JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

CONSULTANCY ON INCLUSION OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES INTO WAGE EMPLOYMENT – SHORT TERM

Within the implementation of the EU funded project Decent Work and Social Protection for People with Disabilities in Vietnam (Dong Nai province, next to HCMC) and Laos (Vientiane Capital), Handicap International and its partners are seeking an expert in inclusion of people with disabilities in wage employment. Follow handicapvietnam.org and for more details feel free to contact us.

 

Background:

 

In Vietnam, HI has recently begun to work on inclusion of people with disabilities into wage employment and the project team lacks specific knowledge and tools. However, the project team has already good understanding of disability in general, socio-economic inclusion issues and practical experience in supporting people with disabilities to access vocational training and engage into self-employment.

The project has already carried out an extensive desk review of the Vietnamese legislation on people with disability, a mapping of governmental /non-governmental actors supporting inclusive wage employment policies and practices, an assessment of the needs of a sample of job seekers with disability and an assessment of public and private employment service centers inclusive practices. The project is also supporting local authorities to organize inclusive job fairs and it is in contact with several employers who would like to increase the number of people with disabilities in their workforce.

In Laos, Handicap International and the Lao Disable People Association (LDPA) have been supporting people with disabilities to access wage employment since 2010. Through its LEED project (Linking Employers to Employees with Disability), which has established a dedicated Job Placement Center at LDPA, over 70 people with disabilities have been placed into jobs, within over 30 employers. The project has also been creating awareness on abilities of people with disabilities among employers in Vientiane (over 300 employers contacted) through individual advocacy actions, media campaigns and forums.

The project needs specific expertise to evaluate the work carried out so far from a technical point of view and to identify points of improvement.

Objective of the consultancy:

 

Build the capacity of the project team to support employment service centers and employers to become inclusive of people with disabilities and to support people with disabilities to apply for jobs, access jobs and retain jobs.

 

 

Detailed content of the consultancy:

 

Vietnam:

 

1)       Prepare training packages:

• One training for Employment Service Centers to include people with disabilities in their service(training topics: the business case for employing people with disabilities, issues in placing people with disabilitiesinto jobs, job matching methodology for people with disabilities, accessibility issues and reasonable accommodation issues to be taken into account in job matching).
• One training for employers on inclusive work policies and practices. Goal: employers become able to self-assess to what extent their policies and practices are inclusive of people with disabilitiesand learn how to improve them. The training should include references to the ILO Managing Disability at the Workplace guideline, a self-assessment tool and actual examples of inclusive policies.
• One training for employers on reasonable accommodation. Goal: employers learn: 1) how to assess the functional ability requirements of a job; 2) how reasonable accommodations can improve both access to work and productivity at work. Focus should be on accessibility to jobs rather than to the workplace in general. The training should include a job analysis tool and actual examples of reasonable accommodations of jobs.
• One training for job seekers with disability on job seeking skills. Goal: job seekers improve ability to look for jobs, apply to jobs, perform at job interviews, etc.
• One training for job seekers with disability on becoming ready for work. Goal: job seekers with disability become aware of the challenges often faced by people with disabilitieswhen accessing a workplace for the first time, how to respond to them, how to communicate issues to supervisors/colleagues, etc. This should improve chances of work retention.

 

2)       Provide TOT trainingto project staff on the above training packages.

 

3)       Coach project staff while they provide the trainingto a few Employment Service Centers, employers and people with disabilities.

 

4)       Support the team to design communication messages and communication tools addressed to employers on inclusion of people with disabilitiesinto wage employment.

 

5)         Advise the team on the organization of a forum with employers on inclusion of people with disabilitiesinto wage employment.

 

 

Laos:

 

1)       Job Placement Center at the Lao Disabled People Association (LDPA):

1A) Carry out a technical evaluation of the Job Placement Center at the Lao Disabled People Association (LDPA) and provide concrete recommendations for improvement:

·         Organization of the service (procedures, tools, etc.).

·         Staff’ s capacity.

·         Scope of the services (its relevance and adequacy to the issues faced by job seekers with disabilities).

·         Quality of services provided and their effectiveness.

·         Actual level of inclusiveness of the service.

 

1B) Support the team to implement some of these recommendations, such as proposing changes in procedures and tools, proposing training to staff, etc.

 

2)       Provide HI and LDPA staff with TOT training on the training curriculum designed for Vietnam (eventually adapted to the Lao context[1]): “Inclusive Work Policies and Practices”, “Reasonable Accommodation”, “Job Seeking Skills training” and “Readiness for Work Training”.

 

 

Distance/field support and time frame

The consultant will be contracted for 50 working days, full time equivalent. Part of the consultancy may consist of part time, distant support.

 

Applicants must propose a schedule that satisfies the following parameters:

·         50 working days (full time equivalent) for the entire consultancy in a period included between 9^th September and 13^th December 2013.

·         Vietnam: 35 days, out of which minimum 25 days field support.

·         Laos: 15 working days, out of which minimum 12 days field support.

·         No activities can be planned in Vietnam in the week 7-11 October 2013.

 

[1] It is expected that only minor adaptations will be necessary.

 

·         The project budget can support a maximum of 2 return intercontinental flights and 2 return regional flights (Laos-Vietnam).

 

HI strongly prefers field support. The percentage of the time that the consultant is willing to carry out in the field will be assigned particular weight in the selection process.

 

A final schedule, both appropriate to the tasks and compatible with the available budget will be identified in agreement with the project’s Regional Coordinator.

 

 

Supervision:

The consultant will report to the Regional Coordinator of the project.

 

 

Available budget:

In submitting the quotation for their services, applicant should take into account that the maximum budget available for the consultant fees is 15.000 euro. Consultant fee cannot include travel time and weekends.

 

On top, Handicap International will pay:

·         Consultant’s accommodation in the field (HI Laos and Hi Vietnam local rates)

·         Airport transfers, both in the field and in the country of departure

·         Visa

·         Local transport and local interpreters (when other project staff is unavailable to provide translation) necessary to carry out the work.

 

HI will not pay:

·         Per-diem or daily allowance[2].

·         Any insurance. Consultant will be responsible to subscribe any insurance they deem necessary during the carrying out of the work. Consultant will have to provide evidence of medical insurance coverage for the period spent in the field.

·         Taxes on behalf of the consultant. Consultant will be responsible for their own tax declaration relating to this work.

 

Application process:

 

Interested persons/organizations should submit a consultancy proposal and a financial quotation by email:

 

The consultancy proposal must include:

• A document explaining their understanding of the TOR and highlighting for each element of the TOR why they are qualified to perform the services.
• A brief description of similar assignments carried out in the past (max 1 page A4).
• A detailed work plan on excel, clearly indicating:

o   The proposed timeframe for the consultancy

o   The time allocated to tasks and countries

o   The time allocation between field support and distant support.

• CV of applicant persons or, in case of organizations, the CV of the persons proposed for the work.
• The nationality of the applicant (persons/organizations) and his/her country of current residency.

 

The financial quotation must clearly indicate:

• The total amount requested for consultancy fees in euro.
• Total number of working days proposed.
• Indication of a daily rate both for days of field support and for days of distant support (full time equivalent) in euro.

 

[2] The cost of the living in Laos and Vietnam is much lower than western standards: 20 euro per day is more than enough for food and beverages, including western style ones.