Service Contract for the Assessment of Ethiopia’s Overseas Employment Sector and Development of Training Module for Private Overseas Employment Agenci

I. Background and purpose

Ethiopia continues to be one of the major migrants sending countries in the East and Horn of Africa. Labour migration, particularly to the Middle East and Gulf States, represents an important source of employment and income for Ethiopian workers. Recognizing this importance, the Government of Ethiopia has undertaken significant reforms to strengthen the governance of overseas employment, including the revision of Overseas Employment Proclamation No. 923/2016, No. 1246/2021 and Amendment Proclamation No. 1389/2025, development of bilateral labour agreements, the modernization of digital systems such as the Ethiopian Labour Market Information System (E-LMIS) and enhancement of regulatory oversight for Private Overseas Employment Agencies (PrEAs). Despite progress, key challenges persist, private overseas employment agencies (PrEAs) continue to face operational, and compliance constrains; monitoring and enforcement systems require further strengthening; irregular migration remains widespread; and women migrant workers face heightened risks of exploitation and abuse.

To address these challenges, the ILO through the Better Regional Migration Management (BRMM) Project funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), seeks to engage a consultancy firm to undertake: A comprehensive assessment of the overseas employment sector in Ethiopia, identifying regulatory, operational, and gender dimensions, challenges, gaps, and opportunities; and the development of a practical, standardized training module for PrEAs to strengthen fair recruitment practices in line with international labour standards, including the ILO General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment and Definition of Recruitment Fees and Related Costs.

II. Objective

The overall objective of this service contract is to support the Government of Ethiopia and national stakeholders in improving governance of overseas employment by:

1. Generating evidence-based analysis on the overseas employment ecosystem to guide policy and regulatory reforms; and
2. Providing training tools and capacity-building materials that promote fair recruitment and strengthen PrEAs’ compliance with national laws, international labour standards, and fair recruitment principles.

III. Scope of work

The assignment consists of two major components:

Component 1: Comprehensive Assessment of Ethiopia’s Overseas Employment Sector

The consulting firm will conduct an in-depth assessment covering:

Regulatory and Policy Framework Review

• Comparative analysis of the revised Overseas Employment Proclamation No. 1389/2025 against previous proclamations (No. 923/2016 and No. 1246/2021), focusing on key changes and alignment with international labour standards, particularly ratified conventions and ILO guidelines.
• Analysis of national laws (Proclamation No. 923/2016; No. 1246/2021; Amendment No. 1389/2025), directives, and guidelines.
• Review of bilateral labour agreements (BLAs) with major destination countries.
• Assessment of alignment with international labour standards, including relevant ILO conventions and guideline.

Institutional and Operational Assessment

• Roles and responsibilities of MoLS and regional labour bureaus.
• Effectiveness of the process undertaken to facilitate overseas employment for migrant workers throughout the migration cycle from pre-employment to return and reintegration
• Rapid review of the PrEA licensing, monitoring, and inspection systems.
• Effectiveness of E-LMIS and digital recruitment processes.
• Coordination mechanisms among government, PrEAs, CSOs, and social partners.

Private Overseas Employment Agencies (PrEAs)

• Operational capacity, governance, and compliance with the 2021 Code of Conduct.
• Recruitment practices, fee structures, and worker orientation processes.
• Challenges and opportunities for improving fair recruitment practices.

Migrant Worker Protection

• Contracting processes, information provision, complaint/grievance handling mechanisms and remedy actions-.
• Identification of vulnerabilities, especially for women migrant workers.
• Review of socio-economic reintegration support systems for returnees.

Labour Migration Corridors

• Key destination countries and emerging opportunities.
• Analysis of recruitment demand trends and skill requirements.
• Labour market opportunities review through map new and emerging labour migration corridors in Europe, North America, Asia, and the Gulf, identifying skill requirements and implications for recruitment systems.

Irregular Migration and Risk Factors

• Drivers of irregular migration, smuggling, and trafficking pathways.
• Barriers to regular recruitment and pathways to formalization.

Data and Information Systems

• Data gaps and needs in E-LMIS, migration statistics, and reporting systems.

Recommendations and Priority Actions

• Policy, regulatory, institutional, and operational recommendations.
• Strategies for strengthening fair recruitment and ethical practices.
• Opportunities for sector modernization and growth.

Validation

The consulting firm will support a validation workshop, present draft report, revise based on feedback, and finalize deliverables.

