Consultancy on The Provision of Digital Skills Mentorship and Market Access Linkages for Freelancers in Dadaab – RFP-KEN-017055 at Danish Refugee Council

Background

• Digital Skills Project is designed to address gender, social, cultural, and economic barriers that affect youth's ability to access education and employment opportunities. The project specifically targets the most critical moment in Dadaab's youth educational Journey. The transition from basic education to higher education or employment consists of a large range of interventions, including teacher training, life skills education, financial literacy training, engagement for behavior change, mentorship programs, and market-based digital skills training.
• Freelancing is among the notable fields in the 21st century which contribute immensely to the livelihoods of youths who work in either digital or digitally-enabled jobs. Danish Refugee Council(DRC) Digital Skills Project is among the livelihood components which aim at increasing economic inclusion and empowerment for freelancers in Dadaab. Part of the digital skills DRC offers to freelancers in Dadaab across the three refugee camps includes data entry, translation, Virtual assistance, Digital marketing, Transcription, and content writing. The key online work platforms introduced include Upwork, Remotask, and Fiverr. The scope of the capacity enhancement activities for freelancers involves intense training and mentorship.
• Based on our freelancing experience since 2021, we have identified algorithmic bias based on geographical location and nationality in the dominant freelancing marketplaces, which makes it difficult for local freelancers to excel in the gig economy. Besides, Kenyan freelancers struggle to withdraw their online earnings from online payment methods that in most cases end up holding users’ funds indefinately without clarification. As such, we have so far identified a locally available gig market that could be sustainable in the long run. Our startup leverages digital skills to promote the United Nations' sustainable development goals of decent work, economic growth, and reduced inequalities among the Persons of Concern.
• One of the major goals of the Digital Skills Project is to increase the equitability participation of Dadaab youth in the formal and informal workforce. The digital online skills training is therefore an integral component of the program, which intends to support at least 200 youth in Dadaab and surrounding host communities to obtain training in digital skills which will subsequently lead them to obtain sustainable work.
• Danish Refugee Council is seeking to hire an experienced, skilled, and result-oriented Digital online work consultant to provide both online, offline, local, and international work linkages to the trained Dadaab online freelancers and participate in developing a mentorship model; and support strategies that will transition trained Dadaab online Freelancers to access wages and /or self-employment opportunities and earn a dignified income.

The Role Of The Online Work Consultant.

Aligned with this purpose, the consultant will play the following roles:

Enhance Market access

• Conducting research to identify in-demand skills and niches in the freelancing market, and understanding the current trends and demands and link graduates with these opportunities.
• Assisting graduates in building a strong personal brand that highlights their expertise and showcases their unique skills and value proposition.
• Guiding graduates on effective networking strategies to connect with potential clients, industry professionals, and relevant freelancing platforms.
• Advising on the selection of suitable freelancing platforms based on the graduates' skills and target audience.
• Assisting in creating marketing materials and promotional strategies to attract clients and stand out in the crowded freelancing market.
• Offering ongoing support and mentorship as freelancers navigate the market and encounter various challenges.

Mentorship;

• Review the mentorship curriculum and strategies in place.
• Support high-quality face-to-face mentorship access to on-demand digital skills across the three refugee camps.
• Provide online work linkages to trained freelancers.
• Support the freelancers in bidding for online work and offer assistance when required.
• Support acculturation, priority setting, networking, career planning, and counseling related to the individual's (mentee's) identified goals toward advancement in their freelancing career.
• Support freelancers in client engagement and contract management strategies
• Watch out for trends on the online platforms and advise the program team on ways to align implementation
• Support knowledge sharing, with other experienced freelancers and Business Process Outsourcing Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs) in the local and internal market, both offline and online.

Training;

• Train selected members of 2 BPOs to be able to outsource digital work
• Simulations of freelancer-client engagement, thorough client management, job search, and bidding strategies.
• Helping freelancers create an impressive portfolio that showcases their past work, projects, and accomplishments
• Support the BPOs in developing bids and proposals for digital work
• Onboarding the trainees to a maximum of three freelancing marketplaces for the maximum possible success rate.
• Work closely with the partner trainers and mentors in training and assessing participants before onboarding to work platforms.
• Training the trainees on freelancing ethics including privacy and confidentiality safeguards between freelancers and clients.

Sustainability;

• Work closely with DRC to establish and build the capacity of business processing units, ensure a good governance structure of the units is in place, and support linkages to digital online work and financial services.
• Oversee the créations of local freelance clubs and agencies within Dadaab to harness digital opportunities, and knowledge sharing for sustainability.
• Web/Mobile App development for Market access and enhanced online visibility of the trained freelancers to the online job market.
• Support market connections and job networking for sustainable online job connections to freelancers.
• Provide a reputable freelancing marketplace(Platform) where the trained and mentored freelancers can be onboarded.
• Provide information to trained freelancers on entrepreneurship pathways, and support the implementing partner with life skills and financial literacy training.
• In collaboration with the Economic Recovery officer, facilitate linkage to credible financial institutions.

Quality Control and Impact Measurement;

• Implement, monitor, and evaluate intervention using a result-based monitoring system to measure a success rate of more than 50%.
• Participate in the weekly feedback sessions and provide a progress report based on the week's performance.
• Perform monitoring and evaluation of the mentorship program to measure adoption and success.

