Stakeholders involved

• Social partners
• Government representatives (national)
• Local contractors
• INGOs

Guidelines

• Communicate with EIIP implementing partners to ensure shared messaging about the nature of and expectation regarding EIIP work, particularly when they are recruiting EIIP workers.
• The processes and procedures to access formal work need to be carefully and clearly explained to workers – particularly those who have not engaged in formal work prior to their participation in the EIIP. For refugees, topics such as work permits and social security will also need to be covered.
• Raise awareness amongst EIIP workers of labour rights and decent work principles, including occupational safety and health (OSH) and social protection. Establishing communication channels with the relevant government ministry and social security institutions can also help direct questions and follow-up.
• Trade unions can also be involved to support workers from both refugee and host communities to form EIIP worker committees. Read more about how trade unions are involved in EIIP.

Stakeholders involved

• Social partners
• Government representatives (local)
• Local contractors
• Cooperatives

Guidelines

• Raise awareness and educate local officials, contractors and workers on the EIIP approach.
• Set up consultative mechanisms with local communities or representatives to identify local infrastructure needs and the related job creation potential.
• For example, consultations were organized with local stakeholders in Kebribeyah, Ethiopia, to promote buy-in to and ownership of a satellite TVET training centre, and to provide guidance on relevant, in-demand occupations.

Stakeholders involved

• Social partners
• Government representatives (local)
• Local contractors
• INGOs

Guidelines

• In many refugee-hosting areas, cash-for-work programmes are run by various humanitarian and development actors, each of whom has its  own specific terms and conditions for daily pay, number of working hours and duration of the work. When different programmes are implemented in the same locality, this can introduce competition between projects and confusion among potential EIIP workers.
• Engage in dialogue with UN agencies, INGOs, NGOs, trade unions, industry associations and government representatives with a view to establish Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and guidelines on fair compensation and contracts. These should recommend a standard daily wage, working hours and duration of work contract. For example, in Uganda, the PROSPECTS team trained UNHCR personnel on an EIIP approach and promoted the mainstreaming of EIIP principles in the UNHCR’s procurement from local building contractors.
• Align SOPs with national labour legislation and international standards on working age, wage,  working hours and OSH, among others.

Stakeholders involved

• Local contractors
• Refugee and host community members
• BDS providers

Guidelines

• Engaging refugees as  contractors is contingent on the national frameworks and processes in place for business registration and ownership.
• Invest in the capacity of local contractors to prepare and execute EIIP’s labour-intensive approach. For example, in Kenya, EIIP was used to strengthen infrastructure in the camel-milk value chain by restoring water systems. In Ethiopia, detention ponds for cattle and milk cooling facilities for producers were built as part of the dairy value chain.
• Invest in the capacity of contractors, to serve as local business leaders and points of contact for current and future EIIP work.
• Use referral networks between activities, to help EIIP workers and contractors start and expand  construction related businesses.
• Find out more about key resources and guidance to enhance labour-based construction management practices.

Stakeholders involved

• Private sector
• Government representatives (national)
• Local contractors

Guidelines

• Use a market systems approach to identify relevant infrastructure weaknesses in the value chain.
• Equip local communities with the knowledge and skills to independently maintain the infrastructure developed through EIIP projects. For example, in Kenya, the EIIPs were designed to rehabilitate existing water sources and help the communities build the necessary knowledge and skills to maintain the infrastructure. This included training in basic maintenance of community water infrastructure and management of community water points, including dams, boreholes and pumping systems.
• Use locally available and inexpensive materials to build durable infrastructure that can be easily maintained by local communities. The simple technologies are also easier to maintain in the long term. For example, the work on rural roads with the Turkana County governments in Kenya is an example of how simple technologies were used to improve the durability and quality of public infrastructures. The techniques that were applied, whether cobblestone or do-nou (a Japanese method that uses gunny bags filled with sand or soils to level and reinforce dirt roads), relied on readily available and inexpensive inputs.

Stakeholders involved

• Community-based organizations
• Donors
• Local contractors
• Refugee and host community members

Guidelines

• Multi-year funding with built-in flexibility can support the repurposing of funds to contribute to EIIP in the case of unanticipated natural disasters, industrial accidents, economic collapse or conflict.
• Use the footprint of the other infrastructure programmes, including staff who are already in place with the necessary technical expertise to carry out the EIIP work at community level.
• For example, in Lebanon, EIIP was introduced as a rapid response mechanism to address the immediate aftermath of the Beirut blast in 2020. While EIIP was not initially included in the PROSPECTS workplan in the country, the team was able to repurpose funds and support an existing ILO EIIP programme in Lebanon to operationalize rubble removal and street-clearing in the days following the blast.
• Make the most of local actors to monitor and report on the project’s progress when travel to project sites may be difficult because of conflict or environmental factors, as shown in the case of Iraq.