Request for Proposals for a Youth Labour Market Assessment

Project/ Consultancy Title: Youth Labour Market Assessment
Consultancy locations: Amran and Hajjah governorates

Background:

Responsiveness for Relief and Development Foundation (RRD) is a non-government organization that aims to contribute effectively to reduce human suffering in Yemen. RRD works with local communities and stakeholders to provide humanitarian aid for people in conflict-affected areas. Within the framework of the Yemen Able Project! Building the Capacity of Civil Society Organizations and Youth for Development funded by the European Union in the Governorates of Hajjah and Amran, RRD is seeking to contract with a qualified consultant/ consultancy firm to conduct a Youth Labour Market Assessment (YLMA) targeting Amran and Hajjah governorates. 
This study/assessment is intended to determine income generation modality activities for youth that will be selected for support to establish their small businesses accordingly. 

The purpose of conducting the YLMA includes:  

• Identify skills demands and gaps that act as barriers to labour participation of youth;
• Determine opportunities and constraints for business start-ups and expansion of key sectors in the local economies where youth are residing;
• Identify the sectors and income generation opportunities for youth to stimulate economic opportunities and create livelihoods for the different intended population groups, with particular interest in opportunities for new, emerging, creative, online business forms, moving away from traditional skills projects focused on sewing etc., that are suitable for female youth and youth with disabilities.
• Match youth interests, skills and available resources to market opportunities for employment and self-employment. 

The findings from the YLMA will be incorporated into an action plan, particularly in the decision making process around the grants for youth as well as the follow up coaching and training in Life Skills and Financial Education 

Our expectations are along the lines of the following:

Methodology

A three-part Market Assessment approach should be applied as a combination of desk research, questionnaires and participatory qualitative methods to gather information on market demand translated into programming that responds to a dynamic business environment and youth needs. The consultant will be responsible for developing an appropriate methodology taking in consideration that youth participants should consist of at least 40% females and at least 10% of youth with disabilities.

Team Composition / Team Lead Competencies    

The consultant/ consultancy firm should have at least 4 years’ experience in undertaking labor market assessments in Yemen. The lead consultant should demonstrate prior experience in qualitative and quantitative data analysis and reporting demonstrated through reference to similar assignments undertaken in the past. The consultancy team should be comprised of trained interviewers, transcribers and all equipment needed for data collection. 
Expected roles and responsibility of the consultant/consultancy firm                                                                                                                            

The lead consultant/ consultancy firm shall provide the following Services:

• Develop detailed work plan for the assignment
• Undertake secondary literature review of all available relevant information. 
• Design the research plan, sampling criteria, data collection methodologies and develop data analysis plan.
• Develop a research inception report and share with RRD for feedback
• Use feedback on inception report to refine the research methodology and plan
• Recruit, train, supervise and deploy enumerators to the field 
• Obtain approvals from relevant authorities and any permit required.  
• Pre-test, adapt and finalize data collection tools
• Plan, Manage and Supervise all aspects of data collection in the two governorates including logistics.
• Undertake data verification, cleaning and quality assessments
• Facilitate data analysis, write draft reports and share with RRD for review
• Present draft reports for validation by stakeholders
• Participate in check in calls with RRD to update the team on progress of each step in the work plan.
• Use feedback from RRD and stakeholders to write a final report and share it with RRD
• Respond to donor’s and stakeholders’ queries

Task Manager/Reporting

The consultant will work under the management of RRD's Programs Manager or delegate.

Ownership/Control of Work Product/Publication

Ownership and control of all work products and learning outputs related to this scope of work and partner engagement shall belong to RRD. Any use of material, learnings or publications derived from the work product will require prior written approval from RRD and Stakeholders

Specific Deliverables include:

• An inception report written in English, including: planned timeline and work plan, literature review of all relevant secondary sources, detailed methodology / approach, planned stakeholders to be consulted and sampling framework, data collection and analysis tools, qualitative and quantitative protocols for data collection and analysis, detailed study budget covering consultancy fees, travel and accommodation, per diems and enumerators fees
• Brief presentation of preliminary findings
• Draft report written in English 
• Final report
• One (1) electronic file of the clean (final) qualitative and quantitative data collected
• All recordings, data collection tools and analysis files

Timeline    

This consultancy will be effective for a period of up to 40 working days, between the months of August and October 2022. 

Type of contract: 

The consultant will be offered a fixed-price contract to include all the activities and deliverables listed above.

Terms of Payment 

The consultant will receive remuneration under the following terms of payment, which will be based on the output of the work and not on the duration that it might take:

• This task is projected to fall within 40 consultancy days
• 20 % of the total consultancy value (including withholding tax) shall be paid after inception report is accepted and approved by RRD
• The remaining 80% (including withholding tax) shall be paid after a final satisfactory report and other outputs are submitted and satisfactorily signed off by RRD.

Technical Proposal 

Please respond to this RFP with 20-pages (max) proposal that summarizes your suitability to complete the above assignment while highlighting your experience in delivering similar assignments including links to at least 4 studies conducted or reports published by you/your firm.  At a bare minimum, the proposal should contain: 

1.    Executive Summary: This should provide an overview of consultant/ consultancy firm its service offering and markets/clients served. Also explaining why you are the most suitable for the work.
2.    Work portfolio: A brief bio description of at least (4) relevant past projects and accompanying documents, such as links to prior studies or reports undertaken in the past.
3.    Approach and Methodology: Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work 
4.    Team: Team composition of the bidding firm including relevant work experience and current roles.  
5.    Project delivery plan: Should demonstrate how the consultant/ consultancy firm will work towards completing the project. 
6.    References: A minimum of three (3) references including the name of the person(s) who may be contacted, title of the person, email address and phone number. The reference list should be indicative of the scope and magnitude of previously completed works. 

Financial Proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount in USD, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables. Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.  All envisaged travel and accommodation costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel, logistics, accommodation, and equipment.