Technical and Vocational Skills Development for Refugees and Host-Communities in Greater Cairo, Alexandria, and Damietta

Call for Proposals for Implementing Partners of Not-for-profit Organisations
Terms of Reference (TOR)
Technical and Vocational Skills Development for Refugees and Host-Communities in Greater Cairo, Alexandria, and Damietta
Project Title
PROSPECTS EGYPT - Improving Prospects for Forcibly Displaced Persons and Host Communities ILO Project DC Code
EGY/23/51/NLD (109392) Assignment Location
Greater Cairo, Alexandria, and Damietta Contact
prospects-egypt@ilo.org Application Deadline
05/07/2025, 11:59 PM, Cairo local time

CONTENT.......................................................................................................................................................... 2
1. GENERAL BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................. 3
2. THE INTERVENTION MODEL ........................................................................................................................ 4
3. ASSIGNMENT DELIVERABLES ...................................................................................................................... 8
4. MANAGEMENT AND OTHER ARRANGEMENTS .......................................................................................... 11
5. HOW TO APPLY ......................................................................................................................................... 13
6. PROPOSAL EVALUATION ........................................................................................................................... 15
7. PAYMENT AND REPORTING SCHEDULE .................................................................................................... 16
8. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS .............................................................................................................. 17
Read more about PROSPECTS: www.ilo.org/prospects Page 3 of 17
1. GENERAL BACKGROUND
While forcibly displaced persons (FDPs) face specific vulnerabilities, including psychological trauma, lack of opportunity and protection risks, host communities (HCs) also struggle to pursue their own development efforts in an environment that has been transformed by a large influx of newcomers. As displacement has become increasingly protracted, responses are focusing more on durable solutions backed by more dignified, inclusive, and comprehensive programmes for refugees and the communities that host them.
In response to the challenges facing both host communities and refugees, a partnership initiative titled: ‘PROSPECTS - Partnership for improving Prospects for host communities and forcibly displaced persons, has been launched by the Government of the Netherlands that brings together the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank.
The Partnership's first phase, ended in December 2024, during which partners joined their efforts to develop a new paradigm in responding to forced displacement crises in 8 countries (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Sudan, and Uganda), the second phase is now underway and is planned to continue through 2027.The overall objective of PROSPECTS in Egypt is to improve the living standards and inclusiveness of refugees, asylum-seekers, and vulnerable host communities, by contributing to the expansion of socio-economic opportunities through better education and mainstreamed protection interventions.
With a geographical focus on Greater Cairo, Alexandria, and Damietta, PROSPECTS Egypt will work under four main pillars, as follows:
1.
Increase access of FDPs and HCs to quality education, skills and learning opportunities.
2.
Improved livelihoods and expanded economic opportunities for FDPs and HCs, through access to entrepreneurship and employment with dignity.
3.
Increased Government Protection for FDPs and HCs and increased Inclusion of FDPs and HCs In Community-based, Local and/or National Social Protection Systems.
4.
Improved Services, Facilities, and Information Systems essential to FDPs and HCs.
Read more about PROSPECTS: www.ilo.org/prospects Page 4 of 17
2. THE INTERVENTION MODEL
ILO PROSPECTS Egypt is committed to enhancing access to the labour market for refugees and host communities in Greater Cairo, Alexandria, and Damietta.
To achieve this, the ILO leverages its expertise, technical approaches, and toolkits to create wage and self-employment opportunities for both refugees and host communities. This is accomplished through skills development initiatives and business development services.
As part of this Terms of Reference (TOR), ILO PROSPECTS Egypt is inviting partners to provide comprehensive services to the aforementioned target populations. These services will be implemented through the two tracks outlined below. The implementing partner is encouraged to use the result framework below to inform the design of the required interventions.
Figure 1: Results Framework for the assignment Strategic Objective (SO): Improve livelihoods and expand economic opportunities for refugees and host communities (HCs) in Egypt through improved technical and vocational, employability, and entrepreneurship skills.
Intermediate Result (IR) 1: Refugees and members of the HCs access technical and vocational skills development opportunities that match the labour market needs.
