Consultant – Supporting Raqam-e project managers -Expertise de France Retour vers les opportunités

Libya’s economic environment: challenging conditions for the employment of youth:

Libya is undergoing a complex political and economic transition in the aftermath of the conflict that overthrew the previous regime. The country remains riven by political strains between different groups. In February 2021, a new transitional government was formed, it was the first time in 6 years to have a unified government in Libya. However, the situation on the ground is still intense, and the threat of war is casting its shadow on every promising effort to bring stability and prosperity to Libya. The economy of the country is mainly dependent on oil revenues, which account for almost 70% of the GDP. Most of the Libyan labor force is incorporated in the public sector where salaries and in-kind benefits were, until 2014, relatively higher than in the private sector. Therefore, private sector organizations and entrepreneurship are underdeveloped and not attractive for unemployed people.  

However, the fall of the oil price along with the week capacities of oil extraction due to security uncertainty led to drastic cuts in the public sector. Large cohorts of young Libyan are now facing unemployment. 

In recent years, coding has become a trendy subject among young generations around the world including Libya, as many students and youth are more interested in the technology and technical development. 

Presentation of the project: Raqam-e 

As part of SLEIDSE project, the French financing of the Crisis and Support Center, awarded in 2019 to Expertise France, few objectives. One of them was to establish the “Janzour Coding Academy”, a coding school, hosted and managed by the municipality of Janzour. The academy had a soft opening on the 14th of November 2019. 

The pilot project conducted with CDCS funding highlighted a need and a deep interest of Libyan youth, municipalities, the Ministry of Local Governance, and the private sector for coding. Libya needs to train resources that will allow the country to catch up in digital transition, whether in e-governance or economics.

Thus, replicating the Janzour initiative to other municipalities and involving the central authorities through a public / private partnership would substantially contribute to the employability of youth and women, participate in the reduction of unemployment and diversification country, and bring elective institutions closer to the people. These three levers, employment – prosperity – political dialogue – are at the heart of Expertise France’s strategy to promote stability and security in Libya.

The project in divided in 3 components: 

Component 1. Creation of the first national network of coding schools in municipalities 

The project involves replicating the Janzour coding school in 4 municipalities: Benghazi, Misurata, Sebha and Tripoli Center.
Raqam-e project can be divided into three phases: 1) training partner municipalities, 2) establishing a center of excellence within the Ministry of Local Governance through a public / private partnership 3) organize a “Hackathon”, a coding competition to help Libyan private companies in their digital transformation. 

Component 2. Creation of a coworking space dedicated to “mompreneurs” in Janzour 

Following the creation of the “Janzour Coding Academy” and the success of this project with its citizens, the mayor of Janzour again seeks Expertise France help to develop its municipality. The idea is to offer to women entrepreneurs with children between 0 to 3 years old: the “mampreneurs” a place where they can work while their children are being taking care of by qualified nannies. The coworking space will also organize events allowing mompreneurs to develop their skills and build a professional network. 

Component 3. Disseminate coding skills through bootcamps across Libya

Capacity building of already existing Libyan coding schools for concrete action on youth in Libya

This bootcamp will gather 12 coding schools (22 participants in total) across Libya that are already competent and experienced in providing coding trainings. The objective is to improve their capacities in coding, communication, and entrepreneurship. By further strengthening their capacities, we want to see them play a more important role within their community. This 3-month online bootcamp will close with a hackathon. 

Bootcamp dedicated to digital technologies for 80 young Libyans: integrating young people into the professional world

Four parity groups of women / men of 20 people aged between 18 and 30 years old distributed geographically in 4 cities (Benghazi, Misurata, Sebha and Tripoli) will be trained for 6 weeks in Libya in coding, digital marketing and UX design for 4 weeks. Two weeks of training will then be dedicated to the challenges and fundamentals of entrepreneurship and the use of communication tools. At the end of the course, a job fair will be organized in Tripoli, allowing the best participants of each training to meet with investors, businessmen and private sector companies.

Description of Assignment: 

Background for the specific mission 

The project will focus on: 

• Establishing a network of 4 coding schools in places provided by the municipalities (Tripoli, Benghazi, Sebha, Misurata) (including: renovation and refurbishment) 
• Establishment of a Training Centre in Tripoli under the Ministry of Local Governance authority. 
• Organizing, designing and providing a 3-month training in Tunis for the 20 municipality employees selected to be trainers in the coding schools. 
• Providing a sustainable strategy for the coding school to continue its activities after the end of project. 
• Establishment of a coworking space dedicated to women in Janzour. 
• Organizing, designing and providing 2 weeks training for 2 trainers in Tunis for the coworking staff members selected. 

Main tasks 

• Support the project managers in developing the overall and detailed project planning according to the project objectives, expected results and deadlines.
• Guide the project managers to ensure compliance of activities implementation with donor rules and contractual obligations as well as with Expertise France regulations and procedures.
• Support and follow-up the implementation of the activities on a weekly basis:
  • Organization of trainings, events, study tours;
  • Collaboration with institutional and private partners.
• Support the project managers in preparing Expertise France monitoring tools (RPP, yearly review, etc.). 
• Support the project managers in preparing narrative quarterly reports and yearly financial reports. 
• Support the MEAL officer and the project managers oversee project monitoring and evaluation against overall goals, specific objectives, and contracted deliverables (pre- and post-testing, monthly survey, dashboard follow-up). 
• Support the MEAL officer and the project managers in the capitalization project (preparing questionnaires interviewing donor/ beneficiaries…).
• Support the project managers in ensuring good and efficient project communication and visibility.
• Support the project managers for the closing of the project (final narrative report, financial report, …). 
• Support the project managers in ensuring a smooth communication with the donor and negotiating/organizing the cost and time extension of the project. 
• Ensure the progressive knowledge transfer related to the program development and implementation, as well as all the relevant documents, contacts, etc.

Deliverables 

• Quarterly monthly narrative report on the objectives, achievements and constraints faced;
• Final report, listing all achieved objectives and possible way forward.

Expert Profile: 

• Master’s degree in political science or in international relations. A degree from a Business School is appreciated; 
• At least 3 years of working experience in project management; 
• A professional experience working in an international context; 
• Sound understanding of international organizations or international NGOs activities; 
• A sound experience of the Libyan society; 
• Deep knowledge in entrepreneurship; 
• Good diplomatic skills and abilities to work in challenging environment with tight deadlines; 
• Fluent in English and French; 
• Strong drafting skills, in both English and French. 

Location and duration: 

• Duration: 6 months, part-time position
• Period: April 2022 – September 2022
• Location: home-based. 

Language 

The working language of the programme and the language used in all reports and communications between the consultant and the team shall be English (UK spelling preferred). French can be used for the final report. 

CANDIDATURE FORM Expertise Individuelle (1)

Raqam-e – ToR –