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Danish Arab Partnership Programme 2022-2027

Programme Document

Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship

Department for the Middle East and North Africa

Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

October 2021

URU, Alm.del - 2021-22 - Bilag 35: Orientering om ny fase af Dansk-Arabisk Partnerskabsprogram 2022-27

Danish Arab Partnership Programme 2022-2027

Programme Document for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship

Table of Contents

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................................................... III

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 1

CONTEXT, STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS, AND JUSTIFICATION ........................................ 2

2.1

2.2

2.3

ROGRAMME CONTEXT

.............................................................................................................................................. 2

TRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS

................................................................................................................................... 6

USTIFICATION

.............................................................................................................................................................. 9

PROGRAMME OBJECTIVE AND THEORY OF CHANGE........................................................... 12

3.1

3.2

3.3

ROGRAMME OBJECTIVE

.......................................................................................................................................... 12

HEORY OF

HANGE

................................................................................................................................................ 13

ROGRAMME INTERVENTIONS

................................................................................................................................ 16

SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS FRAMEWORK ............................................................................... 24

BUDGET ............................................................................................................................................. 26

IMPLEMENTATION AND MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS ............................................... 27

6.1

6.2

6.3

ROGRAMME PARTNERS

........................................................................................................................................... 27

RGANISATIONAL SET

........................................................................................................................................ 28

ONITORING

EVALUATION

ACCOUNTABILITY

AND LEARNING

................................................................... 30

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, PLANNING, AND REPORTING ................................................ 32

7.1

7.2

INANCIAL MANAGEMENT

....................................................................................................................................... 32

EPORTING

................................................................................................................................................................. 33

RISK MANAGEMENT ....................................................................................................................... 34

CLOSURE ............................................................................................................................................ 35

ANNEX 1

–

PROGRAMME CONTEXT .................................................................................................... 36

ANNEX 1A

–

UPDATE ON THE CONTEXT IN TUNISIA .................................................................... 40

ANNEX 2

–

DETAILED RESULTS FRAMEWORK ................................................................................. 41

ANNEX 3

–

BUDGET ................................................................................................................................. 45

ANNEX 4

–

PARTNER ASSESSMENT ..................................................................................................... 46

ANNEX 5

–

RISK MANAGEMENT ........................................................................................................... 49

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Danish Arab Partnership Programme 2022-2027

Programme Document for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship

List of abbreviations

CSOs

DAC

DAPP

DDD

DFI

DKK

MFA

FDI

GDP

HRI

ICT

IFU

ILO

IMF

ISA

M&E system

MEAL

MEII

MENA

MNC

NGO

RBAS

RBC

SDG

Sharaka

SMEs

TA Fund

ToC

TOR

UNDP

UNICEF

USD

YEE

YSB

Country Offices

Civil Society Organisations

Development Assistance Committee

Danish Arab Partnership Programme

Doing Development Differently

Danish Development Finance Institution

Danish Kroner

Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Foreign Direct Investment

Gross Domestic Product

Human Rights and Inclusion Programme

Information and Communication Technologies

Investment Fund for Developing Countries

International Labour Organisations

International Monetary Fund

International Standards of Auditing

Monitoring and Evaluation system

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning

Middle East Investment Initiative

Middle East and North Africa

Multinational Corporation

Non-governmental Organisations

Regional Bureau of Arab States and North Africa

Responsible Business Conduct

Sustainable Development Goal

Sharaka Capital Fund

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Technical Assistance Fund

Theory of Change

Terms of Reference

United Nations

United Nations Development Programme

United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund

United States of America

United States Dollar

Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Programme

Youth Sounding Board

iii

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Danish Arab Partnership Programme 2022-2027

Programme Document for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship

1 Introduction

The present Programme Document outlines the background, rationale and justification, objectives

and management arrangements for the Danish Arab Partnership Programme (DAPP) 2022-2027

for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship (henceforth the Youth Employment Programme),

funded and managed by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). The Programme will be

implemented in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Jordan (the DAPP partner countries) from 1 July

2022 to 1 July 2027. The Youth Employment Programme constitutes one of two programmes

under the new DAPP; the other focuses on Human Rights and Inclusion.

The Danish Arab Partnership Programme has been a key Danish foreign policy instrument in the

Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region since its inception in 2003. The

initial programme was informed by the situation analysis of the UNDP Arab Human

Development Report (2002) with a dual objective of reform and dialogue. Throughout its

successive phases, the partnership has gradually increased its focus on economic opportunities and

job creation. In DAPP 2017-2022, three separate engagements focused on i) labour market and

social dialogue; ii) youth participation and employment; and iii) entrepreneurship and access to

finance. The current youth employment contexts in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan

–

exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic

–

provide a strong justification for a strengthened and

more integrated focus on youth inclusion, employment and entrepreneurship.

Youth Employment Programme - expected results (20222027)



More than 50,000 men and women have secured a new job/benefit from a job sustained

20,000 young people are included, their skills are built, and they gain a job or establish themselves as

entrepreneurs

At least 30,000 new jobs are created or sustained in SMEs

20-25%

of these jo s are e pe ted to e gree jo s

Up to 100,000 indirect jobs in supply chains, with service providers etc. as a result of the multiplier effect. Research

shows that every direct job created in turn creates 1-2 additional jobs

1,400 SMEs develop, grow and employ more staff

800 SMEs benefit from support to strengthen innovation, develop and mature business ideas and build

their networks

600 SMEs benefit from access to finance and technical assistance

Positive cases of innovation and growth in local companies inspire new dynamic entrepreneurs and

enterprises contributing to stronger business networks

100,000 young people have benefitted from engagement with the programme and have increased employability

through awareness of opportunities, improved life-skills and vocational & technical skills

Strengthened policy framework for doing business and improved social dialogue strengthening the coherence in

labour market

The results framework for the programme will be further refined in the

underlying project documents by the implementing partners.



With this intensified focus on creating a better life for young people, DAPP 2022-2027 is

addressing one of the main concerns related to migration, as youth are the ones most likely to

desire or actively try to emigrate. Although recent events in Tunisia are unsettling, there does not

appear to be any current concerns with continuing to work on youth employment for national and

international organizations, including those under DAPP. Please see Annex 1a for further details

on the current (September 2021) situation in Tunisia.

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Danish Arab Partnership Programme 2022-2027

Programme Document for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship

The Youth Employment Programme will comprise three projects. Project 1 will focus on Youth

Inclusion and Entrepreneurship and will be subject to a tender process. It is foreseen that this

project will build on learnings from DAPP 2017-2022. Project 2 will focus on the establishment

of an SDG Accelerator for Green Growth and Job Creation in each country, which will be

implemented by UNDP’s Nordic Representatives Office in Copenhagen in close cooperation with

UNDP’s country offices

in the four countries. Project 3 will be implemented by the Danish

Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), which will co-invest in the Sharaka Capital

Fund to offer mezzanine finance and technical assistance to SMEs on promising growth paths in

the four countries with the objective of job creation. All three projects will seek to promote green

jobs

when possible, and the SDG Accelerators and Sharaka will have enterprises relevant for

green transition as an explicit target group and as such promote sustainable economic growth.

2 Context, strategic considerations, and justification

2.1 Programme context

The MENA region continues to face severe socio-economic challenges more than a decade after

the Arab uprisings in 2011. Unemployment rates in 2019 among the youth population (15-24 years)

ranged from nearly 26% in Egypt to 37% in Tunisia.

Already worryingly high, these figures have

increased notably following the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the World Bank, COVID-19

has triggered multiple shocks in the MENA countries, which have significantly worsened both

economic and social trends and placed renewed importance on private sector development.

The

employment contexts in the DAPP countries share several commonalities. Unemployment affects

broad segments of the youth population, including youth with higher education, youth with no or

minimal education and youth in both urban and rural areas. The unemployment rate of young

women continues to exceed that of young men in the MENA region and young women with

higher education often have less chance of success in the labour market than their lower educated

peers.

Being middle-income countries, all DAPP countries have relatively large youth populations with

higher education. At the same time, skills acquired through inadequate education and vocational

training systems often do not match labour market needs. The supply of jobs in the public and the

private sectors is insufficient to absorb the large youth generations that enter the job market each

year. As such there are two main challenges related to jobs which the DAPP employment

programme seeks to address i) lack of jobs for the growing youth cohorts; and ii) lack of candidates

with the right qualifications for jobs in the private sector. The focus on job creation is important

in order to address one of the root causes of migration from the DAPP countries. The younger

generations are those who are most likely to emigrate, particularly due to the prevailing economic

conditions and the lack of youth inclusion in their home countries, which is why DAPP has a

strong focus on youth employment.

Youth unemployment and the general lack of inclusion of youth is leading to increased frustration

and dissatisfaction, which may contribute to migration, including brain drain. This is reflected in

various surveys, where a significant percentage of youth do not envision a future in their home

According to the International Labour Organization, the concept of green jobs has not been precisely defined and

universally agreed yet. There are a variety of definitions, but a common theme is preserving and restoring the

environment. Jobs are

‘green’ if they help to reduce negative environmental impacts and ultimately lead to

environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable enterprises and economies. ILO therefore defines ‘green’ jobs

as decent jobs that i) reduce consumption of energy and raw materials; (ii) limit greenhouse gas emissions; (iii) minimise

waste and pollution; and (iv) protect and restore ecosystems.

