MRC Counsellor

Vacancy Announcement VA19P150V01 Bangladesh Migrant Resource Centre Counsellor (7 positions) Improving Migration Management th

Posting date: 6 December 2019 th

Deadline for applications: 20 December 2019

Duty station: Dhaka, Bangladesh st

Start date: 1 January 2020

Contract duration: 12 months – 40 h/week

Type of post: Local Organisational Overview

The International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) is an international organisation tasked with promoting innovative, comprehensive and sustainable migration policies. With 17 Member States and over 60 projects active throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America, ICMPD isagrowingandever-morerelevantpresenceinitsfield.Theorganisation’sgreatestassetsareits200+ staffmembers,whopersonifyitsvaluesofcommitment,integrity,partnership,respect,andinnovation in actions and decisions.

Project Overview

ICMPD is inviting all interested candidates to apply for the MRC Counsellor for the project Improving Migration Management. One component of this project is aimed at establishing Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs) in Dhaka and Cumilla, Bangladesh.

In 2017, based on UN report, Bangladesh is the fifth largest origin country of international migrants. Since the 1970s, Bangladesh has been a source country of migrant workers. An estimated 8 million stock of Bangladeshi migrants are in more than 90 countries with Saudi Arabia, UAE, Malaysia and Kuwait as the top destinations. Every year, an average of 500,000 Bangladeshis leave for work overseas,wheremajorityareclassifiedaslow-skilledandwithamedianageof31.Fortysevenpercent of these workers are females. In 2015, Bangladesh received USD 15 billion remittances, which comprised around 8% of its Gross Domestic Product.

Given the increasing number of migrant workers, Bangladesh is enhancing its laws, policies and government structure to respond to the needs and challenges brought about by migration. Under the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment (MEWOE), the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) has set-up 42 District Employment and Manpower Offices (DEMOs) and 64 Technical Training Centres (TTCs) all over the country to facilitate access by prospective migrants of pre-departure requirements such as processing of documents for overseas employment, training and issuance of SMART card.Despite these efforts, there remain some issues and challenges as regards skills development, costs of recruitmentandmigration,frequent violationofemploymentcontracts,harshworkingconditionsand

exploitation in destination countries.

In response to these challenges, the EU funded project “Improving Migration Management” and the

State Secretariat for Migration of the Government of Switzerland will support the national

governments of Bangladesh, particularly the MEWOE and BMET as the primary responsible

government entities, in the establishment of MRCs in Bangladesh. Through collective collaboration

with other key stakeholders at the national and provincial level, the MRCs aim to increase the public’s

accessibility to general and specific information on migration, provide potential migrants with

information and counselling, link up with relevant government agencies for services, raise awareness

on irregular migration and its related risks, and collaborate with other migration-related stakeholders

such as the academia and civil society to provide holistic and coherent information and guidance to

the public and outgoing migrants on migration.

In this regard, ICMPD is seeking applications from qualified and results-oriented Bangladeshi citizens

for the position of the Migrant Resource Centre Counsellor. The position is based in Dhaka and/or

Cumilla with frequent travel within the country.

Job Description: Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the MRC Coordinator based in Dhaka and the Project Manager for MRCs

based in Vienna, the MRC Counsellor will be responsible for the following tasks:

Using various means and platforms such as face-to-face, phone and online, regularly provide

counselling, advice, guidance, referral and information to a variety of clients (prospective or

returning migrants, migrants, families of migrants, etc.) who visit or attend MRC activities,

initiate and follow-up on referrals, and link them with relevant agencies depending on their

needs, e.g. technical and vocational institutes to upgrade their skills or with the BMET for the

processing of their documents for overseas employment;

Conduct regular pre-departure orientation sessions, briefings and trainings to prospective

migrants through and with the DEMOs and TTCs as part of the regular requirements for

migrants prior to their overseas employment;

Conduct regular outreach on migration and the MRC to the public in general using various

means such as radio or TV guestings, online discussions, forum or symposium, conferences

and other related events;

Provide capacity building and trainings targeting government agencies, media, academe, civil

society and other stakeholders whenever opportunity arises;

In partnership with MEWOE and BMET, coordinate with relevant agencies both in the public

and private sector, establish networks and contacts, and help organise community events and

outreach such as briefings in academic and training institutions, symposium with civil society,

training of education or emigration consultancies, and setting-up booths, kiosks or similar

structures in public places to help disseminate information and materials on safe, orderly and

regular migration;

