maritime Seminar held in Honiara, Solomon Islands in February 2024.