The Enhancing Labour Mobility from PNG Project

Papua New Guinea (PNG) has access to several international labour mobility programs including Australia’s Pacific-Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) Scheme and New Zealand’s Registered Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme. The Government of PNG (GoPNG) is committed to significantly increasing participation of PNG workers in these schemes.

The World Bank is providing financing to GoPNG for the Enhancing Labour Mobility from PNG Project (ELMPP). The project objective is to strengthen government systems in PNG that support workers and their households to benefit from overseas employment opportunities, with a focus on women and disadvantaged groups. The project has four interlinked components: (1) Strengthening systems and worker readiness to enhance benefits from overseas employment opportunities; (2) Enhancing equity in access to labour mobility opportunities for PNG workers; (3) Boosting household impacts from employment overseas; and (4) Project management and results monitoring. The total funding envelope is US$32 million.

The Project is being implemented by the Department of Treasury through the PNG Labour Mobility Unit. A Project Management Unit is being established to support Project implementation.

Environmental and Social Management

The LMU is committed to developing its functions and capacity for managing social, labour and welfare risks associated with international labour mobility programs

The Project will be implemented in accordance with the World Bank’s Environmental and Social Framework’s (ESF) Environmental and Social Standards (ESSs) and relevant GoPNG laws. During project preparation, the GoPNG prepared several E&S instruments including an Social Assessment / Social Management Plan (SA/SMP); Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP); Labour Management Procedure (LMP) and Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP) – refer here.

Assignment location: Global with regular travel to Papua New Guinea

Role and Responsibilities

The STC - Social Risk, Welfare and Labour will provide hands on implementation support to PNG’s LMU during early project implementation, and until the PMU’s Social Risk, Welfare and Labour Specialist is hired.

Responsibilities will include:

• Support the development and functions of the LMUs Worker Welfare Unit including development and implementation of a Worker Welfare Strategy and systems and procedures and capacity for social, welfare and labour risk management.
• Oversee the implementation of the project’s material E&S measures and actions as outlined in the ESCP to ensure the Project is implemented in accordance with the World Bank’s Environmental and Social Framework.
• Conduct additional due diligence of the processes for information sharing and collaboration with sending country governments on worker welfare (i.e. grievances and incidents) under New Zealand’s RSE Scheme.
• Establish/strengthen and document (i.e. in the Project Operations Manual) the LMU and project systems and procedures for social risk, labour and welfare management, monitoring and reporting and ensure integration into overall project design, planning, monitoring and reporting arrangements.
• Lead the development and implementation of an annual environmental and social risk and welfare management work plan and budget as part of the overall project planning and budgeting process.
• Lead the implementation of the SA/SMP and associated instruments including the Stakeholder Engagement Plan and Labour Management Procedures.
• Strengthen and support the operation of the LMU’s grievance redress mechanism and incident management procedures, to receive and facilitate resolution of concerns and grievances and manage incidents. Provide technical support to responding to level 2 and 3 grievances/incidents.
• Strengthen and support the LMU’s coordination and liaison functions with A&NZ agencies on social (and environmental) management and worker welfare.
• Provide technical inputs into the design and procurement of consultancies, studies (including feasibility studies, if applicable), capacity building, training, and any other technical assistance activities under the Project to ensure social, labour and welfare risks are addressed - and provide technical support and inputs during their implementation.
• Conduct a capacity assessment and develop/implement a capacity development and training program for the LMU’s Worker Wellness and Welfare Officer(s) and In-Country Liaison Officer(s) on social (and environmental) risk and welfare management.
• Develop and implement a training program for service providers and contractors on relevant aspects of the Project ESF instruments and relevant ESHS requirement.
• Complete other duties as assigned by the Task Team Leader.

Minimum Qualifications

• A graduate degree in social science or related discipline.
• At least 5 years-experience in social risk management, labour and welfare, and stakeholder engagement in an international labour mobility or related context.
• Current knowledge of Australia and NZ workplace laws and practices desirable.
• Previous experience with Australia or NZ international labour mobility programs desirable.
• Previous experience working with PNG or other Pacific countries on similar assignments desirable.
• Experience in implementing government, World Bank or other international donor safeguards systems highly regarded.
• Excellent English oral and written communication skills, including the ability to synthesise complex concepts in simple, easy-to-understand messages.
• Demonstrated skills in training and motivating team members to implement E&S systems.