In collaboration with the ICMPD team and whenever applicable, with consultants or experts,

conductstudiesormappingofavailable migration-relatedprogrammes,servicesandactivities

2 of various stakeholders, collect knowledge materials on migration that are helpful in the full

operation and functioning of the MRC, and help revise, prepare or develop additional

knowledge products and information materials, as may be necessary, such as brochures,

handbooks, audio-visual products, web-based information documents, etc.;

Maintain and populate MRC website, Facebook and other social media accounts, initiate

online discussions relevant to migration, respond regularly and timely to issues raised and

information requested, etc.;

Support the MRC Coordinator in managing the day-to-day operation of the MRC to ensure

effective service delivery to potential migrants and other clients who come to the MRC or

participatein itsevents,which include,amongothersmaintaining databaseorrecordsofMRC

clients or beneficiaries and ensuring their confidentiality, preparing relevant reports,

responding to client feedback and monitoring, reporting to relevant agencies any policy or

programmatic recommendations,maintaining cleanlinessandorderintheMRCpremises,and

ensuring availability of information materials for ready distribution to clients;

Support the MRC Coordinator in ensuring the timely, efficient and effective implementation

of MRC activities, and prepare and update work plan when and where necessary to ensure

that the outputs and outcomes are aligned and integrated with the national priorities and

strategies of MEWOE and BMET and of the projects;

Support the MRC Coordinator in preparing weekly, quarterly and annual progress reports,

work plans and budget, meeting agendas and minutes, activity and mission reports,

expenditure plans and advance budget requests on agreed formats, and other documentary

requirements; and

Performotherdutiesasmaybeinstructedorrequiredtoensurethefullcapacityandoperation

of the MRCs.

Key Results

Effectiveset-up andoperationalisationoftheMigrantResourceCentres inDhakaor Cumilla in

collaboration with MEWOE and BMET

A results-based implementation work plan for the MRCs

Effective,timelyandqualitativedeliveryofMRCprogrammesandservicestotargetclientsand

beneficiaries

Communication and outreach workplan that include, among others, key messages, visibility

materials and knowledge products

Incumbent Profile

Education:

University degree (Bachelor’s degree or higher) in international relations, law, development

studies, economics, social or political science, migration studies or related field.

Experience:

Minimum of three (3) years of related professional experience in the field of migration.

3Corporate Qualifications:

Knowledge, skills, abilities:

Fluency in English and Bengali (oral and written proficiency)

Prior work experience with and excellent understanding of the Bangladesh administration or

government structure, especially with regard to migration

Prior experience on and comprehensive understanding of effective service delivery,

community engagement, outreach, social work, counselling, and migration issues

Excellent background knowledge on recent economic, social and political developments in

Bangladesh

An attitude of openness and commitment to human rights and gender equality principles

Ability to plan, manage priorities to meet deadlines, and work under pressure on occasion in

a highly stressful environment

Ability to establish good working relations with the Government of Bangladesh and with a

multinational, multi-disciplinary team

Excellent inter-personal and communication skills

Previous experience of working with governmental and international organisations is an asset

Previous experience in developing knowledge products and information materials or in

managing web-based platforms for communication and outreach is an asset

Compensation

ICMPD offers a compensation monthly gross salary package of 1,000 EUR, including participation in

the ICMPD Health and Accident Insurance and six weeks’ of annual leave.

Application Procedure

Interested candidates are requested to submit their application in English through the ICMPD online

recruitment system at http://www.icmpd.org/work-for-us/current-vacancies by midnight (CET) of the

closing date specified above. For this purpose, candidates will first need to register with the ICMPD

website. Once the relevant data has been entered, candidates will be able to apply for vacancies.

Please note that in thecourse oftheonline application, themotivation letter andpersonal CVmust be

uploaded in the EuropeAid format in English. The template is available for download at

http://www.icmpd.org/work-for-us/.

All applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible after the vacancy has been posted and well

before the deadline stated above. Applications received after the published deadline, and offline

applications submitted via email, fax or post, will not be considered.

Due to the high volume of applications, only short-listed candidates will be contacted and applicants

are expected to be available for a personal/telephone interview.

In the event of a technical issue with your application, please email recruitment@icmpd.org.

General Information:

ICMPD retains the discretion to re-advertise the vacancy or to cancel the recruitment.

4This position may entail frequent travel to high risk areas at short notice for theexecution of the tasks

and duties, which may warrant adherence to security protocols, and/or health procedures.

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