Mercy Corps
USAID Informal Livelihoods Advancement Activity
(Iqlaaع**)**
Terms of Reference (TOR)
Jan 10, 2023
Table of Content
List of Acronyms and Definitions3
Project Participants (beneficiaries)8
List of Acronyms and Definitions
BDS
Business Development Support
CARM
Community Accountability Reporting Mechanism
CBOs
Community-Based Organisations
COP
Chief of Party
EMPRETEC
Integrated capacity building program of UNCTAD in the area of SMEs and entrepreneurial skills promotion.
The name EMPRETEC – the Spanish acronym for emprendedores (entrepreneurs) and tecnología (technology)
Formalization
The registration or licensing of a business thus entering the formal sector, while following explicit rules, regulations, policies and procedures that govern organizational activities
GDPR
General Data Protection Regulation
HBB
Home Based Business
IASC
Inter-Agency Standing Committee
ICT
Information and Communication Technology
Iqlaaع
USAID Informal Livelihoods Advancement Activity (Iqlaaع)
MSA
Market Systems Analysis
MSD
Market Systems Development
MSE
Micro and Small Enterprises. USAID Jordan defines a micro-enterprise as one that employs less than 10 employees and small-sized enterprises as those with equal or greater than 10 employees and less than employees
NGO
Non-Governmental Organization
PLWD
People Living with Disability
SOW
Scope of Work
TOR
Terms of Reference
UN
United Nations
USAID
United States Agency for International Development
Project/Consultancy Title: Sub-activity 2.1.1.1 Integrated, Intense Capacity Building Program for MSEs Consultancy – USAID Iqlaaع
Location: Jordan
About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within now, and for the future.
The Iqlaaع Activity
Iqlaaع is a five-year USAID-funded program supporting Jordan’s micro and small-sized enterprises (MSEs). Iqlaaع aims to meet the immediate needs of formal and informal MSEs following the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis while building a foundation of stability from which they can grow, transform, and build resilience to future shocks. Iqlaaع weaves together technical expertise from a robust set of national, regional, and international partners led by Mercy Corps with the American Chamber of Commerce-Jordan (AmCham), Andersen Legal-Jordan (Andersen), Dalberg Design, Expectation State, the Middle East Investment Initiative (MEII), Migrate-Jordan (Migrate), and Q Perspective. Iqlaaع works to implement best practices in crisis response, enterprise strengthening, inclusive job creation, and financial sector development within a market-systems development (MSD) framework that is well-matched to the current needs of Jordan’s MSEs along with the future of prosperity envisioned. Iqlaaع launched in May 2022, and will end in April 2027.
Iqlaaع’s approach looks at integrating direct assistance with Market Systems Development (MSD) interventions to support MSEs along the full journey from recovery to growth and resilience. Grounded in evidence-based, adaptive, and inclusive support, Jordan’s MSEs can emerge from the COVID-19 crisis stronger and more resilient, transformed through new ways of doing business and improved access to finance, markets, and services. Iqlaaع is committed to supporting MSEs build, formalize, and grow, emphasizing systems-level change, equitable opportunities, and a dignified work environment for all.
The promotion of inclusion of women, youth, and persons living with disabilities is at the heart of Iqlaaع, and applicants should show commitment, planning, and actualization of this guiding principle through innovative sustainable solutions.
Purpose and Project Description
In collaboration with the Iqlaaع team, the firm will deliver an EMPRETEC program with highly intensive integrated capacity-building activities for MSEs for the advancement of entrepreneurial skills, with the goal of supporting high-potential entrepreneurs to put their ideas into action and for MSEs to achieve growth, targeting various geographic areas and sectors. The program should include specific criteria for selecting MSEs based on their stage, innovation, sector, gender, disability, age, and area of implementation, as well as a detailed plan for reaching out to the enterprises, incentivizing, and building their capacity to grow their businesses or translate their ideas into new businesses.
The program should begin with an outreach campaign in the chosen targeted areas across Jordan, followed by the development of training materials focusing on the development of entrepreneurial capacity, behavioral competencies, and the use of an effective approach to equip enterprises, with intentions for deeds, advancement, achievement, affiliation, and power. This will ultimately enable micro and small businesses to better materialize their potential, sustain themselves, and more easily participate in the formal sector.
