INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT TO DEVELOP OPERATIONAL TOOLS AND TRAINING MODULES ON FORCED LABOUR FOR FRONT-LINE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS IN MONGOLIA

1. Background and rationale
The Constitution of Mongolia (1992) states that no one shall be illegally subjected to forced labor (article 16, section 4). In 2005, Mongolia renewed its commitment to prohibit and eliminate forced labour by ratifying the two fundamental ILO Conventions on Forced labour (C29 and C105). Since then, the country has taken concrete measures to bring national laws towards greater conformity with these Conventions. Forced labour and human trafficking for forced labour exploitation have been criminalized under the Criminal Code (2015). The Law on Combatting Human Trafficking (2012) also includes forced labour as a form of exploitation. The Labour law, revised in 2021, prohibits forced labour in all sectors of the economy while enhancing power of labour inspectors, including the conduct of unannounced inspections. The Law on Labour Migration, revised in 2021, has extended protection of migrant workers against unfair recruitment practices.
Prevalence data on forced labour in Mongolia is not yet available. Findings of the first pilot modular survey on forced labour in Mongolia are pending. Despite no convictions or low levels of investigations and prosecutions of forced labour and labour trafficking, anecdotal evidence and several studies suggest the existence of these unacceptable forms of work among Mongolian nationals and migrant workers in various sectors. Legal constraints, a lack of structurual interventions and a limited capacity to investigate and criminalize forced labour and general labour trafficking offences in Mongolia can be contributing factors in this regard. Non-profit service providers claim that 22 percent of their customers were victims of labor exploitation1.
The Government of Mongolia has been working with various development partners to improve capacity of judges and law enforcement officials to tacke human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Various national studies and reports including the USDOS TIP reports for Mongolia repeatedly emphasized the need of specialized training for law enforcement officers2 to deal with forced labour and trafficking for labour exploitation.
Against this background, the the USDOL funded Bridge -II project that aims to improve the national capacity to eliminate forced labour in Mongolia will provide the government with technical support to develop operational tools and related training modules on forced labour for judges, prosecutors, law enforcement officers and legal practitioners. This work will be implemented in partnership with the Coordination Council for Crime Prevention under the Minister for Justice and Home Affairs.

2. Objectives

The objectives of this assignment are, through the engagement of a team of consultants (one international consultant and one national consultant), to: • develop operational and practical tools to ensure more effective enforcement, prosecutions and better access to justice for victims of forced labour.
• develop related training modules for judges, prosecutors, law enforcement officers and legal practitioners that would be delivered in a sustainable manner through the existing training structures and mechanisms.

3. Scope of Work
In close collaboration with the Secretariat of Coordination Council for Crime Prevention in Mongolia (SCCCP), a multipartite advisory working group3 to guide this work and the national consultant, the international consultant is expected perform the following tasks:

3.1 Scoping and needs assessment
• Consult with and provide guidance to the national consultant how to proceed with desk reviews and required data collection;
• Review relevant surveys, studies and documents on forced labour and human trafficking in Mongolia;
• Review existing national training materials on human trafficking and related topics for Mongolia;
• Review existing relevant global or country specific tools developed by the ILO, and assess if any of them, fully or partially can be used/adapted to the Mongolian context;
• Review and analyze relevant laws, policies, regulations and tools;
• Conduct interviews and focus group discussions with relevant stakeholders;
• Prepare an inception report, in English, outlining knowledge gaps and training needs by each target group, proposed training strategies to address the identified needs considering existing training structures and mechanisms, and proposed tools and training modules with annotated outlines.

3.2 Operational and Practical Tools Development
• Work closely with the SCCCP and the advisory group to develop tools and supplementary guides.
• Ensure that common and specific tools are aligned with national legislation and international standards responding to different needs and capacity gaps of target groups.
• Ensure that tools address specific risks or vulnerabilities of actual or potential victims of forced labour including migrant workers.
• Ensure that ILO comments on draft tools are addressed.
• Provide advice on pilot testing the tools.

3.3 Training Module Development
• Work closely with the SCCCP and the advisory working group to develop training modules.
• Design training modules for mainly trainers/facilitators while ensuring main and supporting resource materials can be used as handouts for trainees.
• Ensure that training modules are aligned with national legislation and international standards.
• Ensure that common modules are supplemented by specific modules responding to different needs and capacity gaps of target groups.
• Ensure that training modules are interactive, well localized and contextualized, as well as gender and culturally sensitive, and inclusive.
• Ensure that ILO comments on draft training modules are addressed.

3.4 Pilot Training
• Work closely with the SCCCP and the advisory working group to pilot test training modules.
• Undertake a mission to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to conduct pilot training sessions.
• Prepare for and lead pilot training sessions involving target groups and relevant stakeholders.
• Design appropriate tools to collect feedback from trainees and other relevant stakeholders.

3.5 Training Module Finalization
• Revise training modules incorporating inputs, comments, and recommendations from the pilot testing exercise.
• Incorporate comments from ILO.
• Finalize training modules in English validating with the advisory working group at the SCCCP.
An additional field mission for Section 3.1 above may be considered when contracting.

4. Expected outputs

1.Inception report, in English, outlining knowledge gaps and training needs by each target group, proposed training strategies to address the identified needs considering existing training structures and mechanisms, and proposed tools and training modules with annotated outlines

2.Draft operational and practical tools with associated guides in English for validation by the SCCCP working group and ILO

3.Validated operational and practical tools with guidance on pilot testing (in English)

4.Draft training modules in English for pilot testing

5.Finalized training modules in English, validated by the SCCCP working group and ILO

5. Contract duration

The assignment is expected to be completed within four months from the date of contract signing.

6. Reporting and Coordination
The international consultant will report to the National Project Coordinator, the ILO Bridge-II project in Mongolia. Regular progress updates and coordination meetings will be required throughout the consultancy.

7. Qualifications
The international consultant should possess at least the following qualifications:
• Advanced degree in law, human rights, or related fields
• At least 10 years of professional experience in criminal law, forced labour, human trafficking or related issues
• Sound knowledge of relevant international labour standards
• Good knowledge of relevant ILO tools
• Demonstrated records in developing training manuals on forced labour, human trafficking, human rights or related issues, and conducting training for judges, law enforcement officers or legal practitioners
• Excellent writing, communication and presentation skills
• Familiarity with the Mongolian contexts or previous experience working with the relevant authorities in Mongolia would be an advantage.