Swisscontact is a leading organisation for the implementation of international development projects. Founded in 1959 and registered under Swiss law, we are an independent, politically and denominationally neutral non-profit organisation. Swisscontact promotes inclusive economic, social and ecological development intending to make an effective contribution towards sustainable and widespread prosperity in developing and emerging economies. Swisscontact’s footprint is visible across 39 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. In the Central, East and Southern Africa (CESAF) region, Swisscontact has operations across nine culturally and economically diverse countries. Its project portfolio comprises of its own projects and mandated ones. Presently, in Kenya, Swisscontact supports refugees and their host community to shift from overreliance on humanitarian support to lasting development pathways.

The Skills for Life (S4L) project seeks to strengthen the income-generating capabilities of unemployed refugee and host community youths aged between 18 and 25 years by enhancing their access to technical skills training, financial, life and literacy skills for improved livelihoods. It seeks to catalyze systemic change in vocational skills development (VSD) and employment creation by facilitating flexible, low cost, market-oriented and competency-based skills training, which serve to create pathways to decent employment for the youth. The S4L project is implemented in Kakuma Refugee Camp and Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement in Turkana County, Kenya. The project has been implemented in three phases since May 2013 and the current third phase is ending in August 2022. https://www.swisscontact.org/en/projects/s4l/project-journey

The S4L project is executed within three main components:

· Technical skills component: offers training in different sectors within the labor market. These include: carpentry, masonry, welding, catering, motorcycle repair, computer and phone repair, hairdressing, bakery, electrical wiring, plumbing, tailoring, barbery, poultry management, screen printing, beadwork, weaving and soap making.

· Social skills component: spearheads training focused on life skills, sexual and reproductive health, sexual and gender-based violence prevention, sports for development, work readiness and literacy, numeracy sessions.

· Business support component delivers training on financial literacy, entrepreneurship, group savings and lending, business support through coaching and mentorship.

The S4L model has integrated access to finance for project beneficiaries as an integral component of the learning cycle through coaching of training graduates in search for employment to establish and maintain business, savings and loans groups (Mavuno Groups). Project beneficiaries who successfully form a Mavuno Group are supported and coached during the establishment of the group and during the first 12 months of implementation of their joint initiatives. The project further supports the Mavuno Groups participants by establishing links with various micro-finance institutions (MFIs) and commercial banks for the beneficiaries to access finance which can be leveraged to enable them to expand their business ventures or for some to pursue their own self-employment hence enhance sustainability and self-reliance for the project beneficiaries. In 2020, the S4L project had 20 Mavuno Groups that are being supported and undergoing the 12 months coaching support after their training graduation cycle.

A. Objective of the assignment

The objective of the assignment is to document lessons learnt and emerging good practices on access to finance through the Mavuno Group (savings and loans) approach of the S4L Project. The consultant is also expected to document 4 case studies of successful entrepreneurs (refugees and host communities) who have been supported through the project. This documentation is intended to contribute to the harvesting of lessons learned from the project and the final products will also be included in the documentation of the project’s model toolkit.

B. Deliverables

· An inception report/powerpoint outlining the consultant’s understanding of the ToR, methodology, tools (interview questionnaires and KII guide), ethical considerations and workplan.

· 1 Lessons learned brief (15-20 pages max) with synthesis analysis of the emerging good practices; lessons learnt on the access to finance for project beneficiaries through the Mavuno Groups approach. The brief should also have recommendations that can inform uptake of the Mavuno Group approach for other partners within the sector.

· 4 case studies of successful entrepreneurs detailing their journey of entrepreneurship, the challenges and successes that they have experienced and how the S4L project model has supported them towards success in entrepreneurship. The case studies will ensure to have a gender balance to include: a male entrepreneur from the host community, a female entrepreneur from the host community, a male entrepreneur from the refugee community, a female entrepreneur from the refugee community.

C. Required skills and experience

· Master’s degree in International Relations, Economics, Business Development, Political Science or Communications

· Minimum 6 – 10 years’ proven experience in documentation of programme learning, project management, report writing and project monitoring and evaluation in fragile contexts.

· Demonstrable experience and knowledge related to forced migration, project approaches on Vocational Skills Development (VSD), village saving and loans (VSL), market systems development, livelihoods, self-reliance or durable solutions or humanitarian/development programming within Kenya or the East and Horn of Africa context.

· Strong analytical and writing/documentation of lessons learned/adaptive learning skills with proven experience in producing high quality research, case studies, policy briefs with ability to present complex information in a simple and accessible manner.

· Fluency in written and spoken English is required and flexibility to work either remotely or undertake field visit to the project location in Kakuma/Kalobeyei in Turkana County in Kenya.