Positive Youth Engagement – Youth Internship Program - Call for applications

Tender Description

Positive Youth Engagement – Youth Internship Program

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

For

Palestinian non-governmental organizations (West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza)

Expected Start: In March 2023

PYE Program Background

The Positive Youth Engagement (PYE) Program is a five year, USAID funded program implemented by Mercy Corps and partners. PYE aims to increase the access of marginalized and vulnerable youth friendly services and safe spaces, targeting 50,000 youth and to improve their perceptions about their future life and work by 50% in targeted areas. The program will be implemented in selected areas of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. To meet the goal of transforming vulnerable youth into productive, connected, and contributing citizens. The program will deliver a three-pronged, mutually reinforcing intervention, segmented by gender and age across the targeted communities:

Core programming that supports, protects, prepares, and engages adolescents in safe spaces located within a strong network of community-based organizations (CBOs);
Tailored packages of activities, resources, and referrals that will set youth on individually-selected pathways building on the core curriculum to increase opportunities for youth to effectively contribute to social and economic development; and
Opportunities for sustained community engagement and leadership through youth-led pathways and councils, community and social media advocacy campaigns, and mentorship of subsequent cohorts as part of sustainable community youth networks.

PYE is designed to weaken the push and pull factors that drive adolescents to violence by supporting their personal well-being, helping them develop skills to lead the lives they choose, and strengthening their positive interactions with the community networks and institutions that serve them, including schools, civil society organizations, and private businesses. In direct partnership with Palestinian youth, the program will reintegrate older adolescents (15-19 years old) into social and economic life by empowering them to successfully pursue their goals and prevent younger adolescents (10-14 years old) from becoming isolated and disconnected from social and economic opportunities.

Context

The young individuals, constituting 50% of the population in Palestine, are suffering the most from unemployment. The unemployment rate among the youth (19-28 years) increased to 42% in the first quarter of 2020. The International Labour Office (ILO) defines the unemployed as “persons not currently in the labour market who want to work but do not actively ‘seek’ work because they view job opportunities as limited or because they have restricted labour mobility or face discrimination, or structural, social or cultural barriers.” To create prosperous communities, unemployment should be granted special attention from policymakers and civil society organizations. A high unemployment rate is linked to poverty, discourages individuals from investing in education, lowers the accumulation of human capital and deprives the economy of potential entrepreneurs and innovators.

Overall Goal & Objectives

The goal of the PYE Youth Internship Program is to enhance youth economic agency. The objectives are:

To provide 300 unemployed Palestinian youth with market driven skills training.
To provide 150 youth with 3-months internship opportunities at private sector entities.

Targeted Population

PYE will target unemployed youth between the ages of 18-25 years old from Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The program will target TEVT, college, and university graduates who are seeking employment but lack the required skills and practical experience. Each year, thousands of youth graduate with diploma or BA degree starting the challenging journey of securing employment. Graduates acquire theoretical knowledge during their education but lack the practical experience that the job market requires. PYE Youth Internship Program will bridge this skills gap, aiming at providing youth with sustainable jobs and prosperous futures. Furthermore, in line with the PYE objectives, the Youth Internship Program includes a focus on gender and Persons Living with Disability (PLWD) as part of inclusion. At least 50% of the program participants will be females.

Desired Methodology

PYE aims to provide 300 unemployed youth with market driven training and connect at least 50% (150 youth) with internship opportunities during the period of three years 2023-2025. To this end, Mercy Corps is seeking a service provider to offer youth with specialized training packages and internship opportunities at private sector entities according to the following methodology:

Identify the needs and priorities of youth in terms of skills development and career aspirations.
Identify the in-demand skills and the available internship opportunities through private sector outreach.
Identify potential partnerships with private sector enterprises. A private sector enterprise is defined as for-profit, commercial entities and their affiliated foundations; financial enterprises, investors and intermediaries; business associations and cooperatives. Potential partnerships with private entities can include entities working in different sectors such as Agriculture, Technology, Hospitality, Tourism, Marketing and Sales, Accounting and Finance, etc.
Cooperate with the private sector to develop and customize a learning program that prepares the youth with the required soft and technical skills before enrolling in the internship.
Cooperate with the private sector to recruit the youth inters, deliver the learning program, and place them in 3 months internship opportunities at the identified private sector entities.
During the 3 months internship period, youth will receive on the job mentoring to ensure a meaningful internship experience.

The 300 youth will be divided into 10 groups. Each group, consisting of 30 participants, will received one week training on soft skills including communications, problem solving, presentation skills, team work, time management, etc. After completing the soft skills training, each group will receive one week training on technical skills required in a specific identified sector. After completing the soft and technical training, the service provider will link at least 50% of the youth to 3 months internship opportunities with private sector entities. The service provider will provide any required support to the youth interns during their internship period. Furthermore, the youth interns will receive stipends, approximately 100 USD per month, during the internship period to help them in covering transportation expenses.

Key Responsibilities and Deliverables

Mercy Corps is looking for a Palestinian non-governmental organization to lead the design and implementation of the PYE Youth Internship Program. This includes:

Create private sector linkages and partnerships.
Secure contribution from private sector entities (e.g., technical and in-kind support).
Advertise and recruit youth participants.
Deliver the soft and technical training.
Manage the placement of youth in internship opportunities.
Provide continuous support and mentoring to the youth participants.
Collect performance data through the administration of evaluation surveys.
Enter participants’ data via CommCare system, a data collection platform used by PYE.

Mercy Corps Responsibilities

Mercy Corps will support the Palestinian non-governmental organizations to undertake and implement the assignment and execute the objectives of this SoW. Such responsibilities include the following:

Provide relevant program documents to the service provider.
Provide technical support in the design and implementation of the training groups.
Provide enumerators, to support in data collection and entry, when required.
Monitor regularly, and provide feedback and ensure effectiveness of implementation.

Suggested Timeline

Reporting

The Palestinian non-governmental organizations will report to the Senior Partnerships Manager, and work closely with the PYE Youth Pathways Team, and the MEL team.

Payments Schedule

Payments will be scheduled upon the launching of each training group. A total of 10 payments will be administered.

Selection Criteria

Applications will be evaluated in accordance with the Evaluation Criteria set forth below.

Eligible Service Provider

Service providers eligible to apply are Palestinian non-governmental organizations, who have the necessary capacity to develop and execute the scope of work described in this document. All applicants must be legally recognized organizational entities under applicable law and authorized to operate in Palestine.

How to apply

Interested service providers to send a technical and financial proposal in line with the following guidance:

Capability statement: How the service provider is structured for the assignment including the CVs of the key personnel who will take part in the implementation.
Technical Proposal: The applicant’s understanding and interpretation of the Call for Applications, a detailed methodology on how key deliverables will be achieved and detailed implementation schedule/action plan.
Financial proposal: Itemized budget proposal that should include the cost per training group.
References: Names, addresses, telephone numbers of three organizations that you have conducted similar assignment for, which will act as professional referees.

Interested applicants should submit full application including technical and financial proposal as per the above-mentioned documents before 4:00 pm on January 20, 2023, by sending all documents to email address:

[email protected]

The subject line of the email must be marked with the title: “MC-Positive Youth Engagement (PYE) Youth Internship Program”.

Location Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Hebron, Bethlehem, Jericho, Salfit, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Tubas, Rawabi

Deadline 20, Jan, 2023

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