Design, layout, typesetting and proofreading ILO publications in English, Arabic and Kurdish

March 2025 – December 2025

Assignment

ILO Office in Iraq seeks to recruit an individual consultant / standing designer to provide design, layout, typesetting and proofreading publications in English, Arabic and Kurdish that are being produced and/or are expected to be released in 2025 under the EU-supported Social Protection Programme “Social Protection Programme for Iraq: Leveraging Effective Response and Accelerating Reform”. The publications are expected to be produced in strict compliance with the ILO corporate identity guidelines as well as the EU branding policies.

Tentative List of Publications

It is expected that the individual consultant/designer will provide design, layout and typesetting services to the below tentative list of publications.

#

Publication

Languages

Graphs/charts/maps

Tentative number of pages per language

Date publication made available for design

1

Report for the National Conference on Formalization (pdf version only) – standard ILO template can be used

Arabic

No

45

Available

2

Policy brief. Towards extending social security in Federal Iraq: A focus on agricultural, construction, and manufacturing jobs (pdf version only) – standard ILO policy brief template to be used

English, Arabic

Yes

15

February-March 2025

3

Policy brief. Towards extending social security in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: A focus on agricultural, construction, and manufacturing jobs (pdf version only) – – standard ILO policy brief template to be used

English, Kurdish

Yes

15

February-March 2025

4

Report on the Labour Force Survey 2021: Kurdistan Region of Iraq (pdf version only)

English, Kurdish

Yes

100

March-April 2025 (available but requires updates)

5

Report on the limited social security enterprise survey (pdf version only) – standard ILO template can be used

English, Arabic

Yes

50

May 2025

6

Women, the labour market and implications for access to social protection (pdf version only)

English, Arabic

Yes

40

June 2025 (available but requires updates)

7

Making The Case for an Old-Age Social Pension in Federal Iraq (pdf version only)

English, Arabic

Yes

60

July-August 2025

8

Analyzing court cases in Federal Iraq to identify systemic barriers to accessing social security benefits and entitlements (pdf version only)

English, Arabic

Yes

60

September-October 2025

9

Compendium of good practices, challenges, opportunities and lessons learned from tripartite engagement in the extension of social security coverage in the selected governorates in Federal Iraq (pdf version only)

English, Arabic

No

35

November-December 2025

It is expected that upon mutual agreement between the ILO and the individual consultant the actual list of publications could be modified, with items being added or removed, which eventually result in the changes in the actual value of the contract. The dates when publications will be made available for design, layout, typesetting and proofreading may also be changed, depending on the operational necessity.

Tasks

Consultant will perform the following tasks towards fulfillment of the assignment:

1. Review in detail the ILO corporate identity guidelines developed by BRAND (https://brand.ilo.org/hub/2) and ILO House Style Manual, as well as the EU branding policies to ensure full compliance of the proposed design and layout solutions with the corporate design codes;
2. Review other ILO publications produced at the global, regional and national levels to identify design and layout elements;
3. From the photos shared by the ILO Iraq, select those that seem most appropriate to illustrate each of the publication;
4. In full compliance with the ILO corporate identity guidelines and the House Style Manual, propose design for charts, graph, maps and tables;
5. Provide a draft design, layout and typesetting mock-ups of up to 15 pages from selected sections of each publication containing textual and graphic elements (to be selected jointly with the ILO) to agree on the proposed solutions;
6. Pre-finalise the design, layout and typesetting of publications based on the ILO Iraq feedback on the mock-up version, ensuring consistency and visual harmony of the objects on the page for a user-friendly and accessible design;
7. Conduct proofreading of publications to carefully check for errors and typos in the text and fix minor spelling and punctuation mistakes, formatting issues and inconsistencies, including typesetter’s errors.
8. Finalise the design of publications based on the final comments and suggestions received from ILO Iraq and ILO BRAND to the pre-final versions.