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.1524.ZS

World Bank: Regional Update

202. Preventing a Lost Decade Unlocking the Region’s Potential.

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Programme Document for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship

countries and express a desire to migrate to countries outside their region

–

especially, but not

exclusively, due to the lack of employment opportunities.

However, the challenges are complex and in addition to lack of jobs and income opportunities,

climate change and unsustainable management of natural resources and human rights violations

all constrain the opportunities for the growing youth cohorts to create a better life for themselves.

These dimensions are mutually reinforcing and can potentially create a vicious circle that can

hamper efforts towards social and economic development. Lack of income opportunities can fuel

unstainable production practices and increase pressure on natural resources, which again reduces

income opportunities. Young women and men in search of jobs and income opportunities may

decide to migrate either outside national borders or within their country (e.g. through a rural

exodus which puts pressure on large cities). This migration can lead to increased pressure on

natural resources in recipient regions or spur conflicts, which can trigger human rights violations.

Similarly, the lack of jobs can contribute to frustrations related to feeling disempowered, lacking a

voice and experiencing basic human rights not being respected

–

which again can drive migration.

Another dimension relates to potential conflicts over scarce resources, which can be negatively

impacted by both migration and unsustainable production methods and can in turn be a driver of

migration. The long-term impact of climate change, such as drought, can compound the scarcity

of natural resources and exacerbate both conflict and migration.

As such, insufficient employment opportunities, lack of respect for human rights, and conflicts

over scarce resources can potentially aggravate and accelerate poverty, instability, fragility, and

increase migration pressure. This potential vicious circle illustrates the challenging situation in the

DAPP countries, where young people remain constrained in relation to economic inclusion and

do not necessarily hold high hopes for their future.

2.1.1 Specific challenges related to youth employment

The private sector in the DAPP countries is dominated by relatively few large companies and a

multitude of

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

(SMEs). The latter provide a potential major

source of new job creation in the MENA economies. Governments in the region recognise the

important role that SMEs can play in delivering higher and more inclusive growth and have

initiated policy interventions and schemes to support SME development.

Nevertheless, progress

so far has been patchy, and the informal economy, which makes up a large part of the private

sector, is not sufficiently targeted in policies.

A particular group of SMEs that can drive growth in the MENA region are the ‘scale-ups’, which

are

SMEs with proven business models

that are undergoing a rapid growth phase. Research

shows that if they are

provided with the right forms of support,

scale-ups can grow rapidly,

enrich the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and have a positive impact on the economy. Successful scale-

ups in the region generate on average eight times more jobs than other SMEs. For the scale-ups

to grow, they need access to finance, talented and skilled labour, foreign markets, large customers,

and a conducive policy environment.

The entry of new firms into the formal sector in the MENA region is low by international

standards. Compared to fast-growing emerging market countries, the rates of firms entering the

formal sector were between two and eight times lower. While 40% of the youth aged 18-24 in the

MENA countries intend to start their own business within the next five years, the start-up and

entrepreneurship promotion ecosystems remain nascent. Key challenges identified are lack of

https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2019/12/13/Enhancing-the-Role-of-SMEs-in-the-

Arab-World-Some-Key-Considerations-48873

https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/m1/en/ideation-center/ic-research/2018/scale-up.html

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Danish Arab Partnership Programme 2022-2027

Programme Document for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship

access to finance, lack of an enabling business environment, uncertain markets, and a need for

further upgrade of human capital in terms of skills in demand.

The IMF estimates that improved

access to finance

for SMEs could create up to 8 million jobs

in the Arab World by 2025.

There is a gap for non-collateral finance in the region. Banks, the

dominating and primary source of financing for SMEs, have high collateral requirements, making

it challenging for small and growing businesses to access loans. According to the World Bank’s

most recent Enterprise Survey, the following statistics constrain SMEs

in MENA:



Only 26% have financed capital expenditures through banks;

84% of business loans require collateral;

The average collateral requirement for a bank loan is 203% of the amount financed.

There is a sizeable

skills mismatch

in the region, as young women and men fail to acquire the

skills required by employers. Nearly 40% of employers in the region indicate that skill gaps are a

major impediment to business growth. Indeed, education systems are poorly aligned with 21

century skills, including digital literacy, financial literacy, skills for a green economy, critical

thinking, collaboration, communication, and problem-solving. Governments are struggling to

adapt education and training to keep pace with the demand on the labour market and youth

expectations.

Despite improvements in the

business environment

in some of the DAPP countries, it generally

remains non-conducive to private sector growth. If it is too costly to start and run a business,

entrepreneurs may choose not to register. SMEs will often seek to avoid formalisation, due to,

among other

things, the heavy bureaucracy and relatively high taxes. There are also the ‘hidden

costs’ of corruption, which is institutionalised in many countries.

2.1.2 Programme target groups and stakeholders

Overall, the programme targets mainly young women and men from 15 to 35 years. It is recognised

that there are different categorisations of youth among countries and international donors. For

example, the UN defines youth as being aged 15 to 24 years. The youth target group is obviously

diverse and the categories of youth targeted by the programme will have multiple levels of capacity,

challenges, and needs in terms of getting on the right path to engaging in productive employment.

There are also demographic differences in the target group, which the programme will take into

account, pertaining to gender inequalities, rural-urban divides, diverse levels of education, etc.

The youth target group in the programme can be divided into two overall categories:

Young people who are aware of opportunities for self-employment and might have

experience with entrepreneurship and starting a business in the formal or informal

economy.

The employment opportunities for this group are based on the logic that these

young women and men will create their own business that will provide the income necessary

to make a living. To create opportunities for this target group, the ecosystem for starting and

running a business needs to be improved, as do both the technical and business skills of the

youth. The individual interventions will consider the country, sector and youth group targeted.

By nature, the type and level of activities will differ and must be tailored to the specific target

group to ensure relevance of the activities and that the individual feels included. Overall, there

https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2019/12/13/Enhancing-the-Role-of-SMEs-in-the-

Arab-World-Some-Key-Considerations-48873

The survey focused on SMEs with 20 to 99 employees.

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Programme Document for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship

will be a focus on youth with a certain level of capacity and drive required to succeed as

entrepreneurs

–

this would typically be young people with a college or university degree.

Young people in search of employment opportunities who have limited exposure to

the labour market and lack the necessary skills that match employer’s needs.

These

youth constitute a relatively large group in the DAPP countries. To prepare these young

people for the labour market they need i) inspiration and motivation; ii) improved technical

and life skills; and iii) enhanced employability. There is a need for well-trained employees at

all levels, both youth with vocational education, those with higher educations, and those with

a lower level of education that have improved their skills by participating in targeted training

courses. To create jobs for this category of youth, the private sector needs to prosper, grow

and create jobs.

A third entry point for the Youth Employment Programme is:

Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises

as this is where a large part of new jobs are created

in the DAPP countries, and hence it is of paramount importance for the Youth Employment

Programme to support SMEs in creating jobs for youth. Beyond the direct jobs that will be

created in the enterprises that the

programme will work with, the increased

economic activities of the enterprises will

Challenges faced by youth in MENA

also contribute to indirect employment

- Much higher unemployment levels than the rest of

creation in the supply chain as well as with

the population.

service providers and vendors.

The focus of the programme is on job creation

and in terms of the entrepreneurs in target group

A, an individual in his/her 30s is still relatively

young and may have solid business ideas that

can create jobs at scale. Unlike the UN definition

of youth as 15-24 years of age, the Youth

Employment Programme utilises the Danida

guidelines, which suggest a definition of youth

up to 35 years

to avoid the exclusion of young

entrepreneurs over the age of 30 as that would

be a lost opportunity.

- Often employed in informal, precarious, low-paid jobs

with limited access to social security.

- Rely on personal networks, such as family and friends

to find jobs, given that education is not a guarantee

to secure a job.

- Mismatch between youth skills and labour market

eeds affe ts outh s e plo a ilit

- Youth unemployment increases proportionally with

levels of education, which increases frustration

- Youth unemployment disproportionally affects young

women

Employment can take many forms from formal decent jobs, irregular jobs in the formal or

informal economy, self-employment in the informal economy, to basic income generating activities

with a high degree of uncertainty. Employment can be full-time, part-time, seasonal and/or

temporary. The Youth Employment Programme is open to support a wide range of different jobs

and employment opportunities responding to the different needs and capacities of the target

groups while maintaining a strong focus on working towards the achievement of decent jobs. The

programme will engage with a multiplicity of partners and target a wide range of youth.

Beyond the two target groups and SMEs, the programme will engage with a large number of

Danish and partner country stakeholders, which among others could comprise:



Youth organisations, CSOs and community organisations who will be involved in outreach

and building capacity of young people;

The term ‘entrepreneur’ can be defined broadly. For example, many of those

who are employed in the informal

economy are self-employed but are often driven by necessity rather than by an entrepreneurial spirit. In the context

of DAPP, entrepreneurs are defined as people with a motivation for starting and running their own business.

