One of the key development priorities in contemporary India is that of job creation as the population is growing younger. India’s working age population is going to increase by 115 million people in the next 10 years. While other countries grapple with ageing populations, India has a young population looking to enter the workforce, with an inherent potential to fuel growth. To make the most of this demographic dividend, India needs to address challenges in skilling and employability which, in turn, would make the youth capable of leveraging technology, thereby becoming an essential contributor to the growth trajectory.

As per the State of Working India Report of 2018 by Azim Premji University, there are about 23.3 million unemployed people in India. Moreover, about 16.5% of such unemployed persons belong to the age-group of 15-25. According to Indian Employability Survey conducted by the British Council, while about 39 per cent of the graduates from foreign universities are considered ready for jobs, only about 14 per cent students from Indian universities are considered suitable. Similarly, a survey of graduate students conducted by Aspiring Minds across the country reported that every year India produces 50 lakh graduates but more than half of them are not fit to be hired.

With a favourable demographic dividend, there is a need for investment in job creation along with enhancing the future employability skills amongst youth for improved employment. Interventions in this area is of greater focus, especially in the light of the COVID-19 situation, which has resulted in massive loss of jobs, reverse migration, widespread unemployment and economic distress to hundreds and thousands of people.

Further, India has seen progress towards greater gender equality in recent decades, but vast inequalities continue to persist. The United Nations Gender Inequality Index 2018 ranks India 130th out of 189 countries, with Indian women being especially subject to disadvantages that manifest from birth and continue throughout their lives. The female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) in India has also continued to decline over the past few decades— from 34.1% in 1990–00 to 27.2% in 2011–12 and further to 23.7% in 2017 (26.7% in rural areas and 16.2% in urban areas). The decline is most notable in rural areas where it has gone down from 49.7% in 2004–05 to 26.7% in 2015–16.8. The FLFPR in India is about one-third that of men. According to a World Bank report, in 2012, only 27% of adult Indian women had a job, or were actively looking for one, compared to 79% of men. In fact, almost 20 million women had dropped out of the workforce between 2005 and 2012. The situation is further compounded by the COVID crisis which has impacted women’s access to the economy more severely than men, and women from marginalized sections are now having to face the loss of livelihood, disease and unpaid care work.

One of the ways of addressing this inequality is through harnessing economic power and opportunities. A focus on enabling women to participate in and benefit from economic growth can result in a woman having the ability to succeed economically, the agency to make and act on her own decisions, a choice on when and whether to marry and have children and the power to drive social, education and health improvements for herself and her family. Beyond the social case, there is a clear business case for gender parity in economic participation: according to McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), progress towards gender parity in economic participation could boost India’s GDP by $0.7 trillion (16%) by 2025. About 70% of the increase would come from raising India’s FLFPR by 10 percentage points.

Project Background

For the past five years, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has worked together with partners in Government, the private sector and civil society to test innovative approaches to support women’s economic empowerment. It is now launching a project to improve access to employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for 3000 women/ youth in select districts of Madhya Pradesh. The project will also enable 1500 candidates to be trained in English language and other soft skills training at ITIs and facilitate access to jobs for 500 of them. Across the proposed target group, the interventions would work towards increased awareness, enhancing employability and business skills capacity, facilitation of linkages, mentorship support and nurturing the innovation potential of youth in rural and urban areas.

The project aims to catalyse the local employment marketplace ecosystem in the districts in which it operates. One of the planned measures is Youth Employability Services (YES) Centers, are aimed to bring together skills, training and an employment ecosystem in a hyper local geography. With a focus primarily on women and youth, the project interventions will equip them with skills that are essential for employability. The aim would be to create an end-to-end value chain that includes mobilisation of candidates, aspiration and skill mapping, soft skill and mentorship training and facilitation of access to jobs at the end of the process. This intervention will also seek to build convergences with existing Government programmes and efforts in the regions. The project will also train Industrial Training Institute (ITI) students on the English language primarily with the help of classroom sessions as well as digital applications. It will partner with the state government of Madhya Pradesh and leverage the curriculum developed by the donor to train candidates in English language skills and place them in relevant job roles.

