WFD - RFI draft - 9Nov21-Signed.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

Activity Title: USAID/Djibouti Youth Employment Activity

Reference Number: RFI-603-21-000002 Release Date: November 9, 2021 Response Due Date: December 3, 2021

I. ABOUT THE RFI

This Request for Information (RFI) is issued solely for planning purposes. USAID seeks public comment/feedback in order to enhance its project design process.

This is not a Request for Proposals (RFP) or a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and is not to be construed as a commitment by the U.S. Government to issue any solicitation or Notice of Funding Opportunity, or ultimately award a contract or assistance agreement on the basis of this RFI, or to pay for any information voluntarily submitted as a result of this request. USAID is not obligated to procure any of the services described herein, nor in no way be committed to utilize submitted information or issue a solicitation as a result of this request. The issuance of this request will not restrict the Government's ultimate approach, if any.

Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. It should be noted that responding to or providing comment on this RFI will not give any advantage to any organization in any subsequent procurement (if any).

USAID posts its competitive business opportunities on beta.SAM.gov or www.grants.gov . It is the potential offeror's/applicant's responsibility to monitor these sites for announcements of new opportunities.

II. ACTIVITY BACKGROUND

The US Agency for International Development’s Mission to Djibouti (USAID/Djibouti) is in the process of designing a new Workforce Development (WFD) Activity, henceforth referred to as “the activity”, to support Djibouti’s efforts to increase youth employment in a way that is equitable and sustainable. The Mission anticipates that the activity will be implemented over a period of up to five years.

http://beta.sam.gov/ http://beta.sam.gov/ http://www.grants.gove/

Djibouti is a lower-middle-income economy with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) equivalent to US$1.85 billion in 2017 and a population estimated at approximately one million, mainly concentrated in and around Djibouti Ville where an estimated 75 percent of the population lives.

Despite a relatively high per capita income of US$1,862 in 2015, 30 percent of the population lives in poverty and 21 percent lives in extreme poverty according to the fourth (2018) round of household survey (EDAM4). The same survey also found that 36 percent of Djibouti’s population is under 14 years old and 51 percent under 24. 1

Djibouti enjoys a strategic position on the Red Sea, enabling it to host a variety of major military bases, and a modern port complex. The Government of Djibouti’s strategic vision focuses on transforming the country into an advanced regional transportation and logistics hub, with growth fueled by government and private sector investment. However Djibouti faces high and persistent 2 unemployment. According to the World Bank, in 2015 Djibouti employed only a quarter of its working population (ages 15 and over), largely due to low labor force participation among women.

Most young people (aged 15 - 24) are in school, with only 25 percent participating in the labor force. However, of those who do participate, fully 68 percent are unemployed. Currently young 3 people receive workforce preparation through a variety of institutions, including secondary schools, universities, and the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system managed by the Ministere de l'Education Nationale et la Formation Professionnelle (MENFOP). Additionally, the Agence Nationale de l’Emploi, de la Formation et de l’Insertion Professionnelle (ANEFIP) is responsible for the training and placement of job seekers. However the extent to which these workforce preparation programs are equipping youth with the skills and competencies required by potential employers is unclear. On the demand side, the public sector, which pays higher than market wages, is saturated, and the private sector’s capacity to absorb the available labor force is 4 also unclear. Additionally, experience from implementation suggests that Djiboutian workers often compete with a sizable foreign labor population (though additional research is required to understand this challenge). Job seekers also display a disinclination to accept entry-level or low-responsibility positions. Finally, different segments of the youth population face different 5 employment challenges, with significant distinctions related to geography (urban/rural) and gender.

USAID’s WFD activity will be grounded in the principles of Positive Youth Development (PYD) and will support the USAID Private Sector Engagement Policy , with an emphasis on engaging the private sector early and often. It will address context-specific constraints in the labor supply, the

1 World Bank. Project Appraisal Document: Expanding Opportunities for Learning Project Djibouti.

2 Vision Djibouti 2035 3 World Bank. Economic Transformation in Djibouti, Systemic Country Diagnostic, October 2018 .

4 Ibid.

5 A 2015 labor force survey found that the unemployed reported the minimum acceptable wage to be DJF 126,000, above the average of DJF 90,000 found in the public sector and formal private sector. World Bank. Economic Transformation in Djibouti, Systemic Country Diagnostic, October 2018 .

https://www.youthpower.org/positive-youth-development-pyd-framework https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/usaid_psepolicy_final.pdf https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/605651570154537746/pdf/Djibouti-Expanding-Opportunities-for-Learning-Project.pdf https://ccd.dj/w2017/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Vision-Nationale.pdf https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/437351549918326165/pdf/djibouti-scd-english-version-final-approved-vlogo-02062019-636852600790519539.pdf https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/437351549918326165/pdf/djibouti-scd-english-version-final-approved-vlogo-02062019-636852600790519539.pdf https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/437351549918326165/pdf/djibouti-scd-english-version-final-approved-vlogo-02062019-636852600790519539.pdf labor demand, and the enabling environment, while emphasizing experimentation, learning, and adaptive management. It will support the recently-released U.S. National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality , which prioritizes equitable access to education from early childhood through employment. The new activity will build on the learning and achievements from USAID’s current Workforce Development Activity , the objective of which is to reduce unemployment by improving workforce readiness and competitiveness based on market needs. The success of the new activity will be measured primarily by the ability to facilitate jobs for Djiboutian youth (ages 16 to 35).