Component 2: Development of Both Standard and Online Version Training Module for PrEAs

A comprehensive, practical, user-friendly training package including an online version shall be developed to strengthen the capacity of PrEAs.

Training Content Areas

The package should cover, at minimum:

• International labour standards relevant to labour migration.
• ILO General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment.
• ILO definition of recruitment fees and related costs.
• Ethiopian legal frameworks governing PrEAs.
• Fair and Ethical recruitment and due diligence practices.
• Use of the E-LMIS platform.
• Worker contract management, documentation, and transparency.
• Gender-sensitive and protection-oriented recruitment.
• Complaint-handling, grievance mechanisms and remedy actions
• Case studies, role-plays, and practical agency-level tools.

Training Components

The final training module shall include:

• Facilitator Guide (trainer notes, methodologies, exercises)
• Participant Manual
• Presentation slides (PowerPoint)
• Training tools and checklists
• Standardized assessment tools (pre/post tests)

Validation of training material and Training of Trainers (ToT) Session:

Training material will be validated in the presence of relevant stakeholders, and the consulting firm will deliver two ToT sessions where one is dedicated for PrEA members of the Ethiopian Overseas Employment Agencies Federation (EOEAF) and another dedicated for PrEA members of the Future association. Government officials, social partners and key stakeholders will also be in attendance. The consultant will prepare all materials, facilitate sessions, document feedback, and provide a short completion report along with outcomes of the validation workshop and summarized participation, learning outcomes, and recommendations.

IV. Deliverables

Deliverable Description Timeline

Inception Report; Methodology, work plan, tools, stakeholder map Week 1-2

Draft Assessment Report; Comprehensive analysis with findings & recommendations Week 3

Draft PrEA Training Module; Facilitator guide, participant manual, tools Week 5

ToT and validation of the training material report; Presentation, practical case studies, tools, checklists, templates, and sample forms, and feedback integration Week 6

Validation Workshop; Presentation and feedback integration Week 6

Final Assessment Report Revised and validated final report Week 8

Final Training Module Package Complete, standard training tools Week 8

1. Inception Report:

A detailed inception report (10-12 pages) outlining the refined methodology, stakeholder engagement plan, data collection tools, analytical framework, and a clear workplan with timelines. This report will demonstrate understanding of the assignment and incorporate feedback from ILO BRMM and national partners.

2. Comprehensive Assessment Report:

A high-quality analytical report (35 pages excluding annexes) presenting findings from the desk review, consultations, and fieldwork. The report will identify regulatory and operational barriers affecting PrEAs, analyse gaps in compliance with fair recruitment standards, assess gender-specific vulnerabilities, and map opportunities for emerging labour migration corridors. The report must include actionable and prioritized recommendations for policy, regulatory, institutional, and operational improvement of the overseas employment sector. All data sources, interview summaries, and tools should be annexed.

3. Training Module Package for PrEAs:

A complete, user-friendly training package aligned with the 2021 Code of Conduct and ILO fair recruitment principles. The package should include:

• Facilitator’s guide with training methodologies, agenda, and instructions
• Participant manual with exercises, reference materials, and key concepts
• PowerPoint presentation set (editable)
• Practical case studies, tools, checklists, templates, and sample forms

The module must be designed for replication and suitable for integration into government, federation, and PrEA training programmes.

4. Training of Trainers (ToT) Session:

A short ToT completion report summarizing participation, pre and post training assessment, learning outcomes, and recommendations.

5. Final Revised Package:

Submission of all final deliverables incorporating ILO comments as well as stakeholders input following the validation workshop, with clean and track-change versions. All materials must be fully editable and ready for future use under the BRMM project.

V. Supervision and reporting arrangements

The consultant will report to the BRMM Chief Technical Adviser, ILO Country Office for Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan, and will work in close coordination with the Labour Migration and Mobility Specialists. Feedback will be provided at key milestones, and all outputs must receive written approval from ILO prior to validation.

VI. Time frame

The work will be carried out between 01 January 2026 – 10 March 2026.

VII. Detailed qualifications, experience and skills required

• Team leader will have advanced university degree in labour migration, international relations, law, public policy, or related field. In addition, the tea, leader must have excellent analytical writing, facilitation, and communication skills.
• The consulting firm must have a minimum 10 years’ professional experience in labour migration governance, recruitment regulation, or migrant worker protection.
• The consulting firm should have proven expertise in labour migration governance, fair recruitment, and skills mobility. In addition, the firm should have proven experience conducting assessments and developing training materials in the migration or labour sectors.
• The consultancy firm should have strong knowledge of fair recruitment, international labour standards (including the General Principles & Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment), gender-responsive migration governance, and digital labour migration systems.
• The consultancy firm should have demonstrated experience collaborating with governments, PrEAs, social partners, and UN agencies.

