Community Support Program (CSP) - EOI# EOI-20-002 / Application for Providing Technical Assistance for MSMEs to Improve HR Systems

About Chemonics

Chemonics International is an international development company based in Washington, D.C. Our mission is to promote meaningful change around the world to help people live healthier, more productive, and more independent lives. Since 1975, we have worked in 149 countries around the world, and are currently implementing 91 projects in 75 countries. Our main partner is the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and we also work with foreign
donors such as the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the Global Fund. We have more than 5,000 staff in our project offices around the world, and more than 1,000 staff based in our headquarters in Washington, D.C.

About the USAID-funded Lebanon Community Support Program (CSP)

The Lebanon Community Support Program (CSP) is a seven-year project funded by USAID to support municipalities and underserved and vulnerable communities in providing better services and enhanced economic opportunities to improve lives and reduce tensions that contribute to conflict and violence, primarily in Lebanon’s North, South, and Beqaa regions.

Objective of the EOI

Workforce Development Program Description ( TO4) The WFD activity commenced in August 2019 and seeks to enhance the labor skills of and links to high-quality high-quality full-time employment opportunities for Lebanese residents, and contribute to the improvement of organizations’ staff recruitment and retention systems. The three-year WFD activity aims to improve employment outcomes for Lebanese residents by supporting and improving access to quality TVET, and cultivating sustainable connections to practical training opportunities and jobs within the private sector. The activity’s main objective is to improve the skills of, and employment opportunities for, at least 1,000 unemployed or underemployed Lebanese from vulnerable communities. It provides scholarship training and internship opportunities to job seekers, while working mostly with private TVET partners to improve their curricula, educational training, and job placement infrastructure and services. To achieve its objectives, CSP has adopted a four-pronged workforce development approach. The activity’s first phase consisted of a comprehensive labor market assessment, which was used to pinpoint employment opportunities in demand by private and public sector employers, and employer perceptions of skills. Second, the activity works on improving the quality of private TVET institutions and commercial links with the private sector. To do so, the WFD team is tailoring growth plans to build each TVET’s capacity to enhance students’ skills and employability. This includes providing or rehabilitating training equipment and infrastructure, designing soft-skills training modules, and introducing relevant, context-specific curricula that make use of existing educational infrastructure and assets. Third, the WFD activity seeks to improve policy and enable the environment for technical and vocational training and employment. As part of this process, the activity will arrange at least three working sessions and employment policy forums with key stakeholders, including leading companies, training and education organizations, government officials, and international donors. Finally, the activity is establishing a scholarship program that enables the most vulnerable students to access TVET, factoring in geographical location, gender, education level, and financial need. All of the scholarship students will be placed in practical-learning internship programs with leading Lebanese companies. More than 750 scholarships will be awarded in the next 30 months. 

This EOI for HR assistance to companies falls within the scholarship component and is intended to help facilitate the effective learning of interns and their placement within companies. The assistance will tangibly and positively benefit the company’s HR recruitment and staff retention functions in the long term. Proposed solutions must be directly tied to improving the function of practical work experience opportunities (internships) and ultimately the employment opportunities for TVET students. CSP is prioritizing (but not limiting) assistance to companies that employ staff in the following sectors: • Maintenance of industrial equipment and machinery• Home-based health care services• Technology and information and communications technology (ICT) (The WFD program will launch a separate EOI for Lebanese MSMEs seeking support in improving their HR, staff recuitment, and retention systems.) 

WFD will short-list consultants and firms that offer the appropriate expertise as well as potential solutions to staff recruitment, training, and retention challenges. CSP invites interested parties to submit their EOI in accordance with EOI documents.