A. BACKGROUND

Mongolia received a credit from the International Development Association (IDA) for the Strengthening Fiscal and Financial Stability Project (SFFSP). The Objective of the SFFS Project is designed to improve fiscal policy and sustainability in a mineral-based economy, protect the poor and vulnerable, and restore confidence in the financial sector. The project is designed into five components: (I) Strengthening Macroeconomic and Fiscal Management; (II) Improving the Efficiency of Public Financial Management; (III) Enhancing Financial Sector Stability; (IV) Strengthening the Social Protection System; (V) Project Management and Monitoring. The objectives are to: Strengthening fiscal responsibility and implementing relevant policy measures, improving fiscal discipline, strengthening the resiliency of the banking system, improving public expenditure quality in social protection, providing support for Project implementation, coordination, monitoring, and evaluation, including, inter alia, audit arrangements, reporting requirements, procurement, and financial management activities respectively. For more details, please refer to the Project Appraisal Document Report No. PAD2269. 

In the area of social insurance in Mongolia, the Pension Insurance Scheme poses a sharply growing fiscal burden as a result of the rapidly aging population and several measures introduced, in recent years, to the scheme, which increased benefits and/or reduced eligibility requirements. In this context, the State Policy on Pension Reform (2015–2030) was approved by the Parliament in December 2015 to “create a framework for the government, employers, and individuals to be jointly responsible for addressing the ever-increasing pension costs due to the changes in demographic structure and life expectancy and provide a decent pension benefit that is adequate for living for elders.” The state policy envisioned addressing the fiscal burden through parametric reforms, which better align contributions and benefits and limit the state subsidy to the social insurance fund to no greater than 2 percent of GDP in the long term. The policy, however, is not legally binding and therefore needs to be followed up with amendments to the Social Insurance Law to achieve the policy objectives envisioned. In-country technical capacity for evidence-based pension policymaking and implementation is limited.

The state subsidy to pensions amounted to about 2.2% of GDP in 2018 (about 8% of government revenues and grants) and is projected to increase to over 6% of GDP by 2030 (about 22% of revenues and grants if held constant) and 11% of GDP by 2050 . The increase is primarily attributed to the rapid aging of the population (the proportion of the population over age 60 is projected to triple from 6.2% in 2015 to 18.8% in 2050) and government policies which have liberalized pension benefits and loosened qualifying conditions.

The policy needs to include pension reform and the formulation of programs to improve social insurance coverage among informal workers, herders, and the self-employed, the non-pension elements of the Social Insurance Scheme, and needs to adjust technical parameters such as financial sustainability, contributory incentives, and adequacy of benefits. The working group formed by Minister of Labor and Social Protection (order No. A/244 dated 17 November 2016) and it was renewed by the MLSP (Order No. A/73, dated 20 March 2018) is tasked to prepare draft amendments to the package of social insurance laws. With this background, the Minister of Labor and Social Protection (MLSP) had hired several national consultants during 2017 to 2019.  

The local consultants and the working group members worked on concept papers for draft amendments to the Package Social Insurance Laws (The general law of Social Insurance and the law on social insurance pensions, allowances, and unemployment benefits insurance law, Law on pensions and benefits provided from industrial accidents and occupational disease fund insurance law). Based on the relevant background studies, the concept notes for amending the laws were approved by the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs on August 10, 2018 and consequently thr first draft amendments were prepared. 

MLSP also hired an international consultant service specifically focused on modeling and analytical framework for design adjustments to the parameters under the existing law and to model the effects of a number of proposed changes in parameters and qualifying conditions. MLSP hired a lead national consultant, from January 2020 to work with the working group on finalization of the draft amendments to the relevant legislation. 

Based on the previous work, additional actuarial projections and policy directions emerging, the MLSP  needs some more work to reformulate draft amendments to Social Insurance Package Law,  do necessary update and additional input the the previously conducted studies  and surveillance survey for justifications of the draft final amendments, the concept papers, financial and social impact of the proposed amendments etc.  Among others, with the proposed reform of the social insurance package law , another  set of laws ( about 30) need to be amended respectively (see the details from scope of the work).

