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Program Title: Liberia Entrepreneurship and Employment Program LEEP
Project Location(s): Liberia: Grand Bassa, Margibi and Montserrado counties
Donor: French Development Agency
Project duration: 3 years (June 2019 – June 2021)
Background:
Mercy Corps is a leading global humanitarian agency saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places. With a network of experienced professionals in more than 40 countries, we partner with local communities to put bold ideas into action to help people recover, overcome hardship and build better lives now, and for the future. In these important and imperiled places, Mercy Corps listen to local voices to prioritize people’s most urgent needs, taking a long-term view and promoting innovative solutions that drive true change. Mercy Corps has been operational in Liberia since 2002, most recently implementing programs in food security, peace building, and youth empowerment and Renewable energy.
Project Description:
Young people between the ages of 18 and 35 are the largest demographic group in Liberia and are a critical population to build upon Liberia’s peace-time gains. Mercy Corps recognizes that youth in Liberia live within complex and dynamic systems, shaped by a confluence of social, economic and political factors that influence the opportunities, ideologies, and obligations afforded to and required of them. Many young people, both female and male, strive to play an active role in engaging with these systems, hoping to influence future outcomes for themselves and their communities positively. Investing in and developing youth by preparing them for the workforce and connecting them to economic opportunities can contribute to sustained peace and improved livelihoods for all Liberians.
To ensure that young people achieve their full potential, and contribute to the development of Liberia. Mercy Corps proposes a public-private-civil society partnership to generate better economic opportunities and increase youth employment and entrepreneurship under the Liberia Employment and Entrepreneurship Program (LEEP). LEEP is a three-year French Government funded program to bolster employment and entrepreneurship potential of at-risk youth, engage public and private sector stakeholders in youth opportunities and build micro- and small and medium enterprise (MSME) capacity to contribute to economic growth and social development in Liberia. The goal of LEEP is to enable 11,000 male and female Liberian youth aged 18-35 in rural and urban areas of Grand Bassa, Margibi and Montserrado counties to find meaningful, market-driven employment or self-employment through increased self-confidence, skills, and employment opportunities.
LEEP has three interlinked and mutually reinforcing objectives that address constraints to both youth labour demand and labour supply. First, LEEP will expand upon successful initiatives piloted under Mercy Corps Liberia’s previous youth programs with a primary focus on building the self-confidence of youth by training them to succeed as employees or entrepreneurs. Mercy Corps will then connect them to formal opportunities in the workforce or to small business development support. Secondly, to create new opportunities for young people, Mercy Corps will expand its engagement with the private-sector through a business incubator that will provide support to firms poised to create youth employment opportunities or correct labour market failures. Finally, Mercy Corps will create partnerships that will identify and nurture talent in the nascent tech entrepreneurship space. LEEP has three main objectives that are detailed below.
Objectives, Outcomes and Outputs
Objective One: Young Liberians, both women and men, have the confidence, skills, and opportunities to seek out sustainable employment or self-employment.
Outcome1: 9,700 vulnerable youth (50% male, 50% female) are better prepared for future employment through strengthened personal resilience capacities, enhanced coping strategies, healthy relationships and a sense of civic responsibility and empowerment.
 Output 1.1: 2,350 young Liberians acquire life and employability skills through Sports.
 Output 1.2: 7,000 youth benefit from job-seeking advice and services within LEEP Youth Centers (youth employment and self-employment hubs) in 3 counties.
 Output 1.3: 350 youth gain work experience through participation in the Ministry of Youth and Sport’s led work experience programs tailored to different youth target groups.
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Objective Two: Young Liberian micro-entrepreneurs have enhanced entrepreneurship skills and access to financial and technical resources required to develop successful and sustainable business ventures.
Outcome2: 1,300 young Liberian entrepreneurs acquire requisite, technical and entrepreneurship skills and are supported to start micro-businesses.
 Output 2.1: 600 youth are enabled to access business support services and financial support to launch or grow a small business venture.
 Output 2.2: 700 young Liberians benefit from a supportive ecosystem for Tech Entrepreneurship.
Objective Three: Liberia’s private sector creates meaningful employment opportunities for young women and men and corrects labour market failures.
Outcome 3: Private sector actors demonstrate improved attitudes and capacity towards young workers and proactive youth engagement.
 Output 3.1: 15 private sector innovators receive financial and business advisory support through an external business incubator to create youth employment or mitigate labour market failures.
 Output 3.2: A network of 20 Multinational and Local enterprises work together to identify ways in which they can generate more and better jobs for local youth.
