National Consultant for Assessment of Reintegration Mechanisms for Returning Labour Migrants and Support to National Reintegration Policy Advocacy

Introduction

Established in 1951, IOM is a Related Organization of the United Nations and the leading UN agency in the field of migration. Working closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners, IOM promotes humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. It saves lives and protects people on the move, drives solutions to displacement, and facilitates pathways for regular migration, while providing services and advice to governments and migrants. 

IOM is committed to fostering a respectful, inclusive and supportive workplace where all employees can thrive professionally and feel valued. By creating such an environment, IOM aims to better harness the full potential of migration and strengthen its support to people on the move.

IOM invites candidates from diverse backgrounds to apply and provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process when required. Learn more about IOM’s workplace culture at IOM workplace culture | International Organization for Migration
 

Project Context and Scope

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is implementing the UK International Development-funded project, "Central Asia Safe Migration", which aims to promote safe, orderly, and regular labour migration from Central Asia, with a particular focus on Uzbekistan, under the UK Seasonal Worker Scheme (UK SWS). The project strengthens labour migrants' preparedness by improving access to accurate, timely, and practical information throughout the migration cycle, enabling prospective labour migrants to make informed decisions and supporting a safe, regular, and dignified migration experience.
As part of this project, IOM has provided reintegration grants to returning labour migrants and their family members over the past several years to support the establishment and development of businesses and livelihood activities, with the aim of facilitating their sustainable economic and social reintegration. While this support has generated valuable practical experience, sustainable reintegration cannot rely on individual assistance alone. It requires coordinated national mechanisms, including clear institutional roles and mandates, inter-agency coordination, referral pathways, access to employment, skills recognition and development, financial services, underpinned by sustained government ownership. At the same time, return does not in itself imply a need for reintegration support. Many returning labour migrants, including seasonal workers returning under the UK SWS after short-term employment abroad, may not face significant reintegration difficulties; for them, reintegration is primarily about making productive use of the earnings, skills and experience gained abroad, including through access to employment, skills recognition, entrepreneurship and financial services, and links to services at home.
IOM seeks to engage a qualified Expert to review and map existing reintegration mechanisms in Uzbekistan available to returning labour migrants, compare them with relevant international reintegration mechanisms and good practices, and draw on lessons learned from IOM’s reintegration grants, to inform evidence-based policy dialogue with national stakeholders. The assessment will be primarily desk-based, complemented by remote interviews with previous IOM grantees. The findings and recommendations of the assessment will be presented and discussed during a roundtable discussion with national government officials, tentatively scheduled for December 2026, with a view to supporting efforts to strengthen and institutionalize sustainable reintegration approaches in Uzbekistan.
The assessment will cover returning labour migrants, using returning UK SWS seasonal workers as a detailed example. It will apply IOM’s Integrated Approach to Reintegration, covering the economic, social and psychosocial dimensions of reintegration at the individual, community and structural levels.

Objectives

• Review, map and analyse existing reintegration mechanisms and support measures in Uzbekistan, including relevant government programmes, institutional arrangements, legal and policy frameworks, coordination and referral arrangements, services and other available forms of assistance for returning labour migrants, with a particular focus on returning UK SWS seasonal workers, with a view to understanding the current national reintegration landscape, which programmes and services actually perform reintegration functions and which provide general social and economic support, and identifying key gaps.
• Review relevant international reintegration mechanisms, approaches and best practices, including examples from other countries of origin with comparable labour migration profiles and from circular or seasonal labour migration schemes, and assess their relevance and applicability to the Uzbek context, taking into account the existing national mechanisms, institutional arrangements and identified gaps.
• Draw lessons from IOM’s reintegration grants provided to returning labour migrants and their family members, based on qualitative interviews with previous grantees and available programme data, as a practical example of reintegration support, focusing on grantees’ experience of reintegration and access to services, what this experience shows about the services, partnerships and institutional linkages needed for sustainable reintegration, and how such support could be linked with, or integrated into, national reintegration mechanisms.
• Generate evidence-based findings and practical recommendations to inform policy-level advocacy and support efforts to strengthen and institutionalize a coordinated and sustainable national reintegration mechanism in Uzbekistan, including options for institutional roles and mandates, inter-agency coordination, referral pathways and case management, financing, and monitoring of reintegration outcomes, consistent with applicable IOM guidance on reintegration.
• Present the assessment findings and recommendations at the Roundtable discussion with national government officials and facilitate discussion on potential options for strengthening the national reintegration mechanism.

The Consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Head of Labour Mobility Division and in close coordination with the relevant IOM project staff.

The selected Expert will be responsible for reviewing, analysing and mapping existing reintegration mechanisms and support measures for returning labour migrants in Uzbekistan, using the UK SWS as a detailed example, comparing the national context with relevant international reintegration mechanisms and good practices, drawing lessons from IOM’s reintegration grants through interviews with previous grantees, and developing practical options for strengthening a coordinated national reintegration mechanism. The assignment will be primarily desk-based, with primary data collection limited to remote interviews with previous IOM grantees. The findings and recommendations will be presented and discussed with national government stakeholders at the Roundtable discussion.
The assignment will include the following key tasks:

• Develop a detailed methodology and workplan for the assessment, including an analytical framework based on IOM’s Integrated Approach to Reintegration, key research questions, the desk review framework and a proposed approach and sample for remote interviews with previous grantees (including sampling criteria, geographic and demographic coverage, and limitations), for IOM’s review and approval. The depth of analysis shall be proportionate to the timeframe of the assignment and the available evidence.
• Review relevant national legislation, policies, strategies and programmes related to labour migration, return and reintegration (including those relevant to the UK SWS), relevant studies and reports by government, international organizations and development partners, as well as IOM programme documents, grant records, monitoring data and previous assessments related to IOM’s reintegration grants programme.
• Conduct remote (phone or video) qualitative interviews with a sample of previous IOM grantees (returning labour migrants, including SWS returnees, and their family members), in line with the approved approach, focusing on their experience of reintegration and access to services. Interviews should cover, among others, their awareness of and access to existing national reintegration services, barriers and challenges encountered, and their views on what support would best facilitate sustainable reintegration. Business results should be considered as context only.
• Review, map and analyse existing reintegration mechanisms and support measures in Uzbekistan, including relevant government programmes, institutional arrangements, services and other forms of support available to returning labour migrants, with a particular focus on returning SWS seasonal workers, covering institutional roles and mandates, legal and policy frameworks, coordination and referral arrangements, financing and monitoring of reintegration outcomes, distinguish between programmes and services that actually perform reintegration functions and those that provide general social and economic support, distinguish for each relevant service between its formal existence, eligibility, practical accessibility and adequacy to labour migrants’ needs, to the extent possible based on available evidence, and identify their strengths, key gaps, overlaps and opportunities for strengthening coordination.
• Review relevant international reintegration mechanisms, approaches and best practices, including examples from other countries of origin with comparable labour migration profiles and from circular or seasonal labour migration schemes, and assess their relevance and applicability to the Uzbek context, taking into account the existing national mechanisms, institutional arrangements and identified gaps.
• Analyse the findings from interviews with previous grantees, together with available programme data on IOM’s reintegration grants, to identify grantees’ reintegration experiences, good practices and lessons learned, with a focus on how such support could complement and be linked with national services and referral mechanisms. Conclusions shall be limited to grantees and shall not be generalized to all returning labour migrants; the economic results of grants shall not, in themselves, be treated as evidence of sustainable reintegration.
• Based on the above, develop practical recommendations for strengthening and institutionalizing a coordinated national reintegration mechanism in Uzbekistan (e.g., institutional set-up and lead agency, inter-agency coordination, case management and referral pathways, standard operating procedures, financing and monitoring), and assess their feasibility in the Uzbek context.
• Prepare a draft assessment report presenting an overview of the existing national reintegration mechanisms and identified gaps, a comparative review of relevant international approaches, key lessons from IOM’s reintegration grants, and practical, policy-relevant options and recommendations for strengthening and institutionalizing the national reintegration mechanism. The report shall clearly state the target groups covered, the scope and limitations of the assessment, and the extent to which findings are based on documented arrangements rather than evidence of practice. Submit the draft report to IOM for review.
• Prepare presentation materials summarizing the key findings and recommendations for the Roundtable discussion.
• Present the assessment findings and recommendations at the Roundtable discussion with national government officials and support IOM in facilitating the related discussion, as needed.
• Incorporate feedback received from IOM and from the Roundtable discussion into the final report.
• Finalize and submit the publication-ready final report in Uzbek and English (subject to IOM clearance procedures), together with all supporting materials, in editable electronic format.