Intermediate Result (IR) 2: Refugees and members of the HCs access required employability and entrepreneurship interventions to easily transition to work.
Intermediate Result (IR) 1: Refugees and members of the HCs access technical and vocational trainings that matches the labour market needs.
Increase opportunities and provide access to technical and vocational training opportunities that respond better to the specific needs of refugees and HCs. This would offer development opportunities for refugees and HC by facilitating enrolment in vocational trainings through supporting local partners, such as technical and vocational institutions, I/NGOs, and enterprises, to target and/or include more refugees in their programmes.
This will enable refugees and host communities to access short and med-term technical and vocational trainings aligned with the labour market demands. Prioritizing vulnerable communities while maintaining high-quality courses that would enable them to enter the labour market either through wage or self-employment.
An underlying assumption is that the increased number of opportunities will be matched with primarily refugees identified by the partner and NGOs active in this area and employment centres.
Partners will design their activities, selection processes, and targeting strategies, based on the previous ILO’s studies and rapid mappings, which identify the most promising sectors for the target population's education and training.
Read more about PROSPECTS: www.ilo.org/prospects Page 5 of 17
Intermediate Result (IR) 2: Refugees and members of the HCs access required employability and entrepreneurship interventions to easily transition to work.
Finally, to contribute to the increased number of targeted individuals with occupation-relevant skills and competencies recognised for transition to work, the ILO will enhance access to employability and entrepreneurship skills for the target population, while also strengthening the capacity of youth centres to support the transition from education or training to work for refugees and host community members. In the first regard, the ILO will identify work-based learning opportunities with relevant and suitable employers, while also ensuring, in collaboration with technical and vocational actors, that suitable candidates to benefit from such opportunities are found. Continued preparatory assessments conducted by the ILO will help identify a suitable intermediary actor to take up the role as coordinator of on-the-job learning opportunities and make these available to the target population in a gender-responsive and sustainable manner.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILLS
The TVET programme's graduates who want to start their own businesses are offered an ILO toolkit to support their endeavours.
ILO toolkit: Gender and Entrepreneurship Together (GET Ahead)
GET Ahead training package aims to promote enterprise development among low-income women with little formal education who are either willing to start or already running their small-scale business. GET Ahead provides essential entrepreneurial knowledge and basic business and people-management skills, from a gender perspective. Drawing from SIYB tools and resources, GET Ahead tends to place more emphasis on women entrepreneurs, while not excluding men.
Basically, the GET Ahead programme is designed to promote the economic and social empowerment of women, alongside men, in enterprises, taking into account the disadvantaged status of women (particularly in rural settings) in terms of adequate access to education and training, and also in light of their mobility and networking constraints. GET Ahead trainings are usually delivered in 5 days.
The GET Ahead programme offers an action-oriented, real-life-based, participatory methods programme, involving learning-by-doing exercises that have proved to be effective and appropriate for low-income women with little formal education as well as for top managers in the public and in the private sector.
GET Ahead objectives:
1.
Provide practical information about income-generation and enterprise activities.
2.
Enable low-income women entrepreneurs and their families to shift from marginal income generation to profitable business development.
3.
Take into account strategic Gender-based issues affecting the rights of women to have equal access to property, financial and business support, and business opportunities.
For more information, please refer to the GET Ahead for Women in Enterprise Training Package and Resource Kit.
GET Ahead Selection Criteria
•
Age: 18-50.
•
Gender: Males and females.
•
Motivation and availability to start or scale up a business.
Read more about PROSPECTS: www.ilo.org/prospects Page 6 of 17
•
Participants with limited formal education.
Certified Trainers
•
Only ILO-certified trainers can deliver the training course. The ILO will provide a list of certified or under certification trainers for the implementing partner to select the most suitable ones.
•
Please note that the fees of the certified ILO trainers are approximately 1500 EGP/day.
•
Each training will be facilitated by two trainers.
•
The certified trainers are responsible for the selection of the final beneficiaries along with the implementing partner, based on the outreach conducted by the implementing partner, ILO, or any other partners.