Danida AMG: Youth in Development.

https://amg.um.dk/en/tools/youth-in-development/

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Danish Arab Partnership Programme 2022-2027

Programme Document for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship



Training providers involved in improving life skills as well as technical skills of young

people;

Business member organisations engaging in work to strengthen sector coherence and

dialogue with public authorities to strengthen the framework for doing business;

Social partners such as labour unions, employer organisations, and government

representatives that can work to strengthen labour market coherence and promotion of

decent employment;

Finance institutions that can offer a range of financial services to entrepreneurs as well as

SMEs;

Business eco-system stakeholders such as business incubators who work to support start-

ups and SME development.

2.2 Strategic considerations

Having

meaningful and decent employment

is essential to human well-being and is at the core

of the Youth Employment Programme. Employment empowers the individual, not only in

monetary terms but also in increasing self-esteem, respect, and strengthening the ability to form

social networks. Furthermore, employment is an important step for young people’s transition into

adulthood through monetary (and social) independence from family and parents. Studies have

shown that being “blocked” from transition

to adulthood can be a driver of migration.

The Youth

Employment Programme will be complementary to the DAPP Programme on Human Rights and

Inclusion, which directly supports the human rights and youth inclusion agenda in the four

countries.

Interventions of the Youth Employment Programme will be designed to promote a path towards

decent employment. According to the International Labour Organisations (ILO), decent work

sums up the aspirations of people in their working lives: “It

involves opportunities for work that is

productive and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for families, better prospects for

personal development and social integration, freedom for people to express their concerns, organize and participate in

the decisions that affect their lives and equality of opportunity and treatment for all women and men”.

The starting point for job creation is to strive towards decent jobs for all. However, considering

the context, employment created by the programme will not necessarily be

decent jobs

from the

outset and in

all

aspects as defined by the ILO. However, the Programme will work to further a

transition towards better and more secure employment, and the decent work agenda, through

targeted interventions over the course of the five-year programme period.

green transition

can enhance the resilience of economies and societies in the face of both

economic downturns and accelerating environmental challenges by focusing on restoring growth

and creating jobs through the achievement of environmental goals and objectives. A green growth

path and the creation of green jobs are particularly important for the DAPP countries given that

they have scarce natural resources and face increasingly severe impacts of climate change.

The aim of eventually ensuring decent work also places responsibilities on employers. The

programme will therefore also work actively towards enhancing

responsible business conduct

among participating enterprises. This could be done through the inclusion of social partners as

well as through the promotion of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human

Rights and similar instruments.

Jørgen Carling, Hvordan opstår migration. Social Kritik 153/2018 (s. 15)

https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/decent-work/lang--en/index.htm

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A core element of the DAPP interventions is the

facilitation

partnerships

between

implementing organisations and institutions and

partners in the target countries. Through these

partnerships, Danish value policy, innovation,

and expertise will be applied and catalysed in

mutually beneficial relationships. Unlike the

DAPP 2017-2022, the current programme has an

ambition to involve Danish enterprises to

harness potential commercial opportunities in

the MENA region and to engage them actively to

spur further economic activities, growth and

ultimately job creation.

The Youth Employment Programme is designed

and will be implemented in the spirit of

Doing

Development Differently

(DDD), which was

The World We Share

Tra slated fro Da ish Fælles o erde

introduced in 2020 to the Danida Aid

Management Guidelines. The current DAPP

already follows the key DDD principles of

adaptive learning and adaptive implementation according to context

–

underpinned by frequent

dialogue between the MENA DAPP Team and partner organisations. DDD comprises two main

strands to strengthen the relevance and effectiveness of Danish development cooperation: i)

reinforcing the holistic approach; and ii) introducing an adaptive approach with an increased

emphasis on learning. DAPP will focus on ensuring that the different projects across the Youth

Employment Programme have the necessary management set-up and monitoring system to ensure

close coordination and learning between the different projects. This will also help to ensure

complementarity between the interventions.

Furthermore, the programme management design allows DAPP to explore and take advantage of

complementarity with other Danish initiatives in the region. A concrete example is the

‘Partnering

with Denmark’ initiative, which has enabled the posting of a Growth Advisor on renewable energy

in Egypt. Other examples include the Danida Innovation & Business Explorer where Danish

enterprises interested in the DAPP countries can apply for support to explore opportunities, and

the Trade Councils at the Danish Embassies, which assist Danish companies in seeking out

opportunities in the countries. Similarly, there will be close alignment with the new MENA North

Africa development initiative (DKK 200 million 2021-2024) aimed at strengthening relations

between Denmark and North Africa under the political priority of addressing migration. Denmark

is a key contributor to the

Multi Trust Fund for Migration

and provides support to the

International Labour

Organisations’s

regional project on modernizing apprenticeships, development of skills for green

transitions and addressing challenges linked to migration in Africa, which includes Morocco.

Activities under the Youth Inclusion and Employment Project in Morocco should seek to align

activities or build on lessons learned, particularly those pertaining to skills development, from the

Trust Fund. In Jordan, Denmark has been implementing the

Better Work Programme,

which focuses

on ensuring inclusive, sustainable growth, youth empowerment and gender equality through

improvements in working conditions in factories, business competitiveness, active and effectively

functioning worker-management committees and a stronger representation of women in social

dialogue. While the programme is set to end in 2022, there may be scope for building on activities

pertaining to the decent work agenda and social dialogue. Furthermore, Denmark is a key

contributor to the

Multi-donor European Regional Development and Protection Programme (RDPP)

Jordan. The RDPP emphasises support to livelihoods for refugees and host communities and it

The orld s largest ge eratio of hildre a d

young people is a huge resource for sustainable

and lasting change. It is therefore essential that

development cooperation be driven with and by

young people instead of for young people only.

[…]

Across our development efforts, we will support

young people, who work to create positive change.

We will ensure possibilities, so that they will be

listened to and be included as equal and

meaningful partners in the development of their

societies. […]

We ill also ork to ards reati g

opportunities for the large generation of young

people […] so the a e jo a future, here the

live, with education, innovation and decent jobs.

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will be important to coordinate activities, particularly in support of target group B, under the Youth

Employment Programme.

In line with DDD, the project design comprises a dedicated budget for a MEAL Unit to deliver

technical assistance to ensure that learning is captured and can be fed into the programme.

Moreover, funding is set aside in the budget

(see section 5) for ‘acceleration’ of selected activities,

which ensures that successful interventions can access additional funding to further accelerate their

results. This could include the replication of successful activities from one DAPP country in

another or facilitating crowding-in of other stakeholders to take on board approaches and

methodologies developed in order to further scaling up. Furthermore, the acceleration funding

could support the addition of new elements to successful DAPP initiatives with potential wider

impact at sector and national level.

While the challenges discussed in section 2.1.1 cut across the

four DAPP partner countries,

there

are also significant differences between the countries. It will be the responsibility of the programme

partners to adapt the interventions to the respective country contexts. Depending on these

contexts, the programme will identify and target the agricultural value chains and other sectors

such as renewable energy, water, and ICT, with particular potential for creating jobs.

2.2.1 Lessons learned and how they have informed the strategy

The mid-term review of DAPP 2017-2022 confirmed the need to find implementation modalities

that foster stronger and more institutionalised linkages between different job creation

interventions. Furthermore, it confirmed the relevance of interventions targeting the enhancement

of youth employability, entrepreneurship, and access to finance, but that the programme design of

DAPP 2017-2022 did not deliver on creating broader synergies between interventions. Thus, it

was recommended that the next phase of DAPP aim for fewer and larger engagements. While the

number of partners under the new phase may not be reduced, the synergy between their

interventions is reflected at the outcome level with job creation being equally important in all three

projects.

The mid-term review acknowledged that while the difficult economic situation in the MENA

region would continue to present huge challenges for job creation, also for a new DAPP phase,

the DAPP 2017-2022 had succeeded in creating relevant employment opportunities, including

programme ambitions to create opportunities for vulnerable youth. At the same time, the review

found that the programme focused on a large number of different interventions that often targeted

only relatively few young men and women. As some of the defined outputs did not lead directly

to increased economic opportunities for youth, it was recommended that the next phase should

prioritise interventions that would more directly lead to preserving and/or creating new jobs in

order to reach young men and women at a larger scale. This has led to a stronger focus on

employment and growth in the private sector and to the introduction of a new intervention area

private sector development and specifically SME development

in order to harness their

job creation potential.

The development of the DAPP interventions in the Youth Employment Programme have

benefitted from numerous consultations and mapping of existing initiatives with other donors in

order to elicit lessons learned and to initiate dialogues on possible collaboration and coordination

with the programme that can be operationalized further ahead in the process.