 Output 3.3: A youth-oriented private sector annual awards scheme is established
Study Area
Area of the study will be Montserrado, Margibi and Grand Bassa counties of Mercy Corps –Liberia programme areas.
Study Population
Direct beneficiaries:
 11,000 Youth –Males and Females between the age of 18-35 years
 Private sectors institutions
 Government institutions, especially ministry of youth and sport
 CBO, religious leader and relevant duty bearers
Indirect beneficiaries and stakeholders.
Consultant Objectives:
The baseline survey has the following objectives:
 The survey will be carried out to assess the current situation of the project against the project objectives and indicators to compare the result with project target at objectives, outcome and output level.
 It will collect baseline data to serve as a benchmark against which changes resulting from the project interventions and results will be measure.
 It will design data collection methodologies and collect data on all in indicators of the project as described in the results framework.
 It will measure the baseline indicators in order to generate evidence based and specific baseline feedback of the project in line with the objectives and should be gender and age disaggregated.
 It will also set out targets for each indicator and identify realistic milestones value for all the relevant results as expressed in term of the indicators.
Consultant Activities:
The agency/consultant is expected to form a survey team for the study and manage coordination and communication with Mercy Corps-Liberia Country MEL Manager. Tasks and responsibilities of the consultant are as follows:
 Prepare a detailed workplan.
 Prepare inception report and share with Mercy Corps Liberia-Country MEL Manager.
 Review coherent literature (both internal and external) based on the given criteria to gain better understanding about the project activities and Liberia context.
 Develop methodology and a representative sampling framework for the baseline study and appropriate data collection instruments to collect necessary data from different groups of beneficiaries.
 Obtain relevant ethical approval for the research to take place.
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 Impart training to data collectors and ensure quality data through monitoring and supervising data collection process in the field.
 Administer data collection in the field, compilation, analyses and interpret data as required.
 Produce draft and final report which is informative and learning oriented based in strong evidence.
 Present findings of the study in sharing meetings with Mercy Corps – Liberia.
 Prepare summary report (4-5 pages) in English with the consultation with Mercy Corps – Liberia Country MEL Manager.
 Maintain regular communication with key contact person(s) of Mercy Corps – Liberia throughout the assignment period.
Methodology:
The contracted agency/consultant is expected to prepare appropriate methodology, preferably mixed method, integrating quantitative and qualitative methods to ensure that data collected is triangulated and can be communicated, explained and contextualized. It is expected that the research team will use a statistically representative sample combining a minimum of household surveys/questionnaires with structured interviews and focus group discussions to meet the above mentioned objectives of the baseline. The methodology should be replicable for the mid-term and final evaluation processes as well as for the ongoing monitoring processes. The methodology and relevant tools should be adjusted in consultation with Mercy Corps – Liberia Country MEL Manager and approved before implementation.
Consultant Deliverables:
The agency/consultant will work with Mercy corps – Liberia Country MEL Manager to produce and submit the following deliverables in English:
 Detailed work plan.
 Inception report.
 Data collection instruments and questionnaires.
 Draft report and presentation on draft report (preferably in ppt.).
 2 copies of final report (hard copy) and soft copy of the final report.
 Data set (field notes, data set qualitative analysis and other relevant documents should be submitted).
 Summary report (4-5 pages) hard & soft.
 Submit the final report which will be learning oriented and take a strong gender sensitive approach in the analysis. The report must contain:
1. Cover page, List of Acronyms;
2. Executive summary (2 to 3 pages): should be clear and concise giving the essential contents of the baseline report in 2 or 3 pages, previewing the main points in order to enable readers to build a mental framework for organizing and understanding the detailed information within the report;
3. Background;
4. Description of objectives and limitations;
5. Methodology should present sampling method including strengths and weaknesses of method used, rough schedule of activities, description of any statistical analysis undertaken, including justification and software package used. The discussion of any statistically representative sample and random sampling used should include details on how the sample was calculated and the random respondents were identified and invites to participate. The methodology section should also include a detailed description of data collection techniques used throughout the evaluation.
6. Results should be based in strong evidence including concrete definition of baseline for impact, outcome and output indicators (ensuring data disaggregation by sex, age, ethnicity, disability and other exclusion criteria).
7. Analysis/discussion on the findings: everything presented in this section must be directly linked back to the information presented in the results section of the report.
