Consultants Needed at the International Labour Organization (ILO)

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice through setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and oldest specialised agency of the UN.

Applications are invited for:

Title: Consultancy - Identification of Barriers and Opportunities to Formalize Women-Led Small Economic Units and Their Workers in Lagos and Rivers State, Nigeria

Background
The ILO Recommendation on the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy, 2015 (No. 204) calls on member States to design coherent and integrated strategies to facilitate the transition from the informal to the formal economy, and recognizes the need for tailored approaches to address the diversity of situations and the specificity of national circumstances. Supporting enterprise formalization as a means of creating decent work opportunities for workers and economic units in the informal economy is a prominent pillar of the policy recommendations formulated in Recommendation 204.

In line with this, the ILO has recently launched the “Promoting Gender Equality and Formalization through Women’s Entrepreneurship Development in Nigeria” project. One of the objectives of this project is to support the government and social partners to formulate and pursue locally adapted, evidence-based and strategic recommendations to promote women’s entrepreneurship development and facilitate the formalization of their legal status and the status of their workers, in order to improve working conditions and the resilience of the businesses.

In 2021, the ILO has piloted a Business Formalization Coaching Initiative. This is a participatory training activity aimed to equip a group of coaches, based in Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda, to support a pool of young agri-entrepreneurs to formalize their enterprises. The initiative has supported coaches to identify business formalization requirements and incentives in their country and document them in a national coaching framework. The coaching framework contains information about business registration procedures in Nigeria, tax registration processes, social security registration and other issues related to employees as well as some preliminary information on existing incentives for business formalization (e.g. financial support, public procurement opportunities and access to government support). The coaching initiative has also capacitated the coaches to assist entrepreneurs along their formalization journey. It was implemented in partnership with JR Farms Africa and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Information and lessons from this coaching initiative will feed into the project on gender equality and formalization through women’s entrepreneurship development in Nigeria.

Against this background, an identification of the barriers and opportunities to formalize these women-owned informal enterprises and their workers will be undertaken. The study complements the assessment of the framework conditions on women’s entrepreneurship and of barriers to formalization of women enterprises in Nigeria (“WED assessment”)

Responsibilities and Sequence of Activities
The Consultant is responsible for the coordination and supply of all deliverables as well as a finalized mapping report and coaching framework.

Sequence of Activities:

• Desk research (5 days):
  • Identify the business formalization actors and processes in Lagos and Rivers states.
  • Identify barriers and opportunities to formalize women owned micro and small enterprises in Nigeria.
  • Identify relevant stakeholders
• Primary data collection (16 days)
• Report writing and updating of coaching framework (7 days)

Required Profile

• Minimum of a Master’s degree or equivalent in Economics, Political Science, Social Science, Law or a related field.
• Minimum relevant work experience of 5 (five) years in Nigeria including in the areas of women entrepreneurship, informality, formalization and compliance in entrepreneurship or related field.
• Proven expertise and track record in the conducting research and assessments in the areas of women entrepreneurship, formalization, the informal sector, regulatory compliance and/or related fields would be an advantage.
• Experience in design and implementation of assessments including qualitative and quantitative data collection, interpretation, and analysis.
• A good understanding of the Nigerian (informal) economy, formalization, and women entrepreneurship.
• Previous working relations with women entrepreneurs and the informal sector in Nigeria would be an advantage.
• Relevant international work experience will be an advantage.
• Proven capacity to deliver the assignment. Sample of past research reports may be asked during the selection process

The consultant will be under the supervision of the Project Coordinator of the Promoting Gender Equality and Formalization through Women’s Entrepreneurship Development in Abuja. The Project Coordinator in turn will work in close collaboration with the Enterprise Formalization Team and the Women’s Entrepreneurship Development Programme at ILO headquarters in Geneva for the review of deliverables and guidance to the consultant.

Application Closing Date
11th April, 2022.

Submission of Documents
All applications must be submitted via email to: abujareg@ilo.org

Applications should contain the following:

• A technical proposal clearly describing how they will approach and undertake the task. The technical proposal should also contain a non-edited report of similar completed task which outlines the target groups, methodologies employed (whether a combination of qualitative, quantitative and triangulation methods) as well as CV of Consultant (s) must be attached to the technical proposal.
• A financial proposal containing the details on the number of days allocated per task, consultancy fees/charges as well as travel expenses and other costs as envisaged by the applicant for the execution of the consultancy.

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