Quarterly Report FY 17 Q2 January – March 2017

April 2017

DJIBOUTIAN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (WFD)

QUARTERLY REPORT

FY17 Q2 JANUARY – MARCH 2017

April 2017

USAID/DJIBOUTI COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT

AID-603-A-17-00001

Prepared for:

Rabihah Mateen, AOR

United States Agency for International Development/Djibouti

Prepared by:

Education Development Center

43 Foundry Avenue

Waltham, MA 02453-8313

USA

Table of Contents

Acronyms and Abbreviations ...... 4

Executive Summary ...... 5

Program Activities and Outcomes ...... 6

Narrative and Discussion ...... 7

Life of Project Work Plan ...... 12

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Plan ...... 12

WFD Preliminary Private Sector and Labor Market Analysis ...... 13

Preliminary Gender Assessment (PGA) ...... 13

Activities Proposed for the Coming Quarter ...... 14

Annex A – Regions and Districts of Djibouti ...... 16

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Acronyms and Abbreviations

ANEFIP Agence Nationale de l’Emploi, de la Formation et de l’Insertion Professionnelle (National Agency for Training and Professional Integration)

CFPA Centre de Formation Professionnelle pour les Adultes (Vocational Training Center for Adults)

CNSS Caisse Nationale de la Sécurité Sociale (National Social Security Fund)

District Quartier in French

DQA Data Quality Assurance

EDC Education Development Center, Inc.

GoDj Government of the Republic of Djibouti

MENFOP Ministry of Education and Professional Training

MOF Ministry of Finance

MOL Ministry of Labor

M&E Monitoring and Evaluation

PIRS Performance Indicator Reference Sheet

Quartier District in English

SME Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

TIG TakingITGlobal

TVET Technical and Vocational Education and Training

USAID United States Agency for International Development

WFD Djiboutian Workforce Development Project (Projet d’Employabilité de la Main d’Oeuvre Djiboutiennne (Projet PED)

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Executive Summary

The Djiboutian Workforce Development Project (WFD) started in the second quarter of the 2017 USAID fiscal year. An advance team came in January to lay the groundwork for the permanent staff that arrived on the project at the end of January. In the two ensuing months four deliverables were produced. By the end of the quarter, solid relationships were established with three principle partners, the Agence Nationale de l’Emploi, de la Formation et de l’Insertion Professionnelle (ANEFIP), the Ministry of Education and Professional Training (MENFOP) and the Chamber of Commerce.

Through meetings, discussions, interviews and focus groups conducted through the Gender and Labor Market Assessments, there was a growing awareness that many of the initial assumptions and expectations underlying the design phase of the project needed to be reassessed. The work plan and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plan reflect the realities encountered. The project will be working through, and supporting partner activities as opposed to organizing activities independently. Including more agencies in decision making will result in slower startup but presents an opportunity to get buy in and ownership of the project by the partners, and build in sustainability from the beginning of WFD project.

The ANEFIP is focused on expanding their network into the regions and districts by providing entrepreneurial training and satellite locations. This provides a gateway into the informal sector. WFD will have the opportunity to work hand in hand with them on this endeavor and expand in the coming year. Part of this program will be to have EDC partners Souktel and TakingITGlobal (TIG) work with ANEFIP to perfect the application and platform they have started.

The MENFOP has opened its doors to collaborating in several areas. In the immediate future, WFD is supporting their effort to bring together schools in 17 filières (career paths) in a national Olympiad. The ANEFIP and the Chamber of Commerce have been invited to the event. WFD will continue to work with all three partners to expand the number of filières and subsequent related business that support the event next year. In addition, events such as the Olympiad motivate businesses to become active participants in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) learning process by not only sponsoring events where students

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can demonstrate their skills and provide opportunities for student and teachers alike to experience the workplace through externships.

WFD is collaborating with the MENFOP to adapt and incorporate Work Readiness into CFP curriculum. This may be a gateway to the TVET curriculum that has just been revised and will be validated next year, presenting an opportunity to incorporate career exploration and soft skills into each career path.

The MENFOP is willing to explore the possibility of organizing student by career pathway in the technical schools to form vocational youth groups that practice leadership skills as a routine part of building organizational skills.

The Chamber of Commerce is the vital link to businesses in the both the formal and informal sectors. During this quarter it organized groups of businesses (SMEs1, construction, tourism). Together with ANEFIP and MENFOP bridges are being built technical schools and related businesses and industry.

At the core of WFD, administrative staff has been hired and the focus is shifting to recruiting curriculum and training specialists to work closely with formal and non-formal training programs through the partners. Cardno, Souktel and TIG will be coming on line in the next quarter. Program Activities and Outcomes

Summary table based on work plan/M&E indicators with movement toward indicators during the quarter.

