Terms of Reference (ToR) for a Consultant National Assessment on Provision of Care Services through Cooperatives and Other Social and Solidarity Economy Entities (Lebanon)

Background

Today, care is provided in myriad forms, from childcare to care for older persons and persons with disabilities or illness with support needs. The need for care is growing worldwide, driven by demographic shifts including the growing ageing population and the rising number of persons living with chronic illnesses. Despite the growing demand for care services, those working in the care economy (most typically informal, women workers) often experience low wages, limited benefits and poor working conditions. In addition, there are 2 billion potential parents living in countries without adequate maternity protection, paternity and parental leave, and quality childcare services with decent care jobs. This creates gender inequalities in the world of work because the responsibilities of caring have historically been born by women and girls, particularly those from disadvantaged groups and facing intersecting forms of discrimination, most often in the form of unpaid work at home or in the informal economy (ILO, 2022). Such inequalities were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exposed the vulnerabilities of the care economy and made clear the need for a more equitable and sustainable approach.

In Lebanon, and prior to the 2019 economic crisis, care duties were mainly performed by underpaid (and sometimes unpaid) women migrant workers employed through the kafala (sponsorship) system that operates outside the national labour law, and which places these workers at risk of a range of decent work deficits, including forced labour. In the last four years, recruitment of migrant workers in the country has been decreasing, while the need for home-based care work remained at the same level. The decrease in migrant workers was mainly the result of the economic crisis, which led to the devaluation of the local currency and a shortage of foreign currency, reducing the ability of families to pay recruitment fees and wages of migrant workers, and diminishing the interest of migrant workers to come to Lebanon. Currently, the stigma surrounding care work impacts the involvement of national workers in the sector. At the same time, care workers are not covered by the national labour law, directly blocking their access to the social protection system in the country and, as such, defining care workers as informal workers. The lack of formalization of this sector not only acts as a barrier to employment and social protection of care workers, it also can reduce the quality-of-care provision when care workers do not have the necessary competencies to care for children, older persons, persons with disabilities with support needs and other care recipients., which can contribute to the negative health and developmental outcomes of care recipients. The lack of oversight and accountability in this sector has led to a vicious circle of a care economy that operates outside of the regulation or protection of the state.

With values of social justice, equity, democracy, and decent work for all, cooperatives, and other entities in the social and solidarity economy (SSE), have emerged as an innovative solution to the care crisis (ILO, 2016; 2017) and important vehicles of the ILO´s 5R Framework for Decent Care Work the ILO road map to recognize, reduce and redistribute unpaid care work and reward and represent care workers (ILO, 2018). Research suggests that social and solidarity economy entities provide better work and conditions for workers in care sectors, such as regularized hours, formal employment, access to benefits, and bargaining power. This is especially true when accounting for context-specific care needs, along with the political, legislative, social, and economic contexts.

In different parts of the world, individuals involved in informal provision of care services may come together in cooperatives or other SSE entities to improve their livelihoods, enhance their access to goods, markets, and services (like training and insurance) and engage in advocacy efforts, through collective voice.
SSE entities are increasingly being recognized as critical actors in provision of care services in recent years. The ILO works on further improving the ability of the SSE in providing traditional and innovative solutions in the care economy, including through multistakeholder cooperatives, domestic workers associations, and other SSEs.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations, bringing together government, employers’ and workers’ representatives to promote decent work around the world. The ILO’s COOP Unit in the Enterprises Department was created in 1920, just one year after the foundation of the ILO, and has been promoting cooperatives and the Social and Solidarity Economy ever since. The ILO Gender, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Branch (GEDI) is responsible for promoting gender equality and respect for diversity in the world of work and managing the ILO’s programme on HIV and AIDS. The Branch also strives for the promotion of a more balanced sharing of unpaid care work at home and between families and the State through more investments in care policies and measures with quality care jobs as a key pillar of the ILO gender-transformative agenda (ILO, 2019). Building on the extensive experience of the ILO and given the growing demand for care worldwide, the ILO GEDI Branch and COOP Unit in Geneva have initiated the programme, “Advancing Care Provision through Cooperatives and the Wider Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE)” which will involve conducting assessments of local care contexts, adapting tools, and running pilot training programmes in a number of countries.