2.2.2 Synergies

The longstanding and consistent support provided through previous phases of DAPP to civil

society and state actors has enabled Denmark to be viewed as a valued and well-known partner in

all four DAPP countries. Denmark has a high level of credibility and is perceived (along with the

other Nordic countries) as

‘leading

by example’ in DAPP-related areas. Support towards job

creation for youth is well covered by the international donor community in all four countries, who

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provide support through different instruments (budget support, loans, grants, technical assistance,

and a blend of these) at different levels. However, the need and demand for employment

opportunities remain important especially under the current COVID-19 driven economic

downturn. Job creation is supported through a number of conventional projects and financing

mechanisms by development banks, multilaterals, bilateral donors, and NGOs. However, the

Danish partnership modality under DAPP is unique and has been key to achieving results through

dialogue and cooperation between Danish partners and partners in the MENA region since 2003.

While the partnership-focused approach under DAPP is considered justified, there is potential for

more alignment with like-minded donors in order to upscale and multiply efforts. Like-minded

donors in the region are supporting programmes and projects that complement and align well with

the interventions under the Youth Employment Programme. The MENA DAPP Team will

continue to seek alignment and cooperation with relevant donors, including the EU’s Southern

Neighbourhood programme, and NGOs. During the remaining period of DAPP 2017-2022,

efforts will be made to identify possible cooperation partners relevant for the intervention areas

under the Youth Employment Programme. While there may be activities that incorporate

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), other areas will likely be of equal

importance, e.g. enhancing the digital skills of youth. The donor field for TVET is crowded in all

DAPP countries and it will be important that DAPP partners that engage in these areas tailor

activities based on needs.

The agreements between the MENA DAPP Team and programme partners will include

requirements for alignment and cooperation with relevant donors and NGOs in each DAPP

country. The inception phase of DAPP 2022-2027 will clarify exactly how and with whom donor

and NGO cooperation will be most conducive and complementary.

2.3 Justification

Danish development cooperation builds on the key principle of partnership. Denmark and Danish

stakeholders have worked in mutually beneficial partnerships with organisations and institutions

in partner countries. Through its foreign and development cooperation policies, Denmark fights

poverty and promotes sustainable growth and development, economic freedom, peace, stability

and gender equality. At the same time, Denmark aims to counter threats against its own security

and way of life and promote the principles, values and human rights upon which the open and

democratic Danish society rests. This is what is presented in the Danish Strategy for Development

Cooperation and Humanitarian Assistance, The World We Share

and in the Danish Government’s

priorities for development cooperation 2021.

The new DAPP addresses many of the priorities presented in The World We Share. For the

migration agenda, MENA countries are a particular priority as they are at the doorstep of Europe.

DAPP will address the root causes of irregular migration by ensuring that young people get better

lives in their home countries in the MENA region.

In this

sense, DAPP follows Denmark’s development policy of ensuring the well-being

of people

in their own countries. This among other things starts with people being able to exercise their

rights and increase their level of self-esteem. To meet this end, obtaining meaningful employment

is a cornerstone. DAPP will work to enable especially young people to find employment in their

home countries. By

enhancing youth’s employability,

DAPP will also work towards ensuring that

jobs are productive, decent, and that private sector companies are able to find employees with the

right qualifications to grow and prosper.

Denmark recognises youth as a vital and positive resource in development and youth features

prominently in The World We Share. Only by working with and through youth, supporting the

empowerment of young women and men and concurrently promoting a conducive environment

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for youth participation, influence, and leadership, can the demographic dividend be unleashed to

promote a sustainable development outcome in the form of growth and security in the world.

Denmark will strengthen its support to skills development as a foundation for job creation in the

coming years. Among other efforts, this is evidenced by the establishment of a Task Force on job

creation and skills development in 2020-2021 by the Danish Minister for Development

Cooperation to identify the challenges related to, as well as possible solutions for, addressing the

skills development and job creation gap that exists in Africa.

The programme on youth employment applies the

Human Rights Based Approach

by working

actively to ensure alignment with the principles of participation, accountability, non-

discrimination, and transparency.

Participation

is ensured by working directly with young people

and by including a wide range of youth organisations that represent different segments in society.

Relevant youth organisations will be invited to participate in developing and conceiving specific

activities under the programme.

Accountability

is a key principle in Danish development

cooperation, and implementing partners engaging in the programme are considered accountable

to the MFA as their donor, their own organisations as well as to the constituencies they work for

both outside and within the DAPP countries.

Non-discrimination

is ensured by working in different

settings in the countries, ensuring low entry barriers for participation and by working with those

that are marginalised in the labour market. In terms of

transparency,

clear rules and procedures will

be established, both in terms of programme management and in the projects that constitute the

interventions of the Youth Employment Programme.

The MENA region stands out having more

gender

inequality than any other region in the world.

The migration agenda predominantly focuses on young men, given that they are the ones who

most often migrate, while paying less attention to the young women that are frequently

‘left

behind’. Women are challenged in terms of low participation and inclusion in the labour market.

Young women who want to start their own business have greater difficulty than their male

counterparts in doing so due to even more constraints related to access to land, finance, and lack

of appropriate training in relevant/needed skills. COVID-19 has accentuated already existing

gender equalities.

Girls and young women

are paying a high price in terms of lost education,

jobs, and income as well as deterioration of their rights. The Youth Employment Programme will

therefore pay particular attention to ensuring that young women are included as a specific target

group in the interventions.

The principle of

leaving no one behind

is proactively considered in the programme interventions

as well. The Youth Employment Programme will work with the enterprises and entrepreneurs that

need assistance to accelerate their ideas to grow their business and hence ensure job creation for

others. However, it is recognised that the trickling-down of these benefits to the marginalised parts

of the population cannot automatically be expected. The programme will therefore also proactively

work to engage and include youth at risk of being left behind and ensure that they are included in

the interventions from the outset, gain life skills, and improve their employability.

As mentioned above, the

climate crisis

exacerbates the challenges related to unemployment and

irregular migration. These challenges are even more pertinent to address in the midst of the

COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the economy and youth employment. For that reason,

Denmark will live up to its obligations and international leadership position in promoting a

green

transition

and ensure that sectors which hold great potential for addressing challenges related to

combating the climate crisis are prioritised in the programme interventions, particularly those that

work more directly with enterprises. Among the focus areas are access to clean water, renewable

energy, agricultural value chains including processing and food security, all of which contribute to

a strong

focus on the creation of ‘green jobs’.

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2.3.1 Alignment with national/regional/global priorities (including SDGs)

The Youth Employment Programme outcomes are generally aligned with policy ambitions as they

pertain to the

UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

(SDGs), in particular SDG 4 (Inclusive

and equitable quality education), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), and SDG 8 (Decent Work and

Economic Growth). Furthermore, the partnership programme aligns with SDG 17 (Partnerships

for the Goals). In spite of various signs of progress, these focus areas continue to pose challenges

in the DAPP countries. Youth employment through private sector driven growth is a priority for

the governments of all four DAPP countries. The table below provides a brief overview of key

priorities in the four partner countries.

Figure 1: Progress on SDGs relevant to the Programme on Youth Employment and

Entrepreneurship

2.3.2 Justification based on DAC criteria

The Youth Employment Programme is

relevant

in relation to the situation in Morocco, Tunisia,

Egypt, and Jordan as it addresses the root cause of many of the challenges experienced by the

growing number of young people in the countries, namely lack of employment opportunities. At

the same time, it is relevant in relation to Danish foreign policy as it combines the policy priorities

of ensuring a better life for people in Europe’s southern neighbourhood countries, promoting

partnerships with MENA stakeholders and limiting migration flows.

The challenges related to youth employment in the DAPP countries are widely acknowledged and

addressed by other donors such as the EU, the World Bank, and bilateral donors. The UN also

runs programmes on empowering youth and promoting youth employment, for example the

Regional Youth Empowerment Programme designed by ILO and UNICEF. The Youth

Employment Programme will seek strategic

coherence

and alignment with initiatives that are

mutually beneficial and reduce duplication. Successful bilateral cooperation with other donors has

been prioritised in in previous DAPP phases. This will continue and be further enhanced.

In aiming at ensuring that

‘no

one is left behind’, the programme will be

effective

in delivering on

its outcomes and objective as it takes a holistic approach to the challenges addressed by applying

multiple intervention streams well-suited to each country and its specific target groups. A strong

focus on learning and adaptation will further enhance effectiveness.

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Cost-efficiency

is ensured by working with partners and through interventions with a proven

record of accomplishment in delivering on relevant and similar interventions and results envisaged

in the Youth Employment Programme. The DAPP context might be different, but partners well

known to Danish development cooperation in other contexts

–

IFU and UNDP Nordic

–

are

selected based on their efficiency, agility, and knowledge of both the region and of Danish

development cooperation. For the part of the programme where partners are not yet known (i.e.

subject to a tender process), cost-efficiency will be one of the partner selection criteria.

The programme interventions will have great

impact

on ensuring i) employability of young

women and men, ii) income and job creation, iii) that young entrepreneurs get the means to explore

their productive ideas for further job creation, and iv) that SMEs can grow. Job creation will not

only have an impact on economic growth and prosperity in the countries but will also have an

impact on the individual young women and men, their self-esteem and outlook.

Capacity strengthening of national partner institutions and organisations will be an integral part of

the programme and will help to ensure the

sustainability

of the interventions. After the support

from the programme has ended, both the individual youth and the organisations will have

improved their capacity, built knowledge and experience, helping them to continue their activities

beyond the programme phase.

