Youth Employment Programming

Terms of Reference for an Independent Review

15th July2013

  1. Introduction

Plan International’s Board Programme Committee has commissioned this independent evaluation of Youth Employment work in four of Plan’s programme countries. The overall purpose is provide an in depth assessment of selected, promising approaches to comprehensive youth employment programmingin order to inform the further development of this area of work within Plan.

  1. Background

Youth Employment

Youth unemployment is one of the most pressing issues of the next decade. The Global Employment Trends for Youth report (International Labour Organisation, 2012) points out nearly 75 million youth are currently unemployed around the globe and it is expected that these numbers will increase substantially in coming years. The concern increases exponentially when one considers that the World Development Report on Jobs reveals more than 600 million young people are neither in school nor working; most live in developing countries where opportunities for work are scarce.

The situation deserves urgent attention. Not only does it threaten the principle of inclusion and equality, but any further prolonging or deepening of the crisis will result in more and more young people losing hope. Without opportunities or prospects for earning a living this population is more vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, and negative influences. Some view the growing trend as a threat to political stability and social cohesion.On the individual level, there is the reality that a generation trapped in poverty will not be able to fulfil their potential – Plan’s vision for every child – and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has warned of the dangers of a ‘lost generation’ if the trends are not reversed.

A main challenge for all organisations engaged in this area, is that employment is still a relatively new area of programming. A recent review[1] conducted by the World Bank Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) concluded that evidence on what works in youth employment is scarce. However, there are strong suggestions in literature that a “comprehensive programming” is the most effective approach, i.e. multiprongedstrategy underpinned by solid analysis of the given country context and including complementary interventions aimed atremoving key constraints to youth employment across multiple elements ofthe youth employment spectrum, namely: influencing the job creation andwork opportunities for youth (both demand for youth by firms and self-employment), labour markets characteristics, and labour supply (skills and labour attributes).

Plan’s contribution

Plan has many years experience of programme work across the wide area of community livelihood and economic security, but is still relatively new to the issues related to youth employment. In June 2012 a meeting was held of stakeholders across Planand it was clear that there is a growing recognition within Plan that if nations and institutions can harness the tremendous power of resourcefulness of young people, they can be part of the solution to one of the world’s most pressing problems. It was also agreed that youth employment it is a growing and increasingly urgent problem that Plan is responding to at the ground level.

The starting point for such work in Plan are the principles of social and economic rights stated in Plan’s in the Economic Security Strategy 2010-2015: Promoting the Economic Rights of Children and Young People) which calls for all young people to be prepared for the 21stcentury labour force and to be able to work in conditions which are safe, dignified and of their choosing.

In the past couple of years, Plan has reviewed a considerable body of literature, conducted its own research, analysis and key stakeholder consultations and piloted a model of “comprehensive programming” in two countries under a partnership with the World Bank.

Most recently Plan carried out a survey of Youth Employment activity across all Plan Country Offices. A total of 44 COs reported some activity (to varying degrees) in the area of youth employment. Each CO pursues its own combination of programming activities, approaches, targeting, partnering, research and analysis and is at various stages of implementation. However, several countries reported to be working with, or moving toward, the comprehensive programming approach.

Thestudy also included a scoping of the external environment as input to wider strategic thinking on the area.

This independent evaluation will build on the above mentioned research, deepen our understanding of programming and help us identify the specific factors that contribute to significant improvements in youth employment.

Objectives

The purpose of this evaluation is to provide an independent, in depth assessment of Youth Employment Programming in four of the Plan countries that are currently working towards promising models of comprehensive programming.

The four countries will be selected on the basis of the findings from the recent survey of country activity. The evaluation in each of these four countries will assess the strategic approach, design, implementation and M&E of Youth Employment programming. It will comprise review of available country documentation and consultations with staff, with partners and other external stakeholders including the youths themselves.

