A. BACKGROUND

Mongolia received credit from the International Development Association (IDA) for the Strengthening Fiscal and Financial Stability Project (SFFSP). The Objective of the SFFS Project is 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. The objective of sub-component D2 is to support the Government’s efforts to improve public expenditure quality in social protection through (a) strengthening social insurance by supporting the implementation of measures set forth in the State Policy on Pension Reforms (2015–2030) and other reforms to strengthen social insurance programs, and (b) strengthening the governance and FM aspects of social insurance program.

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 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[1]. 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 Ministry of Labor and Social Protection (MLSP) is working towards implementing the State Policy on Pension Reforms (2015-2030).  With this background, the MLSP hired local consultants between 2017 to 2023 to get technical support in the process of developing the concept notes of legal revisions and preparing the drafts of four revised social insurance package laws (The General Law on Social Insurance, Law on Pensions and Allowances Provided from Social Insurance Fund,  Law on Unemployment Benefit Provided from Social Insurance Fund, Law on Pensions and Benefits Provided from Industrial Accidents and Occupational Disease Insurance Fund). 

The concept notes for revising the laws were first approved by the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs on August 10, 2018, and were revised again and approved jointly by the Minister of Justice and Home Affairs and the Minister of Labor and Social Protection on December 3, 2020. On October 15, 2021, the Cabinet submitted to the Parliament the draft revised Social Insurance Package Laws. Since then, the minimum pension amount was increased to 500.0 thousand MNT by Government Resolution No. 63 of February 1. Therefore, the Parliament recommended the Government withdraw and revise the draft General Law on Social Insurance and the draft Law on Pensions Provided by the Social Insurance Fund. At the Cabinet meeting on April 13, It was decided to withdraw the two laws (The draft revised General Law on Social Insurance, and the draft revised Law on Pensions Provided from Social Insurance Fund) that were withdrawn at the 2022 spring session.) submitted to the Parliament. The Cabinet also instructed the MLSP to revise and re-submit the above two laws.

Therefore, within the framework of the project, in 2022-2023, technical support continued to be provided to the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection for improving the drafts of the Social Insurance Package Laws and facilitating discussion by the State Great Hural by hiring 2 more national consultants and an international consultant for long-term actuarial calculations of social insurance pensions. 

The working group of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection (MLSP), in cooperation with the consultants, revised the Social Insurance Package Law and submitted it to the Parliament on January 9, 2023.  On January 12 of the same year, the Parliament discussed the revised draft of the General Law on Social Insurance, the revised draft of the Law on Pensions Provided from the Social Insurance Fund, and the drafts of the Law on Private Pensions, and approved them for further discussion by the Parliament. According to the order of the Speaker of the State Great Khural dated February 6, 2023, the working group was established with the task of preparing and drafting proposals and conclusions on the draft Social Insurance Package Laws for the discussion of the State Great Khural and the Standing Committee on Social Policy (SCSP), which was headed by P. Anujin and consisted of 8 members of the Parliament. In addition, the social insurance package law was presented and discussed in 10 aimags and the capital to seniors, youth, voluntary insured persons, all levels of trade unions, employers' representatives, chambers of commerce, and lawyers, and the consultation meetings and events for public opinion were held with funding from this project. 

The working group of the Parliament together with the working group of the Ministry and the national consultants worked effectively on the draft laws which were discussed several times in May-July 2023 by the SCSP and the State Great Khural. Four out of five submitted laws were approved on the 7th of July in 2023 by the State Great Khural. However, the Private Pension Law will continue to be discussed in the 2023 autumn session of the State Great Khural.

