Recruitment Notice: 02 Individual Consultants

The ILO is looking for two (02) Capacity Building Consultants for the project partner organizations on the methodology for setting up GVECs.

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

The project “Women’s Empowerment for Resilient Economies and Peaceful Communities in Cameroon’s East and Adamawa Refugee Regions>> funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) (2021-2024) aims to contribute to economic growth and social cohesion between refugee and host communities through the development of women’s entrepreneurship and cooperatives in agricultural value chains. The project will adopt local and market-based economic development approaches to build the capacity of women entrepreneurs and cooperatives, while creating opportunities in selected agricultural value chains. In parallel, the project will support HIV/AIDS protection and prevention and improved access to social protection.

The context in which the project will be implemented is very unstable: Cameroon hosts the largest refugee population in the Central African Republic (CAR) of more than 290,000 refugees, mainly in the Eastern and Adamaoua regions. While many refugees have been displaced for several years, and some for more than a decade, refugees from CAR continue to arrive. In December 2020 alone, nearly 5,000 people arrived in the east following election-related violence in CAR. More than 70 per cent of CAR refugees live in host communities, putting pressure on limited resources and services, while the remaining 30 per cent reside in camps run by humanitarian organizations. The majority of CAR refugees depend on humanitarian assistance for education, health, food, water, sanitation and hygiene, protection and livelihoods (ACAPS, 2021).
The project “Women’s Empowerment for Resilient Economies and Peaceful Communities in Cameroon’s East and Adamawa Regions, Where Refugees >> Lives” (2021-2024) is being implemented in the Eastern and Adamawa regions and will mainly target refugees from the Central African Republic, internally displaced persons and host communities. More specifically, the project aims to contribute to the revitalization of economies and social cohesion between refugees and host communities through the development of female entrepreneurship in certain agricultural value chains.

The project has four (4) interrelated objectives:

1. Strengthen local institutions and promote enabling mechanisms for inclusive economic development, social cohesion and community well-being: as part of this objective, the project aims to work with municipalities and other local actors in Eastern and Adamawa to create a local economic
development forum, select, design and pilot interventions in key agricultural value chains, build the capacity of business and cooperative service providers, and help refugees and host community members access domestic and international
markets.

2. Helping womenRefugees, internally displaced persons and host
populations to create sustainable, thriving and environmentally friendly agricultural enterprises and cooperatives: As part of this objective, the project will strengthen the capacity of women entrepreneurs and cooperatives to create sustainable enterprises and
facilitate access
to appropriate financial services.

3. Facilitate access to HIV/AIDS prevention and protection services for refugees and host populations: As part of this objective, the project will work with local partners to tailor
HIV/AIDS prevention and protection and social protection programmes to the needs of refugees and host communities, and facilitating access to these services.

4. Generate and share knowledge on best practices to support women’s economic empowerment in situations of forced displacement: As part of this ultimate goal, the project aims to contribute to learning and knowledge generation throughout its implementation.

As part of the activities related to the implementation of its 2nd objective, the project plans to set up financing mechanisms adapted to the target, in the maize, cassava and livestock value chains in close collaboration with local MFIs.

The Groupements Villageois d’Epargne et de Credit (GVEC), also called Village Savings and Credit Associations (VSLA), are endogenous financing tools, adapted to the target, and already tested in the project area (Adamaoua and East Cameroon). The project plans to facilitate the implementation of these tools through the project’s non-financial partners.

MISSION

OBJECTIVES Overall

objective The overall objective of the mission is to strengthen the capacities of non-financial service providers in the methodology of setting up Village Savings and Credit Groups.

Specific
objectives Specifically, the consultants will strengthen the capacities of participants on:

The process of setting up Village Savings and Credit Groups (GVEC);
The methodology for the creation and training of GVEC members;
Group monitoring;
The different tools and their filling;
Data collection and filling in management tools;
The role of village agents (AV)
The information and management system.

EXPECTED RESULTS OF THE TRAINING
At the end of the workshop, the participants:

Master the methodology for setting up a Village Savings and Credit Group;
Are able to create GVECs and train their members;
Are able to track GVECs;
Are able to collect data and complete monitoring tools;
Master the role of village agents;
Are able to inform and analyze the Information and Management System.
PROFILE
Participation criteria

The call for expressions of interest is open to individual consultants. Requirements:

Have at least a higher level of education or equivalent;
Have at least 3 years’ experience in the organization and facilitation of adult education workshops;
Have at least 5 years of work experience in the training and methodology of setting up GVECs;
Knowledge of the Eastern Zone and/or Adamawa would be an asset;
Language skills: fluency in French and/or English;
Mastery of Word and Excel software

HOW TO POSTULATE?

Interested candidates are invited to submit an application to bertoua@ilo.org, Female applications are encouraged.

The file must include:
A technical proposal describing the training methodology envisaged by the consultant; Proof of completion of similar mandates;
A detailed CV attached; The financial proposal should include an estimated budget for the mission.
The entire technical and financial proposal (including professional fees, intercity travel, and communication, excluding VAT) must not exceed 10 pages excluding annexes.
Additional information or questions can be obtained or asked by writing to bertoua@ilo.org until 18 November 2022.
Deadline: November 25, 2022.