8. Conclusion/Recommendation.
9. Annexes/Appendices: data collection instruments in English, list of stakeholders group, qualitative and quantitative protocols developed and used, any data sets can be provided in electronic format, any required photos, participants profiles or other special documentation needed.
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Timeframe / Schedule:
The consultant will submit a proposed work plan with key milestones within a week of signing the contract; this work plan will be reviewed and approved by Mercy Corps. It is anticipated that the final report will be produced within 60 calendar days (maximum) of signing of the contract. While the draft report is produced, it should be shared with Mercy Corps and we will provide feedback on draft report by one week after receiving the draft report. During the whole period of the assignment, follow up meetings will be held between the contracted consultant/consulting firm and Mercy Corps as frequently as possible. Any field problems should be anticipated and addressed beforehand.
Timeline/Deadline
Activity
Responsible Person (s)
January 2
Plan logistic: international travel.
Evaluation Team Leader
January 2
Identify MC Liberia participants on evaluation team.
Evaluation Team Leader
January 3
Review core project documents.
Evaluation Team Leader
January 6
Facilitate orientation/meeting with Director of Programs and Country MEL Manager to clarify expectations and desired outcomes, review and confirm activity and logistic plan, etc. (Skype call)
Evaluation Team Leader and MC Team
January 6
Plan logistic: travel, drivers, vehicles, accommodation, visa.
Evaluation Team with MC Team support
January 13
Facilitate planning and training workshop with evaluation team. Content to include: project design process, purpose of the monitoring and evaluation, identification of key baseline questions and information sources, data collection instruments, site selection and baseline work plan. (in-country)
Evaluation Team Leader
January 14
Test of baseline instruments in three counties.
Evaluation Team with MC Team support
January 16
3 data collection teams travel to sites to collect data.
Evaluation Team with MC Team support
January 17 to 20
Data collection in 3 counties by 3 separated teams in all goal, outcome and output indicators.
Evaluation Team with MC Team support
January 21 to 22
Workshop to debrief data collection process, identify preliminary findings and enter data into database. (in-country)
Evaluation Team with MC Team support
January 23 to 24
Initial data analysis and preparation of summary tables. (in-country)
Evaluation Team with MC Team support
January 25 to 26
Workshop for data analysis and formulation of findings and recommendations. (in-country)
Evaluation Team with MC Team support
January 27
Debrief with Director of Programs, LEEP Team and Country MEL Manager to review findings. (in-country)
Evaluation Team with MC Team support
January 29 to February 5
Prepare draft of baseline report.
Evaluation Team
February 6
Debrief meeting with Director of Programs, LEEP Team and Country MEL Manager to review draft of baseline report. (skype call)
February 13
Write action plan for following up on baseline findings.
Evaluation Team
February 15
Finalize and disseminate the report.
Evaluation Team
Application Process
Interested individual consultant/firms are invited to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) for delivery of the assignment. The agency/consultant will submit a detailed proposal for the Baseline. The proposal must reflect the methodology, tools and analysis plan in detail. The EOI should include:
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 Both technical and financial proposals
 Detailed technical proposal will include proposed methodology indicating the overall process, sampling, quality assurance, time frame, etc. for undertaking the survey
 Clear work plan including outputs/deliverables and detailed time frames
 The financial proposal will include detailed budget containing total costs as per man-day rates, work plan and any other costs anticipated in undertaking process of the assignment
 Detailed CVs of consultants who will undertake the assignment as per the qualification criteria
 A cover letter outlining the suitability of consultant/firm for the assignment, motivation and summarizing relevant experience
 Submit two separate sample of past baseline reports that you did for an international organization
 Business registration documents and tax receipt
Implementation Arrangements
The consultant will be contracted by Mercy Corps Liberia country Office in consultation with The Country MEL Manager. The LEEP M&E Officer shall arrange for the consultant to visit all necessary site and meetings in the programme sites according to the TOR. Mercy Corps country office in Liberia shall arrange local transportation during the mission. The consultant should budget for other anticipated costs. The selected lead consultant will directly be supervised by Mercy Corps-Liberia Country M&E Manager with technical support from Mercy Corps Global Technical Support Units.
