Open Call: Promotion of the Decent Work Agenda for Women in Formal and Informal Sectors in Georgia

Deadline: 12-May-23

UN Women is seeking applications for the Promotion of the Decent Work Agenda for Women in Formal and Informal Sectors in Georgia.

Promoting decent work for women constitutes an important part of the WEESC Phase II project advocacy agenda in formal and informal employment sectors. Partnership with and the institutional strengthening of the Labor Inspection Office (LIO) is key towards achieving this objective. In the first phase, the WEESC project advocated for strong monitoring and enforcement mechanisms for anti-discrimination and labour rights legislation and the expansion of monitoring of workplace sexual harassment by the LIO. In addition, guidelines for assessing the harmful and hazardous work of pregnant, post-partum and nursing women were developed by UN Women in partnership with the ILO for the LIO.

The WEESC project also plans to increase public awareness of the issues faced by domestic workers, their rights, the responsibilities of employers, and vulnerabilities associated with the informal work of domestic workers. The WEESC project also plans to support those who wish to self-organize and strengthen the existing domestic workers associations, and / or establish a new association. The empowerment of domestic workers aims to increase their employment opportunities, promote improved working conditions, and contribute to the development of the local economy. The WEESC project also plans to continue the technical assistance to the Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs to support in the process of ratification of ILO Convention no. 189 and aligning Georgian regulatory standard to this convention.

The cooperation with the LIO enhances work standards for women in formal employment. Within the second main phase of the WEESC project, UN Women also intends to promote the decent work agenda among domestic workers, who are at present mostly informally employed, and the most vulnerable.

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Country Representative and/or Deputy Country Representative in Georgia and the day-to-day management of the UN Women WEESC project team, the partner will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Component 1: Partnership with the Labour Inspection Office
  • Support the institutional strengthening of the LIO in the area of monitoring and enforcement of equal pay for equal work, occupation safety of pregnant and nursing women and gender equality in general.
• Component 2: Mobilize and support domestic workers
  • Strengthen the evidence base to advocate for policy and legislative measures that promote domestic workers’ rights;
  • Together with UN Women deliver an advocacy campaign to raise public awareness of issues facing domestic workers, the responsibilities of employers, and possibilities and benefits of formalizations of domestic worker’s informal work;
• Mobilize domestic workers – increase their awareness on labour rights and legislation, including workplace sexual harassment, opportunities for formalizing their work, the right to self-organization, and support them to join an existing association of domestic workers or establish a new one.

Funding Information

• The budget range for this proposal should be Min USD 100, 000 – Max USD 140, 000.
• Timeframe: Start date and end date for completion of required services/results June  2023 to 15 July 2024

Components

• Component 1: Partnership with the LIO
  • Ensure implementation of the Equal Pay Review and Reporting (EPRR) methodology within the Labour Inspection Office (LIO)
    • In close coordination with the LIO and UN Women review the EPRR methodology and support LIO in establishment of EPRR as an integral part of the LIO internal regulations and officially operational (review should include a legal assessment of the methodology by a qualified expert);
    • In close coordination with the LIO and UN Women develop a simplified, user-friendly manual for the implementation of the EPRR methodology that will be used by Labour Inspectors as well as for distribution among employers to increase their awareness of equal pay legislation and its enforcement;
    • Organize an informational meeting with employers, business associations and other relevant organisations to discuss EPRR methodology; ;
  • Provide training for Labour Inspectors on implementation of the EPRR methodology in practice.
  • Support LIO in implementation of the “the Guidelines on Harmful and Hazardous Work for Pregnant, Post-partum and Nursing Women” in compliance with the ministerial decree N01-20 on harmful and hazardous work forpregnant women, women in the post-partum period and nursing mothers
    • Develop a simplified guideline, including the checklist to be used by the Labour Inspectors to ensure implementation of labour inspections in compliance withthe ministerial decree N01-20 on harmful and hazardous work for pregnant women, women in the post-partum period and nursing mothers (the guideline should extend beyond  the assessment of hazardous work for pregnant and post-partum women and nursing mothers in line with stated ministerial decree and include assessment of general physical/biological factors related to  occupational safety and health).
    • Develop a simplified online course using moodle platform or similar e-course engine in compliance with the ministerial decree N01-20 on harmful and hazardous work forpregnant women, women in the post-partum period and nursing mothers to be integrated as aninstitutionalized training coursefor Labour Inspectors as well as used for general public information/awareness raising;
    • Increasing awareness around gender equality issues
  • Organize capacity building activities to ensure that LIO employees in relevant professional positions have increased knowledge of gender equality and labour rights;
    • Support LIO in the integration of standardised trainings on gender equality as part of its institutionalized capacity building of its employees.
    • Development of a gender strategy and action plan
    • In close coordination with UN Womenand the LIO, develop an internal gender equality strategy and action plan for the LIO and support its adoption.
• Component 2: Mobilize and support domestic workers
  • Strengthen the evidence base to advocate for policy and legislative measures that promote domestic workers’ rights

