Social Audit Standard (SAS) 1600
Promoting welfare of migrants and displaced persons
(SAS 1600 should be read in conjunction with the “Preface to the Social Audit Standards” and
“Framework for the Social Audit Standards”, issued by the ICAI)
SECTION I – INTRODUCTION
Objective and Scope
1.10 This Social Audit Standard relates to the thematic area of “Promoting welfare of migrants and displaced persons”. The Standard aims to provide the Social Auditor with the necessary guidance about independent impact assessment engagement of Social Enterprises engaged in promoting welfare of migrants and displaced persons and the audit steps and procedures that should be applied while conducting the social impact assessment. The Standard sets out the minimum requirements to be followed while conducting impact assessment. Laws or Regulations may establish additional requirements which should be followed as applicable.
SECTION II – PROCESS OF SOCIAL AUDIT
Data Collection
1.20 The stakeholders that may be approached for obtaining data include:
> Direct beneficiaries e.g., migrant workers and displaced persons
> Local bodies including Panchayati Raj Institutions at source and destination areas
> Employers of the direct beneficiaries
> Recruitment Agencies
> Key Program officials of the reporting entity
The overall activity of conducting a survey and collecting sample data should be reviewed in terms of the following factors to assess relevance and reliability:
> designed by an in-house team or external specialized agency
> conducted by an in-house team or external specialized agency
> coverage: number of villages/districts/ total distance (kms) covered
Desk Review
1.30 The Social Auditor should conduct a desk review of existing documents to gain further insight into the evaluation procedure and impact assessment. Such documents, about promoting welfare of migrants and displaced persons, may include the following:
- Tracking and analysis of policies affecting migrant workers, their families and communities
- Benchmark data on number of migrant workers and their movement from source locations to work locations and changes in these
- Benchmark data on livelihood opportunities in source locations
- Benchmark data on families and communities – income, education, health, nutrition, employment, access to schemes etc.
- Data on employers (both organised and informal sectors) of migrant workers and employment practices
Inspection & Personal Interviews
1.40 Besides desk review, the Social Auditor should also consider conducting physical inspection and personal interviews to get firsthand assessment of impact.
Evaluation Questions
1.50 The Social Auditor should review the evaluation questions addressed through Questionnaires, In-depth interviews, and Focused Group Discussions to assess the responses received from various stakeholders and to understand what has changed.
Such questions, in relation to promoting welfare of migrants and displaced persons, may cover the following aspects:
(a) Composition of the beneficiaries
-
- Whether the programme objectives were found to be consistent with the needs of the beneficiary groups?
(b) Quality of programme input
-
- How was the quality of services provided?
- Were the participants satisfied with the services that they received?
- How was the quality of engagement with beneficiaries?
- Are beneficiaries better informed about their rights, entitlements, and the policies and schemes that affect them?
- Has access to rights, entitlements and schemes improved for beneficiaries?
- Have the services enhanced beneficiary livelihoods, working conditions and job security?
- Have the services enhanced income and well-being of the families of the beneficiaries?
- Have the services reduced the flow of migration by enhancing livelihood opportunities in the source districts?
- Have the services enhanced norms and practices of employers of migrant workers?
- Suggestions from beneficiaries for improvement of the programme
(c) Suggestions / Feedback
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- What were the constraints or challenges faced in providing the services? Key Metrics for Evaluation of Project/ Program
1.60 The Social Auditor shall review the project/ program documents to frame the evaluation criteria for assessing impact. Such key metrics may be collated from base-line, mid-line (monthly/quarterly) and end-line assessment (if available), respectively at the beginning, middle and end of the reporting period/project/program to effectively understand and evaluate the impact.
The evaluation of the project/ program information would facilitate the Social Auditor to assess:
- What would have happened in the absence of the intervention?
- How much has the project contributed to the changes that are evidenced?
- Is there any unintended negative impact that happened due to the intervention?
Assessment of Evaluation Criteria (Illustrative Key Performance Indicators)
1.70 The Social Auditor should identify the quantitative and qualitative evaluation criteria against which the impact has to be assessed.
