REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST- (CONSULTING FIRMS)

FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA,

ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM (EOP)

Credit No. 6292-ET

Assignment Title: Consultancy Services to provide Technical Assistance (TA) to build the capacity of three regional Woreda Offices of Labour & Social Affairs”.

PROJECT ID: P163829     Procurement Package Ref No.: ET-EIC-140980-CS-QCBS 

 The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has received financing from the World Bank and Department for International Development (DFID) towards the cost of Economic Opportunities Program (EOP) and  intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services: “

 The consulting service (“the Services”) includes: Technical Assistance (TA)  to build the capacity of three Woreda Offices of Labour and Social Affairs  (WoLSAs) to offer employer engagement and job-intermediation services to members of the Ethiopian communities hosting refugees in Assosa, Shire and Jigjiga. The focus will be on waged employment, which could be in the Industrial Parks or elsewhere. It is anticipated that the Consultancy service will be targeted at a very local level, looking to build the capacity and trial small-scale interventions with targeted WoLSAs. Through this TA the targeted WoLSAs should enrol/register (between them) up to 10,000 members of the host communities (the ‘jobseekers’), and assist as many of them as possible to start and sustain jobs. At least 50% of these jobseekers should be female.

The focus of the TA will be on establishing services that enable jobseekers to achieve employment outcomes. The TA will have the following three steps: 1) analysis and planning; 2) support to delivery, and 3) learning and dissemination; and will be paid on achievement of key deliverables in these three steps.

Step One - Analysis and Planning

• Building the woreda Labour and Social Affairs Office’s (and other stakeholders’) understanding of how effective employment services work and developing a plan to deploy such services to their local communities.

Step Two - Set up and Support to Delivery

•  The woreda Labour and Social Affairs Offices set up and deliver employment services, meeting the needs of local employers and jobseekers, with systems to manage the performance and quality of these services. There is an embedded process of review and continuous improvement.

Step Three – Evaluation, Learning and Planning

•  Learning from the delivery of these services is gathered and disseminated, and a plan/proposal is produced to continue local services and possibly build local scale (connecting more local jobseekers to employment), and to inform the introduction of similar services in new areas.

The specific employment services which the Woreda Office of Labour and Social Affairs will identify as needed, plan and then implement will depend on the initial analysis. The Consultancy will support/guide Woreda Offices of Labour and Social Affairs to develop plans which are locally responsive. They will have to empower local jobseekers and local employers. They must have strong local ‘ownership’ but should also draw on international best practice.

The overall consultancy assignment will run for 21 months. The Ethiopian Investment Commission, Economic Opportunities Program, now invites eligible Consulting Firms (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the “Consultancy Services to provide TA to build the capacity of three regional Woreda Offices Labour & Social Affairs”. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services.

The shortlisting criteria are:  Core business, relevant experience in the field of assignment, managerial and technical capabilities of the firm, number of key staff but not individual experts’ bio data. They should submit a comprehensive introduction to their Firm, including their history, the breadth of their current business, their corporate strategic plan, and their structure. Firms should include any relevant information that shows their experience and relevance for the assignment. (This may include: brochures, a description of core business, years of experience of the business, description of similar assignments including the size and nature of the contracts, experience in similar conditions, technical and managerial organizational structure of the firm, number and nature of key staff, business turnover over the last three years, client reference etc.).

 The attention of the interested Consultants is drawn to paragraph 3.14 of Procurement in Investment Project Financing Goods, Works, Non-Consulting and Consulting Services of July 2016, revised August 2018, setting forth in the World Bank IBRD-IDA Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers on conflict of interest.

 Consultants may associate with other firms in the form of a joint venture or a sub-consultancy to enhance their qualifications. The Expression of Interest should clearly specify the type of association the firms propose to establish.

 The selection of the Consultant will be conducted in accordance with the QCBS (Quality and Cost Based Selection) method set out in the World Bank IBRD-IDA Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers: Procurement in Investment Project Financing Goods, Works, Non-Consulting and Consulting Services of July 2016 Revised August 2018.