Call of tender for road map – Association Italienne Amici di Raoul Follereau Retour vers les opportunités

Synthesis

AIFO is looking for a service provider, or a team of experts, willing to actively contribute to the participatory drafting of a roadmap to be signed at least by the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Labor, stating the agreed steps towards greater inclusion of people with disability in the technical and vocational training system.

Objective

Participatory definition of a Roadmap for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the Tunisian technical and vocational training system

Expected Duration

18 months, starting in January 2023

Expected output

A final draft of the roadmap, agreed upon by delegates of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Ministry of Labor, is available in an accessible digital format, shared with institutional Stakeholders, and presented to the Ministers for their approval.

Context

In the framework of its technical assistance to the Ministry of Social Affairs and under the slogan “Nothing for us without us”, AIFO is supporting Tunisian institutions in the implementation of Law N° 4- 2008. Especially, we are supporting the MSA in organizing inter-ministerial working groups to redact a 5 years action plan.

Thanks to the Italian Agency for Cooperation to Development fund, AIFO is implementing the project “For an independent life” to improve the inclusiveness of vocational training through pilot projects in El Kef, Kasserine, and Medenine and technical support to the Ministry of Social Affairs.

During the next 3 years, at a central level, we’re training MSA staff on the International Convention ratified by the 2008-04 law; we support MSA and ANETI in increasing accessibility of existing vocational training, while conducting a country-level awareness social media campaign.

Since we bet people with disability can be an asset for the local labor market, at the local level, we’re ready to:

1) Training VET centers trainers to provide more inclusive training.

2) Boost the coordination between special education centers and vocational training centers to increase the quality of the education provided and the matching with the need of the labor market.

3) Organize a win-win internship for PwD in a local enterprise

Within this framework, the consultancy is expected to contribute to increasing the number of people with disabilities with technical and vocational skills that facilitate their integration into employment and entrepreneurship (SDG 4.4 / Target 4.4.).

Aim of the Mission

The roadmap aims to ensure the access of people with disability (PwD) to inclusive technical and vocational trainings, recognized by the Ministry of labor and reflecting the existing need for skilled labor.

To achieve this, training curricula must be developed in close cooperation with the DPOs (disabled people organizations) and civil society organizations (CSO), entrepreneurs, trade unions, and the relevant government bodies (i.e. the Ministry of Social Affairs should ensure the accessibility of courses and proceed with the training of trainers in accessible teaching methodologies; while the Ministry of Labor should verify the usefulness of the acquired skills for companies and provide inclusive qualified trainers and trainings).

Methodology, approach, and processes

The consultant is expected to weekly meet ministerial officials at the central level of both the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Labor, facilitating the validation and approval of each roadmap drafting phase.

Those training and follow up meetings, lasting no more than 4 hours, will be held in Tunis and will be divided over the 18 months as follows: 

• 4 biannual meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Social Affairs and National Institute of Statistics to analyses existing and progressively collected data on the employment rate of people with disabilities. 
• 8 quarterly meetings with representatives of the most active and representative DPOs, and representatives of the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Labor to analyze existing policies and practices, and the progress on the inclusion of people with disability in public schools.
• 4 biannual meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Social Affairs, representatives of the major donors on the disability sector and the DPOs working in the field of disability to facilitate the coordination of the various activities taking place.

A minute of those and all meetings, and a record of them, will be done and signed by participants to be used for future lobbying actions.

These meetings, in addition to fostering dialogue between the various stakeholders, are expected to allow the roadmap for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the Tunisian technical and vocational training system to be shared during its various drafting stages.

The consultancy, expected to include experts coming from the academic world, the political world, and civil society, in the light of what emerged from the various multi-stakeholders meetings, will draw up the roadmap, which will:

– Reaffirm the existing and formalized principles and laws that guarantee the right to education of PwD, conforming to the current social, political and economic situation in the country; 

– Highlight and detail the characteristics that the services offered must have in order to be inclusive and accessible according to international standards; 

– Define sustainable, inclusive policies, based on social and technological advances, consistent with the types and characteristics of disability; 

– Demonstrate and highlight the importance of the participation of economic, public, and civil entities, in ensuring transparency and external monitoring; 

– Ensure that the operations and activities of stakeholders respect the rights of organizations and individuals, are free from discrimination, and do not contradict the legal rights, interests, health, and morality of citizens and the public;

– Ensure the participation of policymakers, implementers, professional associations, scientific and academic organizations, researchers, and citizens in the development and implementation of policies, strategies, facilities, programs, and projects to ensure the economic rights of persons with disabilities;

Minimum requested tasks

1. Facilitate meetings that bring different stakeholders together to exchange and collaboratively advance the work on the inclusion of people with disabilities in Tunisia.

2. Support the creation of a roadmap in light of what emerged from the various multi-stakeholder meetings. The drafting stages of the roadmap will be shared with the stakeholders during the scheduled meeting