Four deliverables were submitted this quarter.

 Life of Project Work plan – February 28

 Monitoring and Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Plan – March 31

 WFD Preliminary Private Sector and Labor Market Analysis – April 7

 Preliminary Gender Assessment – March 31

Reporting on the following indicators will begin in the 4th quarter of 2017 (July – September)

1 SMEs are non-subsidiary, independent firms, which employ less than a given number of employees. This number varies across countries.

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 Sub IR 1: Quality vocational workforce readiness programs expanded

 Sub IR 2: Sustainable, productive linkages between TVET institutions and employment providers developed

 Sub IR 3: Job placement, retention and advancement services strengthened

Narrative and Discussion

The project officially started on December Current Staffing 30, 2016, and runs through December 29, Chief of Party Roger Steinkamp, PhD 2021. EDC immediately sent in an advance Deputy Chief of Party Rene Djamen team to lay the groundwork for the project Gender Specialist Zahra Youssouf Kayad followed by the Chief of Party (COP) at the M&E Specialist Ismail Ahmed Awaleh end of January. Key personnel (Gender and Logistics Specialist Moustapha Ali Guedi M&E Specialists) were also hired and Office Manager Goumaati Adou Ali working by the end of January. The Deputy Financial Officer Ali Adan Hassan Chief of Party (DCOP) was in country by Accountant TBA the end of February. Several EDC Home Office staff reinforced the newly hired staff on the ground during the startup phase in this quarter. Office space was identified, housing for expats rented, vehicles identified and administrative staff hired. The Logistics Manager came on board immediately and the others (Financial Officer, Accountant, and Office Manager) will be on board early next quarter.

Once key personnel was on the ground, a series of meetings, beginning with USAID and subsequent meetings with partners (ANEFIP, MENFOP, Chamber of Commerce, and MFA) set the stage for project startup and began the dialogue through which the project will unfurl. In addition, meetings were held with many donors (ADF, UNOPS, UNICEF, WFP) involved in workforce development; private industry (Port authorities, Al Gamil, SMEs, Construction Companies); Camp Lemonnier (Inspector); and a host of focus groups during the Gender Assessment, and Labor Market Analysis.

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The official launch of the project was held on Sunday, March 5, 2017, at the Kapinski Hotel. All the major stakeholders were present with high expectations. What emerged from discussions with our partners and stakeholders was a diversity of expectations for the project plus a variety of assumptions that needed to be addressed. The majority of the first quarter was spent “ground-truthing” expectations and assumptions that underlie the project and making adjustments to the work plan and subsequent M&E Plan.

Taking time to involve the MENFOP, ANEFIP and the Chamber in the decision making is resulting in an adjustment and harmonization of the vision and expectations for the WFD project.

Some major adjustments include:

 The project working through the three major partners, ANEFIP,

MENFOP and the Chamber of Young women discussing unemployment and Commerce to deliver training on their future in a gender study focus group. employability and technical skills as opposed to engaging directly with NGOs. The MENFOP and the ANEFIP envision two major programs that WFD is entering into partnership with them to develop and promote.

 The Olympiad to be held in April, in part, grew out of conversations with the Director General and Head of Curriculum Development. This type of competition is not new, but using an event as a catalyst to bring together students with businesses is relatively new concept. This year MENFOP succeeded in organizing competitions in the following career paths.

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Competition between classes Competition between schools Masonry Plumbing Wood working Residential Electricity Architectural planning Industrial Electricity Tile work Air Conditioner maintenance and repair Painting Welding Auto Body work/painting Auto Mechanics Auto Electrical Repair Cooking Computer Maintenance Wood craftsmanship Embroidery

The objectives of the competitions are:

1. Promote career pathways

2. Recognize students who have chosen technical education

3. Demonstrate student competencies

4. Create work simulation

5. Teach teamwork

6. Promote a spirit of innovation and invention

The participating schools:

Lycées (technical schools) Training centers Lycining centers et Commercial (LIC) Centre de Formation Professionnelle pour Adultes (CFPA) Lyctre de Formation Professionn Ecole Mde Formation Professionn Lycle Mde Formation Professionnell Centre de Formation de lessio Lyctre de Formation de lessionnell Lyctre de Formation de lessionn Lyctre de Formation de lessionLTH) Lyctre de Formation de lessio

Professionals and teachers will judge the competitions.

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WFD arrived at the time when the majority of planning had been completed by the MENFOP but is supporting the event. It is now part of the planning committee that will expand the activity in coming years. WFD also played a role to bring in the Chamber of Commerce and the ANEFIP.

The ANEFIP is planning to launch an “Entrepreneurship Caravan” in April-May. The plan calls for a six-day training in entrepreneurship. This pilot training will consist of training approximately 20 students in each of the five regions. All the students have diplomas and have an interest in launching a business.

