Background

The garment industry in Jordan is primarily driven by large exporting factories who export to the US under the US-Jordan Free Trade Agreement. The garment industry has seen significant growth in the last ten years. Exports dropped by 15 per cent in 2020 but rebounded in 2021 with 8 per cent growth. Total exports remain lower than the peak of USD 2 billion in 2019, with USD 1.8 billion exported in 2021. The exporting garment sector employs more than 62,000 workers of which 75% are women and over 75% are migrant workers mainly from South Asian countries, such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, and Nepal.

The Better Work Programme is a partnership between the International Labour Organization and the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group. Better Work brings diverse groups together – governments, global brands, factory owners, unions, and workers – to improve working conditions in the garment industry and make the sector more competitive. The Better Work Jordan programme (BWJ) was established at the request of the Jordanian Ministry of Labour in 2007 and began operations in mid-2008.

Over the past 10 years, BWJ has been working with the national tripartite constituents to improve working conditions and promote decent work in the garment sector in Jordan. The mandatory status of the programme for those exporting to the US market allowed the programme to create sector-wide impact. Since then, factories have made significant improvements in terms of working conditions and compliance with labour standards – while challenges remain to sustain the programme impact. Under the current strategic phase, BWJ is directing its effort towards sustaining this 10-year impact through enhancing the capacity of national stakeholders (Ministry of Labour, Trade Union, and Employers Organizations) and empowering them to take more responsibility for ensuring a decent working environment and sustainable growth. The Better Work Jordan Annual Report presents findings and observations from Better Work Jordan’s interactions in the garment sector throughout 2021.

Also under its Phase IV Strategy, BWJ is committed to harness the potential of digitalization to create productivity gains to promote decent work and increase the institutional capacity of key stakeholders in a cost-effective manner.  To this end, Better Work Jordan is looking to explore the potential of digitally delivering training to workers, team leaders and factory managers in the sector, keeping in mind the sector’s unique demographics, workers’ motivation to engage in digital trainings, and the relevant stakeholders that the programme can engage with to ensure the sustainability of impact.

Objective

The objective of this terms of reference is to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of different training platforms for workers, team leaders and factory managers in the Jordanian garment industry, with a focus on digitalization.

Duties and responsibilities

The consultant will be responsible for the following:

Deliverable 1: Inception report. The report should include the following:

• A detailed methodology and description of the process that will be used to conduct the engagement at hand.
• A mapping exercise for stakeholders that should be consulted and engaged with throughout the engagement. BWJ will support on this.
• An implementation plan with clear activities that are to be conducted under each deliverable.
• A clear timeline for all the deliverables under this engagement.
• This report should be available in Arabic and English.

Deliverable 2: Comprehensive evaluation report of different digital training modalities for workers.

• Conduct a mapping exercise of existing training platforms in the Jordanian garment sector, as well as training platforms in garment sectors in other countries that have been proven successful and can be referred to as a good practice. Research evidence-based evaluations of trainings and training platforms.
• Conduct a series of focus-group discussions with a representative sample of workers in terms of nationality, language, literacy rates and other factors deemed necessary for the purposes of the report.
• Conduct a series of focus-group discussions with a representative sample of team leaders at the factory level.
• Conduct interviews with relevant stakeholders including employer representatives, factory management, worker representatives, buyers, relevant government representatives and relevant representatives from Better Work.
• Develop a comprehensive evaluation report presenting findings from the above exercise with focus on evidence-based recommendations for training methods/platforms for workers, team leaders and factory managers, means of motivating workers to take the intended trainings, and identifying relevant stakeholders who can be engaged with to ensure the sustainability of training delivery. The report should be sensitive to the unique demographics of the Jordanian garment sector referred to in the Background section above.
• The evaluation report should be available in Arabic and English.

Deliverable 3: Presentation and dissemination report.

• Consult with relevant stakeholders on outcomes of deliverable 2 and finalize the report accordingly.
• Develop a dissemination report/ presentation on the finalized report under outcome 2 to present to national and international constituents.
• The presentation/dissemination report should be available in Arabic and English.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Education, Social Sciences, or relevant field.
• Experience with gathering data from diverse stakeholders.
• Experience with conducting situational assessments and evaluations on a specific intervention.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in the Jordanian garment sector is an advantage.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in providing training is an advantage.
• Institutions are encouraged to apply to increase the availability of resources and skills.
• Excellent written and verbal English and Arabic communication

Submission of Application

All applicants must submit their technical and financial proposals as two separate documents to the following email address: jordan@betterwork.org. The deadline to submit applications is September 30, 2022 at midnight (Jordan time). Only selected applicants will be contacted for an interview.

Please find the Full Terms of Reference from here.

Terms of Reference

Full Terms of Reference from here.