The top level goal of the activity is to increase youth employment through strengthened workforce programs and expanded links to quality jobs. The objective is to increase equitable opportunities for youth to access quality employment. USAID will accomplish the activity objective through three interdependent Intermediate Results (IRs):

1. Youth workforce readiness strengthened

2. Links to quality jobs expanded

3. Youth employment enabling environment strengthened

These intermediate objectives are meant to enable the activity to address constraints specific to the labor supply (IR1), to the labor demand (IR2), and to the enabling environment (IR3). However, while each of these areas is the focus of an IR they are tightly connected, and it is expected that the activity will include structural linkages and intentional sharing of information and learning across all three. Additionally, it is expected that the activity will require strategic trade-offs in order to ensure that USAID funding achieves sustainable and even transformative results (see Programmatic Principles below).

Under this activity, USAID/Djibouti will partner with the GoDj; other donors; the private sector;

civil society organizations and community actors; and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The activity will engage at all levels (national, regional, and community), and will contribute to achieving GoDj and USAID objectives. The activity is the result of extensive internal and external stakeholder consultations, evaluations, and assessments. It builds upon the work that USAID, the GoDj, and its partners have achieved, and seeks to contribute to the current interest and commitments for increasing youth employment in Djibouti.

The total estimated funding for the activity is $16M over four years. Questions of interest to USAID are presented in Attachment I below.

Not-for profit organizations and for-profit organizations are encouraged to reply.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/National-Strategy-on-Gender-Equity-and-Equality.pdf https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/National-Strategy-on-Gender-Equity-and-Equality.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1860/Djibouti-Fact-Sheet_Workforce-Development_June_2019.pdf

III. PROGRAMMATIC PRINCIPLES

The following programmatic principles will be applied to all USAID/Djibouti activities:

1) Focused: As a small mission, USAID/Djibouti will invest deeply in a few areas which offer the best return on investment.

2) Cross-sectoral: Activities will use flexible strategic approaches guided by designing and integrating solutions to development challenges rather than single-sector tools.

3) Sustainable: Activities will seek to create robust enabling environments that increase private sector engagement and support GoDj leadership and accountability.

4) Transformative: USAID/Djibouti will mobilize and influence partners, seeking to catalyze investments that will increase overall development impact in a resource-limited environment.

IV. SUBMISSION PROCESS

Comments must be submitted by email to the following email addresses: caddis@usaid.gov with a copy to Yordanos Abraham, yabraham@usaid.go v no later than 16:00 Addis Ababa time by the Response Due Date shown on the cover page of this RFI. The subject line of the email must read “RFI-603-21-000002”. USAID is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information, answer questions or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

V. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

All information provided will become the property of USAID and will not be returned. USAID reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for its purposes. Responses may be used by USAID without restriction or limitation. Proprietary information must not be submitted.

Sincerely, Alula Abera Contracting/Agreement Officer

Attachment:

1. Request for Information - Public Questions mailto:caddis@usaid.gov mailto:caddis@usaid.gov mailto:yabraham@usaid.gov

ATTACHMENT 1

USAD/Djibouti Workforce Development (WFD) Activity Request for Information – Public Questions

Respondents to this RFI are asked to provide input on some or all of the questions below.

1. What strategies or approaches have been successful for lower- and middle-income countries attempting to greatly increase youth employment in an equitable and sustainable way?

2. How can USAID increase its understanding, both at the beginning and throughout the activity, of the extent to which the key constraints exist in the labor supply versus the labor demand?

3. Which workforce preparation institutions (TVETs, secondary schools, universities, etc.)

make the most effective local partners for increasing youth employment? What are the main risks and opportunities related to working with each?

4. What approaches, models, or best practices should USAID consider for integrating Positive Youth Development (PYD) principles into its WFD Activity?

5. What are strategies for equipping Djiboutian youth to compete with foreign workers? To what extent should USAID be contemplating a policy approach to strengthening the competitiveness of the local Djiboutian labor force?

6. What are effective approaches to securing substantive private sector investment and participation in workforce preparation programs that might be relevant for this activity?

7. In a small, service-oriented economy like Djibouti, to what extent are demand-side interventions (job creation) feasible? What types of interventions might be successful?

8. Given the concentration of economic activity in the Djibouti Ville, what are potentially effective, evidence-driven approaches to increasing youth employment in rural areas?

9. USAID/Djibouti is also interested in the job creation potential of the energy sector? What types of interventions are within this activity’s manageable interests to facilitate increased employment of Djiboutian youth in this sector?

10. What are the critical regulatory and policy considerations related to youth employment, and how should USAID incorporate those considerations into the activity design?

11. What are the key issues related to gender equality and social inclusion, and how should USAID incorporate those issues into the activity design?

12. Are there other factors, recommendations, or considerations regarding youth employment in Djibouti that USAID should be aware of?

13. What key learning questions should USAID prioritize to advance knowledge of youth employment in Djibouti?

Finally, please provide brief information that describes your organization’s capability and interest in implementing activities to achieve the objectives of USAID/Djibouti’s Youth Employment Activity.