Terms of Reference

Implementing Partner for provision of:

Implementation of Soft Skills Training and Internship Enhancement
(for NGOs/NPOs only)

ILO Country Office for the United Republic of Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda

Project: Boosting Decent Jobs and Enhancing Skills for the youth in Rwanda’s digital economy

1. Background

Promoting decent jobs for youth in Rwanda’s digital economy

The project “Boosting Decent Jobs and Enhancing Skills for Youth in Rwanda's Digital Economy” is implemented by the International Labour Organization (ILO), with financial support from the Government of Luxembourg. It is part of the ILO/ITU/AU Joint Programme on Decent Jobs for Africa’s Youth in the Digital Economy, under the umbrella of the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth. The Joint Programme is implementing interventions that empower African youth, ensure they benefit from new opportunities in Africa’s growing digital economy and steer it forward with their energy and creativity. The joint programme is continental in scope and is implemented across nine countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda.

In Rwanda, the project aims to support Rwanda’s structural transformation and contribute to a just transition towards an economy and society enabled by digital technologies. Its main goal is to enable more young women and men in Rwanda to access decent jobs in Rwanda’s digital economy, focusing on the youth between the age brackets of 16 and 30 years from Secondary Cities as well as Kigali. The three main components of the project are: (i) Promoting decent job creation and entrepreneurship opportunities in the digital economy, (ii) improving digital skills of young women and men, and (iii) facilitating young people’s transition to decent work in the digital economy.

As Rwanda advances toward its goal of becoming a knowledge-based economy, digital transformation is creating new pathways to employment—particularly for young people. However, despite the expanding opportunities, many youth continue to face significant barriers in entering the workforce. These challenges include a mismatch between skills required by employers and those taught in the formal educational system. Young people often also lack work experience, including opportunities to practice and strengthen core and soft skills such as communication, time management, and adaptability, which are critical for professional success.

The Government of Rwanda has emphasized the need to equip youth with both technical and soft skills to meet the evolving demands of the labour market. Despite the growing availability of internship opportunities, recent assessments highlight critical challenges related to soft skills and workplace readiness. Feedback from employer companies—particularly in ICT—indicates that fresh graduates often lack essential interpersonal, communication, and time management skills, even when technically qualified.

The project supports national efforts to equip young people for the transition from education to decent work. This includes strengthening the role of existing internship programmes as a catalyst for young people to further strengthen their skills, gain critical work experience and facilitate their transition to decent jobs.

Strengthening internships as a stepping stone to decent jobs for young people

Rwanda’s National Internships Programme (NIP) is led by the Ministry of Public Service and Labour (MIFOTRA) and offers recent graduates with a university degree the possibility to apply for a 3 to 6 months internship. Interns are placed nationwide either in public sector institutions or in private sector companies. During their internship, interns receive a monthly stipend through the NIP – which employers may choose to top-up.

MIFOTRA and the ILO are partnering in developing a comprehensive and structured approach for the National Internships Programme (NIP) in the digital economy to embed soft skills development throughout the internship experience. As part of broader efforts to further strengthen the NIP, the intervention contributes to improving the quality and relevance of internship experiences through the development of contextualized soft skills content and updated guidance tools for interns and host institutions. This initiative recognizes that soft skills are essential for young people to thrive in the workplace—and that accessible, engaging training delivery can significantly enhance their confidence, adaptability, and long-term employability.

Through close collaboration with the private sector—particularly in digitally enabled sectors—the project will support the expansion of the NIP programme as well as a mechanism for the continuous improvement of the quality of internships to maximize the learning experience of young people and their chances to use internships as a catalyst to secure future employment. This involves the development soft skills training material and targeted training modules informed by employer feedback and aligned with workplace realities. These modules will cover key areas such as digital etiquette, remote collaboration, adaptability, problem-solving, and professional communication, among other areas.

Contributions also include technical inputs to strengthen existing training frameworks and digital platforms, reinforcing national efforts to embed soft skills development within the internship ecosystem. In parallel, the intervention supports ongoing engagement with the private sector to promote greater participation in the NIP—particularly in digitally enabled sectors and occupations. Collectively, these contributions aim to reinforce the NIP as a responsive and future-oriented platform for youth employability in Rwanda.

2. Overall Objective

The ILO is seeking the services of an implementing partner to coordinate and roll out core and soft skills trainings for interns of the National Internship Programme with a focus on employers and occupations in digital enabled sectors.

