Background

Nepal has made progress in improving the national legislative framework to address sexual harassment by enacting the Sexual Harassment at the Workplace (Elimination) Act (SH Act) in 2015. However, effective implementation remains a serious challenge in the country. Awareness on the contents of the Act is generally limited among the public as well as the key stakeholders and the government is yet to issue rules, regulations and code of conduct, despite its mandate to do so to support the implementation of the Act. There have been no or limited actions to establish the complaint hearing body at the district level as prescribed in the Act. There is no coordination among the relevant entities. Further, there is limited data on the prevalence of violence and harassment, and no reporting related to the implementation of the SH Act.

At the meeting held with the government, employers, workers’ organizations, and other relevant stakeholders in December 2019, the participants agreed and reiterated the need to strengthen national action to prevent violence and harassment, especially gender-based violence in Nepal. The recent adoption of the new ILO convention and recommendation on violence and harassment in the world of work offers a great opportunity for Nepal to strengthen its laws and their implementation to prevent and address violence and harassment.

Violence and Harassment Convention 2019 (No. 190) has gained further prominence in the context of COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to telework and work from home modality that it has brought about. As such Violence and Harassment at work has now become a cross cutting issue that must be at the heart of any COVID-19 response on part of employers.

In response to this National Business Initiative (NBI) in partnership with International Labor Organization (ILO) is developing a Code of Conduct in Violence and Harassment at Work for its employer organizations. NBI as the representative umbrella body for private sector employers in Nepal can reach out to various national umbrella employer federations to strengthen the action to prevent violence and harassment and lead the discourse on Violence and Harassment at Work in Nepal through the development of a code of conduct for employers.

Scope of Work

NBI seeks to hire a consultant to achieve following objectives:

• To lead the discourse on Violence and Harassment at Work in Nepal through the development of a code of conduct for employers

Change in the world of work in Nepal due to COVID-19 requires that employers also focus on violence and harassment at work. The code will be developed using a consultative process and under the framework of Convention No. 190 & Sexual Harassment at the Workplace Act (2015) to outline a clear guide for employers towards creating a world of work free of harassment and violence, including gender-based violence and harassment.

Expected Outcomes and Deliverables

Duration of work will be equivalent to twenty person-days including the duration of review, consultative process and preparation of final code of conduct. At the end of the work period, the consultant shall provide a final document that outlines the code of conduct on Violence and Harassment at Work ready to be adopted by the employer organizations.

Apply

Qualified candidates are requested to submit a cover letter along with updated CV to info@nbinepal.org.np by February 28, 2021. Please indicate your ability, availability and daily rate to undertake the terms of reference above. Any enquiries and information can be directed to Prabhkar Sigdel (9841476826), Yogita Bajracharya (9860509731)