CALL FOR PROPOSALS – SCALE Entrepreneurship – GAME in Tunisia Retour vers les opportunités

Call for Proposals 

Partnership for Entrepreneurial Skills Development for Youth in Tunisia

Partnership with GAME under the Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Programme 2024-2027

Website: www.game.ngo

1. The Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Programme 

The Danish-Arab Partnership Programme (DAPP) has been an important instrument
in Denmark’s foreign policy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) since
its establishment in 2003. The current phase of DAPP builds on the positive experiences of the past and focuses on employment and human rights, supporting Danish policy priorities lives in the MENA region, and as such youth are the main target group.
The DAPP vision is to contribute to building a better life for young people in the MENA region, including a particular focus on youth in Tunisia. Every young person is entitled to a decent and meaningful job and the chance to participate as an active member
in society. The aim of DAPP is to build on the stepping-stones towards achieving these conditions. Within DAPP, the Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship (YEE) Programme aims to increase the number of young people with jobs in Tunisia through entrepreneurship and enterprise development, supporting pathways
for transformational change based on a solid understand of job creation for youth. 

GAME, one of four consortium partners within the YEE programme, is seeking a new partner to support the implementation of its activities in Tunisia, and in particular through access to business development services and mentoring for entrepreneurs and better access to finance for entrepreneurs. 

Incubators are increasingly gravitating towards sectors like ICT, Fintech, and AgriTech, or activities centered around innovative IT solutions. An expansive ecosystem encompassing startups, incubators, accelerators, business angels, donors, service providers, and government offices/ministries is flourishing around small and medium enterprises. Despite the commendable efforts, the domains of sports, culture,
and leisure find limited representation. GAME will be launching a program reaching youth that are currently neglected within the entrepreneurship market.
The SCALE Initiative will be able to build on GAME’s existing presence and network
in Tunisia and engage an enthusiastic and motivated cohort of youth otherwise overlooked within entrepreneurship. 

GAME’s SCALE (Street Sports, Culture and Leisure Entrepreneurship) Initiative, aspires to sow the seed of entrepreneurship and enhance employability among 400 youth across Tunisia by 2027. By equipping youth with the essential knowledge, skills,
and networks, we want them to develop their entrepreneurial skills, help them pursue their own initiatives, and build strong business plans. Essentially, be better equipped
to pursue a future as self-employed. The SCALE Initiative will provide youth
with practical skills and mentoring on how to foster, grow and launch a business, as well as providing them with skills in strategic planning, business development, networking, legal procedures, finance, etc. Alongside activities in Tunisia, the SCALE Initiative will also be launched in Jordan, and there is expected to be some programmatic collaboration and cross-country learning throughout the project period.

The partnership is expected to span from Q4 2024 until June 2027. This Programme is funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

2. Project Objective and Target Group

GAME’s strategy towards achieving the goals of the SCALE Initiative are achieved through formal and non-formal learning, through interactive workshops and practical sessions, suitable and effective for the participants’ age group (18-35). SCALE will take engaged youth on a journey starting from the outreach phase to idea validation
and introduction to entrepreneurship to a thorough business/initiative development curriculum and expert mentorship, culminating with seed funding and networking. 

A fundamental aspect of GAME’s approach is our commitment to youth centred programming, meaning that we work both FOR and WITH youth. We firmly believe
in the power and agency of young people, that they can take leadership, articulate their needs and push for transformational changes. A youth-centred approach releasing the potential of young people is essential to achieve the project’s objectives. 

For the implementation of activities, methods will be based on action learning
and include creative facilitation methods with links to street sport and culture, to be mixed with technical trainings with a strong focus on the community and peer-support amongst the participants, making the program engaging and attractive to youth,
and ensuring retention.

Key activities include:

• Attract Stage:  The attract stage aims at introducing youth to entrepreneurship and self-employment through multi-day workshops (camps), which will prepare participants to create their own business through ideation sessions and support to develop strong business plans. They will be trained in business and project management, public speaking and presentation skills. The camps will include talks from entrepreneurs, including within the green economy, sessions about business development, ideation, attracting financing, and will create a space for networking. These camps will also be used to identify youth for the following incubation phase. 

• Online Entrepreneurship Training: Participants will participate in an online training program, following the same learning curriculum as the participants in the incubation, in finance, sustainability, strategic planning, marketing, communication, human resources, networking, etc.

• Targeted Entrepreneurship Training & Mentorship (Incubation): Selected participants will work on their action plans for their business idea. They will be trained within in finance, strategic planning, marketing, communication, HR, legal procedures, networking, etc. Mentoring and legal training is also available. 

• Pitching Day:  Participants from the incubation will pitch their business plans to a jury, and those with the strongest business plans (10 in total) will receive seed grants to kick-start their businesses. Mentors will be available to support participants after they launch their start-ups. 

• Networking: 

Networking events and workshops, in collaboration with YEE Consortium partners, and the Danish Chamber of Commerce and the UNDP in particular, will help establish external partnerships and accessing external funding opportunities. Participants will be connected with companies, organizations or institutions to help the youth kick-start their businesses. 