VIII. Indicators for evaluation of outputs

• Deliverables submitted within agreed timelines.
• Quality, clarity, and technical accuracy of the assessment report.
• Training module’s alignment with ILO standards and ease of use for PrEAs and government partners.
• Responsiveness to ILO comments and adherence to BRMM methodological expectations.

IX. Payment terms

1. Payments will be made in instalments based on acceptance of deliverables by ILO:

• 20% upon approval of inception report.
• 40% upon submission of full assessment report.
• 40% upon delivery of training module, ToT session and final revised package.

1. In case of progress payments, payment schedule and timeframe shall be based on the number of days corresponding to the deliverables.

X. Requirement for application

Interested consulting firms are invited to submit a complete application package that includes technical and financial proposals, prepared in line with the ToR. The technical proposal should follow the structure below:

Technical Proposal

The consulting firms should submit their technical application proposal prepared in accordance with this ToR and using the following structure:

Applicants must submit a technical proposal including:

• Overview of the consultant/organization, demonstrating relevant expertise in labour migration governance, fair recruitment, migration research, or related areas.
• Description of prior work in Ethiopia and/or the region, particularly experience working with government institutions, private employment agencies, UN agencies, and civil society organizations.
• Summary of similar assignments delivered, including sectoral assessments, policy analysis, training module development, or migration governance support.
• Evidence of previous assignments in labour migration, fair recruitment, migrant worker protection, gender-responsive programming, capacity-building, or related thematic areas.
• Sample(s) of previous research reports, assessments, or training materials (links or attachments).
• Description of the methodology for conducting the assessment, data collection, stakeholder consultations, gender analysis, and validation.
• Outline of the approach for developing the training module and conducting the ToT session.
• Monitoring and quality assurance mechanisms.
• Activity plan with timeline, milestones, and sequencing aligned with deliverables.
• CV of the proposed lead consultant and any team members (if applicable), demonstrating qualifications and practical experience relevant to the assignment.
• Clear description of roles and responsibilities of each team member.
• Identification of anticipated challenges relating to data collection, stakeholder availability, timeline risks, or contextual constraints. Proposed mitigation measures.

The Technical Proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the following criteria, as indicated below.

Description of Technical Evaluation Score

Consulting firm a minimum of 10 years’ of relevant experience in labour migration governance, overseas employment systems, and/or fair recruitment 20%

Quality and relevance of past research, assessments, and training material development 20%

Soundness and clarity of proposed methodology and implementation plan 20%

Consulting firm has experience working with government institutions, PrEAs, social partners, and international organizations 10%

The proposed team demonstrates strong capacity across all required areas. The team leader holds an advanced degree in labour migration and has over 10 years of experience in migration governance and fair recruitment. Technical experts bring specialized knowledge in gender-responsive programming, digital recruitment systems, and bilateral labour agreements. The training specialist has extensive experience in developing user-friendly training packages and conducting ToT sessions aligned with ILO standards. The research analyst is proficient in migration data analysis and labour market mapping, ensuring robust evidence-based outputs (share CV of the team) 20%

Feasibility, clarity, and completeness of work plan and risk mitigation strategy 5%

The consulting firm have previous experience working with international bilateral donors 5%

Maximum points 100%

Only bids which achieve a minimum score of 70 % in their technical offer will be considered for financial review. 70%

Evaluation methodology

Vendors must achieve a minimum 70% in the technical evaluation to

be considered technically compliant.

Weighting: Technical Proposal = 70%, Financial Proposal = 30%

Financial proposals of technically compliant vendors will be evaluated

as follows: P=Y (X/Z) Where: P= points for the financial proposal being evaluated

Y= maximum number of points for the financial proposal (30)

X= price of the lowest-priced proposal

Z= price of the proposal being evaluated

The proposal obtaining the highest combined score (technical + financial) will be considered the one offering best value for money.

How to apply

You can also access the advertisement using the following link: https://www.ungm.org/Public/Notice/287228

Please submit your offer before the specified deadline.

Interested applicants that meet the eligibility requirements should submit their detailed technical proposal and financial proposal to addis_procurement@ilo.org