Consultant to support the work in the TVET sector

BACKGROUND About ITC The International Trade Centre (ITC) is a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, focusing in particular on developing the export capabilities of small and medium-sized businesses in developing and transition economies. ITC is 100% "Aid for Trade", supporting trade that delivers inclusive and sustainable development results. ITC’s mandate covers all developing countries and transition economies with special emphasis on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDs) Fragile States and Sub-Saharan Africa. ITC Headquarters is located in Geneva, Switzerland. ITC projects and programmes contribute to the global efforts to achieve UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development and the Aid for Trade agenda. ITC works at three levels: • Strengthening the integration of the business sector of developing countries and economies in transition into the global economy, • Improving the performance of trade and investment support institutions for the benefit of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), and enhancing the abilities of trade support institutions to better support them, • Improving the international competitiveness of SMEs. About The Gambia Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) The International Trade Centre (ITC) is the lead implementing agency for the “Gambia Youth Empowerment Project” (YEP) funded by the European Union (EU). The Youth Empowerment Project was officially launched in February 2017. The main project partners - along private sector enterprises and training institutions - are the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Employment (MOTIE), the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS), the National Youth Council (NYC), the Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (GIEPA) and the Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI). The overall objective of this four-year project is to tackle the economic root causes of irregular migration through increased job opportunities and income prospects for youth. The project will improve skills, foster entrepreneurship and create employment for youth along selected value chains. This project will directly support the development of the local economy by enhancing employability and self-employment opportunities for youth, with a focus on vocational training and the creation of micro and small-sized enterprises and creating and improving employment opportunities in selected sectors through value addition and internationalization. The project will offer possibilities for those youths that might be interested to move into the commercial agriculture, service business or tourism sectors. The Gambia Youth Empowerment Project includes an IT-sector development component aimed at developing the local IT and business-process outsourcing (BPO) offering, as well as technical skills related to ICT. The YEP project will contribute to the present contract for the coordination of Sector Skills Councils in ICT and the delivery of a pilot structured internship programme in ICT. About the Jobs, Skills and Finance (JSF) for Women and Youth Programme The “Jobs, skills and finance (JSF) for women and youth in The Gambia” lead by the United Nations Capital Development Fund's (UNCDF), and funded by the European Union (EU), is supporting the second phase of the National Indicative Programme (NIP) of the 11th European Development Fund (2017-2020). The project is targeting job creation and social inclusion, accompanied by investments in sectors: a) generating sustainable and resilient economic growth; b) offering opportunities for the creation of SMEs (e.g. through vocational training, technical assistance, access to finance); c) providing safety nets to those most in need, especially those excluded from any economic dividend coming from the transition. ITC is contributing towards the overall NIP by leading the implementation of the result 1.2 to build-up Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) capacities, foster skills development and apprenticeship opportunities in line with MSME’s needs as well as improving access to women and youth. ITC will concentrate its efforts on three outputs, namely: a) A1.2.1 the development of a national TVET roadmap and skill gap assessment for priority sectors; b) A1.2.2 increasing the value proposition (quality, affordability and accessibility) of TVET training to youths and women in provinces; c) A1.2.3 improving the quality of informal skills training and apprenticeship programmes. UNCDF and ITC will create synergies and complementarities as UNCDF provides capital/access to finance solutions that will create skills demand (under the “Local Climate Adaptive Living” or “LoCAL” facility), while the ITC component will contribute to skills development. In addition, the business and entrepreneurs whose skills have been developed will also have access to capital/finance through the UNCDF project activities. Among its activities, ITC supported the government of The Gambia in providing strategic direction and coordination at national and regional level by facilitating the development of a National TVET Roadmap. The TVET committee, under the leadership of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST), has been steering the formulation and will be leading the implementation of the TVET Roadmap. In addition, as part of the TVET Roadmap implementation, Sector Skills Councils have been set up in three priority sectors – ICT, Construction and Agro-Processing – which are being led by ITC. The next steps are to further formalize and define the governance of the TVET Committee and support the implementation of the TVET Roadmap. The SSC work will continue on apprenticeships and internship formalization and definition of occupational skills standards on priority occupations set by the private sector.