Thus, the revised version of the Social Insurance Package Law was approved after 28 years, and the newly approved laws will be implemented starting in 2024. Therefore, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection has to prepare for the implementation of the laws in a very short time. Particularly, more than 40 regulations, rules, procedures, guidelines and methodologies related to the implementation of the laws are required to be finalized and approved by the Government, the National Social Insurance Board (NSIB), the Minister of Labor and Social Protection, the head of the General Department of Social Insurance and other levels of organizations and officials. The first drafts of the above regulations and rules were developed by the social insurance consultants who were employed earlier in the project. However, the original drafts of the package law submitted to the State Great Hural had changed significantly by the time it was passed. Also, the first drafts of accompanying regulations and rules need to be carefully studied in accordance with the characteristics of different industries, the needs of insured individuals and pensioners, and the latest changes in the electronic system, and are required to be approved by the Government, NSIB and other relevant entities. In addition, the MLSP needs to organize training sessions for about 1,500 employees of the social insurance sector, publish approved laws and regulations, simplified manuals and brochures, provide information related to the approved laws to the public, citizens, and enterprises, and prepare for the implementation of the package law.

Therefore, MLSP would like to hire an experienced national consultant to carry out the following tasks. These include: i) provide support in finalizing and approving the draft regulations and rules related to the General Law on Social Insurance; ii) support in finalizing and approving drafts of regulations, rules, methodologies, and guidelines related to the implementation of the Law on Pensions provided from the Social Insurance Fund and the Law on Benefits provided from the Social Insurance Fund; iii) support in finalizing and approving the draft regulations and rules related to the implementation of the Law on Pensions, Benefits and Payments for Industrial Accidents and Occupational Diseases Provided from the Social Insurance Fund; iv) prepare brochures, manuals and content to disseminate the approved laws to the public, media, insureds and pensioners; v) develop curriculum content, presentations, and evaluation questions to train Social Insurance Inspectors in new approved laws, regulations, rules, and methodologies; vi) support the ministry in training of trainers (ToT), serving as a trainer, organizing training and reporting results.

The national consultant will work closely with relevant officer/officers of the Policy Planning Department of the MLSP, as indicated by the MLSP, and engage them in revising or developing the draft laws and accompanying regulations so that the knowledge and experience of the consultant are transferred to the respective officers of the MLSP through close and hands-on engagement in the process of respective tasks.

B. OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The main objective of this consultancy service is to develop training content for social insurance sector workers, to facilitate the MLSP  in the discussion and final development of the draft revision of accompanying regulations, rules, procedures, guidelines and methodologies of the approved social insurance laws, and support the Ministry in carrying out public awareness and training activities for journalists, stakeholders, and social insurance inspectors which will focus on dissemination of information on approved social insurance laws.

C. SCOPE OF THE WORK

The local consultant will be responsible for the following tasks for this assignment. These include: 

i) provide support in finalizing and approving the draft regulations and rules related to the General Law on Social Insurance; ii) support in finalizing and approving drafts of regulations, rules, methodologies, and guidelines related to the implementation of the Law on Pensions provided from the Social Insurance Fund and the Law on Benefits provided from the Social Insurance Fund; iii) support in finalizing and approving the draft regulations and rules related to the implementation of the Law on Pensions, Benefits and Payments for Industrial Accidents and Occupational Diseases Provided from the Social Insurance Fund; iv) prepare brochures, manuals and content to disseminate the approved laws to the public, media, insureds and pensioners; v) develop curriculum content, presentations, and evaluation questions to train Social Insurance Inspectors in new approved laws, regulations, rules, and methodologies; vi) support the ministry in training of trainers (ToT), serving as a trainer, organizing training and reporting results.

The consultant will undertake the following tasks:

Task I. Further elaborate and finalize the draft accompanying regulations, rules, procedures, guidelines and methodologies of Social Insurance General Law, taking into consideration the comments of the WG and SI workers and inspectors and recommendations provided by development partners;

Task II. Further elaborate and finalize the draft accompanying regulations, rules, procedures, guidelines and methodologies of Law on Benefits from the Social Insurance Fund and Law on Pension from the Social Insurance Fund, taking into consideration the comments of the WG and SI workers and inspectors and recommendations provided by development partners;

Task III. Further elaborate and finalize the draft accompanying regulations, rules, procedures, guidelines and methodologies of Law on Pensions, Benefits and Payments for Industrial Accidents and Occupational Diseases from the Social Insurance Fund, taking into consideration the comments of the WG and SI workers and inspectors and recommendations provided by development partners;