3 Programme objective and theory of change

3.1 Programme objective

The overall objective of the Youth Employment Programme is

increased employment of young

people through entrepreneurship and enterprise development.

The objective links to DAPP’s overall vision of

a better life for young people in the Middle

East and North Africa

as young people need to experience opportunities for gaining meaningful

employment in order to create a better life for themselves in their home countries.

In order to reach the objective, the programme will work towards obtaining the three following

interlinked outcomes that each correspond to a project.

Project 1: Youth Inclusion and Employment Project

Project 1 outcome:

Young women and men have enhanced employability and engage in

entrepreneurship.

Project 1 focuses on enabling young people to be

inspired and included in economic life. Both

youth target groups A and B (burgeoning

entrepreneurs and youth in search of

employment)

are

targeted.

Upcoming

entrepreneurs will be supported through the

building of life skills and inclusion into relevant

business ecosystems in order to establish

themselves and make a living by bringing their

ideas to life. Youth in search of employment will

build technical skills to ensure that they have the

qualifications needed in the labour market. All of

this will aim at ensuring that their employability is

enhanced at the same time as their own capacity

to secure a job is enhanced.

Employability is defined by the ILO as: relating to portable

competencies and qualifications that enhance an

i di idual s apa it to ake use of the edu atio a d

training opportunities available in order to secure and

retain decent work, to progress within the enterprise and

between jobs, and to cope with changing technology and

labour market conditions. Individuals are most employable

when they have broad-based education and training, basic

and portable high-level skills, including teamwork, problem

solving, information and communications technology (ICT)

and communication and language skills.

ILO 2013

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Project 2: Green Growth and Job Accelerator Project

Project 2 outcome:

SMEs grow and create jobs through development of new innovative

solutions or scaling of existing solutions

Project 2 focuses on existing SMEs with job creation potential. In order for youth to get a job,

jobs need to be created in enterprises. Therefore, SMEs will be supported to develop new

innovative ideas or to scale up existing successful solutions that have brought them success.

Project 3: Sharaka Capital Investment Fund Project

Project 3 outcome:

SMEs grow and create jobs through improved access to finance and

Technical Assistance

Project 3 is also concerned with enterprise development but focuses on ensuring that access to

finance is available for SMEs to facilitate their growth plans, expansion and, ultimately, job

creation.

3.2 Theory of Change

There are two main categories of employment in the private sector. The first covers jobs created

in enterprises where an employer and an employee enter into an employment relationship. The

more a company grows and expands, the more likely it is that more employees, including youth

with new and updated skills, are needed in the company. It is therefore important to improve

youth’s

skills to secure an appropriate match between the demand in the labour market and the

skill sets possessed by the youth. The second category of employment is self-employment where

an individual makes a living by providing for him- or herself.

Both categories of employment can be broken down further. In the first job category, jobs can be

more or less stable (seasonal, part-time etc.). In the second category, self-employment can range

from successful entrepreneurs to marginalised individuals in the informal economy with highly

insecure income who are ‘selfemployed’ driven by necessity rather than an entrepreneurial spirit.

Figure 2: Theory of Change for the Programme on Youth Employment and

Entrepreneurship

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To reach the programme objective, the Youth Employment Programme will work towards

increasing employment in both employment categories. The Youth Inclusion and Employment

Project will contribute to employment creation in the self-employment category and will also

increase the employability of young people in search of a job in an established company. The

Green Growth and Job Accelerator Project and the Sharaka Capital Investment Fund Project will

primarily contribute to the first category of employment, i.e. established SMEs employing staff.

The programme envisages three different pathways of transformations to reach the outcomes. The

pathways correspond to each of the two target groups and SMEs as defined in Section 2.1.

Different interventions are envisaged as contributing to the transformation process.

Figure 3: Target groups and pathways of change for the Programme on Youth

Employment and Entrepreneurship

Pathway A:

Individuals with an entrepreneurial spirit should be given the opportunity to influence

their own future. Some youth will not have any experience in starting a business, while others will

already have experience in terms of being self-employed. They might have started a formal business

or be working individually in the informal economy but with the ideas and aspiration to take their

business one step further. The youth need to acquire better skills, ranging from life skills to more

technical skills (depending on their starting point and aspirations). They will receive mentoring

services and support to take responsibility for their own career path and to get their

commercial/business ideas kick-started, and as such be able to engage actively in society and secure

successful self-employment. For those entrepreneurs already established, they will get business

development service support, mentoring services, access to finance to invest in their business and

will also benefit from interventions that will help to ensure a more conducive business

environment in the partner countries. Through these interventions, the individual entrepreneur is

expected to have a more stable and possibly higher income but also that he/she might be able to

employ others in the business, thereby contributing to job creation.

Pathway B:

Not all individuals have entrepreneurial mind-sets, skills, or aspirations and the group

of young women and men entering the job market every year in the DAPP partner countries is

large and growing. There is a considerable mismatch between demand and supply in the labour

markets both in terms of number of jobs and in terms of skills. In order for the youth to be

integrated in the labour market, they first need to be engaged and included. For some youth, their

starting point will be that they have low capacity, a low level of education, and they have not had

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any stable employment before. For others, the starting point might be some level of education and

some experience from having different types of employment, but that they have so far been

unsuccessful in finding employment where their skills meet the demand of potential employers.

The youth need to become more attractive in the labour market and their skills gap needs to be

closed. The youth will gain life skills, technical skills and, as such, their employability will increase.

Pathway C:

The youth that do not have an entrepreneurial spirit need to find employment either

with entrepreneurs expanding their business (those supported through pathway A), or in

established enterprises. The Youth Employment Programme will therefore work with established

SMEs and support their growth paths in order to stimulate job creation in the enterprises.

Technical assistance, business development services, mentoring support, and access to finance

specifically targeted towards SMEs will be the primary interventions to ensure that the SMEs are

able to innovate, explore new markets, increase their productivity and competitiveness and

ultimately expand their business, create jobs and employ more people.

As a cross-cutting issue for pathway A and C, to support the transformation processes, the Youth

Employment Programme will work to strengthen a conducive environment for doing business

and improving the labour market by engaging a wide range of relevant stakeholders including social

partners, building trust and facilitating dialogue. This will relate to capacity building, conducive

policy development, social dialogue in the labour market, frameworks for skills development, etc.

The concrete interventions that will contribute to reaching the outcomes and ultimately the

programme objective, are described in section 3.3 below. A number of assumptions need to hold

true in order for the interventions to lead to the desired transformation in/with the target group:

Key assumptions in pathway A:



Programme partners are able to identify relevant partner organisations in the countries

with interest in engaging with them on skills development and youth employment;



Youth organisations in the countries have a constituency that see entrepreneurship as a

potential career path;



Young people are interested in, have time and resources, and are allowed to join the

activities;



Young entrepreneurs are willing to take risks and invest their resources to grow;



The terms for accessing finance are attractive to entrepreneurs;



Business incubators and other actors in the ecosystem within relevant sectors exist and are

interested in joining activities;



Programme partners are able to mobilise funding from e.g. local financial institutions,

impact investors and philanthropic investments through partnerships.

Key assumptions in pathway B:



Building of life skills and other more technical skills targeted at specific labour market

needs will lead to better employability of youth;



Local training institutions are able and willing to adjust their training offerings to fit the

target group’s needs in terms of training approach and course content.

Key assumptions in pathway C:



Danish companies see the benefit of joining activities to expand their business in the

MENA region;



Partners are able to attract companies from DAPP countries with a solid perspective for

growth;

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

Enterprises are able to exploit improvements in the environment for doing business to

take advantage of new opportunities;

Enterprises are able to recruit employees with the right qualifications to support their

planned expansion;

Enterprises see green transformation and the SDGs as market opportunities;

The terms for accessing finance are attractive to SMEs;

Enterprises see the value and business case in working responsibly and in accordance with

responsible business conduct including offering fair and decent working conditions;

Enterprises with increased competitiveness will expand their business and ultimately

employ more people or offer jobs of a better quality.

Assumptions that cut across the interventions in the programme:



Governments are supportive of the DAPP agenda of focusing on youth as a productive

resource



Social dialogue partners in the countries are committed to and see the value of building

capacity on Responsible Business Conduct (RBC)



Programme partners build relations and trust and are successfully exchanging ideas and

collaborate on programme activities;



Programme partners collaborate constructively with other relevant donors and NGOs;



Programme partners are able to keep momentum and build on achievements and lessons

learned from the previous DAPP phase in terms of youth inclusion, entrepreneurships and

facilitating social dialogue;



Business member organisations are interested in furthering the decent job agenda.

The three project implementers will further elaborate on this indicative Theory of Change (ToC)

and will also continuously assess and consider the assumptions. The use of an iterative process is

important during programme implementation in conjunction with results measurement. In the

spirit of DDD, if results are not emerging as expected, the ToC might need to be revisited and the

assumptions more actively addressed.

3.3 Programme interventions

The Youth Employment Programme consists of three projects each corresponding to an outcome.

A project document is formulated for each project that details the engagement and agreement

between the Danish MFA and the partners of the three projects.