With the ever-increasing public and political pressure for the pension system reform , the Parliament and the Government of Mongolia have assigned the MLSP to increase the public awareness activities around the pension reform issues, expedite the preparation of legal changes for pension system reforms and submit a draft package of laws on social insurance to the Parliament in 2020.

Therefore, the MLSP requests to hire one more national consultant to assist the working group on an ongoing basis in finalizing the draft amendments with the reform of the social insurance package law draft and relevant laws and other documents. 

B. OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The main objective of this consultant service is to facilitate the MLSP WG and the lead national consultant to finalize Social Insurance Package Law, and draft amendments to relevant laws ( about 30 laws), 

do necessary update and additional studies for justifications of the draft final amendments, the concept papers, financial and social impact of the proposed amendments etc.  

C. SCOPE OF THE WORK

The consultant will finalize Social Insurance Package Law, and the following draft laws along with its the research and surveillance survey for justifications for the amendments, concepts papers, required technical impact assessment and cost estimate, and supportive documents of each particular social insurance law amendment draft as required for submission to the Parliament.

To develop in addition Social Insurance Package Law, and the following draft laws accompanying the Social Insurance Law:

A. Updating draft laws:

   - Amendments to the Law on back off pay of pension insurance premiums for herders, self-employers, and informal workers 

   - Amendments to the Law on Employment Promotion

   - Amendments to the Law on Enforcement of Judgments

   - Amendments to the Law on Sending Labor Force Abroad and Receiving Labor Force and Specialists from Abroad

   - Amendments to the Law on the Elderly

   - Amendments to the Banking Law

   - Amendments to the Customs Law

   - Amendments to the Law on Diplomatic Service

   - Amendments to the Law on Borders of Mongolia

   - Amendments to the Law on the Police

   - Amendments to the Law on Church-State Relations

   - Amendments to the Law on Health Insurance

   - Amendments to the Law on Violations

B. To develop following draft laws:

   - Repeal of the Law on Pensions and Benefits from the Social Insurance Fund

   - Repeal of the Law on Unemployment Benefits from the Social Insurance Fund

   - Repeal of the Law on National Defined for Pension Insurance Contributions

   - Amendments to the Law on the Constitutional Court

   - Amendments to the Law on Prosecutors

   - Amendments to the Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

   - Amendments to the Law on the Legal Status of Judge

   - Repeal of the Law on Benefits of the People's Republic of Mongolia

   - Amendments to the Family Code

   - Amendments to the Law on Donors

   - Amendments to the Law on the State Great Hural of Mongolia

   - Amendments to the Forest Law

   - Amendments to the Law on Culture

   - Amendments to the Law on Statistics

   - Amendments to the Law on Railway Transport

   - Amendments to the Civil Service Law

   - Amendments to the Law on State Audit

   - Amendments to the Law on State Inspection

   - Amendments to the Budget Law

   - Repeal of the Law on the Minimum Benefit

   - Amendments to the Law on Occupational Safety and Health

   - Amendments to the Law on Labor

   - Amendments to the Law on Property Valuation

   - Amendments to the Law on Pensions and Benefits for Military Servicemen

The consultant is responsible for the quality of the following  deliverables.

  Task I. Under the guidance of the lead consultant, co-work on reviewing  the existing version of the draft amendments to Social Insurance Package Law in light of the State Policy on Pension reform (2015-2030), as well as in consideration of other ongoing policy developments, the latest actuarial analytical study and projections done by international consultants  and further reformulate the draft amendments.  

