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Terms of Reference

Gaps Analysis Study

Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006)

Background

Pakistan has ratified 36 ILO Conventions including all eight fundamental Conventions, two out of four Governance Conventions and 26 Technical Conventions. Last Convention was ratified in 2006.

In its meeting in March 2020, the Federal Cabinet of Pakistan reviewed 39 ILO Instruments that were put up for necessary consideration and action, and decided to ratify four (4) new ILO Conventions – including the ‘Maritime Labour Convention’. Subsequently, the Ministry of Overseas Pakistani and HRD thru its letter No. 4-27/2015-ILO-I, dated: 15th April 2020, requested ILO for technical support in undertaking ‘Gaps Analysis’ before a formal decision to ratify the Convention.

Maritime Labour Convention – A brief introduction

The Maritime Labour Convention, also known as “MLC, 2006”, came into force on 20 August 2013 – effectively becoming binding in international law – and established minimum working and living standards for all seafarers on those ships. What’s more, it is also an essential step toward ensuring fair competition and a level-playing field for quality owners of ships flying the flags of ratifying countries. Global support for the MLC-2006 continues to increase. Currently, the ILO has registered ratifications of the Convention by 82 ILO member States responsible for regulating conditions for seafarers on more than 90 per cent of the world’s gross tonnage of ships.

The comprehensive Convention sets out in one place seafarers' rights to decent conditions of work on almost every aspect of their working and living conditions including, among others, minimum age, employment agreements, hours of work or rest, payment of wages, paid annual leave, repatriation at the end of contract, onboard medical care, the use of licensed private recruitment and placement services, accommodation, food and catering, health and safety protection and accident prevention and seafarers’ complaint handling.

It was designed to be applicable globally, easy to understand, readily updatable and uniformly enforced and will become the "fourth pillar" of the international regulatory regime for quality shipping, complementing the key Conventions of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) dealing with safety and security of ships and protection of the marine environment.

Maritime Situation of Pakistan

Pakistan has inherited three (3) ratified ILO Conventions related to Seafarers from former British Rule– as given below:

• C016- Medical Examination of Young Persons (Sea) Convention, 1921 (No. 16)
• C022- Seamen's Articles of Agreement Convention, 1926 (No. 22)
• C185 - Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003, as amended (No. 185)

Pakistan has a vibrant shipping industry and very important shipping Ports in Karachi and newly developed Gwadar. All administrative matters are managed by Federal Ministry of Maritime Affairs – which has the following main institutions dealing with various operational matters:

• Pakistan National Shipping Corporation
• Port Qasim Authority
• Karachi Port Trust
• Gawadar Port Authority
• Government Shipping Office
• Mercantile Marine Department
• Pakistan Marine Academy
• Ports and Shipping Wing, Karachi

Gaps Analysis – Maritime Labour Convention, 2006

ILO intends to engage a Technical Consultant to undertake a Gaps Analysis by reviewing existing legislative and institutional infrastructure and after getting inputs all important stakeholders – to see where Pakistan stands on various provisions of the Convention.

The Consultant will be required to have a detailed review of existing legislations related to Shipping Industry and Seafarers Rights and look at various institutional arrangements to ensure compliance with and application of such legislations. The Consultant will also consult tripartite partners (particularly employers and workers in Maritime Industry), existing institutions, and other stakeholders (e.g., Academia, Civil Society Organizations, etc) and identify key areas to be improved. The Technical Consultant will be required to study/examine following important measures which could be taken in to consideration before ratification of MLC, 2006:

• Review existing laws, policies and regulations related to Maritime Industry and see if it is aligned to the MLC, 2006 and identify areas to be improved;
• Review existing institutional arrangements and technical capacities to ensure compliance with and application of national legislation as well as reporting on international commitments already ratified by the country and identify areas to be improved;
• Discuss with employers and workers – particularly from Maritime Industries – to assess current level of alignment with MLC, 2006 and identify areas to be improved;
• Discuss with academia and civil society organizations – particularly the ones working with maritime industry – to identify areas to be improved in line with MLC, 2006;
• To review reporting requirements of the MLC, 2006 and see capacity of Government (Ministry of OP&HRD and Ministry of Maritime Affairs) to adequately report on the Convention and identify gaps for improvement.

Terms of Reference for Technical Consultant

The Consultant will be required to undertake following assignments:

• Desk review of Convention, legislation, policies, regulations, institutional arrangements, technical capacities, and other related documents - both global as well as from Pakistan;
• Develop an outline of Gaps Analysis study – adequately covering all areas mentioned above;
• Undertake individual consultations with all relevant stakeholders (Federal Ministries, Provincial Governments, Maritime Institutions, Employers and Workers’ Organizations, representatives of Employers and Workers from Maritime Industry; existing Institutions, Academia / Experts; and Civil Society Organizations);
• Develop a draft Gap Analysis Report;
• Undertake a validation workshop with all tripartite-plus stakeholders and get feedback;
• Finalize the Gap Analysis Report.

The Consultant is required to provide number of workdays for completing this assignment.

Deliverables

Consultant will be required to deliver the following:

• After literature review, share draft ‘Gaps Analysis Outline’ for technical review and inputs by ILO and Ministry of OPHRD;
• After completing stakeholders consultations, share draft ‘Gaps Analysis Report’ for technical review and inputs by ILO and Ministry of OPHRD;
• Provide a final Gaps Analysis Report after incorporating all inputs by stakeholders (in validation workshop) and ILO.