• In close coordination with UN Women develop analytical papers identifying relevant international experience of formalizing domestic work, and of the most feasible, efficient, and effective way(s) to align Georgian legislation with the recommendations of ILO Convention no. 189 on Domestic Workers (to be developed in close consultation with domestic workers);
• Prepare technical briefs summarizing the results of the analysis and present the findings to the Tripartite Commission.

• Together with UN Women, deliver an advocacy campaign to raise public awareness of issues facing domestic workers, the responsibilities of employers, and the possibilities and benefits of formalizing domestic workers’ informal work
• Contribute to the development and dissemination of key messages through a multi-media communications campaign.
• Mobilize domestic workers – increase their awareness on labour rights and legislation, opportunities for formalizing their work, the right to self-organization, and support them to join an existing association of domestic workers or establish a new one
• Adapt UN Women’s social mobilization methodology utilized in rural communities to engage rural women to urban areas and apply it to strengthen the existing informal networks of domestic workers, improve their awareness of labour and women’s rights among domestic workers, and the potential benefits of formalization and/or self-organization and provide the basic services for them to protect their labour rights as needed;
• To engage and encourage domestic workers in Tbilisi to join or form networks and associations to improve their opportunities and working conditions.

Targets

• Component 1:
  • The EPRR methodology established as an integral part of the LIO internal regulations and EPRR is officially operational.
  • One simplified, user-friendly manual for the implementation of the EPRR methodology in Georgian;
  • One informational meeting with employers, business associations and other relevant organizations on implementation of EPRR methodology.
  • One training for labour inspectors on EPRR methodology.
  • One simplified manual for the implementation of the “the Guidelines on Harmful and Hazardous Work for Pregnant, Post-partum and Nursing Women”, including assessment of general physical/biological factors related to  occupational safety and health in English, Georgian, Armenian and Azeri languages;
  • An online course using moodle platform or similar e-course engine in compliance with the with the ministerial decree N01-20 on harmful and hazardous work for pregnant women, women in the post-partum period and nursing mothers in Georgian.
  • One training for labour inspectors on gender equality and labour rights.
  • Gender equality strategy and action plan tailored to LIO.
• Component 2:
  • At least 100 Domestic workers in Tbilisi receive capacity building in labour and women’s rights.
  • At least 40 Domestic workers organize to advocate for improved working conditions.
  • Two policy papers and corresponding technical briefs on international experience on regulatory framework on domestic workers and alignment of Georgian regulatory standards with ILO Convention no. 189.
  • 2 consultative data verification workshops to present draft policy analysis to experts and stakeholders.
  • Awareness raising campaign targeting the general public and employers of domestic workers, with at least 6 communications outputs to include press, television, and social media.
  • Stakeholder conference presenting the results of the project and advocating for ratification of ILO Convention no. 189.

Competencies

• Technical/functional competencies required (in case of consortium, the competences will be calculated cumulatively):
  • Demonstrated staff capacity in gender-sensitive policy analysis in the areas on labour regulation, preferably with a focus on informal work and domestic workers
  • 3 years research or publication record on issues related to domestic or informal work and labour rights
  • At least 2 years’ experience in mobilization and capacity strengthening of urban workers
  • Demonstrated experience in advocacy and awareness raising campaigns for different audiences.

For more information, visit UN Women.