TERMS OF REFERENCE (ToR)

Short-Term Consultancy: Labour-Market, Skills-Demand & Enterprise Assessment Consultant

1. Assignment Information

Position/Assignment

Labour-Market, Skills-Demand & Enterprise Assessment Consultant

Contract Type

Short-term consultancy

Contracting Organisation

Somaliland Family Health Association (SOFHA)

Duty Station

Baligubadle and Bali-Cabane

Reporting Location

Fieldwork in target locations, with analysis and reporting from the SOFHA/provider base

Reports to

SOFHA Programme Manager

Technical Coordination

SOFHA Programme and M&E Team

Duration

Short-term assignment (30 days) , primarily covering preparation, field assessment, analysis, validation and final reporting

Geographic Coverage

Baligubadle and Bali-Cabane

Expected Level of Effort

To be agreed based on the approved methodology and fieldwork plan

2. Background

The Somaliland Family Health Association (SOFHA) is a locally owned and globally connected civil society organisation working in health, rights, community engagement, education and service provision.

As part of its programme implementation, SOFHA seeks to generate reliable evidence on local labour-market opportunities, skills demand and enterprise feasibility in Baligubadle and Bali-Cabane.

The purpose is to ensure that proposed skills-development interventions are based on actual local economic opportunities and market demand, rather than on the availability of existing training courses or assumptions about what communities need.

SOFHA therefore seeks to engage a qualified consultant to conduct a short-term labour-market, skills-demand and enterprise assessment in the two target locations.

The assessment will inform decisions regarding potential occupations/trades, training priorities, realistic cohort sizes, employment and apprenticeship opportunities, enterprise pathways and market-transition opportunities.

3. Purpose of the Consultancy

The overall purpose of the consultancy is to provide location-specific, evidence-based market intelligence to support SOFHA's decisions on relevant skills and occupational opportunities.

The assessment will determine:

• Which occupations and trades demonstrate credible local demand;
• The nature and frequency of demand for relevant goods and services;
• Existing and potential employment opportunities;
• Employer and customer demand for specific skills;
• Existing competition and market saturation;
• The realistic market-absorption capacity for potential trainees;
• Enterprise start-up requirements and economic feasibility;
• Potential employment, apprenticeship and self-employment pathways;
• Gender, inclusion, mobility, safety, seasonality and climate-related considerations;
• Potential linkages with employers, buyers, suppliers, master artisans and other market actors.

The assessment should result in practical recommendations that SOFHA can use to determine which occupations should proceed to skills-development programming and at what scale.

4. Specific Objectives

The consultant will:

1. Assess the current labour market and local economic environment in Baligubadle and Bali-Cabane.
2. Identify occupations and economic activities with credible current or emerging demand.
3. Assess employer, customer and market demand for relevant skills and services.
4. Identify existing businesses, service providers, artisans and competitors within candidate occupations.
5. Assess the market's capacity to absorb additional trained workers or new enterprises.
6. Assess the feasibility of employment, apprenticeship and self-employment pathways.
7. Estimate start-up and operating requirements for relevant enterprise opportunities.
8. Identify skills gaps and employer/customer requirements.
9. Assess barriers affecting women's, youth's and other potentially excluded groups' participation and transition into employment or enterprise.
10. Provide evidence-based recommendations on occupations and potential training cohort sizes for each location.

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced degree in Economics, Labour Economics, Business, Market Systems, TVET, Statistics, Development Studies, Livelihoods, Enterprise Development or a related discipline.
• At least 5 years of relevant professional experience in labour-market research, skills-demand assessment, enterprise assessment, market systems, livelihoods, value-chain analysis or related fields.
• Demonstrated experience conducting primary market research in Somaliland or comparable rural/peri-urban markets.
• Strong quantitative and qualitative research skills.
• Demonstrated experience in enterprise costing and market feasibility assessment.
• Strong analytical and report-writing skills.
• Demonstrated ability to translate research findings into practical programme recommendations.
• Experience engaging employers, businesses, artisans, communities and other market actors.

Desirable Experience

• Experience in TVET, workforce development, youth employment or livelihoods programmes.
• Experience assessing skills demand in rural or underserved markets.
• Experience with gender and social-inclusion analysis.
• Familiarity with Somaliland's labour-market and private-sector environment.
• Previous experience conducting occupational or market-absorption assessments.

Interested and qualified consultants should submit their CV, technical proposal, workplan and financial proposal by email to:

Somaliland Family Health Association (SOFHA)
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.sofhaorg.com
Telephone: +252 2 561 701

Applications should clearly state the assignment title in the email subject line.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.