The above activities will directly contribute to the following output indicators: 

Target Group 

The target group for the YEE projects is youth aged 18-35, from 24 Governorates
in Tunisia, reaching 400 youth over the project period (2024-2027). This includes targeting burgeoning entrepreneurs. These are young people who are aware
of opportunities for self-employment and might have experience
with entrepreneurship and starting a business in the formal or informal economy.
This group needs support and guidance to develop business plans and, for some, support to access finance for their business. 

3. Key Partnership Criteria

GAME has already engaged two local partners under the YEE Programme and is seeking a third partner. Partners need to meet the following key partnership criteria: 

1. Share the common goal of advancing young people’s rights and opportunities and be devoted to creating systemic change, challenging gender inequality
   and enabling youth empowerment
2. Have proven expertise and experience in relation to a specific part of the project (output)
3. Be able to work cost-effectively and to capture data and document results. 

For b) and c) potential capacity-building applies. 

Initial selection of a partner will be followed by due diligence, especially for engagements with private sector actors, as well as participatory capacity assessments, including power and stakeholder analyses, which will help identify capacity-building needs and inform the development of tailored support for each partner. 

Our partnership approach builds on a key principle of localisation, complementarity
and strategic partner selection, and a strong commitment to capacity-building
and mutual learning. GAME is seeking to engage local partners effectively
and meaningfully through a participatory partnership process that creates strong local ownership. 

4. Grant/funding available 

The budget range for the proposed initiative is:

2024: 8,000 EUR

2025: 91,000 EUR

2026: 91,000 EUR

2027: 37,000 EUR

Unspent funds are not able to roll-over from one year to another.  

It is expected that a maximum of 25% is allocated to staff and administrative costs 

5. Applicant eligibility 

The following categories of applicants are eligible to apply under this Call for Proposals: 

• Content of proposal submissions 

The Applicants shall include the following in their proposals: 

• Proposal, which must include all of the elements outlined in section 8. 
• Financial Proposal 
  • Provide a detailed budget that aligns with the proposed methodology.
    Justify each budget item, demonstrating how it contributes to the successful implementation of the grant. 

All proposals, information, documents and correspondence exchanged between GAME and the applicant shall be in English.  

• Proposal submission timeline

The deadline for the submission of proposals is August 12, 2024. Proposals should be submitted by email to tunisia@game.ngo, with a copy to : ashma@game.ngo

The expected agreement start date is October 1, 2024,
with the following timeline:

• Q4 – 2024: Inception phase (recruitment, planning,…)

• January 1, 2025 – December 31, 2026: Implementation phase

• June 30, 2027:  Closing phase, including final reporting and other concluding activities.

8. Requirements 

The Applicant shall formulate a pertinent, and comprehensive methodology that outlines the approach and plan of action that the Applicant will undertake to perform the proposed activities in order to achieve the grant’s objectives and targeted impact. The methodology shall include the below sections: 

1. Introduction and Background 

• Provide a brief overview of the Applicant’s mission, vision, relevant experience to the specific activities proposed. 
• Clearly demonstrate how the Applicant would deploy qualified staff with pertinent experience in specialized areas and other necessary pertinent resources. 

1. Detailed Activities and Timeline

• Provide a detailed breakdown of the specific activities that the Applicant proposes to undertake in accordance with the above-named key activities and clearly articulate how the proposed activities would ensure attaining the specific objectives and outputs of the grant.
• Ensure alignment with the proposed project timeline.
• Clearly link the proposed methodology to the targeted impact

1. Target Beneficiary

• Provide information and explanations on how the proposed methodology is tailored to meet the needs of the target beneficiary. 

1. Stakeholder’s Analysis, Engagement and Coordination Plan 

• Describe the methods proposed to engage and involve the beneficiaries and other pertinent stakeholders in the planning and implementation
  of the activities. 
• When developing the stakeholder analysis and engagement
  and coordination plans, properly consider gender mainstreaming.

1. Partnerships and Cooperation with Others 

• Describe any partnerships or cooperation with other NGOs/CSOs, etc..,
  that the Applicant intends to establish to enhance the grant’s effectiveness. 
• Clearly outline the roles and responsibilities of each partner
  in the implementation of the proposed activities and methodology. 

1. Safeguards and Risk Management
   Identify the safeguarding policies that are adopted by the Applicant to protect the well-being and rights of the stakeholders/beneficiary/ target community.
2. Financial Management

The Applicant shall demonstrate how it would apply sound financial management practices, including transparent budgeting, accurate accounting, and compliance with financial regulations, regular financial audits to ensure accountability and transparency in the use of funds, with clear reporting mechanisms. 

1. Adaptability and Learning Orientation 

Demonstrate how the Applicant would apply and make use of continuous learning, where lessons learned from previous projects are systematically incorporated in the Applicant’s activities. 

1. Other pertinent aspects that clarify the methodology of the Applicant. 
2. Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment Requirements 

The Applicant shall provide documentation with details on how issues of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment are addressed and implemented in the Applicant’s organization, including policies, procedures, and programmes/ initiatives. The Minimum action items requirements shall cover, but not limited to, the following: 

• Code of Conduct. 
• Visibility and awareness about Protection from Sexual Exploitation Abuse and Harassment (e.g. through training, etc..). 
• Reporting, investigation and taking corrective measures.