Inputs Provided by the ILO

The ILO Iraq is expected to share with the external collaborator:

• The final text of each listed publication as it becomes available
• The copyright pages in English, Arabic and Kurdish with the ISBN and DOI numbers, where required;
• Selected samples of ILO global, regional and country-level publications compliant with the ILO Branding guidelines as visual references;
• Selected photo collections from the ILO corporate libraries;
• ILO corporate branding guidelines (accessible at https://brand.ilo.org/hub/2) and ILO House Style Manual, and detailed explanations to them, if and when required.
• Information on the EU branding guidelines.

Deliverables and Timeline

#

Deliverable

Deadline / Expected completion date

1

Report for the National Conference on Formalization

15 March 2025

2

Policy brief. Towards extending social security in Federal Iraq: A focus on agricultural, construction, and manufacturing jobs

30 March 2025

3

Policy brief. Towards extending social security in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: A focus on agricultural, construction, and manufacturing jobs

30 March 2025

4

Report on the Labour Force Survey 2021: Kurdistan Region of Iraq

30 April 2025

5

Report on the limited social security enterprise survey

30 May 2025

6

Women, the labour market and implications for access to social protection

30 June 2025

7

Making The Case for an Old-Age Social Pension in Federal Iraq

30 August 2025

8

Analyzing court cases in Federal Iraq to identify systemic barriers to accessing social security benefits and entitlements

30 October 2025

9

Compendium of good practices, challenges, opportunities and lessons learned from tripartite engagement in the extension of social security coverage in the selected governorates in Federal Iraq

31 December 2025

The candidates are expected to exercise flexibility and allocate sufficient time to assignments under the current contract.

Work Duration and Payment Terms

The work will be performed between March 2025 and December 2025. The precise contract duration will be defined in the course of selection. The following payment terms will apply:

1. First payment after the delivery ofpublications 1-3 mentioned in the table, designed in line with the ILO and EU branding requirements, typeset and proofread in the required languages to the satisfaction of the ILO;
   1. Second payment after the delivery ofpublications 4-6 mentioned in the table, designed in line with the ILO and EU branding requirements, typeset and proofread in the required languages to the satisfaction of the ILO;
      1. Third and final payment after the delivery ofpublications 7-9 mentioned in the table, designed in line with the ILO and EU branding requirements, typeset and proofread in the required languages to the satisfaction of the ILO.

All the payment will be made upon submission of invoices. All amounts will be paid on actuals (lengths/number of pages in publications designed, laid out and proofread), subject to the maximum amount budgeted.

Experience / Qualifications

The successful candidate for this assignment will need to demonstrate significant expertise and experience in design, layout, publishing, typesetting and proofreading services in English, Arabic and Kurdish.

The following qualifications and experience are required and will be eliminatory for not meeting one or more of them:

• At least 3 years of demonstrated on the market experience and competency in design and layout of publications, typesetting and publishing services, with a portfolio showcasing high-quality products, including produced for the ILO/UN.
  • Strong knowledge of and expertise in using software for designing, laying out and typesetting publications, such as InDesign, Data Wrapper and other, as well as technical capacity (availability of required software and equipment) to ensure quality design, layout, typesetting services;
  • Experience in and capacities to work with texts and publications in English and Arabic/Arabic, which require different approached to layout and typesetting, are mandatory.
  • Strong ability to meet deadlines and incorporate edits and changes effectively.
  • Proficiency in English and Arabic is mandatory, applicants without knowledge of both languages to effectively perform proofreading will not be considered; knowledge of Kurdish/Sorani is an advantage.
  • Strong attention to detail, orientation to quality and compliance with corporate branding policies and guidelines.

Proposal Submission Requirements

Interested candidates should submit the below documents in English forming technical and financial proposals. Incomplete applications will not be considered:

1. CV: Brief CV in English, specifying educational background, experience in designing and typesetting publications, as well as prior experience with corporate branding and the UN/ILO.
2. Portfolio: 4-5 examples of previous work – design and layouts of publications in English, Arabic and/or Kurdish. Successful experience in working with the United Nations, and the ILO in particular, will be considered as advantage.
3. Timeline/duration of work: estimation of the number of working days required for each listed publication (comprising of design, layout, typesetting and proofreading in the languages required), and an overall production timeline;
4. Financial Proposal: Detailed budget in USD or IQD[1]. Budget has to be submitted in PDF format, duly dated and signed. The below budget template is expected to be used for consistency purposes.