Such criteria for promoting welfare of migrants and displaced persons may broadly include any of the following aspects:
|
S. No |
Evaluation Criteria |
| (A) | Quantitative Criteria |
| (1) | Building knowledge and awareness about schemes and policies |
| 1 | Awareness of schemes and policies related to the welfare of migrants, including those pertaining to the portability of social security benefits |
| 2 | Number of activities/campaigns implemented to raise awareness about migrants’ right to health, education and social protection amongst frontline and other service providers in government facilities |
| 3 | Number of advocacy measures taken to ensure equal participation of trade unions, collective action |
| 4 | Number of policy measures taken to address development challenges faced by migrant workers through intervention |
| 5 | Nature of steps taken to map household and other forms of migration in the locality |
| (2) | Improving labour protection and improvement in capacity building and skill-building |
| 1 | Proportion of migrants receiving support to access decent and productive work in the locality, disaggregated by gender, disability and social group |
| 2 | Prevalence of deaths, injuries, diseases and disabilities caused by unsafe natural and occupational environment, disaggregated by age, gender, sex, social group, disability |
| 3 | Unemployment and Wage gap between migrant and local workers, disaggregated by gender, disability and social group |
| 4 | Proportion of migrants that access vocational training programs in the locality |
| 5 | Proportion of migrant workers reporting discrimination and abuse at work who initiated legal or administrative action |
| 6 | Proportion and frequency of businesses inspected for conformity with labour standards |
| (3) | Improved implementation of public services for migrants and their families |
| 1 | Proportion of female migrant workers legally covered by different health related schemes, maternity benefits |
| 2 | Prevalence rates of nutritional diseases, occupational illnesses, communicable diseases, alcoholism, HIV and AIDS amongst migrant populations |
| 3 | Number of programs aimed at promoting migrants’ right to health including ensuring access to public health facilities and access to insurance schemes |
| 4 | Proportion of a) children of migrant families immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases, b) underweight migrant children, c) female migrants that could equally access pre- and peri-natal healthcare services |
| 5 | Number of affirmative action measures for ensuring access to education of groups in vulnerable situations, without discrimination |
| 6 | Percentage of children and adolescent migrants who a) attend and finish compulsory education, b) early childhood education, c) secondary education disaggregated by age, sex, gender, social group, disability |
| 7 | Number of free programs for learning languages of the destination state to promote integration at school of child going age migrants Percentage of children and adolescent migrants who are involved in child work individually or as part of family labour a) under 14, b) under 16 years of age |
| 8 | Number of Social Security Benefits facilitated for migrants, while considering:
|
| 9 | Number of migrant households accessing at least 3 priority benefits. Priority benefits include:
|
| 10 | Value of benefits received per household |
| 11 | Leverage ratio (i.e. value of benefits delivered compared to the cost of delivery |
| 12 | Number of workers aware of their rights and redressal mechanisms |
| 13 | Number of labour-law violation cases identified |
| 14 | Number of labour-law violation cases resolved |
| 15 | Percentage of rescued bonded-labourers that are rehabilitated by government bodies |
| 16 | Value of unpaid wages that have been recovered |
| (4) | Reducing gender discrimination and ensuring gender justice |
| 1 | Proportion of women workers who have access to maternity benefits, access to worksite creches and sexual and reproductive health services |
| 2 | Proportion of migrant workers who have perceived experienced discrimination at a) work, b) while accessing entitlements |
| 3 | Share of migrant workers among workers represented at the company level |
| (B) | Qualitative Criteria |
| (1) | Improving labour protection and improvement in capacity building and skill-building |
| 1 | Steps taken to ensure participation of workers’ organizations in policymaking and policy implementation on labour migration |
| 2 | Strengthening civil society organizations and creation of local networks |
| 3 | Capacity building process undertaken directly or activated, by gender, disability, social group |
| (2) | Reducing gender discrimination and ensuring gender justice |
| 1 | Steps taken to ensure fair recruitment and equal treatment of migrant workers to prevent exploitation |
| 2 | Existence of a helpline for migrant workers, number of complaints filed and redressed through the same |
SECTION III – ASSESSMENT OF CHALLENGES AND LIMITATIONS
Challenges/Areas for improvement
1.80 The Social Auditor should identify the challenges faced by the stakeholders and the areas for improvement based on the suggestions and feedback received from them, which might influence the impact assessment. Some of the examples of commonly faced issues about promoting welfare of migrants and displaced persons may include the following:
- Lack of awareness of rights, entitlements, schemes and entities working to provide access to these
- Difficulties in data collection and validation due to movement of beneficiaries across states
- Lack of coherent policies and coordinated action between source districts/states and receiving districts/states
Any significant issues observed during the assessment, that may influence the user of the Impact Assessment in decision making, should be highlighted by the Social Auditor in the Social Audit report.
Limitations of the assessment
1.90 The Social Auditor should identify the inherent limitations of the evaluation process which might influence the impact assessment. Some of the examples of promoting awareness, social protection, employment conditions, and livelihoods may include the following:
- Cases of no-response in case the questionnaire is not administered in person
- Some of the questions being skipped by the respondents and remaining unanswered
- Non-availability of respondents due to relocation to other places after completion of the course
- Change in contact details of respondents due to which they could not be contacted
Any significant limitations observed during the assessment, that may influence the user of the Impact Assessment in decision making, should be highlighted by the Social Auditor in the Social Audit report.
SECTION IV – APPENDIX
Taxonomic classification of areas and sub-areas for social objectives
(relating to Promoting welfare of migrants and displaced persons)
|
Sr. No. |
Areas | Sub-areas | ||
| 16 | Promoting migrants persons | welfare of and displaced | Undertake welfare activities for local migrants by opportunities and in turn reduce the economic inequalities. | providing |
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