3.3.1

Project 1: Youth Inclusion and Employment Project

Project 1 Outcome:

Young women and men have enhanced employability and engage in

entrepreneurship

Partners:

The Youth Inclusion and Entrepreneurship Project will be implemented by one or a

consortium of implementing organisation(s) who will implement activities in close partnership

with local partners in each of the four DAPP countries. The implementing partner(s) will be

selected through a public tender process. Qualifications needed include knowledge about and

experience in the countries, youth inclusion and empowerment, skills development,

entrepreneurship and business development, business environment, business and human rights,

private sector development, social dialogue, decent jobs, and framework conditions.

The following paragraphs present an outline of the type of activities and results areas, which are

expected for the implementing partner(s) to deliver the outcome. In their proposals, the tendering

organisation(s) will describe exactly how the activities under this project are to be developed and

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implemented. The core output areas are therefore only described in general terms. The outline

presented here corresponds to the five outputs presented in the results framework in Annex 2.

Not all proposed activities under the output areas will be implemented in all countries. The tables

below constitute a non-exhaustive list of proposed activities and results areas, which the

implementing partner(s) will use as inspiration for designing the specific interventions and

engagements. When designing the country specific interventions, the implementing partner(s) will

take into consideration sectors and value chains that are likely to yield the greatest possible

employment creation effect. Many of the suggested activities below have been applied successfully

elsewhere by both Danida and Danish partner organisations and will include relevant lessons

learned from past implementation.

Inclusion of youth to engage productively in society:

The programme will reach out to young

people to create awareness, hope, and inspiration and it will support the targeted youth to change

their own future by engaging productively in society. Partners will empower young women and

men and create awareness of opportunities for self-realization in their home countries either as

self-employed entrepreneurs (pathway A) or as well-trained employees in SMEs (pathway B).

Interventions will aim to ensure an even interest from, and hence participation of, young women

and young men in the target groups. Partners will work with a range of youth organisations and

support them to reach out to young men and women and address their concrete needs. Lessons

learned from DAPP 2017-2022 will be harnessed for the design of interventions. National partners

are supported to offer different training and networking opportunities for enabling young people

to start their own businesses.

Output 1.1:

Inclusion of

youth to

engage

productively

in society

Proposed activities

Build capacity of youth organisations to

create outreach and build capacity of youth;

Outreach to and awareness creation of youth

via information and communication

campaigns;

Larger inspirational events (e.g. youth

summits);

Life skills training for both young women

and young men and partnerships with

training institutions;

Improve digital skills;

Training on rights and responsibilities in the

labour market.

Expected result areas

Inclusion of young women and men as

engaged and productive contributors in

society;

Empowerment and inspiration of youth;

Increased awareness about opportunities as

entrepreneurs of both young women and

men;

Youth with life skills and greater

employability;

Enhanced awareness of rights and

responsibilities.

Technical skills development for capacity building and increased employability:

The needs

for skills development are substantial at all levels as there is a serious skills mismatch in the labour

market. The individual young person needs life skills as well as upgrading of technical skills. This

would include basic education, skills training and more specialised vocational and technical

training. The enterprises need access to employees with the required skills and mind-sets. In the

interventions, the DAPP partners will work with different training providers and companies to

map out the need for skills and to aim at ensuring that the right courses are developed and offered

to the youth. A particular focus will be on skills needed in private companies to contribute to the

green transition in the partner countries. Young people with adequate skills can get jobs with a

higher degree of job security, better working conditions, better pay and hence hopes for creating

a decent life for themselves and their families. Skills interventions will aim at equal enrolment rates

of young men and young women. Gender analyses should be applied to map out what type of

skills development are of particular interest for young women.

In the design and implementation of skills development activities, the implementing partner(s)

should take into account the White Paper on Skills Development and Job Creation and the related

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recommendation catalogue launched by the MFA, and coordinate with other initiatives launched

to support this agenda. Activities will focus on competencies required in particularly promising

sectors and will also include digital skills as digital competences are essential for most jobs and to

run a business.

Proposed activities

Output

1.2:

National skills championships with a

Technical

particular focus on gender equality in the

skills

trades included;

development

Informal economy skills development

for

capacity

initiatives;

building and

Online training opportunities;

increased

Outreach to youth via information and

employability

communication campaigns;

Partnerships with training institutions,

business incubators, and other relevant

stakeholders;

Promote green technical knowledge and

skills that can unleash the economic

potential in the green transition.

Expected result areas

Life and technical skills for young women and

men to actively engage in society;

Enterprises have access to female and male

employees with relevant technical expertise

within the focus sectors;

Increased awareness of benefits of improved

skills;

Increase of young women and men enrolled in

various training courses (short and longer);

Young people have improved their job-related

skills.

Access to business development services and mentoring for entrepreneurs:

The project will

have a strong focus on young entrepreneurs and start-ups in the partner countries. This segment

of the private sector is very important for directly engaging with the youth who are often the

drivers of new businesses and ideas. This is important to nourish to ensure that the young people

see potential in creating businesses in their home countries. Business ideas that are combined with

the right business skills and an improved business environment can grow into well-functioning

enterprises and thereby create more employment opportunities. The project will support a range

of activities to inspire and support existing entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs in the making, to

mature and realise their ideas. Support will be provided in the form of business development

services, mentoring, business skills training, and establishment of challenge funds for innovative

ideas. Where relevant, the interventions developed will have a specific focus on green technologies

and solutions.

Output

1.3:

Access

business

development

services and

mentoring for

entrepreneurs

Proposed activities

Expected result areas

Entrepreneurship training, incubators,

Organisational capacity of private sector,

mentorships (by youth organisations,

entrepreneurs and communities for support to

enterprises, etc.);

young women and men enhanced through

partnerships;

Support to set up a business (business

plans etc.) including specific support

Increased opportunities and capacity for young

focusing on the challenges faced by

female and male entrepreneurs to grow existing

women;

businesses and/or start new businesses;

Support to market access;

Entrepreneurs inspired.

Facilitation of networking opportunities,

including specific women’s networks;

Youth group organised entrepreneurship

activities;

Business plan competitions;

Establishment of challenge funds for

attracting projects with innovative ideas

for job creation;

Communication

through

multiple

channels incl. media coverage to inspire

burgeoning entrepreneurs;

Business development services.

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Better access to finance for entrepreneurs:

Accessing finance is an essential element of enabling

young entrepreneurs to develop and mature their ideas and start-up their enterprises. Interventions

will be designed to support start-ups and entrepreneurs in accessing finance e.g. by establishing or

linking to seed capital facilities, small grant opportunities and facilitating linkages with financial

institutions. The programme interventions will place a particular focus on addressing the

challenges faced by women related to starting up own business and accessing finance.

Proposed activities

Expected result areas

Output

1.4:

Linking entrepreneurs and start-ups with

Improved access to finance for young female

Better access

commercial banks and micro-finance

and male entrepreneurs and start-ups;

to finance for

institutions;

Strengthened eco-system for start-up

entrepreneurs

Facilitating access to seed capital or grant

financing.

opportunities for start-ups in partner

countries;

Targeted efforts to address the particular

constraints faced by young female

entrepreneurs in accessing finance;

Establishment of entrepreneurship awards

with grant prices.

Improved business environment for entrepreneurs and SMEs:

If the regulatory framework

and business environment is improved, the risks and costs related to establishing and running a

business are reduced. The reduction of risks and costs will lower entry barriers for new enterprises

and increase the competitiveness of existing ones. This will likely lead to the establishment of new

enterprises and the expansion of activities and growth of already established enterprises, who will

need to employ more qualified staff.

The implementing partner(s) will work with sector stakeholders, labour market partners and

authorities to identify constraining factors and develop feasible policy responses.

A gender lens

will be applied to the work on improving the business environment for both start-ups and

established enterprises to facilitate access for women. Furthermore, where relevant, the

interventions will

target business environment challenges within ‘green sectors’, e.g. energy, water

and food security.

There are obvious opportunities for synergy between the Human Rights Programme and the

Youth Employment Programme in relation to addressing working conditions and duty bearers’

responsibility. The tendering organisation(s) should address this in their proposals.

Improved

business

environment

for

entrepreneurs

and SMEs

Proposed activities

Dedicated initiatives to enabling legal

frameworks and environments for women’s

participation in the labour market;

Promotion of responsible business conduct,

rights and responsibilities at policy level;

Technical inputs, advocacy and promotion

of relevant policies for SME growth;

Platforms for dialogue between private

sector and training institutions at national

and local level;

Public-private-partnerships on TVET and

skills development.

Expected result areas

Improved framework conditions for starting

new businesses (registration etc.) leading to

increased number of start-ups;

Increased level of formalisation of SMEs

currently working in the informal sector

improving employment conditions;

Improved framework conditions for doing

business leading to improved enterprise

competitiveness and growth;

Better functioning labour market with a

particular focus on inclusion of young

women.