The main objective of the Caravan is to help the group of students develop business ideas and then develop the best into viable business plans. To coach the group as they start the business over the coming year. WFD is supporting this program and will help expand it over the coming years.

 Developing curriculum centrally with the MENFOP advisors for the technical training schools (TVETs, CFPA, and private schools) as opposed to working directly with schools. This has advantages for ultimate sustainability and better suits the administrative structure of the TVET school system. The Ministry has developed plans that the project can support and is a very willing partner. It will mean an adjustment in job descriptions and activities in the project, but still accomplish the same purpose.

 The groundwork is being laid with the ANEFIP and the Chamber of Commerce to expand the program from the formal to informal economy in order to reach 40,000 job seekers and/or employers during the course of the project. Activities will extend beyond the technical schools, and reach out to the larger informal sector where the majority of businesses reside. The ANEFIP is planning to establish satellite locations throughout the country to be closer to their clients. Initially they will open one location and in each region. Subsequently, they are planning to reach into each of the 20 districts (quartiers) (see Annex A).

The Chamber of Commerce serves not only larger, established businesses but reaches out to SMEs that are on the frontier of the informal sector. SMEs are normally registered businesses that pay taxes and conform to required inspections. On the other side of this frontier are informal businesses that

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usually are “off the radar” for various reasons, but usually because they don’t have enough profit to pay taxes and/or cannot afford inspection. Both the Chamber and the ANEFIP are eager to reach out to the informal sector. WFD training will be a key component. Starting with the known SMEs, WFD plans to help the ANEFIP and the Chamber reach into the informal sector.

This means the project will have a dual focus. First is to tackle the formal job sector where constraints are fairly well documented with the MENFOP taking the lead through the established technical education system. Emphasis will be to reinforce career exploration early in the students’ education by adapting and adopting elements of Work Readiness into the curriculum. And then reinforcing the “stages” required in technical schools where students do externships with businesses in their career paths

Secondly, WFD will address unemployment in the informal sector through initiatives undertaken with the ANEFIP and the Chamber of Commerce. This is where the vast majority of both jobs and unemployment are located.

In addition, the ANEFIP has initiated the first steps in developing an app to complement the database they already have of job seekers. WFD will be bringing in its partners Souktel and TIG to support the initiative and perfect the platform to link job seekers with employers and, at the same time, provide vital information on the informal sector that is largely “off the radar”.

 All partners seem to agree that there is a large disparity between available jobs and the number of job seekers. The number of job seekers in the ANEFIP’s database of job seekers (26,000) vs. approximately 300-400 offers gives a ratio of about 70 seekers per job. The Labor Market Study will shed some light on these phenomena. Bear in mind this is the formal sector and does not consider the thousands of businesses in the informal sector. However, it has serious implications for strategies developed with the three partners. This will become clearer as the project progresses. There appears to be general agreement that a better balance needs to be found between offers and seekers. WFD is working with the ANEFIP to develop a better product and marketing plan to promote the use of the agency.

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The caveats outlined above do not alter the scope or the purpose of WFD. However, the work plan and M&E will be affected as to focus and timing.

Life of Project Work Plan

An extra 30 days was accorded EDC to submit the work plan. During this period, the caveats to implementation were evolving. The comments on the first submission and subsequent revision indicate this. It also reflects the dynamics of coordinating work among the three principle partners and stakeholders.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Plan

The MEL Plan was submitted on March 31, 2017. The purpose of this Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan (MEL Plan) is to describe how the Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC)-led consortium will plan, implement, monitor, evaluate and document the progress towards achieving the objectives and expected outcomes of the Djiboutian Workforce Development Project (WFD), or Projet d’Employabilité de la Main d’Oeuvre Djiboutiennne (Projet PED).

This MEL Plan proposes indicators against each of the expected results of the activity. It also describes the processes that will be used to perform M&E throughout the life of the activity including a system for ensuring the quality and validity of data collected. Each indicator has a Performance Indicator Reference Sheet (PIRS), presented in the Appendix. A Performance Indicator Table includes the indicators and targets for the activity. The MEL Plan also outlines the following:

 Results framework  Description of data collection and management system  Data Quality Assurance (DQA) overview and data flow  Learning Agenda

The MEL Plan will be systematically based on a process of collection, analysis and reporting of qualitative and quantitative data information, that project team will use to take informed decisions on the project activities management and performance as well as on if necessary make mid-course corrections during the project life.

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Given the evolution of the project work plan, the indicators will most likely need to be revisited by the end of the first year of implementation.

WFD Preliminary Private Sector and Labor Market Analysis

As part of the USAID/Djiboutian Workforce Development Project, Cardno completed a Market Assessment and Partnerships Appraisal. The assessment team is utilized a multi-tiered methodology to analyze market and industry trends, workforce needs in the private sector, scale potential to absorb job seekers, and potential public/private partnerships and incentives to generate added employment. The assessment team conducted an initial desk review of current national statistics to secure and analyze trends in economic growth (by sector), jobs growth (general and by sector) and application and hiring data by sex, level of experience and level of education.

To better understand the job skills needs of employers, as well as validate and expand upon key statistical findings in the job market, the assessment team held individual interviews with owners and managers of individual businesses. In addition, the assessment team facilitated focus group discussions with businesses in two growth sectors. To gather information from the 'supply' side, the team conducted focus groups with youth, to discuss employment opportunities.

The information collected did validate some of the assumptions made during project design, but also examined the realism and ability to achieve key targets. The assessment will help inform future activities.

Preliminary Gender Assessment (PGA)

The Preliminary Gender Assessment (PGA) was conducted to identify sociocultural, economic, and political factors that shape the lives of young women and young men in Djibouti and to strengthen the project’s understanding of how gender inequalities affect development outcomes for youth in Djibouti. The assessment includes a desk review of secondary data, as well as primary data collection.

The PGA and subsequent recommendations will serve to inform EDC’s implementation of WFD interventions, providing additional insight into the context-specific needs of women and men in equitable access to education, training, and employment opportunities. The findings

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will also help EDC and its partners to refine the technical approach and proposed services of this project, inform targets related to women’s participation in project activities, guide capacity building for training institutions and job centers, and ensure an inclusive and participatory process for young women and young men.

The PGA seeks to answer the following broad-level questions:

 What are key barriers to access to technical and vocational education and training (TVETs) for young women?  How do gender norms impact selection of coursework, career goals and networking opportunities?  What communication strategies might be most effective for reaching young women? Activities Proposed for the Coming Quarter

The third quarter of 2017 will mark the beginning of close collaboration with the four main partners. Activities will require that all partners find common ground in helping job seekers find jobs. WFD will be supporting its partners in the following activities.

1. The entrepreneur caravan initiated by the ANEFIP in the five regions of the country will provide an excellent opportunity to extend the project precociously across the country. This is an attempt by the ANEFIP to extend its reach and develop a program that assists people in starting their own business. WFD will support the effort and partner to revise and expand the program in following years.

2. The technical school Olympiad initiated by the MENFOP that promotes 17 career paths through competitive events supported by industry. The Minister has invited the ANEFIP and the Chamber of Commerce to collaborate in the event. WFD will work with partners to expand to other career paths and solicit greater participation of related industries in planning and sponsoring the event. It is a great motivator and opportunity for both schools and industry.

3. WFD will be working with the MENFOP to incorporate elements of Work Readiness and Work Based Learning into the CFP curriculum. This has the potential of being a

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gateway into incorporating similar elements into TVET curriculum and or extracurricular activities for youth in technical schools.

4. The MENFOP and WFD will be working on supporting teacher externships during the summer school break. The ministry has some support from other donors in this area but much more is needed.

5. The Chamber of Commerce, the ANEFIP and WFD will collaborate to develop a non-formal training program for the informal sector, starting with the group of SMEs identified by the Chamber. Several sets of EDC modules will serve as the foundation for this activity.

6. Souktel and TIG, two IT partners of WFD will be assessing needs of the ANEFIP platform that will be launched in the coming weeks. The ANEFIP has taken the lead in developing an application to input job seekers and employers into the database they keep. WFD will assist in perfecting the platform and make it more user friendly and interfacing with more traditional means of communication. Teams will do initial recon work in May.

7. Administratively, WFD will bring on two more staff members to work in formal and non-formal curriculum development and training. Cardno anticipates getting staff in country in May. Office space has been selected and being prepared.

8. Although the numbers will be modest in the initial activities, it will coalesce the partners into a coordinated and strong team to take on the daunting task that lies ahead.

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Annex A – Regions and Districts of Djibouti

Regions of Djibouti

Regions of Djibouti

Region Area (km2) Population (2010) Capital Districts

Djibouti Region 200 529,900 (2015 est.) Djibouti Djibouti

City

Arta Region 1,800 40,163 Arta Arta li Sabieh Region 2,200 71,640 Ali Sabieh Ali Sabieh, Ali Adde, Holhol

Obock Region 4,700 36,083 Obock Moulhoule, Obock, Khor Angar Dadda'to

Tadjourah 7,100 84,041 Tadjoura Lake Asal, Adailou, Balho, Region Mousa Ali, Dorra, Randa, Tadjoura

Dikhil Region 7,200 83,409 Dikhil Dikhil, As Eyla, Galafi, Yoboki

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