Task VI.  Develop background materials and support materials /handouts, brochures/ for the public, insureds, beneficiaries, and enterprises on the approved four social insurance laws and accompanying regulations, rules, procedures, guidelines and methodologies;

Task V. Develop and finalize training contents. For each topic as stated in approved four SI laws and related guidelines, (i) determine the overall learning objectives for each law and the specific objectives for each module of the given topic, key content /script and text for each module;  (ii) specify the types of presentation techniques to be used; learning assessment/quiz questions and responses for each lesson;  (iii) prepare draft presentations, the training materials that should be in the form of PPTs, tables, and graphs if necessary, with corresponding descriptive texts formulated/articulated in a clear, concise, and efficient manner. 

Task VI. Support in conducting the training on approved SI laws and guidelines for SI workers and inspectors in accordance with the training curriculum. (i)  support in conducting training of trainers (ii) work as a trainer in select provinces, and (iii) support in preparing a consolidated training report including the training pictures, exam assessment, and attendance sheets of the trainees.

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

D. DELIVERABLES

In order to ensure the quality of the deliverables, all deliverables should be discussed with relevant officials of MLSP and SIGO and incorporate the comments. In addition, all deliverables provided by the consultant should be newly developed or modified, not identical to the products supplied by the consultant who has previously worked in this field.

Deliverable 1. Referring to the Task I:

The finalized/updated full drafts of the following nine regulations and procedures  to be approved by  the Cabinet or respective Ministers, the National Social Insurance Board (NSIB) in connection with the implementation of the approved General Law on Social Insurance:

1.1. The finalized/updated guidelines for reimbursing premiums, rights, obligations, responsibilities of the parties, conclusion, extension, and termination of the contract, and drafting a voluntary insurance contract;

1.2. The finalized/updated developed procedures for creating and using a unified taxation and social insurance contribution database, monitoring information flow, and ensuring data confidentiality and security;   

1.2. The finalized/updated procedures for setting insurance premium rates for industrial accidents and occupational diseases, premium rates, collection of premiums, and developing the list of occupations to pay premiums; 

1.3. The finalized/updated procedure for deeming social insurance premiums to be paid; 

1.4. The finalized/updated procedures regulating the opening, registration, maintenance of notional personal accounts, and calculation of the insured's starting balance in the individual account of pension insurance contributions;

1.5. The finalized/updated procedures regulating the establishment, accumulation, distribution, and monitoring of pension reserve fund;

1.6. The finalized/updated procedures governing pension Inheritance rates and inheritance relations; 

1.7. The finalized/updated procedures for reporting and reimbursing social insurance contributions;

1.8. The finalized/updated developed procedures and rules of operation of occupational pathology clinics;

1.9. The finalized/updated procedures regulating relations such as classifying social insurance premium arrears by the period of their occurrence, filing claims, and payment.

Deliverable 2. Referring to the Task II:

The finalized/updated full drafts of the following eight finalized draft regulations and procedures to be approved by the Government or respective Ministers in connection with the implementation of the approved Law on Pensions Provided from the Social Insurance Fund and the approved Law on Benefits Provided from The Social Insurance Fund:

2.1. The finalized/updated draft of the list of jobs and occupations related to underground, hazardous, and hot working conditions, and procedures for their use;

2.2. The  finalized/updated draft of the methodology for establishing a standard   salary for national jobs and occupations for retirement;

2.3. The  finalized/updated draft of procedures for determining and applying the average wage and equivalent income for a consecutive period of retirement;

2.4. The finalized/updated draft methodology for determining the minimum pension from the pension insurance fund and the average retirement period.

2.5. The finalized/updated draft procedure regulating the relations related to the payment of the benefit and the list of documents to be submitted by the insured to receive the benefit;

2.6. The finalized/updated draft procedure for issuing a medical certificate to the insured and the draft form of the medical certificate;

2.7. The finalized/updated draft procedures related to the provision of premiums to employers;

2.8.The finalized/updated draft methodology and instructions for calculating the benefits and supervising the documents required to receive the insured's benefits.