Impact:

Project 1 have a direct impact on the youth with whom they are engaging. In accordance

with the submitted proposal, the implementing partner(s) will be responsible for developing the

implementation design as well as a detailed results framework. Two key outcome level results (at

least) should be included in the design:

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

It is expected that 100,000 young people (at least 50% young women) will have benefitted

from engagement with the programme and have increased awareness of opportunities,

improved life-skills, entrepreneurship- and technical skills, and as such have improved their

employability. The project cannot guarantee that all young people engaged through the

interventions will succeed in finding employment. However, the project will still have an

impact on the total number of youths reached in terms of an improved awareness of their

rights in the labour market. Furthermore, as the project will coordinate efforts and seek

alignment with programmes implemented by other donors, there is potential for upscaling

and multiplication of efforts, creating greater impact.

The primary aim of including and engaging young people is to ensure that they enter

productive employment. Impact of the project will therefore be measured by the

implementing

partners and DAPP’s overall MEAL system in terms of the number of

young women and men who get employment. It is foreseen that at least 20,000 young

people (minimum 50% young women) out of the larger target group of 100,000 get a job

or establish themselves as entrepreneurs.

Project 2: Green Growth and Job Accelerator Project

3.3.2

Project 2 Outcome:

SMEs grow and create jobs through development of new innovative

solutions or scaling of existing solutions.

Partner:

To address the challenges related to lack of opportunities for already established

entrepreneurs and SMEs in scaling up

their business, ‘SDG Accelerators for Job Creation’ facilities

will be established in the countries. The Accelerator facilities will be based on the proven concept

by UNDP’s Nordic representation office (UNDP Nordic).

The UNDP Accelerators will engage

local as well as Danish companies, work with them, and

–

based on principles of sustainability and

responsibility

–

support their efforts to innovate and grow through tailored support in targeted

time bound ‘business innovation journeys’. UNDP Nordic has developed an innovative and

adaptable methodology and has been implementing similar Accelerator concepts in a range of

other countries and contexts.

UNDP Nordic will engage closely with UNDP country and regional offices as well as private

service providers in the four countries. A key element and value-driver of the proposed initiative

is that it harnesses the various innovation and growth ecosystems in Denmark, the MENA region

and globally, and feeds them into the Accelerators.

Core Activities:

SMEs will be enrolled in Accelerators that offer a structured support process,

which enables participating companies to innovate and develop new sustainable business solutions,

and to grow and scale existing solutions while also seeking to make the companies attractive for

potential investors. Youth-led and women-led enterprises will be specifically targeted. The

Accelerators will bring together a broad circle of innovation ecosystems at the global (including

those in Denmark), regional and local levels as well as experts and relevant stakeholders around

the businesses to provide sparring, network, mentoring, and potential opportunities for

collaboration on their solution. Progress, results, and cases created by the SMEs in the initiative

are shared and communicated through the press and social media in order to inspire others.

Each of the DAPP countries will have dedicated Accelerators that draw on different actors,

networks (such as local chambers of commerce) and relevant ongoing initiatives. There are also

opportunities for online cross-country Accelerators. The target group and focus of the

Accelerators will vary depending on the country and the context it targets. Potential target groups

include i) Local SMEs in DAPP countries; ii) Danish SMEs that are already present in DAPP

countries or looking to establish themselves in one or more of the four countries; and iii) local

SMEs that are suppliers to Danish Multinational Companies (MNCs) operating in the DAPP

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countries and potentially MNCs with other origins. The Accelerators will not provide support for

establishing new companies but works with existing companies on accelerating the development

of new solutions and innovation that can drive growth in the business, which in turn can increase

employment.

Depending on the specific context in the respective countries, the Green Growth and Job

Accelerator Project can have varying focus in terms of target groups and sectors. In their selection

of enterprises, the Accelerators will give priority to business cases that have a particular relevance

for the

green transition

in priority sectors such as water, energy, food safety and security, ICT,

and digitalisation. The Accelerators will support innovative enterprises to introduce new

approaches and technologies, which will support the green transition in the partner countries, and

as such the SDG Accelerator will contribute to creation of ‘green jobs’. Other sectors

that are

either labour-intensive or showing signs of fast growth will also be targeted, e.g. construction,

horticulture, agriculture, and agro-processing. UNDP will also

function as a ‘broker’ and connector

between the SMEs and the existing financial institutions and venture capital platforms inside and

outside the region and will help to bring impact investors and other types of investors into the

DAPP countries.

Impact:

UNDP will use its tested and

scalable methodology for innovation to

harness the spirit of entrepreneurship in

SMEs and to support them in developing

scalable and market-ready products and

services that can drive growth and create

jobs for youth. When SMEs successfully

innovate and develop new business and

revenue streams, and when they grow and

scale, they create new jobs. It is estimated

that 800 SMEs will be enrolled in an

Accelerator process and 5,000 SMEs will

benefit from an online learning modality

on innovation and digital transformation,

which will also be established. In the

selection of SMEs, a criterion will be the

extent to which the new business solution

to be developed has potential to create

broader multiplier effects in the sector or

region.

Key results from the SDG Accelerator for SMEs, Denmark

•

Increased growth in participating companies;

•

New employment and job growth created in the

companies;

•

Strengthened corporate competitiveness in national

and international markets;

•

Support for scaling business to new markets or

adjacent domains;

•

Support for establishing new national and international

partnerships that enable growth, innovation and job

creation;

•

Roll out of new innovations; products, services or

business models;

•

Acceleration of green technologies and businesses and

support for retrofitting more traditional businesses;

•

At project finalisation, 1/3 of the companies had

developed a prototype and sold it, 1/3 had developed a

prototype and 1/3 had developed a solid business plan

ready for implementation.

Based on an assumption that the SMEs

enrolled in an Accelerator create an average of five jobs, a target of 4,000 new jobs has been

defined for this project.

Through its communication, outreach and networking efforts, the

project will systematically work to ensure that positive cases of innovation and growth in local

companies will serve as inspiration to new dynamic entrepreneurs and enterprises. This will

contribute to creating stronger business networks in the countries.

The Green Growth and Job Accelerator will work with SMEs and, if successful, they will employ

more staff. The SMEs will search for candidates with the right qualifications rather than a strict

focus on age. The Youth Employment Programme will work to increase the number and quality

IFU and UNDP Nordic´s approach to measuring jobs differ. A harmonised approach will be agreed prior to

submitting the final project

document. It is anticipated that IFU’s methodology for defining jobs will be applied across

the two projects.

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of jobs offered as well as the qualifications of the young candidates, but ultimately it will be the

enterprises that decide who they will employ. However, it is assumed that skills acquired during

this process will make young women and men attractive candidates in innovative SMEs supported

by the SDG Accelerator. A target of 70% and 40% jobs for youth and women, respectively.

Furthermore, growth in SMEs can create positive ripple effects in the sectors in which they operate

and thus the impact that DAPP will contribute to in terms of job creation is even higher. MEAL

efforts will seek to capture and measure these ripple effects.

3.3.3

Project 3: Sharaka Capital Investment Fund Project

Project 3 outcome:

SMEs grow and create jobs through improved access to finance and

Technical Assistance.

Partner:

DAPP will engage with the Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), to

strengthen access to finance for SMEs in the DAPP countries. IFU will contribute by capitalising

on the Sharaka Capital Fund (Sharaka) established by the Middle East Investment Initiative

(MEII), a US-based NGO.

Sharaka will provide loan capital to SMEs combined with Technical

Assistance. Sharaka is IFU’s selected capital fund mechanism for the MENA region.

Additionality:

Sharaka is foreseen to start out with an initial USD 50 million in capital and reach

a total fund size of USD 250 million. Other investors are thus to be mobilised. However, Sharaka

is not a traditional private equity fund. In its current design, Sharaka is less attractive to

Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) such as IFU, due to its low returns and relatively high

risk.

Subject to DAPP’s contribution, IFU foresees an investment of USD 10 million in Sharaka.

It is

assumed that this joint commitment will be sufficient for Sharaka to attract further investments

from other DFIs and investors. As such, there is a high level of additionality to the DAPP funds

as these will contribute to unleashing an IFU investment into Sharaka and subsequently other

impact investors seeking market conform returns. The DAPP contribution will be an essential

factor in the mobilisation of investments and establishment of a first mezzanine fund in the

MENA region.

Core Activities:

The principal rationale for Sharaka will be to address a market failure: the absence

of adequate and appropriate finance to contribute to growth in MENA’s SME sectors.

mentioned in section 2, it is challenging for SMEs to obtain loans in commercial banks to grow

their business, and Sharaka will offer a financial product

that is particularly adapted to the needs

of SMEs, and addresses the challenges of e.g. collateral requirements and high interest rates.

Beyond making capital available, Sharaka will establish and operate a separate Technical Assistance

(TA) Fund, which will assist the SMEs who will obtain financing from Sharaka. The TA funds will

be used in various fields, e.g. to secure improved standards of inter alia occupational health and

safety, environmental and climate impact, governance, and financial management in the

companies. When relevant, the TA facility will fund activities aimed at enhancing the development

impact of targeted SMEs, such as skills development of employees and training of supply chain

actors.

In parallel with the Youth Employment Programme entering the approval system in the MFA, it is also entering the

approval system in IFU. The support to Sharaka has been discussed in great detail in IFU also at top level, who express

keen interest in the partnership. It is considered highly unlikely that

IFU’s investment in Sharaka

will not materialise.

