In-depth Gender Sensitive Joint Labour & Market Assessment (LMA)

In-depth Gender Sensitive Joint Labour & Market Assessment (LMA)

Description

TERMS OF REFERENCE

1) Background & Rationale

Since April 2023, conflict and displacement have profoundly disrupted labour markets, MSMEs, and service systems in Sudan. The programme will operate for 42 months (six-month inception period and 36 months for implementation) across nine states: North Kordofan, South Kordofan, Central Darfur, North Darfur, White Nile, River Nile, Gedaref, Khartoum, and Kassala. Its objective is to generate employment and income opportunities for conflict affected youth (15–35), with minimum 51% women and ≥5% youth with disabilities, and to strengthen MSMEs and training ecosystems. An early, joint, gender sensitive and protection aware LMA is required to focus investments, calibrate cash for work (CfW) and skills pathways, shape MSME support, and update targeting and partnership strategies.

The LMA will also generate evidence to operationalize the programme’s youth pathways system, including the criteria for youth segmentation, feasibility of the three starting tracks (job‑connector, skills‑builder and enterprise‑starter), and the pivot point decision rules used to navigate youth between wage and self‑employment pathways. State‑level evidence will determine which pathways are viable, which require adaptation, and which should be de-prioritised. It will generate the granular, state-specific evidence needed to operationalise the existing tiering model, clarifying delivery feasibility, youth access constraints, pathway viability, and the adaptations required within each tier.

2) Purpose

To produce an evidence based, gender and protection sensitive analysis of labour supply, labour demand, and intermediation/system functions in the 9 programme states, identifying viable employment/enterprise pathways for youth and actionable, state-specific recommendations that directly inform Outputs 1–2, annual workplans, partner scopes, and indicator targets. The LMA will provide the analytical foundation to tailor delivery approaches within the existing Tier 1 and Tier 2 designations, identifying what is feasible in practice, where adaptations are needed, and how youth livelihood pathways should be sequenced or modified per state.

3) Objectives & Key Questions

3.1 Core objectives

1. Map labour demand and growth prospects in priority sectors and occupations relevant to youth (15–35), including decent work conditions with consideration for saturation risks and opportunities

2. Profile labour supply (skills, experiences, aspirations, constraints, time use/care) disaggregated by sex, disability, age band, migratory status; include child labour risk lenses.

3. Assess system functions & rules: TVET/training quality and access, job matching practices, finance (formal/informal), inputs/markets, childcare and mobility, documentation/rights, social norms, and workplace protection risks that shape labour outcomes, and strategies for prevention of exploitation and harassment.

4. Prioritise feasible employment/enterprise pathways and interventions (supply, demand, intermediation) for Outputs 1–2, with state-specific partner and policy asks.

3.2 Guiding questions (illustrative, to be finalised at inception)

· Demand & sectors: What sectors/roles are hiring or likely to expand? What vacancies and hard to fill roles exist? What are growth and labour intensity profiles by sector? What are decent work risks (wages, hours, safety, discrimination)? How do employers perceive youth (reliability, soft skills, gender norms), and what barriers limit youth hiring or apprenticeships?

· Supply (youth): What skills/experiences do young women/men possess? What time use and care constraints exist? What are mobility, documentation, and safety constraints (GBV/SEA risks, EORE context)? What are their aspirations, what is their risk appetite and what is their preference for wage versus self-employment. How do youth currently interact with labour and product markets (information channels, brokers, informal networks), and how do mobility, care, documentation and safety shape choices?

· Intermediation/system: How do employers recruit and youths find jobs (networks, agencies, online, “street corners”)? What is the TVET offer and quality (from a youth and employer perspective)? What financial services (VSLAs/MFIs) are accessible, and how are youth accessing and using financial services? What childcare/assistive devices/transport solutions are needed for equitable access? What rules (permits, work rights) matter most for IDPs/returnees/hosts? What micro‑enterprises are viable for technical micro‑enterprise conversion following unsuccessful intermediation attempts?

· Pathways & interventions: Which pathways (wage/self-employment), work-based learning, MSME support, job matching, financial inclusion and policy/advocacy actions are high return and conflict sensitive in each state? How should CfW link to longer term employment/ enterprise?

4) Scope

This Labour Market Assessment (LMA) will examine labour market dynamics, constraints, and opportunities across pre-identified localities in all targeted states, with equal attention to each context. Using a market-systems lens, the assessment will cover both demand-side (employers, value chains, MSMEs) and supply-side (youth capabilities, preferences, barriers) factors, as well as the supporting functions and rules/norms that shape employment outcomes.