Post-training support:
Following the GET Ahead training rounds, additional post-training support can be provided to selected businesses through business competitions, which can provide financial support (e.g. seed funding, business competition, cash grants …. etc.).
Based on the business plans developed during the GET Ahead training, the implementing partner is expected to provide additional coaching and mentoring to help participants finalize their plans. The partner will also organize a committee to select the most promising businesses for support. Seed funding will be disbursed in instalments, and field visits will be conducted to monitor progress and ensure accountability.
EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS
Based on the most needed/promising skills in the Egyptian labour market, tailor/adapt a training on Employability Skills with practical and experiential learning methodologies. This should be done through a desk review and preparation based on ILO publications1. The partner should align with the ILO on the proposed tailored training curricula (including trainer and trainee manual) and how it links with the job market needs. Following the training adaptation, the partner is required to lead the following activities and monitor closely the job matching linkages to ensure targeted groups can secure employment by the end of the programme activities.
1.
Lead and supervise the rollout of the trainings.
2.
Monitor and evaluate all the conducted trainings.
3.
Ensure there are training linkages to job matching opportunities.
The partner is encouraged to work with the ILO to ensure there is a referral pathway between other Prospects programmes that includes linkages with apprenticeship, career guidance (Job Search Clubs) and digital skills programmes. On which ILO is working with implementing partners.
1 Enhancing youth employability: What? Why? and How? Guide to core work skills
A guide to work experience | International Labour Organization
Read more about PROSPECTS: www.ilo.org/prospects Page 7 of 17
Strategic Objective (SO): Improve livelihoods and expand economic opportunities for refugees and host communities (HCs) in Egypt through improved technical and vocational, employability, and entrepreneurship skills.
In light of the above, and with the aim of securing employment for both refugees and host communities, this programme will support employment through self-employment or wage employment services leveraging the implementing partner’s experience with the objectives below:
Following the wage employment pathway through the JSC methodology, the partner will work closely to facilitate access between job seekers and employers. This could include building on existing networks and established partnerships conducting referrals to employers or creating innovative spaces or events to facilitate job matching opportunities. The partner could suggest new ways of working to ensure that beneficiaries graduating from the wage employment pathway is linked to a job opportunity that meets their professional profile and skills.
Similarly following the self-employment pathway, the partner is expected to provide additional support needed to target groups such as post-training support activities, including coaching and counselling services for beneficiaries on their business plans; to promote entrepreneurship and the creation of sustainable businesses.
Read more about PROSPECTS: www.ilo.org/prospects Page 8 of 17
3. ASSIGNMENT DELIVERABLES2
KEY DELIVERABLES N. Key Deliverables Key Activities Indicator Target Intermediate Result (IR) 1: Refugees and members of the HCs access technical and vocational skills development opportunities that match the labour market needs.
1
Train 750 beneficiaries on TVET intensive short- and long-term vocational training programmes through training providers.
▪
Conduct programme outreach and selection to the target population.
▪
Identify TVET institutions and providers that provide courses desired by the potential beneficiaries and aligned with market needs.
▪
Lead and oversee the process of the enrolment and its financial implications.
1.1 Number of beneficiaries provided with relevant information on TVET opportunities and livelihoods pathways
At least 900
1.2 Number of beneficiaries who enrolled in technical vocational courses
750
1.3 Number of beneficiaries who completed technical vocational courses
600 Intermediate Result (IR) 2: Refugees and members of the HCs access required employability and entrepreneurship interventions to easily transition to work.
2
Entrepreneurship Intervention Deliverables (300 beneficiaries)
▪
TVET programme's graduates who has the ability to start their own businesses enrolled in GET Ahead training.
▪
Support beneficiaries’ business plan development through coaching and mentorship sessions.
▪
Select the winning business plans based on certain criteria to award seed funding
2.1 Number of beneficiaries enrolled in GET Ahead training.
300 2.2 Number of participants who successfully completed the 250
2 All data reported will be disaggregated by age, sex, nationality, and disability (where applicable).
Additionally, Indicators 4.1, 4.2 are mutually exclusive, meaning a beneficiary can only be counted under one of these indicators throughout the duration of the programme. The same applies to Indicators 2.1 and 3.1.
