1. About Act Change Transform (Act!)
Act! is a not-for-profit non-governmental organization, established in Kenya in September 2001 and registered under the provisions of Non-Governmental Organizations Coordination Act of 1990. Act!’s vision is that of “empowered citizens and communities living a productive life in dignity” while its mission is to “support, partner with and develop local organizations to be effective agents of lasting positive change”. Act’s holistic approach to development is delivered through capacity development and grants management. Act! is implementing various development programs in three key areas: Peace Building & Conflict Transformation; Democracy, Governance & Human Rights; and Environment & Natural Resources Management. It realizes its work and delivery through partnering with other local organizations and enjoys great partnerships and collaborations across sectors.
Through the Peace Building and Conflict Transformation (PBCT) Platform, Act! implements the Peace, Security and Stability (PSS) program whose desired outcome is*; Improved Capacity and Effectiveness of CSO’s Government and Security Oversight Bodies to Counter Violent Extremism and Prevent Political and Natural Resource Conflicts in Kenya.* PSS is a five-year DANIDA funded program that commenced in 2016 and which comes to an end in the year December 2020.
PSS has three key outputs which include;
- The capacity of local level CSO’s to address emerging conflicts and forestall violence enhanced.
- Increased women engagement in leadership roles in peace and security in the engagement areas.
- Collaboration between CSOs and government agencies in addressing conflicts and extremism enhanced.
- Increased use of local information by relevant national and county government agencies to develop and implement coherent national security policies, action plans and strategies.
- Strengthened evidence-based research informing policy frameworks and decision making to promote peace and stability.
In a Mid Term Review (MTR) of the PSS project commissioned by DANIDA covering the period July 2016 – June 2018, and which was undertaken between November 2018 and January 2019, a number of successes, lessons and gaps were identified. The main findings from the MTR were that: (1.) while Act! cannot solely claim to have changed the peace and security environment in the target counties dramatically, there was evidence that its activities played a role in minimizing violence and conflicts in the areas of intervention. (2.). Furthermore, while the PSS program had invested in skills-building among youth, including commendable initiatives to support youth access to county tenders, i.e. advocacy for the enforcement of the Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO), an affirmative action that requires 30% of all public procurement opportunities/tender be allocated to women, youth and persons with disabilities; a lot still needs to be done.
In addition, the MTR findings acknowledged that PSS invested in micro-enterprise trainings, linking trained youth and women to micro enterprise opportunities such as Uwezo fund to improve livelihoods hence reduce the pressure and allure of joining criminal groups or extremist organizations. However, and as was established by the MTR, in some cases the training had been too short (e.g. 1 day), which is not enough to prepare youth to register or present a tender or sustain a business. The MTR also noted that youth engagement is not just about tenders or micro-enterprises for there are other options that should have been explored.
The PSS program also drew important lessons through practice that not all unemployed youths want to start a business, rear livestock (re-stocking) or undertake crop farming. However, many youth engagement and empowerment initiatives by both the state and non-state actors have been pre-occupied with alternative livelihoods in form of farming for rural youth and or businesses for urban youth. Gifting youth with motor cycles (boda bodas) has been a popular alternative livelihood that has been piloted by a number of initiatives to varying degrees of successes and failures. In Kwale County, gifting reformed youth and Al Shabaab returnees with boda bodas ended exposing them to al Shabaab sympathizers and rogue security agencies. Most of which did not end well. On the other hand, the rest of community members questioned why “criminals” and or “terrorist” would be rewarded with boda bodas when majority of them, who are good law abiding citizens, are left to wallow in poverty. In synopsis, the MTR noted that this is an area which is not Act! or most of the sub-grantees’ (Act! PSS partners) expertise and that going forward, Act! and its sub-grantees should partner with other stakeholders experienced in this area of youth engagement and explore a wide array of sustainable livelihoods.
2. The Task & Desired Outcomes
It is with above background in mind, that Act! is seeking the services of a suitably qualified and experienced consultant(s) to undertake a rapid assessment (baseline survey and situational analysis) of potential and viable youth economic and employment engagement options in Kenya with the aforementioned counties being the main units of analysis (case studies).The rapid assessment will also explore private sector and government entities that currently support youth engagement in Mombasa and Kisumu counties, that would benefit from a targeted local youth support initiatives leading to greater youth participation in economic and employment creation activities. The assessment will also include training needs of potential youth beneficiaries.
Act! through PSS program is running youth engagement initiatives in Mombasa and Kisumu among other counties. As such, the assessment will come up with a criterion of selecting youth to benefit from such engagements. This means that the assessment would also generate tools for youth engagement (criterion for selection of beneficiaries), mentorship, coaching, monitoring and reporting mechanisms (mini-manuals).