The ILO Regional Office for Arab States is implementing the WE CARE1 intervention which is adapted to GEDI and COOP’s approach to CARE. WE CARE aims at structuring a response to care work needs in Lebanon and pave the way to professionalize the sector through greater formalization and regulation of care services, in line with decent work principles, and by exploring cooperatives and small enterprises as entry points with linkages to a digital job matching platform. It is a pilot that adopts a context-specific approach to engage beneficiaries to impact the political, legislative, social, and economic contexts.

As conducted in a number of countries, an assessment is planned in Lebanon seeking to better understand the legal environment and identify key stakeholders (public, private, community-based, multi-stakeholders) and make recommendations for further engagement. In order to determine whether the assessment conducted accurately reflects the situation on the ground, community experts with knowledge of the care policies and sectors in the country and members of cooperatives and other SSE entities (including their networks, unions, and federations) will be invited to provide feedback on the assessment through a validation workshop. This will allow them to prioritize the findings and recommendations from the assessment identifying entry points as well as the time frame for the activities to be undertaken.

Objective

The ILO seeks to hire a consultant to conduct a comprehensive assessment to analyze and propose modalities that will enable care workers to organize themselves, provide services in the sector, and contribute to empowerment and protection of workers. The assignment entails:
a) an analysis of the legal and regulatory framework governing cooperatives in Lebanon and their potential to support homebased care work;
b) an analysis of existing modalities of SSE entities and their potential to support homebased care work;
c) a proposal for pilot testing activities based on the findings of a & b, and based on recommendations by key stakeholders2 (public, private, community-based, multi-stakeholders /national and local stakeholders relevant to the two local communities3).
Key informant interviews will be required to complement desk research, and findings will be compiled in a final assessment report which will be presented and validated by stakeholders.

Scope of Work

Under the direct supervision of the ILO WE CARE project manager, with inputs from ILO ROAS Decent Work Team, ILO COOP and GEDI, the consultant is expected to carry out the following tasks:
• Desk review to understand the current landscape of cooperatives and other SSE entities in Lebanon and potential linkages to care, with a focus on childcare, care for older persons, disability and long-term care, mapping out the legal, institutional and programmatic context for care provision and cooperative development in the country.
• Key informant interviews / stakeholder consultations to complement and validate the assessment.
Specifically, the assessment should cover:
a) an analysis of the legal and regulatory framework governing cooperatives in Lebanon and their potential to support homebased care work;
b) given that no law on social enterprise is adopted to this date, analyze existing modalities of SSE entities and their potential to support homebased care work; and
c) propose pilot testing activities based on the findings of a & b and recommendations by key stakeholders (public, private, community-based, multi-stakeholders/national and local stakeholders relevant to the two local communities).
The pilot testing proposal shall include:
1) a design of a sustainable innovative social model adapted to the care sector and applicable in the two localities selected by the project. This could be informed by existing structures (SSE entities, COOPs, social enterprises, unions, associations) that operate in the care sector. By interviewing them and looking at their operations and impact, assessing their level of commitment to Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and based on the outcome of the mapping, the consultant would recommend whether to create new entities or invest in existing ones. The recommendation should take into account the possible existence of informal SSE structures that are worth investing in4. The design needs to build on a short analysis of the care sector in the selected localities highlighting the earning potential, working environment, organizational set-up, all in line with decent work principles5, as well as a risk assessment.
2) Steps required to creating new cooperative or other SSE entities relevant to the care sector in Lebanon, including legal documentations.
3) Possible support services to be provided to existing cooperatives or other SSE entities.