Specific objectives

  1. Summarise situation analysis and context for the Youth Employment programming, including the current and expected future problems of youth employment and the key actors involved in addressing it. This should also include the views of youths on current barriers to employment, effective approaches to tackling barriers and key success factors that enable them to gain employment.
  1. Summarise the programme activity being implemented including the major objectives, approaches, activities and partners as well as the characteristics and approximate numbers of the youth reached. The understanding among Plan staff, partners and youth involved of the concepts and definitions underpinning their approach to Youth Employment programming should also be explored.
  1. Assess the relevance of the design and the effectiveness of the implementation of the current programme strategy and activities on Youth Employment including the scope of and integration between the different programme components .
  1. Explore the perceptions of Plan stakeholders including youth, partners and other stakeholders about the strengths and weaknesses of Plan’s effort and their views about future programming.
  1. Review of relevance and quality of the evidence and documentation that has informed decision making on Youth Employment programming from design to M&E and learning and continual improvement.
  1. Review the approach to monitoring and evaluation, the information generated and its usefulness for Plan, partners and the youth, and for reporting to funders and other stakeholders.
  1. Assess the relevance, scope and quality of any formal and non-formal partnerships and collaboration with external actors and stakeholders.
  1. Identify and assess key tools, methodologies and techniques developed and their potential for use in youth employment programming in other contexts.
  1. Identify and review any key lessons that can inform Plan’s further work within youth employment.
  1. Based on the review of the programming in the four countries, provide an overall assessment of:
  2. The overall quality of the programming in terms of the overall approach, relevance and sustainability and the extent to which the work contributes to improving youth employment.
  3. Key lessons that can inform Plan’s future work in this area, including key success factors, strengths and weaknesses.

The evaluation should, in its approach, methodology and implementation reference Plan’s CCCD approach and consider the extent to which the Youth Employment programming aligns to CCCD[2] and Plan’s Economic Security Strategy 2010-2015: Promoting the Economic Rights of Children and Young People.

  1. Evaluation deliverables
  1. Analytical framework and detailed methodology
  2. Final reporting consisting of:
  3. Four individual country reports, each up to 20 pages long, with additional annexes as necessary.
  4. Final consolidated report covering the entire review. The report should be max 50 pages including a 4 page executive summary. It should also include an overview of the review methods and limitations, with annexes outlining literature and documentation reviewed and people/organisations interviewed.

The reporting process will likely take 6 weeks, and should allow for up to 3 report revisions (a first full draft, second version that may include a reasonable level of restructure/rewrite, and a final draft ready for publication).

  1. Timeline and Budget

Timeline

  • Start of consultancymid September 2013
  • Selection of countries to visit (this will be initiated by Plan and finalised with consultants)
  • Inception period and development of analytical framework by end September
  • Field work in four countries, October and November
  • Final Reporting, mid November to end December 2013

Budget: In the range of £50-60,000 including expenses but exclusive of VAT.

  • Payment schedule:

The total payment will be paid in 4 instalments against invoice from consultants:

  1. 20% of total payment after completed inception period and approved analytical framework
  2. 60% after completion of field visits
  3. 20% of total payment after receipt and approval of all final reports.
  1. Project management

The evaluation is commissioned by Plan International’s Board Programme Committee.

The Programme Effectiveness team will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the evaluation, with support from the Senior Policy Advisor for Economic Security (Delores McLaughlin).

  1. Criteria for selection of consultants

We are looking for a small, established, multi-disciplinary team of consultants who can offer:

  • Strong experience in rights-based programming at policy, strategy as well as implementation level.
  • Demonstrated expertise in the area of Youth Employment programming and context
  • Strong experience in Monitoring, Evaluation and Research, preferably within the area of Youth Employment.
  • Strong experience of participatory evaluation methodologies and child /youth centred approaches
  • Good understanding of child protection, gender and inclusion issues
  • Broad previous experience with multi-country evaluations
  • Experience from the four regions that Plan works in (East/West Africa, Latin America and Asia) and good English, French and Spanish language skills.
  • Excellent communication and writing skills.
  1. Application

Interested consultants should submit a proposal of max 3-4 pages, describing how they meet the meet the specification, their approach and potential limitations, an indicative timeline and budget. The proposals should be accompanied by the CV of the consultants including previous, similar assignments.

Proposals should be sent by email to: , Programme Effectiveness Officer by 31st, August 2013.

Plan International

International Headquarters

Dukes Court, Block A

Dukes Street

Woking

GU21 5BH

UK

For further information, please see

Attachments:

  • Plan Programme Guide: Promoting Child Rights to End Child Poverty
  • Plan Economic Security Programme Strategy 2010-2015
  • Plan Child Protection Policy, Say Yes, to Keeping Children Safe

1

[1]Youth Employment Programs: An Evaluation of World Bank and IFC Support. IEG World Bank. 2012

[2] Plan’s Child Centred Community Development Approach is articulated in Plan’s Programme Guide: “Promoting Child Rights to End Child Poverty” and its key principles detailed in CCCD operational standards.