Payment schedule and Conditions of contract
Applicants are expected to submit their financial proposal (inclusive VAT and Tax) for the entire exercise. Please note that all VAT and TAX amounts will be deducted from the total amount at source (i.e. MC) as per Government Regulations. The consultant/consultant firm will be paid in phases upon completion and submission of key deliverables. The payment schedule will be as follows:
 25% of the contract sum will be paid to the consultant/consultancy firm upon submission of a satisfactory evaluation work plan and assessment tools
 75% of the contract sum to be paid upon completion of data collection, validation, entry, submission and acceptance by the client of final deliverables
Parameters for Selection of Firms/Individual to Carry Out the Assignment/Task
The bid committee will evaluate the proposals by using a combined scoring method. The short listed bidding consultant/firm may be asked for a formal presentation prior to the final selection. The following table outlines the selection criteria:
Assessment criteria
Weighted Score
Coherent literature review
5
Budget
20
Technical approach & Methodology
35
Relevant academic qualification of team members
15
Past relevant experience of team members
10
Elaborate and reasonable work plan
5
Proposed data management and analysis plan
5
Structure and presentation including reference formatting
5
Total
100
Deadline of the Application
The application (in English) can be hand-delivered in hard copy or by registered post or by email at
lr-tenders@mercycorps.org to reach Mercy Corps on 31st December 2019 before 04.00 PM.
Submission of proposals should be addressed to Mercy Corps, Tubman Boulevard, Sophie Junction, Opposite SOS clinic, Monrovia Liberia with the title “LEEP Programme Baseline Study
Ethical Standards and Intellectual Property
Ownership and copyright of all data, drafts and final products of the assignment will be the sole and exclusive property of MC and restricted for public use. The consultant/firm will submit all original documents, materials and data to Mercy Corps.
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The Consultant will report to:
Sandra Silva, Country MEL Manager, Mercy Corps – Liberia
Required Experience & Skills:
 Minimum 10 years’ experience in designing, implementing, managing and coordinating baseline survey/research/assessment/etc.
 The lead researcher and the members of the team should have excellent academic and research background and have proven track record in conducting similar assignments.
 Research experience on youth employment and entrepreneurship issues and working with CSOs and Government.
 Knowledge and experience of using research/survey concept, approaches, tools, techniques, methodologies, sampling, etc.
 Experience in qualitative and quantitative data collection, validation, entry and analysis using statistical software and report drafting skills.
Disclaimer
MC reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals without any reason whatsoever.
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Appendix 1 –
Statement of Integrity, Eligibility and Social and Environmental Responsibility
Reference name of the bid or proposal: (The “Contract”) To: (The “Contracting Authority”)
1) We recognise and accept that Agence Française de Développement (“AFD”) only finances projects of the Contracting Authority subject to its own conditions which are set out in the Financing Agreement which benefits directly or indirectly to the Contracting Authority. As a matter of consequence, no legal relationship exists between AFD and our company, our joint venture or our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants. The Contracting Authority retains exclusive responsibility for the preparation and implementation of the procurement process and performance of the contract. The Contracting Authority means the Purchaser, the Employer, the Client, as the case may be, for the procurement of goods, works, plants, consulting services or non-consulting services.
2) We hereby certify that neither we nor any other member of our joint venture or any of our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants are in any of the following situations:
2.1) Being bankrupt, wound up or ceasing our activities, having our activities administered by the courts, having entered into receivership, reorganisation or being in any analogous situation arising from any similar procedure;
2.2) Having been:
a. convicted within the past five years by a court decision, which has the force of res judicata in the country where the Contract is implemented, of fraud, corruption or of any other offense committed during a procurement process or performance of a contract (in the event of such conviction, you may attach to this Statement of Integrity supporting information showing that this conviction is not relevant in the context of this Contract);
b. subject to an administrative sanction within the past five years by the European Union or by the competent authorities of the country where we are constituted, for fraud, corruption or for any other offense committed during a procurement process or performance of a contract (in the event of such sanction, you may attach to this Statement of Integrity supporting information showing that this sanction is not relevant in the context of this Contract);
c. convicted within the past five years by a court decision, which has the force of res judicata, of fraud, corruption or of any other offense committed during the procurement process or performance of an AFD-financed contract;
2.3) Being listed for financial sanctions by the United Nations, the European Union and/or France for the purposes of fight-against-terrorist financing or threat to international peace and security;
2.4) Having been subject within the past five years to a contract termination fully settled against us for significant or persistent failure to comply with our contractual obligations during contract performance, unless this termination was challenged and dispute resolution is still pending or has not confirmed a full settlement against us;
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2.5) Not having fulfilled our fiscal obligations regarding payments of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of either the country where we are constituted or the Contracting Authority’s country;
2.6) Being subject to an exclusion decision of the World Bank and being listed on the website http://www.worldbank.org/debarr (in the event of such exclusion, you may attach to this Statement of Integrity supporting information showing that this exclusion is not relevant in the context of this Contract);
2.7) Having created false documents or committed misrepresentation in documentation requested by the Contracting Authority as part of the procurement process of this Contract.