The ILO has developed tools that can be used in both contexts of creating new cooperative or other SSE entities which include: 1) Think.Coop and Start.Coop (to be adapted to the care economy context by the ILO) as well as Business Group Formation Empowering Women and Men in Developing Communities, and 2) Manage.Coop (testing and finalizing of the tool are underway) as well as Project Design Manual, a step-by-step tool to Support the Development of Cooperatives and Other Forms of Self-Help Organizations.
• Presentation and validation of the report in a stakeholder meeting organized by the WE CARE project.

Deliverables
1. An inception report detailing an outline of the report, methodology to carry out the assignment, primary and secondary data sources, data collection tools, list of stakeholders, a work plan with timeline and milestones for which all activities will be undertaken and outputs submitted.
2. Draft assessment report (10-15 pages) presenting the main findings of the assessment.
3. Final assessment report incorporating feedback from the ILO and relevant stakeholders. This will include recommendations for interventions as well as policy and practice reforms.
• A note detailing the proposed model for socio-economic integration through the SSE in the area(s) of activities selected.
• A final consolidated report of the feasibility study with a 6-month business plan, integrating a technical and financial analysis on the needs necessary for the project.

Working modality

The consultant is expected to work from home with frequent visits to the ILO and the field as the assignment requires. The ILO will not be responsible to provide any IT equipment or cover internet access required for the assignment. Travel within the country and other cost related to the assignment should be captured and reflected in the financial offer.

Timeline

The overall duration of this assignment will be 3 months, expected to commence on July 25, 2023. The table in the attached document outlines the expected timeline for key activities.

Reporting

The consultant will report to WE CARE project manager, who will coordinate with ILO ROAS DW team, GEDI and COOP to provide inputs and guidance to the consultant during the assignment.

Budget & Payment

The ILO will provide the consultant with a lump sum payment to cover all expenses related to the assignment. Payment will be paid in three installments: 20 per cent upon submission and approval of the inception report (including list of stakeholders and workplan), 40 per cent upon submission of draft report, and 40 per cent upon submission and approval of the final report.

Qualifications & Experience

• Advanced degree in relevant field, such as social sciences, economics, business administration or other relevant areas
• At least seven years of relevant professional experience in cooperative /SSE development, social and economic development, or related fields
• Familiarity with cooperatives and other SSE entities, particularly as it relates to the care economy, and gender and non-discrimination areas of work
• Strong analytical and writing skills in English, with a track recording of producing high-quality reports for the ILO or other UN agencies
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage with diverse stakeholders
• Excellent command of English and Arabic

Please check the attached document for the Financial Offer template

Annex: Preliminary List of Relevant Sources
CECOP. Cooperatives care! Advantages of the cooperative model for meeting multiple care-related needs and challenges in the EU’, 2022.
COOP News. Co-ops among the world’s top female-friendly companies’, 2022.
DCED. Childcare Solutions for Women MSEs’, 2022.
ILO. Report VI: Decent work and the social and solidarity economy. 2022.
———. ILC 110/Resolution II: Resolution concerning decent work and the social and solidarity economy. 2022.
———. GB.346/INS/3/2: Follow-up to the resolution concerning decent work and the social and solidarity economy 2023.
———. ‘Care at Work: Investing in Care Leave and Services for a More Gender Equal World of Work’, 2022.
———. Supporting Women’s Employment through Institutional Collaboration on Early Childhood Care and Education, 2021.
———. ‘Care Work and Care Jobs: For the Future of Decent Work’, 2018.
———. ‘Providing Care through Cooperatives 1: Survey and Interview Findings’, 2016.
———. ‘Providing Care through Cooperatives 2: Literature Review and Case Studies’, 2017.
ILO, and Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing. ‘Cooperatives Meeting Informal Economy Workers’ Child Care Needs: A Join ILO and WIEGO Initiative’, 2018.