ThaiNGO

erm of Reference for Middle Term Evaluation

Terms of Reference for

Legal Training for Legal Service Providers

And Legal  Case  Documentation

1.            Executive Summary

Background to the Project

In January 2016, ADRA Thailand started a 36-month project entitled ‘Enhanced Capacities for Migrant Advocacy’ (ECMA) funded by the European Union, which targets 3,750 migrant factory workers in Mae Sot, Thailand. The project aims to strengthen and empower marginalized and vulnerable migrant workers in Mae Sot, Thailand. 

Thailand’s rapid economic growth in the past few decades has created a high demand for low-skilled and low-cost labour, attracting a large number of migrant workers from Thailand’s three neighbouring countries, namely Myanmar, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Cambodia, to fill the labour shortage gap. An estimated 3 million migrant workers from these three countries hold either regular or irregular status in Thailand[1]. As located in a bordering province, Tak, Mae Sot, has eventually become a transit and destination for Myanmar migrants because of its high concentration of factories. According to statistics from the Tak Provincial Office, there were 27,059 Myanmar migrant workers registered at the Mae Sot District’s One Stop Service Centre during the migrant registration process in 2015.  Migrant workers are employed in factories in textiles, garments, food processing and ceramics.  The majority of migrant workers are from Myanmar, with Burmese representing the largest ethnic group, along with other ethnic groups such as Karen, Mon and Arakanese.

The major problems facing Burmese migrant workers include: i) a lack of awareness about their rights due to language barriers and accessibility to information. An additional problem is the limited human resources of the local Labour Protection and Welfare Office compared to the large migrant population within the area; ii) factory owners do not follow Thai Labour Law by registering their factories, leading migrant workers to become vulnerable in terms of working in unsafe, unhygienic conditions; iii) major health concerns of migrant workers included skeletal or muscular illnesses due to heavy workloads and poor occupational health and safety standards; iv) lack of capacity of CSOs to engage in the dialogue process, at national level - little effective coordination, limited resources and travel restrictions, which are among major factors that limit the ability of CSOs to engage directly and actively in policy advocacy dialogue; and v) poor living and unhealthy conditions, as migrants are often housed in overcrowded accommodation with inadequate facilities; some factories restrict their workers to the factory premises giving them no opportunity to find other accommodation.

It is envisaged that these identified problems will be tackled through the “Enhanced Capacities for Migrant Advocacy” project. The stated objective will be achieved by three expected results described below:

1. Improved awareness of and adherence to labour law in factories employing migrant workers.
2. Strengthen and develop the capacity of eight (8) CSO to engage in policy dialogue platforms in INGOs, private sector and government.
3. Enhanced collaboration between CSO’s and government stakeholders to bring about the improvement of health and safety conditions for migrant workers.

Key Tasks of the Lead Consultant or Consulting Team

The individual consultant or the consulting team will undertake the following activities in order to provide legal consultation and produce documentation:

• Provide thorough analysis of the factory case presented
• Outline various laws and policies that applied to the identified case
• Provide legal consultation to CSO partners as a group
• Conduct four one-day training sessions for CSO partners and legal service providers from February to July 2018
• Coach CSO partners on how to deal with the factory case presented
• Produce a documentation as a case study

Timeframe of the Consultancy

A total of 22 payable working days is planned for this consultancy:

• 1 day desk review (clarify matters arising from the documents read previously);
• 2 days designing work plan and training sessions for ECMA partners and legal service providers in Maesod
• 10 days leading input sessions with partners and field assessment (visiting Mae Sot to provide legal consultation to legal teams from partner organizations and facilitate input sessions on labor casework and relevant laws);
• 1 day facilitating the workshop for ECMA partners and legal service in Maesod;
• 6 days writing of the draft report;
• 2 days to address comments from ADRA /ECMA team and partners and finalize the report.

The ECMA project team in Mae Sot will facilitate the planning of the input sessions and workshop.

Products Expected from the Consultancy

The consultant and team will provide ADRA with a comprehensive draft case documentation report for review and comments before the report is finalized.  The report will include:            

• Documentation of the identified factory case with a special focus on legal, social and economic aspect. The documentation should well document and analyze the process of law application, social and management aspect of the joint effort of the all stakeholders involved in the process as well as migrant workers;
• Key recommendations for enhancing legal service in Maesod in particular for labour casework;     
• Appendices should contain the details of the data collected:
  • A summary of 4 input sessions and participants’ analytical skills improved
  • A summary of the identified factory case, the process, update to status, and result.

Background of the Consultant

• At least 10 years’ experience as a lawyer or legal consultant, and experiences working in the area of legal training for CSOs and lawyers 
• Experience in working with migrant communities would be beneficial
• Experience in conducting similar scale case documentation
• Concrete experience in providing written reports in Thai with English summary.

Submission of Application

• Applications should be submitted no later than 8  February 2018.
• Applications in the English or Thai language, including i) a resume of not more than 3 pages; ii) a cover letter; iii) a brief proposal to describe how this consultancy will be carried out; iv) contact details of 2 references should be submitted by email to Jittakan@adrathailand.org and cc linda@adrathailand.org
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

[1] Thailand Migration Report 2014, International Organization for Migration (IOM).