Methodology & Approaches
The firm shall propose a clear and detailed methodology to deliver the objectives and to achieve the purpose indicated in the Purpose and Description section above as well as indicate how to measure the outcomes of the proposed capacity-building program. The proposed methodology must be comprehensive, and any other creative and progressive methods of learning can be proposed and considered by the firm.
Main Activities
The applicant is responsible for ensuring the successful submission of the below activities:
- Develop detailed criteria for selecting individuals and business owners based on sectors, scale, innovation, sex, age, disability, and implementation area.
- Develop an outreach plan that includes awareness sessions and digital marketing to reach out to specific participants including women, youth, and persons with disabilities, and evaluate them based on the approved criteria.
- In close coordination with the Iqlaaع team, contact various stakeholders (government institutes, non-governmental organizations, CBOs, private sectors, etc.) to assist in reaching out to the most vulnerable MSEs, including those owned by women, youth, and persons with disabilities.
- Disseminate the final approved list of MSEs and business owners who passed the evaluation process and will participate in the program.
- Create a detailed work plan for the entire program, including all stages, exercises, workshops, and trainings that will take place, while ensuring accessibility and inclusion are taken into consideration for women, youth, and persons living with disabilities to be able to participate.
- Create materials and/or exercises that emphasize the behavioral competencies of a successful entrepreneur and/or business owner, and this material must be branded based on Mercy Corps and USAID Iqlaaع branding guidelines, with emphasizing the behaviors women, youth, and persons with disabilities must exhibit given the unique barriers they face.
- Develop and deliver training material in both languages (English and Arabic) with manuals and guidelines for entrepreneurial capacity-building that takes a new approach to equip entrepreneurs and business owners with the intention of establishing and growing their enterprises. This material must be branded based on Mercy Corps and USAID Iqlaaع branding guidelines while ensuring that training is provided in a way that ensures accessibility and inclusion of women, youth, and persons with disabilities. (Please see attached annex to shed some light on inclusion)
- Share relevant research and references that the firm used to create the materials.
- Assistance in developing a post-program sustainability plan for MSEs and business owners, potentially linking it with existing entities already providing similar services by defining what further areas that require further capacity building by these MSEs in order to arrive at a defined growth target. These plans can be co-developed with each of the MSEs as part of their self-awareness of their pathway to growth, etc.
- Plan for monitoring and evaluating progress during and after implementation, in collaboration with the Iqlaaع M&E team.
- Provide a final technical report for the entire program.
Other considerations throughout the consultancy timeframe:
- Firm shall work closely with Mercy Corps, share regular updates, and reply to emails within one working day.
- Firm shall expect to conduct regular progress meetings when needed and upon the request of the MC team.
- The firm and his/her team shall attend the CARM sensitization session as arranged by Mercy Corps.
- Consent should be taken from all participants following the data protection and sharing policy (GDPR).
Linkages with Iqlaaع activities
The firms must build and link their scope to Iqlaaع current activities
- As part of its efforts to provide improved mentorship support for micro and small enterprises (MSEs), USAID-funded Iqlaaع launched its own MicroMentor landing page (www.micromentor.org/usaid-iqlaa) in English and Arabic, which will be connecting MSE owners in Jordan to qualified mentors locally and globally.
As a global leader in online business mentoring with a proven impact on business survival and job creation, Mercy Corps’ MicroMentor expanded to Jordan in 2020 and has become the largest support platform for Jordanian entrepreneurs. Mentored operational businesses were 13% more likely to survive the year and new businesses were 19% more likely to survive their first year. Through its own developed MicroMentor landing page, Iqlaaع can now scale up the platform and aims to form 2,500 new mentorship connections. The platform will help improve business linkages, networks and access to new markets, which is at the heart of Iqlaaع’s objectives and its vision to achieve impact sustainability through market actors. .
- Migrate is part of the Iqlaaع consortium partners, and is a Jordanian based, business knowledge and networking company that provides innovative business support to its clients in the MENA region and other international markets. .
Under Iqlaaع, Migrate will continue to provide a wide range of services that are critical to the long-term growth of MSMEs and facilitate HBB and MSE linkages to medium and large business supply chains through the existing Business Hubs network (North of Jordan) which is being expanded in the Central and Southern governorates and East Amman). These Business Hubs provide bundled Business Development Service (BDS) support to MSEs, including Financial services, Workspace, Procurement, Registration/Formalization support, Networking, and finally training and best practices to foster an inclusive hiring culture and safe, dignified work environments.
