2022-02-13

Terms Of Reference For Assessment On Future/ Market-driven Skills And Investable Business Opportunities In Burco, Somaliland

Burco, Somaliland
Posted on February 13, 2022

CANDLELIGHT

Terms Of Reference For Assessment On Future/ Market-driven Skills And Investable Business Opportunities In Burco, Somaliland

TERMS OF REFERENCE for Assessment on Future/ Market-Driven Skills and Investable Business Opportunities in Burco

BACKGROUND OF THE ASSESSMENT

In Somaliland, employment rates are low where only 26% of working age adults are employed in urban areas and 32.7% are employed in rural areas^[1]. A labor force survey conducted in Borama, Hargeisa & Burao revealed that total employment to population ratios for those aged 15 – 64 years were 28.5% and 16.7% for males and females respectively. Levels of employment to population ratio for males are generally higher than those of females^[2]. Entrepreneurship rates among young people are still very low, particularly for women, sometimes due to stereotyping associated with what jobs women should or can do. The demand for skilled labor force in Somaliland is growing in sectors such as hospitality and construction among others. However, the current labor force lacks the required skills, competencies and attitude to take advantage of the job opportunities.

In addition, women have less than half the opportunities afforded to men with Overall Gender Gap of 0.45^[3]. Despite the government’s commitments on gender equality, representations and participation of women in governance and decision-making is still very low. This is attributed to policy barriers, limited access to information, unfavorable cultural biases. This left women with limited opportunities to acquire political experience to run for national and local offices. This was manifested in the recently concluded elections where majority of women candidates lost the election.

The above is reflective of the project site. Therefore, the project will help youth and women to acquire the necessary skills to get or create jobs. Also, investing in girls and women will create a ripple effect that benefits individual women, families and communities; thus promoting their economic empowerment.

With regard to the above, there could be many sectors in which skilled based trainings can be provided to create youth employment through enterprise establishment and job placement. Therefore, Candlelight is inviting Expression of Interest (EOI) from potential consultant individuals/firms for conducting a study on future skills/market-driven skills and also explores investable business opportunities in Burco. This will support in identifying promising skill sectors for enterprising and employment creation in the project target area.

THE OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSESSMENT

The primary objective of this assessment is to find out viable enterprising and employment creation sectors based on market situation for existing demand-driven skill of target beneficiaries. The result of this assessment will be the base to identify potential skill sectors to provide advanced vocational skills training courses and enterprising support by Economic Empowerment of Women and Youth in Somaliland project.

DELIVARABLES

The following deliverables are expected through this assessment:

Clear picture of skill demand and employment trends and opportunities in Burao
Current trend of occupation of target populations and possible areas of intervention both technically and financially
Key constraints perceived by target groups on access to income and employment opportunities. Include recommendations from the target groups
To generate information about the marketability and employability of the chosen course and challenges at market place.
Obtain the views and opinions of employers on the impact, quality and relevance of the TVET training programs.
The study may also investigate social and economic (i) enablers and (ii) barriers facing TVET graduates in securing valued employment

Methodology

The evaluation will provide quantitative and qualitative data through the following methods:

Desk study and review of all relevant project documentation including baseline, project documents, work-plans, project progress reports, or any other relevant documents
Interviews to gather primary data from key stakeholders, current students/graduates and community members (project beneficiaries)
Focus Group Discussion with project beneficiaries and other stakeholders.
Interviews with relevant key informants e.g. Line Ministries, local traders, private companies and service providers in Burao

Timeline

The assessment will be carried out in February and March 2022.

Report content and structure

The report written in English will address the issues highlighted in this Terms of Reference. The report should contain (but may not be limited to) the following:

Executive Summary presenting the main findings, key conclusions drawn from analysis of the findings, and recommendations for future TVET interventions.
Description of the methodology used.
Description of the assessment context and process including its constraints and challenges.
Detailed findings of the assessment.
Analysis and conclusions of the findings.
Recommendations for Candlelight and or any other stakeholders

The annexes of the report should contain (but may not be limited to):

ToR for the Assessment
List of reference documents
Questionnaires or other tools used

Consultant/Firm Qualification

Lead Consultant must be Master’s Degree in Business Management, Economics and/or relevant sector with adequate understanding and experience in vocational skills training and employment generation
Must possess excellent statistical and quantitative data analysis skills,

Must be well versed in and have knowledge of the policies, rules, and regulations pertaining to vocational skill training and employment sector in Somaliland

Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English; knowledge of Somali is advantage.

Application Requirement

We invite interested applicants to submit the following documents:

Expression of interest reflecting track record
Technical proposal for the evaluation including proposed activities schedule/work plan with time frame
CV(s) of applicant(s) to be attached
Detailed financial proposal indicating expert fee, travel and other logistic costs
A copy of previous similar work if applicable
Certificate of registration including a tax compliance certificate

Guiding Principles and Values

The consultant shall adhere to the “Do No Harm” principle and any other humanitarian principles. The consultant will be required to respect cultural norms and values of the local communities.

The consultant shall ensure at all times the confidentiality of data, respect the privacy of all individuals concerned and make all data collected available to Candlelight and Oxfam in a usable format.

Submission

Interested candidates can submit their application together with an updated CV clearly showing experience in similar assignments and price quotation of consultancy fees to the email hr@candlelightsom.org or hand deliver to Candlelight offices in Hargeisa in Sha’ab area not later than 17^th February 2022 and must be ready to start the assignment latest 25 February 2022.

Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria: