Soft Skills training and Internships

SPARK develops higher education and entrepreneurship so that young ambitious people are empowered to lead their post-conflict societies into prosperity. In Lebanon, SPARK has been working to develop the capacity of Syrians and improve their access to higher education, economic empowerment, entrepreneurship and leadership development. Moreover, SPARK supports existing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to grow and create new job opportunities. SPARK is a not-for-profit, non-political NGO with headquarters in Amsterdam and field offices in South East Europe, Africa, and the MENA region.

SPARK with the support of the ISFD-ISDB is making available $50,000 USD for skills training and internship support for 63 recent graduates (refugees) in Lebanon. The selected 63 youth will be supported with relevant soft skills training preparing them for the labour market after which a selection of 43 will be provided with a 3 month internship. SPARK and the selected partner are seeking to specifically support internships at companies in high potential sectors such as graphic design, IT, online marketing etc.

Our support will include a combination of soft skills training, alongside the facilitation of 3 month internship during which beneficiaries will be supported with living stipends to allow them to fully dedicate themselves to the internship opportunity.

Objective

The overall objective of this component is to contribute to bridging the gap between higher education and access to the labour market. By providing a combination of soft skills training before linking beneficiaries to internship opportunities. Additionally SPARK and its selected implementing partner will closely monitor progress of the interns providing additional coaching or support when needed. With the ultimate goal of turning internships into sustainable job opportunities.

Scope of the Work

SPARK interns will be supported through a local partner who will be tasked with providing a variety of support services to facilitate the process from training, to placement to monitoring:

• Select 43 recent graduates (50% female) to place in internship opportunities. SPARK may support on the selection of interns connecting the partner to the pool of recent graduates from its ongoing higher education programmes;
• Provide soft skills training to 63 recent graduates as part of their labour market preparedness trajectory;
• Facilitate 43 internships in high potential companies based on relevant skills and degrees of the selected candidates;
• Work directly with selected beneficiaries and companies on an internship plan including working goals and tasks;

• Monitor progress of internships on a monthly basis over the course of 3 months;
• Provide monthly stipends to selected beneficiaries based on internship progress and supporting documents;

Monitor final outcomes of the component including retention at companies and pathways to actual employment over the course of 6 months.

Target Group:

• Recent graduates (100% refugees, 50% female);
• Residing in Lebanon.

Conditions:

1. The partner must meet the following criteria: 

1. Have actual operations in Lebanon;
2. Be responsible for the preparation/ management/ implementation of the project in collaboration with related local partners and institutions,
3. Be experienced in providing soft skills training, internship and job placement programming and have a strong and varied private sector network,
4. Deliver tangible and efficient results,
5. Be able to efficiently budget and contribute to the success of the activities.

1. The partner will comply with any legal obligations it is bound by under national law;

The partner will adhere to SPARK’s General Terms and Conditions for partnership agreements.

Application:

The proposal (in English) must detail the following:

1. Objectives, results/outcomes & indicators/outputs,
2. Proposed dates / duration for implementing the program, 
3. Detailed project activities,
4. Monitoring and evaluation plan and description of the monitoring system,
5. Project team structure, roles and responsibilities,
6. Communication plan and activities
7. A brief description of the expertise/portfolio for the applying agency related to soft skills training and delivery of internship/job placement components
8. Details why the applicant agency is a suitable partner for this project
9. Estimated efficient budget (including human resources, other admin costs and internship stipends).

Annexes: Activity plan and budget breakdown.

The proposal must be maximum 10 pages in addition to the annexes.