Read more about PROSPECTS: www.ilo.org/prospects Page 9 of 17
N. Key Deliverables Key Activities Indicator Target entrepreneurship training GET Ahead.
2.3 Number of business plans developed within 4-6 weeks after the GET Ahead training.
250 3 Employability Intervention Deliverables (300 beneficiaries)
▪ Tailor/adapt Employability Skills Training based on the most needed/promising skills in the Egyptian labour market.
▪ Lead and facilitate the delivery of the training to 250 TVET programme graduates who are willing to secure a wage employment opportunity following the training.
▪ Relevant coaching for participants, linkages, and job matching services to secure employment. 3.1 Number of beneficiaries enrolled in employability skills training 300 3.2 Number of beneficiaries completed the employability skills training 250 Strategic Objective (SO): Improve livelihoods and expand economic opportunities for refugees and host communities (HCs) in Egypt through improved technical and vocational, employability, and entrepreneurship skills.
4
Support the transition of refugees and host community members into employment or self-employment
4.1 IR2: Number of beneficiaries who have secured wage employment after completion of the employability skills training
150 4.2 IR2: Number of beneficiaries who started/scaled up their own businesses who 150
Read more about PROSPECTS: www.ilo.org/prospects Page 10 of 17
N. Key Deliverables Key Activities Indicator Target received Entrepreneurship training
OTHER SUPPORTING ACTIVITIES may include:
1.
Develop a solid, realistic work plan that ensures the proper implementation within the designated time frame.
2.
Consult and engage national implementing partners in assignment activities as relevant, particularly in reaching out to beneficiaries and promoting activities.
3.
Outreach and selection of beneficiaries based on a clear set of criteria that is pre-developed with the ILO.
4.
Conduct the implementation of training workshops, ensuring the provision of relevant technical content as well as the handling of necessary logistical arrangements.
5.
Conduct post-training support activities including coaching and referrals to ensure continued education and transition to work.
6.
Develop a follow-up plan and clear monitoring and evaluation system that demonstrates how the program is assessing and responding to the beneficiaries’ challenges.
Target Groups & Areas
The programme will be implemented in Greater Cairo, Alexandria, and Damietta. The implementing partner needs to identify exact locations, and the target beneficiaries based on clear criteria (for example, the refugees’ populations, beneficiaries’ criteria of selection identified in each ILO toolkit, etc.). The ILO will provide support and clearance to the selection criteria and the outreach methodology.
The programme must also ensure the inclusion of disadvantaged groups, including persons with disabilities, and promote gender mainstreaming and social inclusion. At least 50% of beneficiaries should be women, while maintaining a balanced and inclusive approach. The overall target composition should include 50% refugees and 50% host community members.
Read more about PROSPECTS: www.ilo.org/prospects Page 11 of 17
4. MANAGEMENT AND OTHER ARRANGEMENTS
Partners and Counterparts
The assignment will be conducted in close collaboration with PROSPECTS UN partners and ILO implementing partners in target areas.
The implementing partner should make itself available to collaborate with project partners when needed/requested.
Required Expertise
•
The implementing partner must have previous experience in a similar assignment and relevant academic background to the assignment scope.
•
Knowledge of or experience in the target governorates and target groups.
•
Excellent report writing and M&E skills
•
The implementing partner is expected to have a presence in the target areas and/or travel to the project target areas and to have a good understanding of community development fieldwork and local cultures & traditions.
•
The implementing partner should have the ability to coordinate and collaborate with relevant government entities and local partners.
Expected Duration
All assignment’s deliverables are expected to be delivered to the satisfaction of the ILO in 16 months.
Supervision and Logistical Arrangements
The programme will be implemented under the supervision of the National Project Coordinator for Skills Development and the overall guidance of the PROSPECTS Egypt Programme Manager.
The ILO will facilitate any required technical and methodological information, technical documents and project information, and partner meetings to help the implementing partner achieve their expected deliverables.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The implementing partner is expected to submit a logical framework that includes programme’s strategic objective, results, outputs, and activities along with relevant indicators, definitions and their means of verification as part of the proposal. Before the implementation starts, an M&E plan for the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of project activities and for measuring progress towards indicators is expected to be developed in close collaboration with ILO PROSPECTS M&E officer.
The M&E system should also support ongoing learning and adaptive management by analysing data trends, identifying implementation challenges, and informing programme adjustments in collaboration with the ILO PROSPECTS technical team.
The implementing partner is also expected to establish a shared folder containing all supporting documents referenced in the logical framework, to facilitate transparent and organized reporting. In addition, the partner should maintain a regularly updated beneficiary database (in Excel format), as agreed in the M&E plan. This database should capture key participant information and track their progress across the various activities implemented throughout the project lifecycle.
The implementing partner is also expected to conduct a final evaluation at the end of the project. This activity should be adequately budgeted for in the financial proposal. The evaluation should assess at a
Read more about PROSPECTS: www.ilo.org/prospects Page 12 of 17
minimum, the project’s relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability in line with OECD-DAC criteria. It should also capture best practices, lessons learned, and actionable recommendations for future programming. The design and implementation of the evaluation will be conducted in collaboration with the ILO PROSPECTS M&E officer and technical team.
Confidentiality and Intellectual Property Rights
All data and information received from ILO for this assignment are to be treated confidentially and are only to be used in connection with the execution of these Terms of Reference (TOR). The contents of written materials obtained and used in this assignment may not be disclosed to any third parties without the express advance written authorization of the ILO. All intellectual property rights arising from the execution of these TOR are assigned to the International Labour Organization. The intellectual property rights of the materials developed through the assignment remain with the International Labour Organization.
All intellectual property rights and all other proprietary rights (including copyrights, patents, trademarks, source codes, products, processes, inventions, ideas, know-how) with regard to any materials (jointly referred to as Intellectual Property), either developed by the implementing partner or its Personnel in connection with the Contract or furnished to the Contractor by or on behalf of the ILO to support the performance of the implementing partner’s obligations under the Contract, are the exclusive property of the International Labour Organization; and, will be used by the implementing partner and its Personnel solely for the purposes of the Contract.
Terms And Conditions Applicable to ILO Implementation Agreements
wcms_826431.pdf (ilo.org)
Read more about PROSPECTS: www.ilo.org/prospects Page 13 of 17
5. HOW TO APPLY
The following documents/information are required to apply for this assignment:
1
- Technical proposal.
2
- Financial proposal.
3
- CVs of the proposed implementing team.
4
- A copy of the bidder legal status document(s)
Proposals must be submitted using the double envelope system, i.e., the outer parcel containing two separate, sealed envelopes, both bearing the title of the TOR, while one bearing the words "Envelope A - Technical Proposal" and the other "Envelope B - Financial Proposal".
It is the responsibility of the Bidder to ensure that a Proposal is submitted to the ILO strictly in accordance with the stipulations in the solicitation documents. Proposals must be received on or before 05/07/2025 11:59 PM Cairo Time. Proposals and modifications to Proposals received after the proposal receipt deadline will be rejected. Proposals must include all the documents requested in these Instructions to Bidders and shall be submitted by:
•
Registered Mail (official postal service) to:
International Labour Office
PROSPECTS Programme
9Taha Hussein St., Zamalek
11211, Cairo, Egypt
•
Or Hand-delivered (including by courier services) directly to the above ILO address in return for a signed and dated receipt.
By submitting a proposal, the applicant accepts in full without restrictions the Terms and Conditions applicable to ILO Implementations Agreements provided in this Call for Proposals (section 8).
Proposals submitted by any other means will be rejected.
Key Dates Clarification questions, if any, related to this ToR must be submitted to prospects-egypt@ilo.org Please mention the title of the TOR in the email subject. 15/06/2025, COB Email prospects-egypt@ilo.org with a show of interest to apply, is recommended to help you receive answers to clarifications questions asked by other prospective Bidders. 15/06/2025, COB ILO response to clarification questions by: 22/06/2025 Proposals Receipt Deadline: 05/07/2025, 11:59 PM Cairo local time
Clarification Questions
A prospective Bidder requiring any clarification of the TOR document may notify the ILO in writing. The ILO’s response will be provided in writing to any request for clarification received by the deadline indicated above. Written copies of the response (including an explanation of the query but without
Read more about PROSPECTS: www.ilo.org/prospects Page 14 of 17
identifying the source of inquiry) will be sent to all prospective Bidders that received the RFP documents.