2.1 Objectives of the Rapid Assessment
The main objective of the rapid assessment is to identify or check the availability and viability of current youth engagement options in Kenya, especially those that draw collaborative engagement across multiple sectors of Public, private and non-profits. The particular emphasis is on urban and peri-urban youth. Insights on unique initiatives targeting vulnerable youth from rural and pastoralist geographies would provide great comparative analysis
2.2 Specific Objectives of the Rapid Assessment:
- To carry out a rapid analysis of the existing socio-economic trends and threats affecting the livelihoods of young people in Kenya generally and specifically in the target counties.
- To identify and highlight the key challenges faced by the youths in accessing employment and income-generating opportunities.
- To establish and document available viable youth engagement and livelihood support options for youth in rural (including pastoralist regions) and urban settings in Kenya today.
- To identify potential private sector initiatives and or entities that currently support youth engagement in Kisumu and Mombasa Counties complete with the analysis of the progress and potential of their initiatives to create impact.
- To identify the skilling and training needs of the potential at risk youth beneficiaries.
- Document lessons learnt from the analysis and make key recommendations on what might constitute a rapid youth engagement intervention with greatest potential for success.
- To suggest key criteria for identification of youth beneficiaries and generate draft tools and (or templates) that may be used in recruiting, assessing and selecting the right youth beneficiaries in the two targeted counties in an efficient manner.
3. Proposed Approach & Methodology
The consultant will undertake a rapid assessment of the existing programs, initiatives and opportunities supported by government, civil society and in the private sector targeting the youth and to what extent the strategies employed have been effective in skilling, linking to employment and initiating economic activities for youth at individual or group levels. The primary methodology will involve among others: desk reviews of available qualitative and quantitative data, including reports from Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Youth Enterprise Development Fund, World Bank and Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) among other sources. Other approaches may include key informant interviews; focus group discussions, just to mention but a few.
Whereas Act! expects the consultant (s) to suggest other methods and approaches, it has made suggestions on the proposed detailed approach as follows:
a. Desk review & analysis: Review of existing literature on the subject matter; including what has worked (successes), what has not worked (including challenges and lessons learned) and what needs to be done to make youth based livelihoods and economic engagements viable and sustainable. Some of the materials for review shall include PSS program reports from the previous years.
b. Field data collection: The consultant will collect primary data in Kisumu and Mombasa counties. This will be realized through mini surveys, key informant interviews and focused group discussions (FGDs).
c. Data analysis: The collected data will be analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The analysed data will be presented in a manner that can easily be consumed by youths, youth engagement stakeholders, private sector and the government.
4. Reporting Writing and Supervision
The consultant(s) will work closely with the Act’s Program Manager (PSS), and will be under the direct supervision of the Program Officer (PSS). There will be collaborative engagements with the Head of MERL and the Director of Programs.
5. Deliverables
The key deliverables for the consultant (s) will be assessed against the provisions of this TORs. In synopsis, the following are the key deliverables and expected outputs:
a) Inception Report – detailing the consultants approach, methodology complete with data collection tools, sampling techniques, work plan for undertaking the assignment and draft outline of the report. This is due within 3 working days of signing the contract.
b) Draft Assessment Report: This report, of no more than 20 pages (excluding annexes such as tools for selecting beneficiaries and mini manual), will have detailed information analyzing the potential private sector entities that Act! can partner with to support youth engagement in Kisumu and Mombasa Counties. The report will be reviewed by Act! staff and the comments shared with the consultant.
c) Final Assessment Report: A final report of not more than 30 pages (excluding annexes as indicated above) incorporating comments from the Act! reviewers will be submitted to Act!.
d) Draft Selection Criteria & Tools – a compendium of criteria and selection tools with inputs from Act!.
e) A Policy Paper on strategic Youth Engagement to be shared with relevant policy makers, youth programmes, key youth entities like the youth council, youth enterprise development fund and the development community
6.0 Duration of the Assignment
This task will be carried out over a period of 20 consultancy days.
7.0 Submission of Expression of Interest/Responses to TORs
Suitably qualified consultant(s) are requested to submit their expression of interest elaborating the understanding of the task, proposed methodology, work plan and the fees no later than Thursday, 22nd August, 2019 Close of Business. The proposal should be only be submitted electronically to [email protected] quoting the reference number ACT-RAYEL-03-2019 and title Rapid Assessment of Youth Engagement in Kenya on the e-mail subject line. The applications must include three recent references and detailed organizational profile and current CV(s) of the consultant (s). Applications that do not meet the above requirements shall not be reviewed.
Only shortlisted applicants will be notified.
Act! is an equal opportunity employer with zero tolerance to corruption.
More Information
- Job City Nairobi