Required Deliverables
The firm must deliver the following deliverables in line with the above-described methodologies.
Deliverables
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- Inception Report: This will include
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- Timetable for the entire program, inclusive of all phases, geographic locations, workshops, outreach plan, and other related activities that will take place. – All (primary) data collection tools to be used. – Selection criteria per the defined scope above under the main activities section. – The monitoring and evaluating plan during and after implementation – A detailed annotated Table of Contents for the Final Reports to be submitted.
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2. Outreach plan targeting the MSEs with a list of at least 50 final selected participants/business owners including those owned by women, youth, and persons with disability based on the criteria and the outreach plan and will participate in the program. At least 10 of the selected participants should include persons with disabilities, youth, and women.
3. Interim Report inclusive of:
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- Documentation and results of the implemented outreach plan. – Share any relevant research and references that the company used to create these materials. – MSEs needs and challenges that make them eligible to be part of this incentive Capacity Building program. – comprehensive plan for training material to be delivered to the selected beneficiaries.
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4. Training Program Design & Materials that must be branded based on Mercy Corps and USAID Iqlaaع branding guidelines, along with emphasizing the behaviors women, youth, and persons with disabilities must exhibit given the unique barriers they face for the following
- Program design must indicate the venue(s) of program delivery, special considerations for the venue and delivery to accommodate PLWDs, minimum hours of attendance and participation requirements to qualify for program completion certification, and any other details relevant to the proposed capacity building program.
- Materials and/or exercises that emphasize the behavioral competencies of a successful entrepreneur and business owner
- Material with manuals and guidelines for entrepreneurial capacity building that takes a new approach to equip entrepreneurs and business owners with the intention of establishing and growing their enterprises.
Training material must be delivered in English for review by Iqlaaع, and translated into Arabic for delivery of training to the MSEs.
5. Training report covering proof of implementation of the training for the 50 selected beneficiaries on the approved materials and inclusive at minimum of (i) a pre- and post assessment of the participating MSEs, (ii) assessment of the training by the participating MSEs, (iii) attendance sheets for the MSEs (per the required disaggregation).
6. Submit two plans:
- Monitoring and evaluating progress during and after implementation
- Program sustainability.
7. Final Report based on the agreed-to template.
Project Participants (beneficiaries)
The target participants for this program will be individuals with business ideas, early-stage business owners, participants in small and micro enterprises, and the MSE framework ecosystem as a whole.
Timeframe
The assignment timeframe will begin upon signing the contract for a period of 110 working days distributed over 5 calendar months. Applicants shall adhere to this timeline while developing the work plan in the technical proposal.
Contract time extension can be granted upon written email request and with proper justification.
Ethical Considerations
MC is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants, or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary-General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members.
As part of MC’s commitments to the Core Humanitarian Standards for Quality and Accountability and to provide services with respect and protection to human rights, MC applies multiple policies to prevent and mitigate improper incidents. These applied policies must be obligated by all MC stakeholders including the contractors.
The selected candidate shall sign and adhere to the MC’s policies, such as safeguarding, antifraud, conflict of interest, and anti-corruption.
Ownership
MC requires that all efforts from contractors, including connections, Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) data, secondary resources, tools, presentations, and templates that were developed during any assignment shall remain the property of MC only and shall be treated in confidentiality and not to be shared with any third parties. That also applies to all documents shared from the MC side with the contractor such as global guidelines, proposals, and any other project documentation.
How to apply
TENDER NO: JO01 – RFP – PR108611
Integrated, Intense Capacity Building Program for MSEs Consultancy
USAID Informal Livelihoods Advancement Activity (Iqlaaع)
Intent to Bid documents will be available from Tuesday, January 24, 2023 and can be obtained from the following links:
https://jordan.mercycorps.org/tenders
Last date and time for submission is on Monday, January 30, 2023 by 03:00 pm (Amman Time).
Filled Intent to Bid and Supplier Information forms must be sent by email to
[email protected]. Offers sent to a different email address will be disregarded.
For any inquiries contact Mercy Corps – Tendering Department at [email protected] indicating the tender number in the subject line.