Tenders Are Invited For Digital Local Services Marketplace For Refugee And Host Community Youth In Turkana And Garissa

Tenders are invited for Prospects Kenya: Digital Local Services Marketplace for Refugee and Host Community Youth in Turkana and Garissa. 1.2 Operational context of the assignment In response to the challenges facing both host communities and refugees, a partnership initiative titled: **PROSPECTS - Partnership for improving Prospects for host communities and forcibly displaced persons**1, funded by the Government of the Netherlands and jointly implemented by IFC, ILO, UNHCR, UNICEF, and the World Bank, the ILO leads on employment and labour market systems interventions. In Kenya, PROSPECTS aims to improve sustainable living conditions for refugees and host communities by increasing access to livelihoods and employment in safe and decent work. Within this framework, ILO has supported interventions related to digital skills, employment services, career guidance, and transition-to-work models for refugees and host communities in Turkana and Garissa. These efforts have generated valuable lessons. A central lesson is that employability support alone is insufficient where partners do not have direct access to real labour demand or credible market demand. Another is that many conventional providers struggle to deliver employment outcomes in remote counties. A third lesson is that where multiple partners operate at once, duplication in targeting can reduce efficiency and undermine programme credibility. For this reason, ILO intends to engage an organization that operates digital local services marketplaces - platforms that connect clients or customers with local service providers through digital intermediation. This refers to platforms that connect clients or customers with workers such as artisans, technicians, home service providers, resellers, beauty workers, creative service providers, and other location-service-based workers through profile-based digital intermediation and client selection. The organization should be able to demonstrate one or more of the following characteristics: They have an operational digital platform that enables individuals or service providers to create profiles, showcase their skills or services, and connect with clients or customers. They facilitate client discovery, provider selection, service visibility, and access to paid work opportunities through digital intermediation. They have an existing or emerging user base, client base, marketplace activity, service demand, or commercial demand relevant to the target groups under this assignment. They are able to onboard, activate, and support participants, including refugees and host community members, to strengthen profile quality, visibility, customer engagement, and access to work opportunities. They are able to support or facilitate skills recognition, upskilling, tooling and retooling, mentorship, soft skills development, and work-based learning. They are willing and able to strengthen platform practices in line with decent work principles. The selected organization will therefore be engaged to identify, onboard, activate, support, and track participants on their platform to access paid work opportunities. Objective The overall objective of this assignment is to increase access to decent work opportunities for refugee and host community youth in Turkana and Garissa through digital local services marketplace. The ILO seeks to engage an organization to support the transition of up to 200 youth, previously trained by other institutions, into sustainable local and international work opportunities, including remote and digitally enabled work**.** The assignment will focus on demand-driven approaches that combine assessment, matching, activation or placement, and retention support. Specifically, the selected organization will: Assess participant readiness and align skills with labour market or marketplace demand. Provide targeted employability support where necessary to enable access to work opportunities. Facilitate access to work through activation in digital service marketplaces. Provide mentorship, job search support, and follow-up to strengthen retention and progression. Engage employers, clients, and platforms to secure and sustain opportunities. Leverage partnerships with government, private sector, and digital platforms to expand access to work opportunities. Scope of the Assignment The selected organization will be expected to deliver an end-to-end market access service that begins with verified marketplace demand or credible client demand and ends with measurable activation and retention outcomes. The work should be practical, demand-driven, and adapted to the realities of Turkana and Garissa. Full scope details, deliverables, and reporting requirements for this assignment are set out in the track specific terms of reference referenced under How to Apply below. Required experience and qualifications Organizations responding to this ToR should demonstrate strong institutional capacity and relevant experience operating a digital local services marketplace. The selected organization should meet the following minimum requirements: Be a legally registered organization (for profit firm or non profit entity) eligible to contract in Kenya or able to operate lawfully in Kenya through an appropriate local arrangement. Have prior experience working with youth, marginalized populations, or programmes operating in fragile, refugee-hosting, or low-resource settings. Experience in Turkana, Garissa, or comparable settings will be an advantage. Demonstrate sound safeguarding, worker welfare, and grievance-handling practices. Have strong financial and operational management systems sufficient to manage a results-based contract. At least five years of relevant operational experience in one or more of the following: Operation of digital local services marketplaces Digital marketplace management Client acquisition and service intermediation through digital platforms Platform-based business development Digital intermediation of local services or work opportunities An operational local digital platform that enables individuals or service providers to create profiles, showcase offerings, and connect with clients or customers. Evidence of existing or emerging user activity, marketplace demand, client traffic, service requests, transactions, or other credible indicators of platform use and commercial viability. Proven experience in onboarding, activating, supporting, or managing participants or service providers in platform-mediated environments. The ability to support or facilitate skills recognition, upskilling, tooling and retooling, mentorship, soft skills development, work-based learning, or related capability-building functions that contribute directly to improved marketplace outcomes. The ability and willingness to strengthen platform practices in line with decent work principles, including transparency, inclusion, fairness, accountability, and grievance-handling. Organisations that are primarily training institutions, or whose main comparative advantage lies in delivering training without demonstrated platform activity or credible marketplace demand, are not the target of this assignment. How to apply Applicants should apply through the track that matches their organizational status, to ensure their application reaches the right evaluation process. For Profit Firms For profit firms will be engaged as the service provider under a Service Contract. Full terms of reference and application instructions are available at: https://www.ungm.org/Public/Notice/307862 Non-Profit Organizations Non profit organizations full terms of reference and application instructions are available at: https://www.ilo.org/prospects-kenya-engagement-implementing-partners-digital-local-services Applications submitted through the wrong channel will be rejected. Non-profit organizations must apply only through the instructions provided in the above link, and for-profit firms must apply only through UNGM. For questions, contact [email protected] Closing Date: 9 Aug 2026 Type: Consultancy Tender Link : https://reliefweb.int/job/4222161/prospects-kenya-digital-local-services-marketplace-refugee-and-host-community-youth-turkana-and-garissa