Skills road map consultancy services
Skills Road Map Consultancy Services
- Introduction:
The sub-regional “EU Support to legal migration, mobility and skills partnerships with North of African countries”, hereafter THAMM Plus Programme, is jointly funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It builds on the results achieved under the “Towards a Holistic Approach to Labour Migration Governance and Labour Mobility in North Africa” (THAMM) Programme which was implemented from 2019-2023. THAMM Plus is aligned with existing strategic frameworks globally (Sustainable Development Goals, Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration) and regional (African Union Migration Policy Framework and Action Plan 2018-2030).
The THAMM Plus programme is implemented at a national level in each of Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco with also to a lesser extent at the regional level. The programme is implemented in Egypt through three Actions by the Implementing Agencies (IAs): International Labour Organization (ILO), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and the Agenzia Italiana Cooperazione allo Sviluppo (AICS).
The ILO Action of the THAMM Plus Programme aims to strengthen the employability of potential migrant workers and pathways for regular and sustainable labour mobility leading to decent work opportunities between Egypt and the European Union Member States (MS). Building on the experience of THAMM (2019-2023), but also on the wealth of the ILO's technical assistance activities in the areas of employment policy, alignment of data with international standards, skills development and strengthening of public employment services, which it supports in the region, THAMM Plus/ILO will implement three main objectives:
Labour Mobility Governance
Support for mobility programmes
Knowledge Management for Program Management
THAMM Plus/ILO will work on the following cross-cutting objectives:
Strengthen the capacity of national partners in North Africa to build effective partnerships, based on national strategies and evidence-based analysis with EU Member States willing and through close links with private sector actors;
Support the implementation of talent partnerships, bilateral labour agreements anchored in international labour standards, bilateral social security conventions, skills development, matching and qualifications aligned with European standards, fair recruitment and professional matching of jobs,
and reflection on mobility schemes, and the sustainable socio-economic reintegration of seasonal workers.
The ILO Action of THAMM Plus will thus usefully complement the bilateral mobility schemes implemented between Egypt and EU Member States, including those implemented by the two other IAs. It is worth mentioning that the ILO in its work on the skills component will focus on the sectors/occupations mentioned in the matrix of sectors and occupations agreed upon between ILO and EU ( list to be provided in due course)
Inception Workshop
In order to design a work plan that addresses the priorities and meets the specific needs of governmental, social and private sector partners, THAMM Plus is planning to organize a two-day Inception Workshop tentatively scheduled to be from 27-28 January 2025 in Cairo, Egypt (TBC once the clearance from the Egyptian Government is granted). The workshop will aim to refine the objectives and expected results, the monitoring indicators and the national work plan for the GIZ, AICS and ILO while ensuring that the consultations with the partners are carried out in a participatory manner. Throughout the workshop, the three IAs will be working with the partners towards identifying joint activities that can be carried out in a complementary manner.
The Skills component under ILO THAMM plus
The skills component features in strongly in the ILO THAMM plus workplan, where ILO’s work on skills will focus much more closely on bringing offer closer to demand in terms of standards with an integrated workstream on skills development and enhancement in terms of alignment of qualifications, educational and technical curricula and career guidance mechanisms on international standards and strengthening of capacity among public and private education and training institutions.For a full overview, please refer to the attached project document.
Worth noting that a series of preliminary consultations with the relevant partners on the skills component have been carried out during the first year of the project while awaiting the security clearance. This includes consultations with the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation (MOPEDIC), Ministry of Labour (MoL), Ministry of Education and Technical Education (MoETE), Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MoHESR), and National Authority for Quality Assurance & Accreditation of Education (NAQAEE). Consultations with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Training Foundation (ETF) have also taken place.
While some direction was obtained on the needs of the Egyptian partners and how the project would be able to respond, still a more defined set of activities needs to be elaborated, and which can be presented to the national partners during the inception workshop for validation. Woth mentioning that a concept note on Strengthening capacities for skills anticipation and mainstreaming the labour migration dimension into sector skills councils in priority sectors between Egypt and EU (e.g. hospitality and tourism, construction and ICT), has been presented to MoPEDIC, but no feedback has been received yet. With the ETF, an initial agreement has been
Given as well that the GIZ and AICS are supporting EU Member States ( Germany and Italy respectively) with setting up and sustaining mobility schemes, the ILO’s approachwhile remainingdistinct from that of GIZ and AICS, comes in complementarity: ILO, as a multilateral standard-setting and technical agency of the UN system, will focus on cross-cutting capacity-building and governance activities complementing the work and in close coordination with GIZ and AICS. That is why synergizing and identifying areas of complementarity regarding the skills component with the other two IAs in the ILO workplan is of great importance.