Deliverable 3. Referring to the Task IX:

The finalized/updated developed full drafts of the following four developed draft regulations and procedures are to be approved by the Government or respective Ministers in connection with the implementation of the approved Law on Pensions, Benefits, and Payments for Industrial Accidents and Occupational Diseases from the Social Insurance Fund, of the approved General Law on Social Insurance:

3.1.The finalized/updated  draft procedure regulating the relations related to the payment of pensions and benefits and the list of documents to be submitted by the insured when applying for an industrial accident pension and benefits;

3.2.The finalized/updated  draft list of documents to be submitted by the insured to apply for industrial accident expenses and other procedures related to payment and financing;

3.3.The finalized/updated draft procedures of the selection of the organization to hold preventive measures, the financing of expenditures, and monitoring;

3.4.The finalized/updated draft procedures for granting discounts, exemptions, and supervision to employers;

3.5. The finalized/updated  regulations on the structure and working procedures of the NSIB;

3.6. The finalized/updated regulations on the NSIB, the maximum number of staff in the NSIB, and determination of the amount of quarterly bonuses to be paid to the Chairman and members of the NSIB; 

3.7. The finalized/updated procedures for open selection, nomination, and appointment of members of the NSIB;

3.8.The finalized/updated procedure setting the maximum monthly salary and equivalent income to be paid by the insured and the employer to pay social insurance premiums and to determine pensions and benefits.

Deliverable 4. Referring to the Task IV:

4.1. Updated and finalized background and support materials /handouts, brochures/ (at least 8 types) to be used for developing the public communication with the public, insureds, beneficiaries, and enterprises that fully capture the context, objective, nature, scope, and specifics of the approved social insurance four laws and related guidelines;

Deliverable 5. Referring to the Task IV:

5.1 Developed training content with full and complete scripts, including the modules and units of each topic, and reflecting all necessary topics as described in approved four SI laws and related guidelines and instructions; 

5.2 Specification of the types of presentation techniques to be used; learning assessment/quiz questions and responses for each lesson;  

5.3. Prepared draft presentations, the training materials prepared in the form of PPTs, tables, and graphs if necessary, with corresponding descriptive texts formulated/articulated in a clear, concise, and efficient manner.

Deliverable 6. Referring to the Task VI:

6.1 Report on conducting training of trainers; 

6.2. Reports on working as a trainer in select provinces;

6.3 Consolidated training report which includes the training pictures, exam assessment, and attendance sheets of the trainees.

E. CONSULTANT’S QUALIFICATIONS/ SELECTION CRITERIA 

Education: A suitable candidate should at least have a bachelor's degree in economics, labor, social management Social Science, or a related field;

Professional qualifications: A suitable candidate should have extensive experience with social insurance policies and strategies, and experience in preparing and developing social protection policies and legislation would be a plus; 

Experience: A candidate should have at least 8 years of directly relevant professional experience in the field of social insurance policies; 

Language literacy: A candidate should have excellent Mongolian writing and an understanding of English;

Other: Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to function effectively and collaboratively in a team environment, high proficiency in processing documents, being punctual and ability to bear the workload.

F. SUPERVISION AND REPORTING

The consultant will report directly to 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 the 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 August 2023.  The contract will have a duration of 4 months through December 2023.

The contract will not be subject to extension. If any task is not finished and approved by the MLSP within the agreed-upon timeline, the consultant’s payment will be reduced proportionally.

If you possess the above qualifications, please submit the 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. Two (2) reference letters from previous last two employers no later than 15:00 PM, September 08, 2023.

The consultant will be selected in accordance with the World Bank’s Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers (July 2016).

The submitted documents will not be returned to the applicants. Please be noted that incomplete applications would not be considered for evaluation. Only selected candidate will be contacted. Address for submission of Expression of Interest: Ms.Zolzaya.B, Procurement Specialist, Strengthening Fiscal and Financial Stability Project, Room #205, Negdsen undestnii 8/2, 4th khoroo, Chingeltei District, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Tel: 70120582 or via email to: procurement@sffs.mn

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