Scope of Work and Methodology

• The Consultant will be required to prepare a mixed approach methodology which will include physical training, physical and virtual mentorship, knowledge sharing among the trainees, and market access in terms of linking the freelancers to reputable local, and international work platforms and BPOs. The consultant will be required to develop a result-based monitoring system to measure a success rate. In this regard, the training tools used should be aligned with the current curriculum manual being used i.e. AjiraDigital, ICDL, and Life Skills. The work plan indicating how the objectives of the project will be achieved, and the support required from DRC Kenya should also be incorporated.

Deliverables

• The Consultant will submit the following deliverables as mentioned below:

Inception report

• The consultant should provide an inception report containing a work plan with an emphasis on methodological and planning aspects, the timing, key deliverables, and milestones. The inception report will provide the DRC digital training team the opportunity to verify that they have the same understanding of the project’s objective

Mentorship

• Support high-quality face-to-face mentorship access to on-demand digital skills across the 3 refugee camps.

Trainee Skills Profiling

• To conduct freelancer profiling based on the skills acquired during digital training, interest, and career goals.
• Hard Skills and Onboarding to freelancing marketplaces
• To support high-quality face-to-face mentorship access to on-demand digital skills across the three refugee camps

Client/Contractual engagement

• To support freelancers in client engagement and contract management strategies

Mid Reporting

• The consultant should provide a mid-report showing the progress of the project activities.

Market Access

• To support market connections and job networking for sustainable online job connections to freelancers.

Monitoring and evaluation reporting

• To perform monitoring and evaluation of the mentorship program to identify alignment with intended outcomes and create interventions for missed targets.
• Documenting the impact of the mentorship and market access capacity enhancement activities
• Reporting key learnings.
• Final Reporting
• Finalization of the report based on input provided on the inception report.
• The Consultant will provide the documentation via email.

What DRC will provide;

• Office space;
• Working space and WIFI connection during the duration of the assignment.
• DRC will also support the mobilization of all required respondents.
• Transportation from Dadaab Main Office to the digital hubs in Dagahaley, Ifo, and Hagadera.
• Accommodation and Meals.
• Transportation from Nairobi to Dadaab and back.

The consultant will cater for;

• Insurance

Duration, timeline, and payment

• The total expected duration to complete the assignment will be no more than 4 months
• The consultant shall be prepared to complete the assignment no later than 30th November 2023.

Proposed Composition of Team

• Economic Recovery Team leader
• Economic Recovery Officer : Digital Learning Officer
• Economic Recovery Officer : life skills
• Economic Recovery Assistant
• Digital trainers: General Support

Eligibility, Qualification, And Experience Required

The successful candidate(s) must be able to work independently to deliver the required outputs working with a variety of internal and external stakeholders. Qualifications will include:

Essential:

• Experience in the digital and freelancing economy

Desirable:

• Eligibility:
  • The consultant has the authorization to work in Kenya
• Qualification:
  • At least a Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, BBIT, Community Development, or any other related field.
  • Minimum of 3 years working experience with humanitarian programs in the field of Economic Recovery with at least 1 year of experience engaging with refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, and/or other vulnerable populations in economic strengthening interventions.
  • Excellent command of common methodologies used to identify, assess and monitor livelihood activities, with a proven record of achievements in digital work.
  • Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.
  • Strong analysis skills (qualitative and quantitative)
  • Good understanding of complex emergencies and crisis contexts.
  • Goal-oriented with the ability to work under pressure, independently, and with limited supervision.
  • Ability and willingness to work and live under challenging conditions.
• Experience:
  • A minimum of 5 proven years of freelancing and the digital economy.
  • Experience working online and bidding for online jobs
  • Experience in working with underprivileged youths
  • Experience in digital creation, innovation, and problem-solving
• Skills and knowledge:
  • Strong cultural awareness and sensitivity.
  • Excellent computer skills.
  • Flexible and creative.
  • Strong Organizational and logistical skills.
  • Proven track record in conducting similar assignments and assessments.
  • Must have working online work platform where freelancers can access jobs-local and international jobs.
• Language requirements:
  • Written and spoken fluency in English and Kiswahili
  • Working knowledge of the Somali Language is an advantage

Technical supervision

The selected consultant will work under the supervision of:

• Economic Recovery Team Leader- Dadaab Field Office

Bids can be submitted by email to the following dedicated, controlled, & secure email address:

tender.ken@drc.ngo

When Bids are emailed, the following conditions shall be complied with:

• The RFP number shall be inserted in the Subject Heading of the email
• Separate emails shall be used for the ‘Financial Bid’ and ‘Technical Bid’, and the Subject Heading of the email shall indicate which type the email contains
  • The financial bid shall only contain the financial bid form, Annex A.2
  • The technical bid shall contain all other documents required by the tender, but excluding all pricing information
• Bid documents required, shall be included as an attachment to the email in PDF, JPEG, TIF format, or the same type of files provided as a ZIP file. Documents in MS Word or excel formats, will result in the bid being disqualified.
• Email attachments shall not exceed 4MB; otherwise, the bidder shall send his bid in multiple emails.