RFP: Consultancy for Scoping and Design of Innovative Program Recommendations for Youth Empowerment in Nigeria

Founded in 1956, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a leading international NGO and one of the few with a specific expertise in forced displacement. Active in 40 countries with 9,000 employees and supported by 7,500 volunteers, DRC protects, advocates, and builds sustainable futures for refugees and other displacement affected people and communities. DRC works during displacement at all stages: In the acute crisis, in displacement, when settling and integrating in a new place, or upon return. DRC provides protection and life-saving humanitarian assistance; supports displaced persons in becoming self-reliant and included into hosting societies; and works with civil society and responsible authorities to promote protection of rights and peaceful coexistence.

DRC has been present in Nigeria since 2015, working in several Local Government Areas (LGAs) across the BAY (Borno, Adamawa, Yobe) states and in the Northwest states. The operational context in the Northeastern region remains challenging due to the ongoing conflict.

Purpose of the consultancy

Youth in Nigeria make up a large and growing proportion of the population. Access to education, livelihood opportunities and means to actively participate in decision making processes are issues which are ranking high in debates among youth.

Leading up to the Global Refugee Forum in 2023, DRC and partners worked closely with youth-led organizations in five countries, including Nigeria to identify major challenges faced by young people – and scope for potential multilateral solutions ahead. Young people with refugee backgrounds have taken the lead in the convenings and brought together refugee representatives, policy makers, private sector, academia, and civil society to discuss potential solutions to the challenges ahead.

To build upon these efforts, DRC is looking for a consultant to assist in the scoping towards new and innovative programming that will identify and leverage opportunities with and for displacement affected and local youth in Nigeria. The scoping and developing of new programmatic approaches should be based on strong collaboration with youth (and youth-led organizations), relevant partners (from various sectors), that will make a difference in generating sustainable durable solutions with and for youth (primarily in areas of access to education and livelihood opportunities).

Background

The world is currently home to the largest generation of youth in history. 2,4 billion youth aged 10-29 years are in formative stages of their lives, and approximately 90% of them live in countries in the Global South. Demographic forecasts show that the share of youth will continue to grow in both displacement and host communities. Youth are therefore a main target group for DRC and a cross-cutting phenomenon of attention in all aspects of the DRC 2025 Strategy.

Nigeria’s population is projected to grow exponentially, from 184 million in 2015 to 452.5 million by 2065 driven by the high fertility rate. Youth in the age group 15-34 years will increase drastically from 59.8 million to 155.3 million by 2065.

Conditions for the youth are generally alarming with a lack of access to basic services, legal aid, education and training, employment, and social engagement. Conflict and protracted crises continue to decrease opportunities for youth, leading to disillusion, a lack of belief in the future, and erosion of social cohesion.

In recognition of the unleashed capacities of youth as a transformative positive force sustaining development and stability, DRC focus on empowering displaced and host community youth to fulfill their potential as the much-needed positive change agents in regions marred by protracted conflict and political instability. Provided with the necessary skills and opportunities, youth can be a driving force in fostering growth, building sustainable societies, and improving the health of the planet.

Scope of work and Methodology

DRC wishes to contract the services of an expert consultant to scope and design concepts that will induce a multi-stakeholder approach to amplifying opportunities with and for youth in Nigeria.

Therefore, the consultancy’s objectives are to answer the following questions:

1. Who are the relevant stakeholders (donors, INGOs, civil society organizations (CSOs) including youth-led and refugee/IDP-led organizations, government, private sector) working with youth in forced displacement in Nigeria, and what are their previous and present efforts towards youth, priorities, and opportunities for collaboration.
2. What are the needs of youth (gender and age disaggregated) in forced displacement in Nigeria? This answer should also include a demographic description of youth in forced displacement in Borno, Adamawa, Sokoto and Zamfara states in Nigeria.
3. How are opportunities for training/upskilling and livelihoods emerging in the Nigeria context (sectors/geography/seasonal/other). Specific focus towards green jobs and green businesses for small scale entrepreneurs including jobs that are green, dignified and fairly paid, have the potential to be green, dignified and fairly paid, potential ‘false’ solutions or sectors that should be avoided as part of the green agenda.
4. Identify examples (regions or sectors) of where young people are (or have potential to) creating green jobs and businesses and through them growing a sustainable green economy. Provide evidence of the benefits of green jobs and green businesses for young people in Nigeria, and what enabling factors pertain to this.
5. Looking at the above questions and DRC’s programming in Nigeria and globally, what are opportunities and gaps where DRC can explore programming for youth in displacement, especially in terms of self-reliance. What are good practices of youth programming with a self-reliance focus, and where can innovative practices and programming leverage solutions?

Here are a few cross-cutting remarks:

• The mapping and analysis should take into consideration lessons learnt and findings from DRC programming on self-reliance, the graduation approach, and the Refugee Investment Facility. It should also consider DRC’s youth strategy and self-reliance and innovation programming and DRC’s.
• Youth in displacement includes youth in age bracket 15-29 (as defined by Nigeria Youth National Policy in 2019), and youth with a background from refugee-displacement and/or host-community context, both urban and rural. All data should be disaggregated based on Age, Gender, and diversity.
• The above questions should be explored using mainly qualitative and quantitative approaches, but most importantly, a participatory approach that involve youth in displacement in the process. Preferably through Refugee/Displaced Youth Led Organizations and networks, focusing on solutions and less on an individual basis.
• There should be a strong focus on self-reliance across the above questions, and on innovation in recommendations for new programming. From DRC’s consultations with youth in displacement globally and in Nigeria (We Believe in Youth, 2021; consultations ahead of GRF 2023) it has been clear that self-reliance is a critical need for youth in displacement. For DRC it is furthermore important to explore where there are opportunities for innovative methods and approaches to self-reliance programming targeting youth.
• It is recommended that the market analysis aligns with the Minimum Standards for Market Analysis in Emergencies (MISMA).