Project Implementation and Management

S/he would have the overall responsibility to implement the project on ground and achieve the intended goal and impact. S/he is expected to be competent to carry out the following tasks (not limited to) to achieve the project’s targets:

• Together with the partners’ support, achieve the following project targets:

• Mobilization of youth Facilitate delivery of soft skills training and English language training
• Strengthen industry linkages through facilitation of guest lectures, exposure visits, roundtables, orientation workshops, career conclaves

• Lead and coordinate the organization of meetings, workshops, conferences, training, study tours and related activities relevant to the implementation of the project.

2. Coordination with stakeholders and effective communication of results

• Ensure close coordination and strong partnerships with all partners and stakeholders including but not limited to UNDP’s partner agencies, ITIs, Universities, Arts & Science colleges, State Skill development missions, Higher and Technical education department, local industries/associations, other relevant government line departments at State, district and block levels, schools, colleges, Vocational Training Providers, etc.
• Keep abreast of skill and job demand in the local industries, identifying crucial tie ups and partnering with local institutes, employers in organised and unorganised sectors to ensure they know about the project to enable matchmaking of candidates receiving skilling under the project with relevant local jobs.
• Ensure high quality information and visibility of the project activities to the stakeholders.

3. Regular reporting to UNDP Country Office (CO) in New Delhi

• Liaise with UNDP state team and Country Office to coordinate project implementation strategies and progress
• Manage the financial resources of the project, including budgeting and budget revisions, as well as expenditure tracking and reporting.
• Provide advisory and technical support in setting up requisite systems, processes and procedures for effective planning and implementation of the project as may be required.
• Ensure appropriate tracking and substantive reporting of project progress on a weekly and monthly basis.
• Identify priorities and capacity development needs in the design of work plans and establish a timely and participatory work planning process.

4. Effective monitoring and communications of the project

• Put in place a Results Based Monitoring System

• Day-to-day coordination with the partner/s.
• Weekly monitoring meetings with partner agency/s to monitor progress.
• Preparation of monthly and quarterly reports and quality check of all reports submitted.

• Identify key performance indicators as well as develop and maintain a monitoring system to ensure effective information sharing
• Ensure timely review meetings
• Develop a well-coordinated and well-planned system of production of project progress and financial reports, plans of action and other documentation requirements of CO.
• Ensure regular production of case studies, social media posts, photographs, short videos from the project

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise

• Overall understanding of COVID 19 Medical and Non-Medical response strategy in Madhya Pradesh.
• Experience working with the State Government, training agencies, educational institutions and CSOs on the ground will be an added advantage
• Excellent demonstrated documentation skills vis-a-vis MS Office Suite and prior experience in developing concept notes / reports / project plans/communication collaterals will be essential
• Self-motivated and ability to work with minimal supervision

Communication skills

• Good communication, interpersonal skills, with an ability to work in a multi-cultural environment.

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrates/safeguards ethics and integrity
• Works as a team member

Recruitment Qualifications: 

Educational Qualifications: Master’s degree in social sciences, preferably in Economics, Public Policy, Governance, or related disciplines with relevant professional qualifications and necessary knowledge to undertake the assignment.

Experience:  

• At least 5 years of experience in soft skill training, skill development, employment generation, livelihood projects

• Experience in implementation of developmental/social sector programs at state level, documentation of project reports, development of dashboards, and stakeholder management
• Excellent communications and documentation (MS Word, Excel) skills in English
• Previous experience of working with the international development agencies / CSR Projects / State Governments skill/employment projects shall be preferred

Language Requirements:  

Fluency in English and Hindi is essential.

Deliverable and Assignment Details

Evaluation Criteria

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as Responsive to the requirement. Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

•          Technical Criteria weight - 70%;

•          Financial Criteria weight – 30 %

Technical Criteria (70% of total evaluation)

1. Experience of working in skilling and employment sector- 40%
2. Experience working with the State Governments / civil societies / multilateral agencies will be an added advantage - 20 
3.  Relevant Education 10

Financial Criteria: (30% of the total evaluation)

Technically qualified consultants will be requested to submit their Consultancy  fee rate i.e. consultants who score more than 70% i.e. 49 marks with respect to the above-mentioned evaluation criteria. Consultant should not specify their consultancy fee on their CV or with the submission. The CV will not be evaluated further in case the consultant submits the same. 

Note:

1. Any kind of miscellaneous charges i.e. internet, phone, relocation charges etc. would not be reimbursed
2. Travel, lodging and boarding as per UNDP rules subject to prior approval
3. Individuals working with institutions may also apply, contract would be issued in the name of institution for the specific services of individual
4. Please note proposals without financial proposal will not be considered.