Terms of Reference for

Operational Support Consultancy

1.    Executive Summary

Request from:	Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF)
Type of Program:	Migrant Right Advocacy
Type of Consultancy	Short-term consultancy
Agreement Symbol	EuropeAid/176716/DD/ACT/TH
Funding Source	The European Union
Project title:	Advancing People Rights for Sustainable Development and Inequality Reduction in Thailand Project
Project duration:	24 months
Overall Project Objective:	To promote and protect labour rights and promote safe working environment for vulnerable migrant workers in and around Mae Sot District, Tak, Thailand, for decent work and economic growth.
Specific Project Objectives:	To provide technical assistance to the MWAC in Mae Sot to improve their services by focusing on the development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and making it available for migrant workers to be able to seek protection.
Objective of the Consultancy:	The main objective of this consultancy is to provide operational technical support to improve the quality of the state-run mechnanism, MWAC in Mae Sot, in handling violation cases of migrant workers, particularly through collaboration with local CSOs.
Approach of the Consultancy	To develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for case referral between MWAC in Mae Sot, related government agencies and CSOs under close consulation with MWAC and HRDF.
Period of Work:	14 working days over a span of haft year (September 2024 – September 2025)
Expected completion date: (Legal Case Documentation)	September 2025

Background to the Project

Thailand has been attracting low-skilled migrants from neighbouring countries for decades.  It hosts approximately 3.9 million documented and undocumented migrant workers from Cambodia, Laos, Viet Nam, and Myanmar. In this regard, it is assumed that 80% of them are Myanmar migrants. Tak province, is a common destination for Myanmar migrants due to flexibility of border management and the impact of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) that create high demand of labour as well as the growth of agricultural sector. In Mae Sot, there are over 300 manufacturing factories locating in the district and it is seen as a pull-factor for migrants to come and seek better economic opportunities. However, migrant workers in the target areas, especially those work in agriculture sector encountered with different forms of exploitation and human rights violations, such as unpaid wages, document confiscation, prohibited from leaving their workplace, and police raids and threats. Migrants also reported experiencing verbal abuse and discrimination by employers based on their sex and nationality. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, a wide range of risks already posed on migrant workers in Thailand. The pandemic is a magnifier of existing risks for migrant workers.  Poor living and working conditions, exploitative wages, migration-related debt and lack of gender-responsive labour protection mechanism all existed prior to the pandemic, but their negative effects are compounded by this unprecedented health and economic crisis. The pandemic has further exacerbated these vulnerabilities.  A recent assessment conducted by IOM from August to October 2022 found that migrant workers in Mae Sot, Tak Province are more vulnerable compared to workers in other four provinces surveyed. Lack of documentation was most prevalent in Tak (51%) followed by Ranong (16%). Employment levels were much lower among Myanmar migrant workers in Tak, with 36% of respondents reporting no work in the year prior compared 21% in Ranong. A majority (87%) of Myanmar nationals who worked throughout the year reported lacking an employer agreement defining their length of employment, working hours, wages, and entitlements.  Working without an agreement was most common in Tak (97%). Only 23% in Tak earning at least 315 THB per day compared to 76% in Ranong.  Respondents who travelled to Thailand for employment reasons paid an average of 4,700 THB (130 USD) per household member for migration cost. On top of migration cost, they have to pay high cost to get or renew their documentation, which is around 7,700 THB (210 USD) on average. In Mae Sot, the research conducted by Mekong Migration Network (MMN) found that the typical daily wage of a migrant agricultural workers was just THB120-150 (USD3.95-4.95) and the work was available only intermittently.  On this sub-minimum wage income it is extremely difficult for migrant agricultural workers to afford the thousands of baht required by the formal migration pathways (MMN, 2020). A combination of high migration and documentation cost while receiving below the minimum wage has created greater inequality and poverty.  Male respondents were recorded earning minimum wage or higher more commonly than female respondents (80% and 65%, respectively) according to the above assessment conducted by IOM. The gender pay gap is seen as a discriminatory method using against women workers whereas their contribution in Thailand economic growth is remarkable.

This proposed action aims at addressing these issues by building on effective results from the previous EU-funding project called “CSO Development for the Promotion and Advancement of Migrant Rights” (CSO DPAMR) such as Factory Model Initiative, CSOs capacity development for migrant rights advocacy, legal assistance, and tripartite collaboration to address the issues related to labour/human rights violations. Significantly, the initiatives developed in this action, such as building capacities of the Mae Sot based actors (Federation of Thai Industries-FTI, Labour Protection Office-LPO, and Safety Officer Club-SOC) to improve workplace safety, strengthen capacities of CSO/CBOs working on legal protection, supporting Migrant Rights Promotion Working Group (MRPWG) to advance the existing advocacy roadmap, and continue working with the Migrant Worker Assistance Centre (MWAC) in Mae Sot will be utilized to achieve the project goal.

Overall Objective: To  promote and protect labour rights and promote safe working environment for vulnerable migrant workers in and around Mae Sot District, Tak, Thailand, for decent work and economic growth. Specific objective: (1) To increase private sector compliance of labour/human rights standards in and around Mae Sot District, Tak, Thailand; (2) To strengthen local CSOs’ effectiveness for the advancement of migrant workers’ labour/human rights. 

Expected outputs

1. Increased awareness of duty bearers and target employers about migrant labour/human rights;

2.  Strengthened capacities on labour laws and measures addressing access to legal protection of migrant workers from Mae Sot area against unfair labour practices

3. Enhanced CSOs knowledge and skills for the effective advocacy in migrant rights.

4. Enhanced opportunities for dialogue and collaboration among duty bearers, CSOs, and private sector for the improvement of the protection of labour rights for migrant workers.

Key Tasks of the Lead Consultant or Consulting Team

The individual consultant or the consulting team will undertake the following activities in order to provide  the taskforce in state’s Migrant Workers Assistance Center (MWAC).

Timeframe of the Consultancy

A total of 14  payable working days is planned for this consultancy:

• 2 days of developing the strategies and design work plan in consultation with HRDF.
• 9 days of preparing the tool and training manual with HRDF and MWAC’.
• 2 days of organizing two one-day workshops to collect feedback from MWAC and stakeholders and workshop. The consultant will lead and facilitate the meetings and compile the input to be used for advocating for migrant worker’s rights and Human Rights and Business approach.
• 1 day for feedback and recommendations provided by MWAC to HRDF.

Products Expected from the Consultancy

The consultant will provide the operational support as well as the technical support to Migrant Worker Assistance Center to develop the referral case mechanism. 

Background of the Consultant

• At least 10 years’ experience in the domains of migrant workers  rights,  policy and  advocacy.
• Has a proven track record of working with the Migrant Worker Assistance Center (MWAC) 

• Experience in handling labour cases, referral case mechanisms, and human trafficking and force labour element is preferred.
• Must be able to speak, read, and write Thai

Submission of Application

• Applications should be submitted no later than 25 September  2022.
• Applications in the English or Thai language, including i) a resume of not more than 3 pages; ii) a cover letter; iii) a brief proposal to describe how this consultancy will be carried out; iv) contact details of 2 references should be submitted by email to [email protected]

and cc [email protected]  

• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.