The Expert shall work in close coordination with IOM Uzbekistan throughout the assignment, and shall:

• Maintain regular communication with IOM Uzbekistan on progress;
• Coordinate with and draw on the emerging findings of other relevant studies and assessments ongoing at IOM Uzbekistan, to avoid duplication and ensure consistency of findings and recommendations;
• Ensure that all data collection with previous grantees is conducted in a respectful, confidential and ethical manner, with informed consent and voluntary participation, in line with IOM Data Protection Principles (including data minimization, secure storage and restricted access);
• Ensure that the assessment and its findings follow a rights-based, non-discriminatory and evidence-based approach;
• Protect the confidentiality of any information or data shared by grantees or other stakeholders for the purpose of the assignment;
• Incorporate consolidated feedback from IOM in a timely manner.

Required Qualifications and Experience

The Expert must demonstrate strong technical and analytical capacity, including:

Education

• Advanced degree in social sciences, migration studies, development studies, economics, public policy or a related field;

Experience

• Minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in policy research, institutional or policy analysis, monitoring and evaluation, or assessment of return and reintegration, labour migration, employment or social protection systems and programmes;

• Demonstrated experience conducting desk-based policy research and comparative analysis, as well as remote interviews with programme beneficiaries, including knowledge of research ethics and personal data protection;

• Sound knowledge of international reintegration frameworks (including IOM’s integrated approach to reintegration), mechanisms and good practices; experience in the design or review of national reintegration, referral or case management mechanisms is an advantage;

• Experience engaging with government officials and producing policy-relevant analysis and recommendations;

• Strong data analysis, report-writing and presentation/facilitation skills;

• Experience in migration, labour migration, return and reintegration or related fields is an advantage;

Languages

For this consultancy, Fluency in Uzbek and strong written English, as the final report is to be prepared in both languages.

Proficiency of language(s) required will be specifically evaluated during the selection process, which may include written and/or oral assessments.

Required Competencies

IOM’s competency framework can be found at this link. Competencies will be assessed during the selection process.

Values - all IOM staff members must abide by and demonstrate these five values:

• Inclusion and respect for diversity: Respects and promotes individual and cultural differences. Encourages diversity and inclusion.
• Integrity and transparency: Maintains high ethical standards and acts in a manner consistent with organizational principles/rules and standards of conduct.
• Professionalism: Demonstrates ability to work in a composed, competent and committed manner and exercises careful judgment in meeting day-to-day challenges.
• Courage: Demonstrates willingness to take a stand on issues of importance.
• Empathy: Shows compassion for others, makes people feel safe, respected and fairly treated.

Core Competencies – behavioural indicators

• Teamwork: Develops and promotes effective collaboration within and across units to achieve shared goals and optimize results.
• Delivering results: Produces and delivers quality results in a service-oriented and timely manner. Is action oriented and committed to achieving agreed outcomes.
• Managing and sharing knowledge: Continuously seeks to learn, share knowledge and innovate.
• Accountability: Takes ownership for achieving the Organization’s priorities and assumes responsibility for own actions and delegated work.
• Communication: Encourages and contributes to clear and open communication. Explains complex matters in an informative, inspiring and motivational way.

Notes

IOM covers Consultants against occupational accidents and illnesses under the Compensation Plan (CP), free of charge, for the duration of the consultancy. IOM does not provide evacuation or medical insurance for reasons related to non-occupational accidents and illnesses. Consultants are responsible for their own medical insurance for non-occupational accident or illness and will be required to provide written proof of such coverage before commencing work. 

Any offer made to the candidate in relation to this vacancy notice is subject to funding confirmation.

Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, security clearances.

IOM has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and IOM, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities.

IOM does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, processing, training or other fee). IOM does not request any information related to bank accounts.

IOM only accepts duly completed applications submitted through the IOM e-Recruitment system (for internal candidates link here). The online tool also allows candidates to track the status of their application.

No late applications will be accepted. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

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