#

Outputs

Number days

Cost per day

Total cost per version

Report for the National Conference on Formalization – approx. 45 pages

1

Arabic (comprising of design, layout, typesetting and proofreading)

Policy brief. Towards extending social security in Federal Iraq: A focus on agricultural, construction, and manufacturing jobs – approx. 15 pages

2

English (comprising of design, layout, typesetting and proofreading)

3

Arabic (comprising of design, layout, typesetting and proofreading)

Policy brief. Towards extending social security in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: A focus on agricultural, construction, and manufacturing jobs – approx. 15 pages

4

English (comprising of design, layout, typesetting and proofreading)

5

Kurdish (comprising of design, layout, typesetting and proofreading)

Report on the Labour Force Survey 2021: Kurdistan Region of Iraq – approx. 100 pages

6

English (comprising of design, layout, typesetting and proofreading)

7

Kurdish (comprising of design, layout, typesetting and proofreading)

Report on the limited social security enterprise survey – approx. 50 pages

8

English (comprising of design, layout, typesetting and proofreading)

9

Arabic (comprising of design, layout, typesetting and proofreading)

Women, the labour market and implications for access to social protection – approx. 40 pages

10

English (comprising of design, layout, typesetting and proofreading)

11

Arabic (comprising of design, layout, typesetting and proofreading)

Making The Case for an Old-Age Social Pension in Federal Iraq – approx. 60 pages

12

English (comprising of design, layout, typesetting and proofreading)

13

Arabic (comprising of design, layout, typesetting and proofreading)

Analyzing court cases in Federal Iraq to identify systemic barriers to accessing social security benefits and entitlements – approx. 60 pages

14

English (comprising of design, layout, typesetting and proofreading)

15

Arabic (comprising of design, layout, typesetting and proofreading)

Compendium of good practices, challenges, opportunities and lessons learned from tripartite engagement in the extension of social security coverage in the selected governorates in Federal Iraq – approx. 35 pages

16

English (comprising of design, layout, typesetting and proofreading)

17

Arabic (comprising of design, layout, typesetting and proofreading)

Total

Evaluation Process and Criteria

Proposals will be reviewed by an Evaluation Panel to ensure compliance with the ToRs. The evaluation will follow a two-tier approach:

1. Technical Evaluation (70% of total score):
   Each proposal will be assessed based on the following criteria, rated on a scale from 1 to 10 or 15, where 10 and 15 represent the highest score. The total maximum score is 70 points, with a minimum passing score of 42 points.

• Experience in design, layout, and typesetting (at least 3 years), confirmed technical skills in design software (InDesign, Data Wrapper, etc.), and availability of necessary equipment (15 points).
• Portfolio: At least 4 high-quality samples of similar work, including work produced for the UN/ILO (15 points).
• Experience with English and Arabic publications; experience with Kurdish publications is a plus (15 points).
• Feasibility of timeline: Adequate estimated working days for each publication, considering assignment complexity (15 points).
• Knowledge of Kurdish/Sorani (10 points).
• Note: Proficiency in English and Arabic is a pass/fail requirement and will not be graded. Candidates lacking proficiency in both languages will be disqualified.

1. Financial Evaluation (30% of total score):
   The Financial Proposals of all candidates who pass the technical evaluation will be compared. The lowest financial proposal will receive the full 30 points. Other proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to their price.

The final evaluation score will be the weighted combination of the Technical and Financial scores.

ILO Website Link: Standing Designer – Proofreader for SP Publications in English, Arabic, Kurdish jobs-near-me.org International Labour Organization

How to apply

Submission and Deadline

Interested candidates with the required qualifications and experience should submit their technical and financial proposals in English to the following email addresses: iraq-procurement@ilo.org with the subject line “Standing Designer – Social Protection Programme”, no later than 6 February 2025. Questions on the current Terms of Reference may be forwarded to iraq-procurement@ilo.org until 1 February 2025.