NATIONAL CONSULTANT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MIGRATION RESPONSE CENTRE (MRC) MANAGEMENT PACKAGE

CALL FOR APPLICATION

1. Duration of Consultancy: 90 Days.

2. Nature of the consultancy:Category B - In the framework of the project Improving the Protection of Vulnerable Migrants in Ethiopia through Tailored Direct Assistance and Referral, the consultant will develop an MRC Management package that will include the revision/development of minimum service standards, procedures, training curriculums, and sustainability plans.

3. Project Context and Scope:

Ethiopia is a major country of origin and transit with migration generally taking place around the following migration routes:

the eastern route to the Middle East through Djibouti, Somalia, and Yemen representing approximately 60% of the movements recorded in 2022,

the southern route to South Africa through Kenya and Eastern and Southern Africa representing approximately 16% of the movements recorded in 2022, and

The northern route to Europe through Sudan and Libya represents approximately 7% of the movements recorded in 2022.

The lack of local economic opportunities worsened by climate change and insecurity are major factors pushing thousands of Ethiopians towards irregular migration.

Irregular migration exposes migrants to untold suffering as they traverse harsh terrain without access to basic needs and services. In addition, migrants are exposed to various forms of violence, abuse, and exploitation during their journey, thereby weakening their capacity at individual and communal levels to cope with the challenges as well as risks associated with irregular migration.

At the same time, thousands of Ethiopian migrants are stranded in various countries along the three main migratory routes and are in need of urgent protection and assistance services.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is the leading intergovernmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners. IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. It does so by providing services and advice to governments and migrants. IOM Ethiopia works closely with the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) to improve migrant protection and assistance. It also supports the government in counter TiP and smuggling of migrants (SoM) and promoting regular labour migration channels.

IOM Ethiopia with the financial support of the Government of Norway has been implementing the project Improving the Protection of vulnerable migrants in Ethiopia through tailored direct assistance and referral since December 2019. The project specifically aimed to contribute to the efforts of the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) to protect and empower migrants in vulnerable situations, with a focus on the most vulnerable groups (unaccompanied and separated migrant children, victims of trafficking, migrants with disabilities, etc.). Under this project, five Migration Response Centres (MRCs) provide life-saving assistance to stranded migrants along the main migratory routes in Ethiopia, including in Dire Dawa, Dewele, Metema, Moyale, and Tog-Wajaalle. Migrants assisted in MRCs are screened for vulnerabilities and receive immediate and long-term support as required. Each MRC is managed by a Management Committee comprised of government representatives and local key stakeholders. IOM ensures smooth daily operations, including individual assistance and referrals to specialized services. Since 2017, the MRCs in Ethiopia have provided crucial and life-saving assistance to 48,717 vulnerable migrants including 26,300 men, 12,939 women, and 9,478 children.

The multi-stakeholder coordination of service provision at the MRCs is ensured by MRC Management Committees where key government stakeholders bureaus/offices for migrant protection and assistance, law enforcement, and civil society actors are represented.

While five centers in Ethiopia have been operating for more than nine years, there are essential operations and governance tools that need to be updated as regional and national contexts shift. This is due to the dynamic nature of migration, government structure changes, and the opening of new MRCs in different locations.

IOM intends to develop an MRC management package that includes:

-Revised minimum service provision standards applicable across all the MRCs in Ethiopia

-Standard operating procedures for the provision of migrant protection and assistance services in each MRC location

-A training curriculum and capacity development plan for the MRC staff and the members of the MRC management committees

-Sustainability and partnership plans for the MRCs for each MRC location.

4.Organizational Department / Unit to which the Consultant is contributing: IOM EthiopiaProtection Unit

5. Tangible and measurable outputs of the work assignment and performance indicator for the evaluation of the result:To complete this task, the consultancy is estimated to take up to a total of 90 calendar (including non-working) days starting on the contract's signing date.

Per the following timetable, the consultant will:

1.Attend a kick-off meeting, to set expectations, identify risks to the timeline, and detail their proposed approach within two days of signing the contract.

2.Produce an inception report within 15 calendar days after signing the contract. The inception report should outline the planned approach, a list of stakeholders that the consultant wishes to contact, including relevant IOM missions supporting MRCs, a list of documents that the consultant wishes to review, a set of data collection tools, and a detailed timeline. The inception report is to be validated by IOM for completion before the start of the development of the MRC management package.

3.Review necessary documents, visit the MRCs and the transit centres and observe, conduct interviews, and produce a first version of the MRC Management Package within 60 days of signing the contract. The developed tools will be pilot tested for validation among stakeholders and necessary changes will be incorporated accordingly.

4.Present the MRC management package at a validation workshop where inputs from participants will be thoroughly incorporated within 75 calendar days of signing the contract.

5.Submit the final MRC management package and lessons learned from the validation workshop to IOM for quality assessment and validation within 90-day calendar days from the signing of the contract.