Re-Advertisement for Terms of Reference for the Development of Key Circular Training curricula in Somalia

Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organization for children. We work in 120 countries. We save children’s lives; we fight for their rights; we help them fulfil their potential.

We work together, with our partners, to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives. Following a major transition, our international programmes are now delivered through a merged operation with 15,000 staff, managed through seven regional hubs and reporting to a relatively small, central office. We’re changing to become more efficient, more aligned, a better partner, a stronger advocate, a magnet for world-class people and relevant for the 21st century.

Save the Children has worked in Somalia since 1951 when we set up a vocational school for orphaned boys in Somalia. From the early 1970s we have provided emergency assistance when the needs demand. Each year, about 650,000 people benefit from our longer-term development work in Health, Nutrition, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), Education, Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL), Child Protection and Child Rights Governance.

Youth unemployment remains one of the biggest challenges towards peace and stabilization in project target districts and regions. Somalia has one of the largest proportional youth populations in the world. It is estimated that 73 percent of the Somali population is aged under 30. Within this group, internally displaced youth and young returning refugees are considered among the most marginalized and at-risk groups in the country.

TVET presents an opportunity to engage the country’s youth, yet enrollment in both TVET and tertiary education remains at just 5% of the eligible population. The TVET system is significantly underdeveloped, underfunded, and has limited coordination, with major disparities in access between urban and rural areas.

Furthermore, there is a significant gender gap in TVET and employment participation. Constraints that affect women include early and forced marriage, gender-based violence, early pregnancies which lead women to regress their access to higher technical education. Pervasive social norms, that entrench from early childhood, which discourage women from participating in male dominated sector including Energy, trade and agribusiness further inhibit their active participation in high growth sectors. Inequitable hiring practices for women and People with Disabilities (PwD) also present immense constraints in accessing decent jobs from employers.

Regarding systemic constraints in TVET, the limited standardized qualifications for TVET instructors and limited institutional management degrade training quality and lead to graduates with limited alignment to market demands who could have tapped significantly to project target location for green growth sector.

The IMPACT project therefore addresses these constraints by creating pathways for skill development in emerging green sectors (renewable energy, circular economy and agri-business). The project ensures that Somali youth and adults have the necessary competencies to engage in sustainable livelihoods. The initiative is aligned with Somalia’s National Development Plan (NDP-9) and Somalia NDP3, which emphasizes the importance of renewable energy, climate resilience, and inclusive economic development. It also contributes to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 (Quality Education), 5 (Gender Equality) 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and 13 (Climate Action).

The Initiative for Marketable Practices in Agri-business, Circular Economy and Technology (IMPACT) is implemented by Save the Children in collaboration with consortium partners ADRA, Windle International, and Shaqodoon. The project aims to boost green skills in project target locations, focusing on renewable energy, the circular economy, and sustainable agribusiness. The initiative seeks to enhance Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) centres, strengthen public-private coordination, and build a skilled workforce to promote green growth, equitable jobs, and climate resilience. The Project is implemented in Somalia and works with key government agencies including MoES and MoLSAF

The project uses client centered and market systems approaches to created sustained changes at systems level. The aim is to enhance private sector involvement in supporting women, IDPs, PwDs, and other vulnerable groups in creating sustainable livelihoods. IMPACT will identify green growth companies in renewable energy, circular economy, and agri-business value chains, analyse value creation in these sectors, and demonstrate approaches to create linkage between TVETs and green companies for skilling and employment creation.

Save the Children is looking for a qualified consulting firm with substantive and cutting-edge background in employment creation, Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) with specialized experience and skills in market-oriented curriculum development in circular economy sectors (plastic recycling, solid waste management and green packaging). These were pre-identified high growth sub sectors identified in a labor market assessment findings and strong background in curriculum development is key especially using participatory design process tools to ensure the curriculum aligns with the needs and prioriteis of the clients including the private sector. Circular economy is a new concept with no existing resources available for learning. Therefore, the aim of the curriculla resource is to guide and support vocational training centers on how to deliver these new occupations. It will enable TVETs to create a structured learning programme that offers training for youth in these occupations thus making the curricula competency-based, hence making it practical and work-base focused. Key sturcture of the curricula will be a sylabus, trainer guide, learner guide with comprehensive curricula content for each of the module.

The purpose of this consultancy is to develop market oriented circular economy curricula, especially the pre-selected sub-sectors (plastic recycling, solid waste management and green packaging) which will be trained on and adopted by Target public and private sector training institutions. The curricula should be exclusively based on the priorities of target clients, market systems including companies and the future of work in Somalia. The curricula should contain syllabus, trainer guide and trainee manual with all resources including teaching aid materials presented through interactive designs (etc visuals). The consultant should develop the curricula by undertaking qualitative assessment with circular economy companies combined with existing desk information (project documents, labour market assessment and TVET market systems assessment reports) and baseline studies and curricula framework/structure while mapping regional resources of similar scope (etc circular economy curricula adopted in East Africa to conceptualize the framework). These mixed method approaches will enable triangulated proofness and identify entry points for developing the curricula. Below are more step-by-step objectives of curricula development.

The curricula will be implemented in pre-identified target locations in Somalia. The curricula development will focus on a number of stakeholders including MoES and MoLSAF directorate departments, EU, IMPACT consortium partners, youth learners, circular economy companies and communities in target locations.

The overall curriculum development will combine a qualitative and desk review approach. These are literature review, collection of qualitative FGDs/KIIs and design and development of the curricula. The steps mentioned below form a more detailed approach of the curriculum development process.

Interested bidders are expected to provide the following documentation:

2 SCI Contracting Office