Background

Despite improvements, Albania still faces significant challenges in terms of ensuring secure and productive employment for its population, fostering higher and more productive job creation, and supporting labour market integration of vulnerable groups, especially the poor, women, and youth.  One in three young people is inactive and she or he has not received any form of education or training. Jobless young persons who are either unemployed or inactive, but not in school (NEETs), make up 30 percent of the 15-29 age group, more than twice of the EU average of 14.8 percent.

Public consultations and on-line surveys conducted by UNDP in Albania in 2014 for the Agenda 2030, suggest that the two major development challenges as perceived by the people of Albania are: (1) employment and business opportunities; (2) corruption and organised crime. Moreover, high number of asylum seekers in EU countries and a widespread perception of migration desire among young people are testimony that often the lack of opportunities forces young women and men to leave the country.

With the support of the British Government, UNDP will be implementing an intervention targeting migration hotspots in the poorest areas of Northern Albania, with the aim to tackle this serious problem at its roots. The intervention will focus in identified hotspots in the areas of Shkoder, Diber and Kukes, by piloting interventions in selected areas were poor employment opportunities make population vulnerable to migration and criminality. Through the support of the local institutions, the project aims to foster employability of youth in these areas by introducing tailor-made entrepreneurship and vocational training programs, but also to prevent migration of youth from these areas by offering them targeted support programmes, hence an opportunity to purse a sustained living in their own towns.

The intervention of UNDP is part of the Conflict, Stability & Security Fund (CSSF) programme of the British Embassy in Tirana. It tackles various gaps in the capacities of rule of law institutions, to understand and effectively deal with key drivers of instability, at both the central and local level. UNDP will operate under the outcome 3 of the programme -effective addressing structural consequences of poor-governance in vulnerable communities in Northern Albania. Its action is articulated in three components, namely (i) a self-employment promotion measure, offering training and a scheme grant to promising young entrepreneurs; (ii) targeted offer of short term vocational trainings; (iii) integrated support for social institutions and civil society organizations at the local level.

The programme targets particularly problematic areas, where the lack of economic opportunities exposes citizens to a high-risk of vulnerability and social exclusion. Such uncertainty necessarily jeopardises the stability and the security in the region, de facto transforming villages in hotspots of migration, or even organized crime. The intervention aims to reach out youth at high risks of exclusion, due to their lack of skills or their distance from the labour market, victims of trafficking or people particularly vulnerable to fall into organised crime; it will develop capacities of the National Employment and the Social Services at the local level, as well as of vocational schools and training centres operating in the area.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of the assignment

The overall objective of the project is to empower vulnerable young people by developing their skills through short-term, targeted vocational education courses, and enhance their economic resilience to bleak living conditions unearthing possible employment opportunities for them.

The specific objective of this assignment is to conduct an assessment of skills and employment opportunities and institutional support for vulnerable youth in the Municipality of Shkodra. The study will shape a profile of vulnerable young people and identify where the risk of social exclusion for youth is the highest. The Regional Social Services Department, and police registries will be primary sources of information; in line with UNDP practise, the study will follow a human rights-based approach, putting promotion of social inclusion right at the core of the scope. The assessment will result in an action plan for short term skills development. More specifically, the study will comprise:

• a profile and map of youth highly vulnerable to social exclusion, and/or victims of human trafficking,
• a description of demographic indicators for the target group (composition of families, categories of householders, economic status, educational level, primary source of subsistence for families, incidence of criminality or criminal affiliation, propensity to migration - with specific regard to connections with the United Kingdom, others);
• a detailed analysis of employment situation for medium/low-skilled youth in the target area -identifying volume and types of existing jobs, size and categories of job seekers; 
• a map of vocational education and training providers (public and private);
• a map and a quality assessment of the learning offer provided by the identified public and private training centres;
• a map of institutions working in support of youth employment, empowerment and social services outlining any coordinating mechanisms, existing support and challenges.
• a concrete plan of action based on the characteristics of the territory that should, through skills development of targeted youth, provide employment generation opportunities. This includes identifying skills demanded in the region; sectors showing potential for job creation; possible and realistic business opportunities; training realistic strategies to fill skill gaps.

The consultant is expected to meet all relevant stakeholders from the public sector, including the Regional Social Services Department, police, public and private vocational schools, civil society organizations, private sector, employment offices and other actors relevant to the local socio-economic development in the municipality of Shkodra to design interventions that meet the characteristics of the context. The design will most likely focus around interventions that relate to skills development, VET offer, and generation of employment. After the completion of the action plan, identified learning opportunities will be provided to selected beneficiaries.

Deliverables

• Desk review of relevant documents and information gathering
• Meetings with all stakeholders in the municipality and VET providers
• Elaboration and analysis of information and drafting of the report
• Present the findings to UNDP, UK embassy and relevant people in the municipality
• Finalise the report based on comments

Competencies

Competencies and Critical Success Factors

• Professionalism: Demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter. Good research, analytical and problem-solving skills. Conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results.
• Communication: Excellent and effective written and oral skills; ability to persuade people with varying points of view and to present information in a concise and accurate manner, ability to clearly communicate links between the organizations.
• Planning and Organizing: Proven ability to plan, coordinate and monitor own work and that of others. Ability to work under pressure and uses time efficiently. Identifies priority activities and assignments, adjust priorities as required
• Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals. Solicits input by valuing ideas and expertise of others and is willing to learn from others.

Required Skills and Experience

Recruitment Qualifications

• Master's degree (or equivalent) in a relevant field (such as Social Policy) or in a general field (Business Administration, Economics, Social Sciences), combined with relevant experience in the field of Employment and Social Policy;
• Minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience;
• Demonstrated experience in qualitative and/or quantitative information collection -preferably in collaboration with local government institutions - research, and analysis;
• Good knowledge of the local socio-economic context (specifically of employment and learning opportunity for youth);
• Substantive knowledge of issues related to VET, employment generation; knowledge of issues related to migration, fight against organised crime is desirable;
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and advance knowledge of spread-sheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems;
• Previous experience with local government or development assistance, or related work for an international agency or donor organization would be an asset;
• Familiarity with UNDP and UN system will be an asset;

Evaluation of Applicants

Applicants will be screened against qualifications and the competencies specified above.

Technical Criteria – 70% of total evaluation – max. 70 points

• Relevance of education in the relevant field – 15 points;
• Relevance of specific professional experience in the relevant fields - max. 30 points;
• Record of experiences in analytical/research – max. 20 points;
• Familiarity with UNDP/UN and experience working with other international organizations or in public sector; experience with public policy or capacity development – max. 5 points;

Financial Criteria – 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points

UNDP applies the ‘Best value for money’ approach - the final selection will be based on the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.