Harnessing Youth Potential for Transformational Impact for SDG and COVID 19 Economic Recovery (Zambia)

Deadline: 25-Jun-21

You are invited to submit Proposals for the Call for selecting Youth Organizations/Associations to participate in a youth business acceleration program to foster youth social inclusion and economic opportunities in three provinces (Lusaka, Central, and Copperbelt) in Zambia.

The overall goal of this project is to support the empowerment and employment of young people between the age 18 to 35 years old, particularly young women, to create transformative change for sustainable development in Zambia. This initiative aims to address some of the challenges while scaling up innovative interventions for youth empowerment and entrepreneurship resulting in the improvement of the livelihoods, income earning opportunities, wellbeing and resilience of young people, especially young women and people living with disabilities.

Objectives

The objective of the UNDP Call for Proposals for the youth business acceleration programme to foster youth social inclusion and economic opportunities in the three selected provinces in Zambia namely, Lusaka, Central, and Copperberlt is to identify eligible youth organizations/associations to support youth-led businesses to increase their entrepreneurship skills and income generating activities.
More specifically, priority will be given to the Proposals that aim to achieve the following objectives:
- Promote business or income generating activities in the agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism sectors in Lusaka, Central, and Copperbelt provinces of Zambia
- Promote business or income generating activities for young women and young people with disabilities.
Applicants are advised to consider contribution to the achievement of SDGs as well as goals and objectives of the Provincial Development Plans (where applicable).

Funding Information

Organizations are expected to submit:

A list of 40 individual business projects (with at least 24 led by young women and 4 by young with disabilities) with clear descriptions.
A total budget for 8 individual projects (led by at least 5 young women and 1 youth with disabilities and at least USD 4,500 per individual youth project) and associated management costs to the equivalent in Zambian Kwacha of USD 40,000 total at the United Nations Official Rate of Exchange UNORE (UN Operational Rates of Exchange – Rates) applicable at the time of the submission. The awarded youth organization/association will administer the funds to the chosen individual projects. Co-funding and in-kind contributions are strongly encouraged.

Targeted Provinces

The project shall be implemented in three provinces of Zambia (Lusaka, Central, Copperbelt). Submissions will need to take into consideration activities implemented by youth in these provinces i.e. final decisions will be made to ensure a fair distribution of activities implemented in all these provinces. As a result, submissions are encouraged to target the rural districts of the three provinces where there is a clear business case for implementing activities in line with the targeted economic sectors.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for this call, an applicant (youth association/organization) must meet the following criteria for the selection:
- Youth organization or association officially registered in Zambia for at least two (02) years (applications to be accompanied by proof of registration with relevant authorities (e.g NYDC, PACRA, Registrar of NGOs and Registrar of Societies);
- Independent, non-political affiliated organizations;
- Experience in the management of either donor funded micro-grants or GRZ loans with budget amounts equal to or more than amounts being requested;
- Membership comprises representation from young women and youth with disabilities (submit list of members with their NRCs);
- Youth organisations or associations must be able to submit a list of 40 individual business projects (at least led by 24 young women and 4 by young with disabilities) with clear descriptions as required in Annex I) for participating in the youth entrepreneurship skill training, and;
- Youth organisations or associations must be able to submit a budget for 8 individual business projects, including other associated costs, in one of the following sectors: agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, transport that will receive the micro-grants through the organization/association. It is important to note that these 8 individual business projects will be selected from the list of 40 individual business projects that were initially submitted with the proposals. Final selected 8 individual business projects will be done to ensure gender promotion and inclusiveness by providing quotas for business projects led by young women and youth with disabilities.
Specific criteria for youth individual business promoters:
- Youths within the associations with or without general education qualifications are eligible to be included;
- Youths within the associations must be aged between 18 – 35 years of age at the time of selection;
- Youths within the organization must be available and accessible to attend entrepreneurship training for the entire training period, and;
- The association/organization must have valid bank accounts indicting Bank Name, Account Number, Branch Name, Swift Code, Sort Code and TPIN number (a letter from the Bank should be attached confirming the Bank Details).
NOTE: Applications must satisfy the eligibility criteria applicable. Youth organizations/associations are expected to submit one application per organization/association detailing the comprehensive and detailed list of 40 individual youth business projects ( at least 24 projects led by young women and 4 youth with disabilities – more is welcome from your submission)