3) We hereby certify that neither we, nor any of the members of our joint venture or any of our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants are in any of the following situations of conflict of interest:
3.1) Being an affiliate controlled by the Contracting Authority or a shareholder controlling the Contracting Authority, unless the stemming conflict of interest has been brought to the attention of AFD and resolved to its satisfaction;
3.2) Having a business or family relationship with a Contracting Authority’s staff involved in the procurement process or the supervision of the resulting Contract, unless the stemming conflict of interest has been brought to the attention of AFD and resolved to its satisfaction;
3.3) Being controlled by or controlling another bidder or consultant, or being under common control with another bidder or consultant, or receiving from or granting subsidies directly or indirectly to another bidder or consultant, having the same legal representative as another bidder or consultant, maintaining direct or indirect contacts with another bidder or consultant which allows us to have or give access to information contained in the respective applications, bids or proposals, influencing them or influencing decisions of the Contracting Authority;
3.4) Being engaged in a consulting services activity, which, by its nature, may be in conflict with the assignments that we would carry out for the Contracting Authority;
3.5) In the case of procurement of goods, works or plants:
i. Having prepared or having been associated with a consultant who prepared specifications, drawings, calculations and other documentation to be used in the procurement process of this Contract;
ii. Having been recruited (or being proposed to be recruited) ourselves or any of our affiliates, to carry out works supervision or inspection for this Contract;
4) If we are a state-owned entity, and to compete in a procurement process, we certify that we have legal and financial autonomy and that we operate under commercial laws and regulations.
5) We undertake to bring to the attention of the Contracting Authority, which will inform AFD, any change in situation with regard to points 2 to 4 here above.
6) In the context of the procurement process and performance of the corresponding contract:
6.1) We have not and we will not engage in any dishonest conduct (act or omission) deliberately indented to deceive others, to intentionally conceal items, to violate or vitiate someone’s consent, to make them circumvent legal or regulatory requirements and/or to violate their internal rules in order to obtain illegitimate profit;
Scope of Work for Baseline Study Consultants for LEEP
PR MNR-4156
6.2) We have not and we will not engage in any dishonest conduct (act or omission) contrary to our legal or regulatory obligations or our internal rules in order to obtain illegitimate profit;
6.3) We have not promised, offered or given and we will not promise, offer or give, directly or indirectly to (i) any Person who holds a legislative, executive, administrative or judicial mandate within the State of the Contracting Authority regardless of whether that Person was nominated or elected, regardless of the permanent or temporary, paid or unpaid nature of the position and regardless of the hierarchical level the Person occupies,
(ii) any other Person who performs a public function, including for a State institution or a State-owned company, or who provides a public service, or (iii) any other person defined as a Public Officer by the national laws of the Contracting Authority’s country, an undue advantage of any kind, for himself or for another Person or entity, for such Public Officer to act or refrain from acting in his official capacity;
6.4) We have not promised, offered or given and we will not promise, offer or give, directly or indirectly to any Person who occupies an executive position in a private sector entity or works for such an entity, regardless of the nature of his/her capacity, any undue advantage of any kind, for himself or another Person or entity for such Person to perform or refrain from performing any act in breach of its legal, contractual or professional obligations;
6.5) We have not and we will not engage in any practice likely to influence the contract award process to the detriment of the Contracting Authority and, in particular, in any anti- competitive practice having for object or for effect to prevent, restrict or distort competition, namely by limiting access to the market or the free exercise of competition by other undertakings;
6.6) Neither we nor any of the members of our joint venture or any of our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants shall acquire or supply any equipment nor operate in any sectors under an embargo of the United Nations, the European Union or France;
6.7) We commit ourselves to comply with and ensure that all of our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants comply with international environmental and labour standards, consistent with laws and regulations applicable in the country of implementation of the Contract, including the fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and international environmental treaties. Moreover, we shall implement environmental and social risks mitigation measures when specified in the environmental and social commitment plan (ESCP) provided by the Contracting Authority.
7) We, as well as members of our joint venture and our suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants or subconsultants authorise AFD to inspect accounts, records and other documents relating to the procurement process and performance of the contract and to have them audited by auditors appointed by AFD.
Name: In the capacity of:
Duly empowered to sign in the name and on behalf of1: Signature: Dated: