Deadline for submission: Friday 17th of April at 17.00 GMT

Country Assessment Of Youth Economic Opportunities Ecosystem In Benin, Mozambique, Rwanda, And Zambia

UNCDF

United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is seeking applications from qualified technical partners (e.g. not-for-profit organization, or consulting firm) with the capacity to conduct the country specific diagnostic of the youth economic opportunities ecosystem (see figure 2) in Benin, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Zambia.

The assessment will capture a complete picture of the supply of youth services (employment, entrepreneurship initiatives along with financial services available to youth), demand of youth services (what services youth utilize, what services they do not feel are accessible or lacking), and the structure of the regulatory environment for youth services. In addition, the assessment will seek to fill a knowledge gap by creating a publicly accessible study of the services available/needed to improve youths’ economic opportunities.

Duration:

• The technical partner is expected to sign a Performance Based Financing (Grant) Agreement with UNCDF on the 15^th of May (Applicants not familiar with UNCDF agreements are encouraged to request a sample from youthstart@uncdf.org prior to submission of application).
• The final country diagnostics should be ready for dissemination the first week of August and the presentations to key stakeholders in each country are expected to take place between September and December 2015.

Agreement size:

• Up to US$200,000 for country assessments covering all four (4) countries, or approximately USD 50,000 per country assessment.
• Applicants should provide budgets indicating how they would allocate costs to produce high quality country assessments with their technical approach.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Minimum qualification criteria

• At least five years in operations.
• Having conducted similar assignments in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Provide written confirmation (annex 1) that the organization has  reviewed the UNCDF Grant Agreement template (available upon request), is prepared to sign it by May 15^th, without revision to standard language.
• Submit a complete application.

Other requirements and qualifications

• Any type of organization (commercial for profit firms, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations) is eligible to compete.
• Evidence of the organization having completed similar country assessments.
• Previous experience identifying what youth need to make a smooth transition from school to work.
• Previous experience in the countries of the study.
• Have confirmed human resources to cover all planned/required activities.
• Evidence of experience documenting knowledge and disseminating  it in both English and French.
• Evidence of a professional knowledge product production process.
• Experience packaging knowledge products in an innovative manner.
• Provide the latest audited financial statements.

Structure of the Application

• The application should follow the template provided in Annex 1.
• Only applications that follow the Submission Format and include all the necessary documentation will be accepted.

Submission of the Application

• Applications and any consultation about this RFA should be submitted via email at youthstart@uncdf.org.
• The subject line of the email should be: Inception Phase YouthStart Global.
• The deadline to submit the applications is April 17^th 2015 at 17.00 GMT.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the UNCDF YouthStart