- Objective of the consultany
Following the work that has been done in terms of consultations with the different partners,the ILO seeks to engage an international service provider to review the original ILO THAMM plus workplan on skills and to providean operational road map for the skills activities that could be presented during the national inception workshop with the partners which can be later fine-tuned for implementation within the remaining project period.
The recruited service provider is expected to perform the below tasks:
Desk review:Conduct an in-depth review of background documents such as -but not limited to- the project document, the project workplan, the logical framework as pertaining to skills, meeting and mission reports available on consultations with the partners, and existing studies on skills. A list of background documents will be provided by the ILO in due course; however, the service provider is also expected to conduct its own research and advise on other background materials that could be of relevance for the desk review.
Inception Report: Based on ethe data collected the service provider is expected to submit an inception report that summarizes the results of the desk review, clarifies a clear way forward for completing the assignment, and enlisting any further consultations that will be needed to complement the information gathered from the desk review.
A revised workplan: Based one the data collected and analysed, the service provider is expected to review the skills focused outputs and activities in the original workplan of ILO THAMM plus and the related indicators with a view of proposing any changes need that need to be made, using a template that will provided in due course. In this regard, the service provider should:
Specifically examine the need for a methodology on the Egyptian side to determine occupations / sectors for labour migration that is inspired by STED
specifically examine the feasibility of a skills partnership between private sector associations/ federations in talent partnership destination countries and Egypt.
Specifically design interventions that follow the triple win scenario and help the ILO to increase the quality of apprenticeship and TVET in line with quality apprenticeship recommendation R208
In the workplan template the service provider should recommending as well the national partners that need to be engaged in the activities (lead partner and contributing partners). The review should be done based on a thorough understating of the ILO’s approach on skills and labour migration.
Road map: After reviewing the workplan, the service provider is expected to present a road map with suggestions on how to operationalize the suggested activities for its ultimate presentation during the inception workshop.
Inception workshop: The service provider will be expected to be present during the inception workshop working closely with the Skills specialist and the THAMM plus team, to facilitate the relevant session (s) on skills with the partners. Following the inception workshop outcomes, the service provider will be expected to fine tune the workplan for implementation. However, this will be subject to updated ToRs and after the clearance is granted to the project.
- Methodology
The identified service provider should start by conducting a thorough desk review as clarified in point 1 in the above section.ILO will provide technical expertise and support through the Skills and employability Skills specialist based in Cairo and the Labour Migration Specialist based in Morocco. The service provider will be supervised by the THAMM plus Regional Manager and the National Coordinator for Egypt.
- Deliverables and Timeline
The amount of work estimated is 7 days as per the below deliverables during the period from 15 December 2024 to 15 January 2025.
Deliverable
Number of days
Deliverable 1: An inception report as clarified in the ToRs
2
Deliverable 2: A reviewed ILO THAMM plus workplan on skills with
a road map for the operationalization of the activities that is
in line with the project's indicators and sectors/occupations agreed
upon in matrix of occupations between Egypt and EU
3
Deliverable 3: Finalization of deliverable 2 as per ILO comments
1
Total
7
Place of Assignment: Remotely
- Payment Schedule
Payments will be made as follows:
First Payment after delivery of deliverable 1, according to the satisfaction of the ILO.
Second and final payment after delivery of deliverables 2 and 3, according to the satisfaction of the ILO.
All the deliverables must be submitted to:
Farah El Batrawi, ILO THAMM Plus National Project Coordinator (Egypt), elbatrawy@ilo.org
Miriam Boudraa, ILO THAMM Plus Chief Technical Adviser (CTA), boudraa@ilo.org
- Required Qualifications
The service provider must have:
Significant experience in designing similar road maps in the areas of skills and labour migration
Previous activity in the field of development cooperation will be an asset.
The staff at the contracted service provider must possess a clear understanding of the ILO’s mandate and main International Labour standards and non-binding guidelines that relate to the field of skills and labour migration
Demonstrated experiences and skills in working group consultations
Excellent speaking and writing skills in English
Experience of working in Egypt and/or MENA region will be an asset
- Application:
In addition to the list of documents required, service providers shall send the CVs of the team member (s) that will be working on this assignment as part of the submission.
- Evaluation
The award will be given to the lowest priced, most technically acceptable offer received.