Duty Station of the Consultancy: Pretoria, South Africa

Duration of Consultancy:  6 Months

Nature of the consultancy: The consultancy will lead the end-to-end development of national Bilateral Labour Migration Agreement (BLMA) Guidelines for South Africa, grounded in labour-market and skills-gap evidence and aligned with the South Africa’s regulatory frameworks and relevant AU/UN standards. Working under the technical oversight of IOM and the Technical Working Group (TWG), the consultant will (i) design and present a detailed methodology and workplan at an inception workshop; (ii) draft practical, rights-respecting guidelines that set out processes for BLMA scoping, negotiation, signature, implementation, and regular monitoring, evaluation, and periodic review; and (iii) convene and incorporate feedback from a multi-stakeholder validation. The guidelines will directly support NLMP implementation and will be field-tested by informing negotiations with a selected partner country, thereby validating the tool and identifying refinements. 

The project aims to contribute to the Government of South Africa’s efforts to institutionalize a coordinated, migrant-focused labour migration system that maximizes the benefits of regular migration pathways and protects migrant workers’ rights. Central to this assignment is the development of robust BLMA guidelines, which will provide a framework for negotiating contemporary BLMAs with partner countries to address South Africa's current and future labour needs, to ensure ethical recruitment practices, labour migration governance, offering a structured, equitable framework that balances economic needs, migrant rights, and social stability. Robust BLMAs lay the foundation for regional cooperation, lawful migration, and inclusive growth These guidelines will be based on labour market data, skills gap analysis, and aligned with international standards, including those of the African Union (AU), SADC, International Labour Organization (ILO), International Organization for Migration (IOM), and United Nations (UN).
 

•     First deliverable: Inception Report.
Duration: 15 working days after contracting.
Expected output: the inception report should include  a brief literature review, detailed workplan, proposed methodology for conducting the gap analysis and drafting the Guidelines, stakeholder engagement plan outlining how consultations and workshops will be conducted. 

•     Second deliverable: Gap Analysis Report
Timeline: 30 working days
Expected output: A concise gap analysis report to ensure the BLMA Guidelines respond to South Africa’s real labour-market needs and governance constraints. The analysis will analyze gaps related to the following: migration governance context, labour demand–supply and skills, legal  and policy, Institutional arrangements  and governance processes, and migrant protection and inclusion. The gap analysis report should include a detailed outline of the Guidelines.

•     Third deliverable: Draft BLMA Guidelines
Duration: 40 working days
Expected output: A complete draft of the BLMA Guidelines, organized by chapters and annexes, with every clause explicitly traceable to the gap analysis and underlying migration governance/labour-market/skills evidence. The Guidelines should be a practical, end-to-end playbook for South Africa’s government. At a minimum, the Guidelines should specify the following dimensions: purpose, scope and users; governance and implementation architecture; state guiding; require an evidence-led gap analysis and partner-country selection with a clear mandate; detail negotiation preparation and strategy; drafting protocols; operationalization of migrant protection and ethical recruitment standards; links labour-market intermediation and skills; mobility facilitation; MEL indicators and reporting; capacity building and change management; and dissemination and public communication. The draft guidelines will be reviewed and approved by IOM technical experts and Government of South Africa officials. 

•     Fourth Deliverable: Stakeholder Validation Report 
Duration: 30 working days
Expected output: IOM and the Government of South Africa will convene a key stakeholders validation workshop to confirm the technical soundness, feasibility, and stakeholder ownership of the draft BLMA Guidelines for South Africa. During the workshop, the consultant will present the methodology, key clauses, and implementation tools; facilitate structured feedback from stakeholders; and align the draft with applicable laws and standards. The expected outputs are a concise Validation Report - capturing agreed changes, unresolved issues, and action points - and a clean set of incorporation inputs (tracked edits and an issues inventory) for integration into the final Guidelines.

•     Fifth deliverable: final BLMA Guidelines 
Duration: 65 working days
Expected output: A publication-ready Final BLMA Guidelines for South Africa, accompanied by an Implementation Roadmap (roles/RACI, sequencing, budget, capacity plan, MEL indicators, and risk/contingency). The document must include clear traceability to prior deliverables.