 3. Scope of work

The assignment comprises the following scope of work:

Implement and refine soft skills training to 200 interns in 4-6 batches:

• In agreement with the NIP management and the ILO select 30 trainers to receive training of trainers on soft skills curriculum tailored to ICT-enabled roles.
• Coordinate with NIP to identify a government-owned centre for training delivery in Kigali and selected secondary cities.
• Select eligible interns in cooperation with NIP (priority will be given to interns that are placed with a private sector employer and are in an ICT related role). Undertake baseline and endlines after 4 months of the training.
• Deliver 40 hours of training to each intern (across 4-6 batches), with content structured to allow for progressive skill development, practical exercises, and peer learning. The implementing partner is responsible for all parts of the training delivery, including providing a suitable venue. Interns should be supported through an adequate transportation allowance.
• The training sessions will be delivered in an interactive and inclusive manner, with regular monitoring of attendance and engagement. Interns will undergo pre- and post-training assessments to measure growth in soft skills, and feedback will be collected from both interns and trainers to refine subsequent batches.
• Conduct a mid-cycle workshop after the first batch to assess curriculum effectiveness, gather feedback, and refine training content as needed. The workshop will also be informed by the pre and post training assessment conducted with all interns. Feedback on the course content, delivery methods, and practical impact will inform adjustments to improve future sessions and module.
• Resume training delivery with adjusted modules based on workshop feedback, ensuring consistency across all batches.
• Inform the digitisation of the course and engage in technical discussions to ensure the e-version is of equal impact to the in-person.

Deliverable 1a: Mid-Cycle Review and Validation Workshop Report, including feedback from participants, key adjustments to training content, and recommendations for the remaining 2/3 of the training delivery. Training Implementation Report, including feedback from participants, refined training content, and lessons learned.

Deliverable 1b: Final Training Implementation Report, including participant feedback, refined training content, and lessons learned.

Organise a one-day high-level graduation and job fair, in collaboration with NIP, to officially present the NIP expansion to the digital sector. The event will feature testimonials from interns and employers, public recognition of outstanding employer partners, and graduation ceremony of the 200 interns.

Deliverable 2a: Graduation of 200 interns from the Soft Skills Programme.

Deliverable 2b: Job fair featuring ICT companies, organized in partnership with employer representatives.

3. Key Deliverables and Timeframe

The tasks under this assignment include the following:

5. Payment arrangements

The payment arrangements proposed for the assignment are as follows:

6. Reporting Lines 

The selected Implementing Partner will work under the direct supervision of ILO Project Team and the Specialists of the Decent Work Country Team and the Regional Office. This engagement includes regular planning and progress meetings, joint discussions and missions, and agreement on research methods for the various technical areas covered under this intervention.

7. Submission 

The interested Implementing Partner should submit a technical, financial proposal and evidence of proven technical expertise and institutional and financial capacity no later than 20 June 2025 4pm [Kigali time] to  rwaprocurement@ilo.org 

The Technical Proposal

The technical proposal should provide a comprehensive outline of the Implementing Partner’s capacity to successfully deliver on the scope of work outlined in this ToR. At a minimum, it should include the following components:

1. A detailed implementation plan, clearly outlining key activities, deliverables, and milestones for each phase of the assignment. The work plan should reflect a deep understanding of the soft skills curriculum, stakeholder engagement processes, and field-level operationalization, especially in the context of decentralized implementation across Kigali and selected Secondary Cities.

1. A portfolio of relevant work showcasing the organization’s experience with similar youth employment, digital skills, or soft skills development initiatives. Preference will be given to proposals that demonstrate prior collaboration with UN agencies, development partners, or government institutions in the delivery of training or capacity-building programs.
2. A staffing proposal including a gender-balanced team structure, detailing roles, responsibilities, and levels of effort. The CVs of key personnel—particularly those leading training implementation, content refinement, and stakeholder engagement—should clearly highlight their experience and qualifications in line with the technical areas described in this ToR.
3. An overview of how the Implementing Partner intends to coordinate with relevant stakeholders including the National Internship Programme, host employers, government partners, and digital platform providers. The proposal should outline mechanisms for inclusive engagement and feedback integration from interns and employers throughout the implementation cycle.
4. Evidence of organizational structure and financial viability to independently deliver the assignment. This may include a valid registration certificate, recent financial audits (from the past two years), and internal management frameworks such as risk management protocols, safeguarding policies, and codes of ethics or conduct.
5. At least one example of a report or toolkit previously developed by the organization on a similar topic, preferably under contract with the UN or other development institutions

All submitted documents will be treated with strict confidentiality and should be compiled in a single PDF file Maye possible.

The Financial Proposal

1. The financial proposal is to include a detailed breakdown of cost per activity and must be submitted in USD. It should reflect all anticipated costs required to successfully implement the assignment, including but not limited to Personnel costs); Training implementation costs; Content validation and finalization; Communication; Monitoring and reporting; Reasonable administrative and overhead costs.
2. The financial proposal should be accompanied by a short budget narrative that explains the rationale for each cost component. A contingency line (up to 5%) may be included where clearly justified.
3. All interested organizations may submit questions related to this ToR to rwaprocurement@ilo.org no later than 11 June 2025, 4 PM Kigali time. Responses will be shared with all interested parties by Close of Business on 17 June 2025.
4. Please note that incomplete submissions will not be considered. All financial proposals and supporting documents will be treated as strictly confidential and will not be made publicly available.

The technical proposal should provide a comprehensive outline of the Implementing Partner’s capacity to successfully deliver on the scope of work outlined in this ToR. At a minimum, it should include the following components.

8. Selection Criteria

The selected Implementing Partner (NGO/Non-for Profit) will have a mix of expertise and qualifications in the focus areas related to this ToR. Evaluation of the suitability of the Implementing Partner to work on this assignment will be made against the following selection criteria: