Call for proposal for Facilitate short- term skills training and quality apprenticeship for refugee and host communities in Ethiopia

1. Context and Rationale

Ethiopia is home to one of Africa’s largest refugee populations, with over 1 million forcibly displaced persons (FDPs) and millions of vulnerable host community members. The country faces a youth bulge with 70% of the population is under the age of 35, yet over 8.4 million children remain out of school, and 90% of 10-year-olds cannot read or write. These challenges are compounded by high youth unemployment, limited digital infrastructure, and systemic barriers to education, skills development, and decent work, particularly for displaced youth, women, and persons with disabilities.

Despite Ethiopia’s significant policy progress and commitments under the Global Refugee Forum (GRF), young refugees and vulnerable host community members continue to face entrenched barriers to social and economic inclusion. This includes but not limited to, exclusion from Market-Relevant Skills Development: FDPs and host community youth face gaps in access to foundational, transferable, and digital skills. The formal education system is overstretched, and most displaced youth are unable to benefit from existing technical and vocational training (TVET), digital literacy initiatives, or lifelong learning programs due to legal, logistical, and financial constraints.

In addition, they are disconnected from decent work and entrepreneurship opportunities. Refugees and marginalized youth encounter legal and institutional barriers to employment, financial services, and entrepreneurship support. Women, youth with disabilities, and adolescent girls are particularly affected by social norms, safety concerns, and lack of tailored programming.  They also face challenges in starting businesses and participating in the digital economy's livelihood opportunities. 

Fragmented Service Delivery and Limited Localization: Despite numerous interventions, responses remain unsustainable due to limited coordination between humanitarian and development actors, insufficient local ownership, and underinvestment in refugee-led and community-based solutions. Operationally, the initiative targets FDPs and host community youth and adolescence particularly women with disabilities in Afar and Benishangul Gumuz regions. It will strengthen skills development and livelihoods, while reinforcing Ethiopia’s Right to Work Directive No. 1019/2024 and the National Makatet Policy, enabling refugees and asylum seekers to participate meaningfully in national systems.

ILO Recommendation No. 208 guidance on how to establish and strengthen quality apprenticeship systems for skills development, employment, decent work and inclusive economic participation requires all relevant stakeholders with governments taking the lead to play active role in improving transitions from education and training into the labour market participation and supporting skills development for current and future labour market needs. The ILO R-208 aims to promote high-quality apprenticeships as a pathway to employment; ensure they are inclusive, gender-responsive and linked to labour market needs. This international instrument on quality apprenticeship encourages employers, especially MSMEs, to offer meaningful apprenticeship opportunities; and promotes putting in place mechanisms to incentivize and increase participation of employers and improve the attractiveness of apprenticeships. In context of forced displacement, R-208 promotes equal access to apprenticeships by supporting vulnerable groups to equally participate and addressing barriers faced by such groups including FDP and women, girls, and PWD.

Ethiopia has made notable progress in advancing inclusive skills development by integrating refugees into national education and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) systems. This inclusive policy landscape enables forcibly displaced and host community youth to access both formal and non-formal learning on equitable terms. The government has also prioritized access to foundational, vocational, and transferable skills such as literacy, numeracy, communication, and problem-solving critical for both wage employment and entrepreneurship. In recognition of shifting labor market demands, national strategies now promote digital literacy and life skills to prepare young people for emerging economic sectors and equip them to navigate complex social and professional environments.

Despite these commitments, displacement-affected communities continue to face persistent barriers including limited infrastructure, digital exclusion, and constrained access to learning and livelihoods. Through targeted investments in vocational training, foundational and digital competencies, and work-based learning, the Opportunity Fund-supported interventions aim to bridge these gaps and reinforce Ethiopia’s ongoing efforts toward inclusive human capital development. In doing so, they contribute meaningfully to the realization of the country’s Global Refugee Forum (GRF) pledges and broader systems-level inclusion goals.

The objective of this joint initiative is to strengthen the self-reliance and resilience of forcibly displaced persons (FDPs) and host community youth in Ethiopia by enhancing their access to inclusive, sustainable pathways for education, digital connectivity, skills development, and economic opportunities. It recognizes self-reliance as encompassing not only income but also learning, psychosocial well-being, and digital inclusion, and supports this through connectivity, skills development, and economic empowerment.

The project is built around three mutually reinforcing interventions: Inclusive Skills Development: ILO, UNICEF, and UNHCR will implement a tailored skills development program for three age groups to support transitions from learning to earning. For ages 10–14, an Accelerated Learning Programme will build foundational skills for lifelong and digital learning. For ages 15–19, life skills and mental health support will strengthen social, emotional, cognitive, and digital competencies. For ages 20–35, Digital Innovation Hubs and online platforms will offer digital literacy, certifiable training, and employment pathways. These hubs will also support TVET graduates with mentorship in entrepreneurship, private sector engagement, and access to finance. The project will build a continuum of foundational, transferable, and digital skills to enhance productivity, adaptability, and civic participation, while promoting social cohesion and work-based learning.

1. Objective of the Assignment
   1. General Objective

This project aims to provide short-term transferable skills training and quality apprenticeships for 1000 adolescents and youth in displacement-affected context and host communities in selected regions (preferably Benishangul Gumuz and Afar) in Ethiopia.

 Specific objective:

• Utilise desk review and LMI to identify demand driven occupations and determine a set of market relevant occupations and skills to be delivered for the refugee and host community trainees.
• To deliver short-term transferable labour market relevant skills training (minimum of 20 days) with an industry relevant and recognized certificate for 700 participants in selected regions. Specification for the short-term skills training:
  • To be delivered jointly with a local NGO or public / private training provider.
  • Develop or enhance in consultation and collaboration with relevant government offices and the private sector the short-term training curriculum in selected occupation to be inclusive.
  • Ideally focus within the training on skills gaps and mismatches that will allow the participants to find a job. Training to be provided in a modular way.
  • Include ILO core skills framework in a mainstreamed way and provide the graduates with employability skills.
  • Quata: 50% for refugee and 50% host community (minimum 40% female) in identified sectors.

• Provide three-month quality apprenticeship program in line with recommendation ILO R-208 for 300 beneficiaries from refugee and host communities

Specification for the quality apprenticeship programme:

• Consult with Ethiopian Employer’s Federation (EEF) and the Ethiopian employers on the apprenticeship schemes in need and sign training / apprenticeship agreement with them.
• Provide sensitization and training to the supervisors on quality apprenticeship.

• Collaborate with RRS and UNHCR to identify and select refugee beneficiaries; and relevant stakeholders (government and others) to recruit host community members in the targeted geographical location/region.
• Procure occupational safety and health material for use by the trainees (for respective occupations) and prepare relevant teaching and training materials.
• Support the employment of graduates of the short-term skills training and apprenticeship training by offering linkages to the private sector, mentoring on job search and career guidance.
• M&E and follow up of the training: Follow up on the employment status of the trainees 1 months, 3 months and 6 months afterwards.

Key tasks associated with this assignment:

• Provision of short-term skills training for target beneficiaries in selected sectors.
• Roll out and delivery of quality apprenticeship scheme for selected sectors and occupations.  
• Ensuring that occupational health and safety is in place for the trainees through awareness sessions and provision of basic health and safety services as needed inside the companies and the training centers.
• Provision of transportation allowance and if relevant other trainee’s pocket money that shall be paid to trainees based on records such as attendance sheet.
• Ensure that apprentices are covered by formal apprenticeship or training contract.
• Ensure quality-assured, industry-relevant training in line with ILO standards,
• Provision of a recognized industry relevant certification.
• Strengthening of industrial linkage.
• M&E follows up with the trainees and provision of sheets with employment outcomes of trainees 1 months, 3 months, and 6 months after the delivery of the training and completion of the quality apprenticeship program.