Responsibility Framework

• Consultant will be responsible to:
  • Bring/procure required technical expertise for all elements of the study;
  • Identify most relevant and recent literature and tools related to the subject;
  • Develop mechanisms to effectively consult relevant stakeholders and get adequate benefits in a respondent-friendly manner;
  • In view of travel restrictions and other SOPs due to COVID-19 pandemic, make sure to use appropriate technologies and means of communication that suits the requirements of relevant stakeholders;
  • Make a presentation on proposed Gaps Analysis Report for validation workshop;
  • Ensure timely submission of deliverables;
  • Ensure full compliance with ILO and stakeholder inputs in the Gaps Analysis Report;
  • Share all important legislations, regulations, documents and information obtained during consultancy assignment, which are not available online, with ILO;
  • Take all necessary measures to complete the assignment within given resources and timeframe;
  
  

• ILO will be responsible for;
  • Prepare a contract for the Consultant and making necessary payments on different intervals – based on deliverables;
  • Provide an introductory letter to Consultant – which will help him/her to introduce to relevant stakeholders;
  • Provide contact details of various relevant stakeholders;
  • Where possible, extend support in facilitating meetings with relevant stakeholders;
  • Provide technical inputs on outline, and draft Strategy within a reasonable time;
  • ILO will manage the ‘Validation Workshop’. If, due to COVID-19 lockdown situation, the workshop has to be online, ILO will provide IT platform for meeting. In case of face-to-face meeting, ILO will manage the entire event including content, venue, and logistics etc.

Special Provisions

• COVID-19: Consultant will be required to fully comply with applicable UN and Government regulations and SOPs for prevention against spread of COVID-19 and organize work in such a way to ensure safety of self and other stakeholders.
• Security: As per new UN regulations, if the assignment includes traveling to any city other than Islamabad, Lahore or Karachi, the Consultant will have to complete a special Security Training Course (SSAFE) preferably before starting the assignment. ILO will facilitate enrollment of Consultant to the course (and will pay for the course) – but these training days will not be paid by ILO.
• Reporting: Consultant will be required to report only to ILO. All materials produced by Consultant will be reviewed by ILO for technical quality assurance and will be shared with Government as ILO product.

Required Qualification and Experience

The Consultant should have the following qualification and experience:

• Post-graduation in social sciences or subjects related to Maritime Industry;
• Minimum 10 year experience of dealing with matters related to Labour and Maritime Industry - either in Pakistan or abroad;
• Must be well aware of institutional and organizational situations of Maritime industry, Industrial relations, and labour administration system in Pakistan;
• Previous work experience with UN System in general and with ILO in particular, will be added advantage;
• Strong competence to use computer and office-related software;

How to submit:

Interested individuals are requested to submit the Expressions of Interest, along with following supporting documents (duly dated and signed) through email to: islamabad@ilo.org, cc: shahnila@ilo.org by Thursday, 2nd July 2020.

• Clearly mention the title of ILO Convention in your email subject, for which you are applying ;
• CV or profile of the individual
• Brief methodology to carry out the assignment (not more than 1 page);
• Number of workdays required to complete this assignment
• Fee per day (in PKR) – exclusive of all taxes and other expenses

Any offer received after the official closing time and date will not be accepted.

Questions and replies:

Should you have any questions, please contact us at the latest by date only by email (islamabad@ilo.org; cc shahnila@ilo.org) quoting the RFQ reference.

Annex-1

Reporting Details

The Consultant will undertake the study, and produce a report (electronic and print, English) that will contain the following parts:

Part I:

A brief overview of the situation of maritime workers/seafarers in the country, highlighting trends and issues

Part II:

Presentation of the relevant labour, employment and social security laws, regulations, collective agreements and other measures regarding workers in general and maritime workers/seafarers in particular, and assessment of these legal provisions and measures as regards to their implementation of the provisions of Convention 186/MLC and corresponding Recommendation. The report should structure Part II into thematic chapters along the subject matters addressed in these instruments – along with a summary table as given below.

Subject matter in MLC - Situation in Pakistan - Gaps / Affirmative actions required

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

Each thematic chapter will present relevant national law, regulations or other measures, as well as relevant national institutions; identify gaps vis-a-vis MLC/C.186, if any, and discuss possible ways of addressing these gaps.

Part III:

A summary of areas of conformity, gaps between national laws and regulations, collective agreements and other measures, and MLC/C186, as well as issues and areas for improvement, for example in the matter of compliance or enforcement; and a set of recommendations for feasible actions, which go beyond compliance with minimum requirements, in the medium and longer-term, as a basis for drafting a plan of action. Add a small section on observations regarding relevant issues raised in the draft revised labour law and labour law.

Presentations

The Consultant will deliver two presentations to constituents (electronic and print):

• a presentation of preliminary findings at a tripartite validation meeting to seek comments on a draft report; and
• a presentation of the final report at a tripartite meeting with the a view the adoption of a national plan of action towards ratification and implementation of the Convention.

The draft report will be reviewed by Ministry of OP&HRD and ILO (Geneva). The Consultant will produce a final report on the basis of comments provided by ILO on the draft report and results of a tripartite validation meeting on the draft report.

ILO Website:

https://www.ilo.org/islamabad/aboutus/WCMS_748995/lang-en/index.htm