Call for proposals for creation of Youth Empowerment Manual

1.    Introduction

The Africa Alliance of YMCAs is an ecumenical youth focused alliance of 17 active Young Men Christian Associations (YMCAs). The YMCA is a membership movement with a strong grassroots presence in 330 community based branches across urban and rural Africa. Our leadership is distinctly democratic, with all our grassroots leaders holding elective positions in all 24 countries and 330 branches. The African YMCA Movement believes in the African renaissance and the vision of the Movement is to empower young people for the African Renaissance. As a grassroots movement, the YMCA is an equal opportunity solutions provider for and with African youth. The philosophy of the Movement is based on the belief that young people need Space, need to develop a Voice, and need to have Influence in order to move from being Subjects of negative socio-political influences to being Citizens of a free, developed and prospering Africa – to move from Subjects to Citizen (The S2C Philosophy)

2. Objective:

To redesign the existing training Manuals of the AAYMCA into one comprehensive, well organized and systematic training toolkit for youth empowerment based on the central tenets of the S2C Philosophy

2.1.  Particulars:

1. To combine the existing manuals into one centralized Training Manual divided into clearly defined Modules
2. To include one additional Module on Interfaith Youth engagement with a focus on building resilience against Youth recruitment into violent extremist groups
3. To mainstream the Power Space Methodology and Framework in the resulting Manual

3.    Scope of Work:

The Consultant is expected to refer to the African Youth Factbook, The African Youth Scenarios Document and the AAYMCA report on Interfaith engagement (referred to as the “Building Bridges Report”) as guiding documents for the new comprehensive ToolKit.

1. The Consultant shall review existing material and advice on redeployment into modules on youth empowerment
2. Based on the results of the above process, the consultant shall design a module on youth and countering violent extremism
3. The consultant is expected to adopt a co-creation approach to enable the AAYMCA team to independently make revisions on future editions

The final product should be in the form of a comprehensive, user friendly and compact toolkit for use by youth leaders, camp leaders, Trainers and project staff in building the civic competencies of young people aged between 18 and 35 years.

3.1.  Methodology

The consultant is expected to conduct the following:

1. A desktop review of existing Manuals and researches of the AAYMCA
2. Facilitation of a day workshop that will relay the results of the review and decide on redesign process
3. Key Informant Interviews
4. Focus Group discussions with potential users

3.2.  Deliverables

A comprehensive Youth Empowerment Toolkit covering the components of the AAYMCA’s S2C philosophy, including a Module on Countering Violent extremism

3.3.  Timing and Duration

The total expected duration of the research will be 30 working days within the period of October 15 – November 30^th 2018. A proposed Schedule of work shall form part of the consultant’s application.

3.4.  Roles and Responsibilities

AAYMCA will be responsible for:

1. Provision of all background information and context in written form (including existing manuals and relevant research work)
2. Availing Key informants and interviewees as may be necessary upon request by the consultant;
3. Facilitation of collaborative and co-creative engagement of key staff

Deliverables of the consultant:

Drafting and submitting a revised Civic empowerment guide within 30 working days after award of contract. This should include:

1. A detailed work plan for the execution of the consultancy
2. A draft guide (for review by AAYMCA)
3. Final guide incorporating feedback from AAYMCA

4.    Consultant Qualification 

The consultant must possess the relevant qualifications and experience as outlined below:

• Possess at least a Master’s degree in any Social Science or a Bachelor’s Degree with over 5 years’ experience in Education or community and social Development
• Demonstrable experience in youth programming;
• Demonstrable experience in youth work pedagogy, development of training material and/or curriculum development
• An Understanding of YMCA’s intervention strategy (S2C Philosophy);
• Excellent report writing and presentation skills;

5.    Proposal submission instructions:

Interested consultants/ associates should submit their technical and financial proposals (Max 4 pages excluding attachments) together with a cover letter.

The proposal should detail at-least the following;

1. Brief profile of the consultant/associate supported by a revised CV if applicable as an attachment;
2. Clear understanding of the assignment as provided in this ToR;

• Availability (Provide details of any other commitments within the period)

1. References of similar assignments undertaken by consultant within the past two years specifying the name of the organization/ program, contact person, telephone and email address and attach executive summaries of the reports.
2. The budget indicating consultancy fees, DSAs during field work and travels (Field travels will be catered for by AAYMCA).

The Technical and Financial Proposals should be submitted by email, with cover letter addressed to:

The General Secretary, Africa Alliance of YMCAs and emailed through aaymcas@africaymca.org with the Subject title: “Proposal for Development of AAYMCA Youth Empowerment Toolkit”

The deadline for submission is Close of Business, October 10^th 2018.