Plan International

Terms of Reference for a Consultant Tasked to Develop Messages to Increase Understanding about Forced Labor and Human Trafficking in FAIR Fish Project

I. Introduction

The Fostering Accountability in Recruitment for Fishery Workers (FAIR Fish) Project is an effort to reduce forced labor and human trafficking in the recruitment of women and men in the seafood processing sectors in Thailand to support the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking (OCFT) at the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), Department of Labor (DOL). FAIR Fish will be led by Plan, an international NGO with expertise in addressing forced labor (FL), human trafficking (HT) and child labor (CL), among fishers and seafood processors in Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

The project’s theory of change is as follows: Forced labor and human trafficking in the Thai fishing and seafood processing sectors will be reduced when: (1) all stakeholders understand the nature of forced labor and human trafficking in the recruitment of workers; (2) companies act in good faith to  root out exploitive  practices in their own recruitment processes; (3) recruiters comply with anti-FL/TIP regulations and policies; and, (4) companies, consumers, buyers, government,  workers, CSOs, and the media promote responsible and transparent recruitment policies and practices.

Activities in this project are expected to lead to four outcomes:

1. Improved understanding of the nature of forced labor and human trafficking in the recruitment of workers
2. Improved company-led approaches to address forced labor and human trafficking in the recruitment process
3. Improved compliance with recruitment policies and procedures by third-party recruiters
4. Increased action on promoting responsible recruitment policies and practices among private sector actors.

FAIR Fish is a four-year project, from 2019 to 2022. This project is being implemented in Thailand’s Bangkok and Rayong province and will involve two small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) serving as pilot companies, and approximately 500 individuals working in the private sector in recruitment and as employees of fish processing factories. Final indirect beneficiaries are low-skilled, migrant workers from Cambodia, and Myanmar and their families.

II. Background

Migrant workers from Myanmar and Cambodia are at risk of becoming victims of forced labor and human trafficking during the recruitment process.They can be lured by human traffickers or unlicensed brokers, who use deceptive recruitment tactics and fake job advertisements to place workers in exploitative jobs with bad working conditions, and unfair wages. Due to the very high fees charged by the recruitment agency or subagent to arrange overseas employment, migrant workers can also be trapped in debt bondage, as they have to borrow money from local lenders or a recruitment agency to make advance payment for their migration costs.

Findings from the project’s pre-situational analysis indicate that the recruitment of migrant workers through the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Employment of Workers (MOU) exposes migrant workers to higher fees and related costs and thus will increase indebtedness to employers, brokers, or money lenders. This in turn will result in migrant workers being tied to their current employer for longer periods of time, and potentially subjected to document confiscation and other labor abuse. 

The PSA also identified the demand among migrant workers is high for information about working conditions, entry and work regulations, and required documentation on the part of migrant workers is high. Once in Thailand, Facebook appears to be the most common form of communication about these matters, along with information received by family and friends based in Thailand. While still in their source countries, family and friends from the same villages or communities were the most common and trusted sources of information.

At the same time, migrant workers have very incomplete knowledge about how the MOU system operates and specifically lack knowledge about how to legally change employment within Thailand under the MOU system. The concepts of forced labor and human trafficking are still not clearly understood by all actors and there is a continuing need for education and awareness raising on these issues for all parties, including employers, recruiters and workers.

As an important component of the project’s theory of change, FAIR Fish Project strives to increase all stakeholders’ understanding on the nature of forced labor and human trafficking in the recruitment of workers. To do so, the project has opted to use a Communication for Development (C4D) approach.

C4D is a people-centered concept with the ultimate goal to achieve positive social and behavioral change. It is about using communication tools and activities to support social and behavior change in a meaningful and sustained way. C4D follows a participatory process, used to understand people’s knowledge, attitudes and practices around a certain issue to be able to work with them to develop empowering messages and tools[1].

III. Objective of the TOR

FAIR Fish Project is looking for a consultant or a team of consultants well-versed in Communication for Development (C4D) to help the project:

1. Identify outreach targets of seafood processing companies, recruiters and workers for messages on forced labor, human trafficking, labor rights, and responsible recruitment, and
2. Develop messages on forced labor and human trafficking for seafood processing companies, recruiters and workers in appropriate languages and distribute them through appropriate channels.  

IV. Tasks

The consultant or consultant team is expected to:

1. Facilitate a two-day C4D workshop in which participants are FAIR Fish team-members, and potentially implementing partners and core stakeholders to brainstorm on the project’s outreach targets and tentative forced labor and human trafficking messages;
2. Develop a C4D strategy for FAIR Fish project which include outreach targets with specific details, key messages that will be disseminated among those targets, and message dissemination channels, and
3. Together with the FAIR Fish’s Research, Monitoring and Learning (RML) Specialist, develop M&E tools to measure the success of FAIR Fish C4D Strategy.

V. Timeline

Activities under this TOR are expected to start in December 2019 and to be completed by March 2020

VI. Deliverables/Outputs

The consultant can work remotely with regular consultations with FAIR Fish Project team through Skype or other communication channels for the preparation work, and the consultant will be expected to submit deliverables and take action as stated below:

VII. Qualifications

Candidates should prove to have:

• Experience in developing Communication for Development plans for development agencies;
• In depth knowledge about Communication for Development (C4D) and Behavior Change Communication (BCC);
• Familiarity with forced labor and human trafficking issues related to migrant workers in Thailand
• Familiarity with the government’s policies, laws and regulations related to seafood producers and migrant workers;
• Proficient in English verbal communication and report writing, and 
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills and the ability to demonstrate respect for people with diverse ethnicities, different socio-economic backgrounds and beliefs. 

VIII. How to apply?

• Submit a proposal with budget, excluding the costs of meeting venue and catering, for completing tasks and deliverables specified to supornchai.nawataweeporn@plan-international.org by 27 October 2019.
• The proposal should be submitted together with a cover letter and Curriculum Vitae(s) of the applicant and team members with contact details.
• The selection of the consultants will be done through proposal reviews and candidates interviews.
• Only short-listed candidates will be notified for further recruitment procedures.