Read more about PROSPECTS: www.ilo.org/prospects Page 15 of 17
6. PROPOSAL EVALUATION
The ILO will award the contract to the Proposal (Technical and Financial) which represents the best value for money, i.e. achieving the highest overall score.
The ILO could select one implementing partner or more based on the need to cover additional target groups or geographical areas. This will be identified based on the proposals received for this TOR.
The ILO reserves the right to accept or reject any Proposal in whole or in part, to annul the solicitation process and reject all Proposals at any time prior to the issue of the purchase order, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected Bidder(s) or any obligation to provide information on the grounds for the ILO’s decision(s).
The award of the contract arising from this RFP will be made at the absolute discretion of the ILO.
The Contract or the benefit of the Contract shall not be assigned, sub-contracted or otherwise transferred by the successful Bidder in whole or in part, without ILO’s prior written consent, to be given at its sole discretion.
The proposals will be evaluated according to the criteria described below:
Technical Proposal
1.
Technical compliance with the Terms of Reference and its planned deliverables (30 points)
2.
Expressed methodology and creative approach to the assignment. (30 points)
3.
The proposed implementation and management plan (30 points)
4.
The qualifications and experience of proposed key personnel who will manage and implement the programme (10 points)
Financial Proposal
1.
The budget and its overall costs are realistic. (10 points)
2.
The budget breakdown and costing per budget lines. (10 points)
3.
The percentage of indirect costs to the total budget. (10 points)
The process of evaluating the proposals will be based on the following percentage combination of Technical and Financial elements: Percentage Technical Proposal 70%
Financial Offer
30%
Total
100%
A two-stage procedure will be utilised in evaluating the Proposals, with an evaluation of each Technical Proposal being completed prior to any Financial Offer being opened and compared. Financial Offers will be opened only for Bidder submissions that meet or exceed the minimum technical score of (70 per cent) of the obtainable score during the evaluation of Technical Proposals. Where the assessment of a Technical Proposal results in the minimum specified score not being achieved, the corresponding Financial Offer will not be eligible for further consideration.
Read more about PROSPECTS: www.ilo.org/prospects Page 16 of 17
7. PAYMENT AND REPORTING SCHEDULE
The payment and reporting schedule will be finalised with exact dates based on the start date of the implementation agreement. Important information to help with the planning:
•
The technical and financial reports will be on a quarter basis.
•
The advance payment does not exceed 30% of the total value of the agreement or USD 30,000, whichever is less.
•
Progress payments are linked to deliverables as identified in the agreement.
•
The final payment corresponds to not less than 5% of the total value of the agreement.
Read more about PROSPECTS: www.ilo.org/prospects Page 17 of 17
8. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q1: Are there templates for the technical and financial proposals?
Yes, please contact prospects-egypt@ilo.org
Q2: Regarding the technical proposal, what is the expected number of key personnel to be included in the financial proposal? And what are their expected roles (the team that will be working on the assignment directly or key persons from the Foundation's management)? This is at the discretion of the bidder. There are no limitations as long as you can justify and demonstrate how the overall cost of your proposal is proportionate to the quality of the technical output. Please refer back to the TOR section ‘Proposal evaluation’ to ensure your application is competitive.
Q3: Can the applicants apply for one or two governorates instead of the three?
The bidder can submit a proposal to conduct the activities in up to three governorates (Greater Cairo, Alexandria, and Damietta) under certain conditions:
•
The bidder should have a presence in the governorates that are mentioned in the submitted proposal.
•
The total number of the targeted beneficiaries remain the same, even if the bidder develops a proposal for one, two, or three governorates.
Please ensure that the technical and financial proposal for each governorate is submitted separately.