Supporting Job Creation for Young Tunisians from Marginalized Communities

The Department of States Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Assistance Coordination (NEA/AC) invites applicants to submit proposals that will directly result in verifiable increases in youth employment for targeted Tunisian youth with university education, bridging the gap between education and job market needs and linking entrepreneurship and enhanced employment opportunity. The project is designed to measurably increase employment for young Tunisians in marginalized governorates through the "supply side": the provision of job training, job placement and training programs for youth and young entrepreneurs. Proposals must demonstrate knowledge of the local governorate job market constraints and opportunities and/or the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and propose project activities that will lead to employment results for youth in marginalized communities. Proposals should outline activities that successfully increase the number of employed young Tunisians through skills development and training, job placement and/or help young Tunisians become self-employed through technical support and business plan development. Proposals should also demonstrate a clear understanding of localized job market challenges, barriers, gaps, and opportunities in marginalized governorates as well as ensure approaches will have stakeholder buy-in and be directly linked to and result in employment increases among young Tunisian participants. Successful proposals must utilize an evidenced-based project model and provide a clear justification for the proposed approach and anticipated outcomes, accompanied by a rigorous monitoring and evaluation plan to allow NEA/AC to closely monitor the number of jobs gained, and the cost per job gained. Applicants must describe how local leadership and ownership will be leveraged, as well as describe how they will pursue partnerships and collaboration with individual businesses in the interior, the Tunisia government, business associations or chambers, existing job centers, and/or the private sector to provide direct support to young Tunisians. Applicants may propose interventions to increase the supply of skilled labor through job-skills training and job placement, and training related to self-employment. Activities could include technical or soft skills job training based on identified market needs, training linked to job placement programs to bridge the gap between school and employment, or self-employment training that connects to market-demand. However, the quality of any proposal, and the ultimate measure of grant success, will be judged not primarily on the development and delivery of job training programs or the establishment of placement or advisory facilities, but rather on how the applicants interventions result in quantifiable increases in youth employment in specific localities.