  Task II.  Do necessary update and additional studies for justifications of the draft final amendments, the concept papers, financial and social impact of the proposed amendments etc; 

  Task III. Ensure proposed draft amendments alignments with relevant policies and legislations (to finalize draft amendments to 24  laws, and to improve 13 law drafts with relevant the Social Insurance Package Laws, see the scope of the work) such as Fund Management Law, Personal Income Tax Law, Integrated Budget Law, Glass Account (Budget Transparency) Law, and Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest in Public Service, Anti-corruption Law, Criminal Law and other legislations relevant to the package of social insurance laws, and if necessary propose appropriate amendments in consideration of governance and investment issues acutely.Task IV. Conduct financial and social impact estimate for the proposed all draft laws;  

  Task V. Organize the public consultations (online and offline) on the draft amendments, including participation of relevant governmental and non-governmental organizations, professional and research organizations, legal entities, and citizens whose legitimate interests and rights might be affected and prepare a bibliography of the comments and recommendations those does not incorporate and incorporated into the draft amendments.

Other tasks as reasonably requested by the MLSP and technical working group. 

D.DELIVERABLES

All deliverables should be discussed with relevant officials of MLSP and SIGO with the incorporation of comments in order to ensure the quality of the deliverables:

Deliverable 1. Final draft Social Insurance Package laws (referring to the Task I and Task V )

Deliverable 2. Updated studies and surveillance survey and required technical impact assessment for the draft amendments;  (referring to the Task II)

Deliverable 3. Draft final amendments to the relevant laws aligned with the relevant policies and proposed draft amendments to the Social Insurance Package laws. (referring to the Task III)

Deliverable 4. The financial and social impact assessments on proposed all draft laws;  (referring to the Task IV)

Deliverable 5. Final Report including the summary of comments and recommendations based on the consultations with the key stakeholders and the public (referring to the Task I-V)

E.  REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CONSULTANT:

 Education:                              Suitable candidates should have a bachelor's degree or higher, medical, and other related.

Professional qualifications:     Having experience in research in the field of social welfare and medical.

Experience:                             Candidate should have at least 20 years of relevant professional and legal act drafting experience.

Language skills                       Have excellent skills in Mongolian and intermediate skills in English;

Other:                                      Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to function effectively and collaboratively in a team environment. Have the ability to perform and manage high-quality work in a relatively short period.

F SUPERVISION AND REPORTING

The consultant will report directly to the Lead consultant and Head of a Technical working group, who is the Director of Policy, Planning Department (PPD).  The consultant will work on a day-to-day basis under the guidance of the Lead consultant and Director of PPD on technical matters related to the assignment. Work progress will be presented during the working group meeting or other meetings as needed.   

The Director of PPD shall evaluate the performance on agreed deliverables and approve the invoices for the delivered outputs.   

The consultant will prepare a 3-5 pages summary progress report detailing the achievements and impediments in executing the entire assignment effectively.  The MLSP and SFFS PIU will provide input to the evaluation of the consultant’s performance. 

G. CONTRACT DURATION

The consulting service is expected to commence in June 2020.  The contract will have a duration of 5 months (65 working days) through October, 2020.

Based on evolving needs of the Client and performance of the consultant, the contract may be extended if needed. If any task is not finished and approved by the Client within the agreed-upon timeline, the consultant should complete the task/s without any additional cost.

H. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

The MLSP will provide office space for the consultant to work with the lead consultant and technical working group as well as the MLSP officials.  The consultant will have access to all necessary data and information.  

If you possess the above qualifications, please submit following documents via email to procurement@sffs.mn:

    1. Cover letter indicating why she/he considers her/himself suitable for the position;

    2. Detailed CV highlighting relevant skills/experience;

    3. Copy of diplomas or certificates; and,

    4. 2 reference letters from previous last two employers no later than 17:00, June 18, 2020.

The submitted documents will not be returned to the applicants. Please note that incomplete applications would not be considered for evaluation. Only selected candidates will be contacted. Candidates can be interviewed. Detailed terms of reference can be requested from procurement@sffs.mn Contact address: Attn: Ms.Bayarmaa, Procurement specialist, Strengthening Fiscal and Financial Stability Project.

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