Consultancy: Refugee Led Organization (RLO) BDS Support

World University Service of Canada (WUSC) is a leading Canadian non-profit organization in international development, committed to providing education, economic opportunities, and empowerment opportunities that improve the lives of millions of disadvantaged youth around the world.

About Displaced and Refugee youth Enabling Environment Mechanism (DREEM) project:-

DREEM is an exciting partnership between WUSC and the Mastercard Foundation. WUSC plays a unique role as a technical assistance and strategic learning partner to the Mastercard Foundation and its partners on refugee and displaced youth inclusion. The DREEM project contributes to the Mastercard Foundation’s commitment to meaningfully include refugee and displaced young people in their Scholars Program and Young Africa Works strategy.

Strengthening Economic Opportunities for Refugees (SEOR)

Support host community and refugee-owned businesses and entrepreneurs in Kakuma Refugee Camp and Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement in Kenya, and build and share learning on refugee-led entrepreneurship. SEOR provides host communities and refugee and displaced entrepreneurs, especially young women, with improved access to market-oriented business development support (BDS) services and an Innovation Fund.

The DREEM project contracted Farm Africa to provide Business Development Services (BDS), which include mentorship and coaching, capacity building, and market linkage to support micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Kakuma and Kalobeyei. As part of sustainability, the DREEM project seeks to further this engagement with Farm Africa to strengthen the capacity of at least two local refugee-led organizations (RLOs) that will provide BDS support to the refugee and host community youth-led enterprises beyond the project’s lifecycle.

Objectives and scope of service:

DREEM project seeks to strengthen the capacity of local Business Development Services (BDS) providers to facilitate the delivery of business development services to refugee-led businesses to expand and hire more refugee and displaced youth. This will be achieved by strengthening the capacities of local BDS providers to enhance their ability to deliver market-relevant, quality, gender-responsive BDS support with a market systems lens, which will foster sustainable improvements in the quality of services that refugee-led businesses can access. The RLOs will be expected to jointly participate in a capacity strengthening by Farm Africa and WUSC and develop and implement a sustainable BDS implementation plan. Particular attention will be paid to developing a sustainable service delivery model that can generate revenue. The RLO will work with Farm Africa and WUSC to provide BDS services to refugees and host community youth-led enterprises in Kakuma and Kalobeyei.

Main Tasks and Responsibilities of BDS Providers

1. Conduct BDS needs assessment on all Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) selected by the DREEM project to participate in the Innovation Fund.
2. Identify BDS priority needs of assigned project MSEs across target locations, including support for pitch-deck preparation.
3. Develop an agreed-upon detailed business delivery plan for each MSE with short and medium-term goals.
4. Design and implement tailor-made BDS delivery modules as per the MSE’s needs
5. Advise WUSC on conducting BDS promotional activities and the best channels to generate awareness among potential MSEs. Lead all necessary logistics arrangements regarding service delivery with MSEs.
6. Regularly collect and report BDS evaluation data provided by MSEs
7. Submit half-yearly and annual BDS plans to DREEM
8. Submit quarterly, half-yearly, and annual progress reports to DREEM and engage in regular check-in and planning meetings with the project team.

RLOs that meet the threshold and are selected will be supported through:-

a) Capacity strengthening and mentorship to the selected RLO(s)

The RLOs will be trained and mentored on the business training modules developed by Farm Africa with a focus on entrepreneurship, basic financial literacy, and business management skills. This will enable them to package their services and identify and support targeted MSEs to operate viable business models that will, in turn, generate revenues.

b) Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, and Reporting

Through Farm Africa, WUSC will work with the selected RLOs on how to regularly collect data and monitor the performance of the enterprises in the project. Farm Africa will mentor the RLOs on how to carry out periodical progress monitoring to assess progress on project activities and towards the achievement of project results and how to develop data collection tools that will be used to track core Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) data on a monthly, quarterly, and bi-annual basis from beneficiaries engaged.

c) The selected RLO(s) will receive a monthly stipend to support their participation in this capacity building.

Selection Criteria of the Refugee Led Organizations:

The Refugee Led Organizations (RLOs) are expected to:

• Be a legally registered entity actively operating in Kakuma, Kalobeyei, and surrounding host communities for the last four years;
• Have a demonstrated understanding of or demonstrated interest in providing Business Development Support or skills training to entrepreneurs;
• Present a clear and detailed profile of the organisation’s operations, human resources, and thematic areas of operation;
• Demonstrate commitment to learning and flexibility in programming and operations to commit to change genuinely. WUSC seeks partners that are willing to accommodate change, adapt practices and approaches, engage in ongoing dialogue and evolution in the partnership based on context, time limits, and review/renewal processes, and are willing to have discussions around any deeply entrenched structural inequalities, racism, and power imbalances, if and when they may arise;
• Evidence of managing and implementing donor-funded projects for at least three years of USD 3,000 and above;
• Show commitment to and understanding of how to take a do no harm approach to promote safety, security, and inclusivity;
• Have sound anti-discrimination principles and codes of conduct.

Selection Process:

Stage 1: March to April 2024

1. Application, recruitment, and identification of suitable RLOs;
2. Reference checks on the RLO from previous funders or donors;
3. Verification and diligence on the RLOs selected to participate in the DREEM project;
4. A detailed needs assessment of the RLOs.

Stage 2: April to May 2024

1. Mentoring and coaching the RLO to practically conduct the training to selected MSEs and be monitored by Farm Africa

Stage 3: April to November 2024

1. Regular collection and reporting of BDS evaluation data provided by MSEs.
2. Submit half-yearly and annual BDS plans to DREEM.
3. Submit monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, and annual progress reports to DREEM and regularly check in and plan meetings with the project team and deliverables.

How to apply

To apply click here and submit a profile, past annual reports, examples of activities the organization undertakes, and a one-page cover letter that details why they are an ideal candidate, by April 3, 2024.