The LMA will also incorporate a state‑level feasibility assessment for the programme’s tiered delivery model. This includes analysis of security, mobility, market accessibility, training venue feasibility, communication/connectivity constraints, and artisanal/TVET availability to support community‑based and offline delivery modalities where needed. The scope below defines the geographies, populations, sectors, and how findings will be applied to program design and adaptive implementation.

5) Methodology

5.1.1 MSD-informed analytical framework

For each prioritised state and shortlisted sector/pathway, the analysis will apply an MSD structure by: (i) mapping the core labour-market transaction (job matching / work-based relationships) alongside supporting functions (skills development/TVET, finance, inputs and services, information, transport, childcare and other enabling services) and the rules and norms that shape participation (regulation, documentation, social norms, safety and protection risks); (ii) identifying underlying constraints and “why” they persist (capability, incentives, information failures, coordination gaps, conflict-related disruptions, exclusionary norms); (iii) assessing which market actors have incentives and capacity to address constraints more inclusively and resiliently, and what crowding-in potential exists; and (iv) defining initial system-change hypotheses and a facilitation strategy (temporary support only) to test through pilots and adapt over time.

5.1 Approach

A mixed-methods LMA combining secondary review and primary research, aligned to Mercy Corps’ five module process (scope → plan → literature → primary data → reporting/use). Gender, diversity & inclusion (GDI), protection and “do no harm” are mainstreamed throughout; decent work and child labour standards applied.

5.2 Secondary research

Compile macro labour/economic trends; pre/postcrisis shifts; legal/regulatory landscape; sector studies; prior LMAs; TVET/FSP mappings; security/access notes.

5.3 Primary data collection (examples)

· FGDs with young women/men (segregated by age and sex), caregivers/guardians, and community leaders to probe norms, GBV risk, childcare, mobility, and intergroup tensions. Considerations of seasonal calendars, mobility and access need to be included.

5.4 Sampling & power

Kordofan sampling & access considerations: The sampling plan will intentionally oversample North and South Kordofan relative to other states (within the available budget and access constraints) to enable state- and locality-level insights in high-risk, high-need markets. Where physical access is constrained (e.g., siege conditions, road insecurity), the team will propose safe alternative modalities (remote KIIs, phone-based employer/youth surveys through verified networks, and triangulation with routine market monitoring) and clearly document resulting limitations.

5.5 Assessment Outputs

· Design guidance to minimize market distortion across start‑up kits, MSME grants, apprenticeships, and job‑matching interventions.

Outputs

MSD-specific outputs will include: (i) partner landscape and incentive analysis for each shortlisted sector/pathway; (ii) initial system-change hypotheses and an intervention option set (what to test with whom, and what temporary facilitation would look like); and (iii) an outline of likely scale pathways and sustainability considerations (crowding-in, business models, and post-program continuation risks).

5.6 Gender, protection, disability & safeguarding

· Safeguarding & SIR: staff briefed on first line response/GBV disclosures and safe identification and referral into programme protection services (Activity 2.6).

6) Team Composition & Roles

- Data collection (with support from consultant/firm around training, technical guidance, quality review, etc.)

7) Deliverables & Timeline

The assignment is expected to require 40–60 working days over approximately March–May 2026, with timing adjusted as needed to reflect access, security, and operational constraints across target states.

· March 2026: Desk Review and Inception Phase

- Finalization of data‑collection protocols and clearances

· April 2026: Primary Data Collection

· May 2026: Analysis, Validation & Finalization

- Submission and dissemination of final deliverables, including cleaned datasets and tools

8) Quality Assurance, Ethics & Data Protection

· QC: tool piloting; supervisor backchecks; audio consent (where appropriate); daily data review and cleaning; enumerator retraining loops.

9) Use of Findings (direct programme integration)

For Kordofan, recommendations will explicitly address how to operate under market stress and access constraints (e.g., sequencing activities across more/less accessible hubs, risk-mitigation for employer engagement and job placement, and parameters for CfW wage-setting and transfer values informed by local affordability and market monitoring).

10) Proposed Table of Contents (Final Report)

11. Annexes: Tools, Sample, Tabulations, Market Maps, Consent

11) Qualifications – Individual Consultant, Team of Consultants, or Consulting Firm

· CVs for all key team members, including level of effort (LoE) per person.

12) Proposal Submission