ToR – Assess and Identify Gender Transformative women friendly vocational skills for Employment.

1. Background

HELVETAS Swiss Inter-cooperation is a long-standing development partner in Ethiopia, committed to fostering sustainable growth and economic empowerment among disadvantaged communities. In alignment with these goals, the UP-Women project has been initiated to support young women in Sidama and Oromia Region to access skill development and employment opportunities. This project offers Technical and vocational skills training, Integrated Functional Adult Literacy, and sexual and reproductive health education, empowering young women to achieve financial independence and enhanced life prospects.

A core component of the UP-Women project is the use of results-based financing (RBF) to ensure high-quality training outcomes and meaningful employment. Training and Employment Providers (TEPs) are selected based on their capacity to deliver relevant, demand-driven skills, as well as their track record in job placement. TEPs receive payments only upon meeting predefined quality and placement matrices, fostering accountability and alignment with project objectives.

Understanding the labor market needs and employment opportunities is vital for provision of a demand-driven skill training and employment linkage. Hence, labor market assessment will inform the basis for different Technical and vocational skills interventions and enhance understanding of the labor dynamics. It basically shows skill areas and the types of jobs and employment opportunities available in the market. The assessment will also assess potential Training and Employment providers (TEP) to find out their capacity and capability to offer quality skills training and course streams demanded in the market. It will also explore potential employers which will be willing to receive technical and vocational graduates for cooperative training and employment opportunities.

The UP-Women project is committed to promoting economic empowerment of young women and girls through skills development and employment support. To align training initiatives with the needs of women and the labor market, there is a need to conduct a targeted assessment to identify vocational skills that are market-driven, accessible, with a strong potential to lead to sustainable employment (wage or self-employment)

To this end, Helvetas UP Women project in collaboration with partners like Oromia Region Labour and skill Bureau will conduct a labor market assessment that covers project target area specifically for shashemanae city administrations.

2. Objectives of the Labor Market Assessment

2.1 Main objective (purpose) of Labor Market Assessment

The main purpose of the consultancy is to assess and identify women-friendly Technic and vocational skills (not limited only to traditional occupations) that are responsive to local labor market demands and can lead to Employment either wage or self, while considering factors such as cultural context, safety, working conditions, earning potential, and opportunities for entrepreneurship or career advancement in shashamanae city administration

2.2 Specific Objectives of Labor Market Assessment

• Conduct a labor market assessment focusing on sectors and trades that are suitable and accessible for women.
• Identify vocational skills and trades that offer immediate wage or self-employment opportunities for women.
• Assess barriers and enablers for women’s participation in specific vocational sectors.
• Recommend a list of prioritized vocational skills/trades with strong employment prospects in shashemane city administration.
• Provide practical guidance on how to implement women-focused vocational training programs, including recommendations on Green Skills and new emerging sector.
• To identify what type of professions are available in the market that can be filled by Technic and Vocational graduates, with a special focus on non-traditional occupations/ skills for women.
• To explore private employers and find out their attitude towards the provision of cooperative training, employment opportunities and identify ways to create stronger linkages with TVET graduates.
• Identify challenges faced by Technic and vocational graduates in getting employment, especially females, and provide relevant recommendations and ways of creating decent work for females.

3.Scope of the Study:

• The study will focus on Shashemene town Oromia region, Ethiopia.

3.1. Timeframe:

• The study will be conducted over a period of 4 weeks.

4. Expected Deliverables from the Labor Market Assessment Consultant

The following Deliverables are expected to be achieved.

• Inception report with methodology, work plan, and data collection tools.
• Draft assessment report with preliminary findings including estimation number of employment opportunity per occupation from different companies for the coming one year.
• Final assessment report, including comments and feedback from project staff and stakeholders.
• List of recommended women-friendly and Green vocational skills/trades that has high market demand.
• Identify Key barriers and solutions for women’s participation in Employment.
• Practical recommendations for training design and Employment links.
• Highlight opportunities for green skills integration.
• Presentation of findings to project team and key stakeholders
• Identify Private employers/ Industries which will have cooperative training and employment support for women graduates of Technical and vocational Education training.
• Ways to create stronger links with Technical and vocational graduates are defined.
• Challenges faced by Technical and vocational graduates in getting employment, especially for females will be identified and provide relevant recommendations and ways of creating decent work for women.
• Facilitating validation workshop

5. Methodology

The assessment will be conducted by using the following data collection methods.

• Conduct Structured interviews with key informants, selected stakeholders, potential companies, employers, labor market actors and government officials.
• Focus group discussion with selected stakeholders, youths.
• Work closely with Project Manager, and Education and Skills officer.
• Conduct field visits and observation to assess the labor Market.
• Participatory Labor Market Assessment especially young women participation
• Mini-workshop and discussion with key stakeholders
• Document review of previous studies

The data collected will be qualitative and quantitative and analyzed for key themes and assessment report will be developed. The assessment report will contain a maximum of 1-2 pages of introduction and methodology and will focus more on employable skills, potential employers and assess the capacity of Technical and vocational training providers. This will be conducted by using the above data collection methods service providers to offer such courses with special focus given for nontraditional and green skills.

The consultancy is expected to finish the assessment in 30 days from the date of the contract signing planned from – November 2025.

Consultant Experience

• Minimum of 3 years of experience in labor market assessment and Technical and vocational areas especially on non-traditional, green occupations, and gender related projects.
• Demonstrated expertise in reporting (proof of experience required).
  • Ability to produce high quality labor market assessment report.
  • Include any letter of appreciation/ recommendation you have on previous work in relation to labor market assessments specific to non-traditional, green occupations, and Gender related projects.
  • Fluent in English with proficiency in Amharic and Affan Oromo is highly desirable to facilitate effective communication with local stakeholders and partners.
  • Strong ethical standards and a commitment to Helvetas’ values of integrity, inclusiveness, and respect for diversity.

Financial proposal

• The total Cost of the service with a detailed cost description clarifying the budget with all relevant costs.
• Renewed trade license
• Trade registration as consultant
• VAT and TIN registration certificate
• To ensure a fair and comprehensive assessment of all proposals, the evaluation team will consider both technical and financial aspects. The consultant who passes all the admin criteria the overall score will be calculated by combining the scores from the technical and financial evaluation, with the technical evaluation carrying 80% of the total weight and the financial proposal carrying 20% of the total.

Evaluation Criteria for Consultant

1. Understanding of the Labor market assessment objectives
2. Technical Expertise & methodological approach
3. Experience with gender and green skills related Projects.
4. Past experiences and demonstrated success in similar roles.
5. Cost-Effectiveness
6. Language proficiency and communication skills

7. Payment Modalities

UP-Women II project follows a results-based financing approach,

Delay Penalties: Delays in deliverable submissions that are within the control of the consultant may result in a delayed payment schedule or adjustment of final payment terms, subject to discussion and agreement between Helvetas and the consultant.

8. Copyright

All reports and assessment results produced under this consultancy will remain the property of HELVETAS Swiss Inter-cooperation.

9. Application Procedure

Interested firms/individuals should submit a proposal in response to this TOR, including:

• A signed cover letter explaining suitability for the consultancy.
• CV and a technical proposal with details on Detailed financial proposal (submitted in a separate envelope).
• At least two samples of similar work.
• Full contact details include physical, postal, telephone, and email address.

Submission Deadline: [October 31,2025]

For further inquiries, please contact [ 0913257370 Birukt Kifle].