IFU’s due diligence process may lead to minor

adjustments in the proposed set-up, which would have to be agreed

with the MENA DAPP Team.

Partly or non-secured local currency loans at an average size of USD 0.5 million with a loan tenor of 4-7 years

including 1 to 1.5 years grace period.

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Sharaka will be open to investments in SMEs in all economic sectors. Though Sharaka will be

demand driven, it is foreseen to give particular attention to certain types of SMEs such as women-

led and/or export-oriented businesses. Climate change and new green technologies are slowly

being recognised as new areas for competitive advantage and market access. Investments in green

technology that improve SME competitiveness and revenue will be in line with DAPP’s priorities.

These are also likely to be very attractive for Sharaka and will thus contribute to the creation of

‘green jobs’. Sharaka

is expected to cover Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine. Based

on its internal assessments, Sharaka expects to start out in Egypt and Jordan and subsequently

scale up in Morocco, Tunisia and Palestine. IFU will explore how to ensure that a proportionate

share of the investments are in SMEs in the four DAPP countries.

The operations and strategies of the Sharaka Fund will be aligned to the United Nations Global

Compact and their ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour,

environment, and anti-corruption. This will guide the selection of SMEs to invest in and the

Technical Assistance provided.

Impact:

Sharaka will have a significant social impact by filling a gap in the financial markets and

providing finance to growth-oriented SMEs in the target countries leading to job creation and

income. If fully capitalized, it is foreseen that Sharaka will invest in approximately 1400 SMEs over

the course of ten years for a total amount near USD 850 million (~600 SMEs for USD 350 million

during the lifetime of DAPP). Characteristics that will be tracked include geographic location (e.g.,

urban, rural, semi-rural), sector (e.g., manufacturing, services, tourism, agriculture), use of

investment proceeds, amount of each investment, portfolio at risk, amongst others. As with the

SDG accelerator for job creation, a selection criterion will be whether the successfully growing

SME has the potential to create broader multiplier effects in the sector or region.

Based on previous experience of the MEII from financing over 2,400 SMEs in the region, one job

is facilitated (sustained or created) for ~USD 11,000 of investment.

Based on this benchmark, it

is estimated that 75,000 jobs will be created or sustained over 10 years (~30,000 jobs during

investments made within the lifetime of the Youth Employment Programme). Building a viable

investment pipeline and realising the investments across the four DAPP countries takes time, and

as such, the job creation impact is expected to accelerate in the second half of the programme

implementation period.

As with the SDG Accelerator, it is up to the enterprises to decide who they will employ but there

is a strong anticipation that they will also employ young people. In order to keep abreast of this,

jobs will be tracked by gender and age as well as type (e.g., full time/seasonal, indirect). For the

same reasons as with the Job Accelerator, it is expected that a large share of the jobs will be for

young people, including women.

As IFU

–

through its engagement via the Youth Employment Programme

–

will not be the only

funders/investors in Sharaka, the results in terms of job creation that Sharaka will achieve cannot

be attributed solely to the Danish engagement. However, the DAPP funding will play an important

role in kick-starting Sharaka and mobilising the required investment capital. Hence, DAPP will

have a key and significant contribution to results obtained.

3.3.4 Complementarities between the three projects

–

one programme

There are complementarities between the three projects that will be nurtured actively by the

programme Secretariat (see below) during the implementation period in order to ensure the

greatest possible impact.

IFU/Sharaka apply the HIPSO standard

”Number of full-time

equivalent employees as per local definition working

for the client company or project at the end of the reporting period.”

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The groups of youth that have gained improved skills will be able to find employment in the types

of enterprises supported by the UNDP Accelerators and Sharaka. The entrepreneurs engaged by

the Contractor under the Youth Inclusion and Employment Project who have the capacity to take

their business one level further could be candidates for enrolment in an Accelerator. As mentioned,

the Accelerator will also offer an online learning modality on innovation and digital transformation,

which will target different sizes and types of businesses, and businesses working in different

sectors, including those engaged under the Youth Inclusion and Employment Project and the

Sharaka Capital Investment Fund Project. The tendering organisation(s) for the Youth Inclusion

and Employment Project should present reflections on how complementarity and, where possible,

direct linkages with the two other projects can be achieved.

Some of the SMEs that have been through the Accelerator programme will need to raise financial

resources for bringing their ideas to life and could be potential clients of Sharaka. Under Sharaka,

the SMEs will also get access to TA for the development of business plans, sound financial

management etc. As such, the Accelerator could help build up a potential portfolio for Sharaka.

On the other hand, SMEs in which Sharaka are investing might have new innovative ideas that

they are interested in developing further, which could be under the auspices of the Accelerators.

The support they will get from joining the Accelerator would be fundamentally different from the

TA component in Sharaka. As such, there are complementarity opportunities in the programme.

To have a formalised working relation between Sharaka and the Accelerator, a MoU will be signed

between IFU and UNDP Nordic prior to the signing of their respective agreements with MFA.

4 Summary of the results framework

The results framework below presents the programme objective and the three programme

outcomes. The detailed results framework is included in Annex 2.

For the tendered Youth Inclusion and Employment Project, the tendering organisation(s) will

prepare a results framework as part of the tender process in which the Tenderer will specify

activities at output level and include SMART outcome and output indicators, Means of

Verification as well as detailed baselines and targets at the country level. Indicators in the proposed

results framework should be disaggregated in terms of gender, age, and various youth target

groups. It is anticipated that the Tenderer will be able to clearly demonstrate the added value of

its expertise, document how it will transmit this expertise to local partners, and prepare the detailed

results framework based on its key competencies and opportunities to deliver in the DAPP

countries. The final results framework will be approved by the MENA DAPP Team and be part

of the agreement with the winning partner or consortium of partners.

For the Green Growth and Job Accelerator Project and the Sharaka Capital Investment Fund

Project, the results framework will be detailed by UNDP Nordic and IFU, respectively, and will

be approved by the MENA DAPP Team before the signing of agreements and implementation.

All baseline values and targets will be disaggregated into Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Jordan in

order to track the results at country level.

Even though young people are at the core of the programme, jobs created will not only be for

them. All job-related indicators will therefore be disaggregated into above/below 35 years and into

number of jobs created for women and men, respectively. The target is that young people will

benefit from 70% of the jobs created under the programme. Similarly, it is expected that an

ambitious target of at least 40-50% for inclusion of and job creation for women will be set. The

implementing partners will be responsible for verifying and possibly adjusting these targets during

the inception phase.

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The SDG Accelerators and Sharaka will engage in green sectors and with enterprises that work

with green transition. It is therefore expected that a considerable share of jobs created, in the range

of 20-25%,

will be ‘green jobs’ according to the ILO’s generic definition.

The tender proposal

for the Youth Inclusion and Employment Project and the final project documents for the Green

Growth and Job Accelerator Project and the Sharaka Capital Investment Fund SDG Project will

further specify criteria for delivering green jobs. To monitor and measure the green job effects, a

definition of green jobs will be agreed upon during the inception phase across the three projects.

The results will be monitored and documented through targeted impact studies rather than via the

regular monitoring systems.

Programme

Programme Objective

Impact Indicators

Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship

Increased employment of young people through entrepreneurship and enterprise

development

SDG 4.4 By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have

relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and

entrepreneurship

SDG 5.1 End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere

SDG 8.3 Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities,

decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the

formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including

through access to financial services

SDG 8.5 By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all

women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal

pay for work of equal value

SDG 8.6 (By 2020) substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment,

education or training

Youth Inclusion and Employment Project

Young women and men have enhanced employability and engage in entrepreneurship

a) Number of young women and men who become employed or have established

themselves as entrepreneurs

b) Number of young people who have enhanced their employability

a) 0

b) 0

a) 20,000 young people are employed or have established themselves as entrepreneurs

(minimum 50% young women)

b) 100,000 young people have enhanced employability (minimum 50% young women)

Green Growth and Job Accelerator Project

SMEs grow and create jobs through development of new innovative solutions or scaling

of existing solutions

a) No. of new jobs created by entrepreneurs and SMEs that have been part of the

SDG Accelerator for Job Creation



Proportion of new jobs created for women



Proportion of new jobs created for youth (up to 35 years)

b) Proportion of entrepreneurs and SMEs who report an increase in employment as

an effect of the SDG Accelerator for Job Creation (disaggregated by gender and

age)

c) Proportion of entrepreneurs and SMEs who report an increase in turnover as an

effect of the SDG Accelerator for Job Creation

a) 0

b) -

c) -

a) 4,000 new jobs created in the targeted 800 companies



40% of jobs created for women



70% of jobs created for youth (up to 35 years)

Project 1 Title (Tender)

Project 1 Outcome

Outcome indicators

Baseline

Target

Year

2022

Year

2027

Project 2 Title (UNDP)

Project Outcome

Outcome indicators

Baseline

Target

Year

2022

Year

2027

https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/green-jobs/news/WCMS_220248/lang--en/index.htm

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70% experience an increase in company employment as an effect of the SDG

Accelerator for Job Creation

50% experience an increase in company turnover the following years as an effect

of the SDG Accelerator for Job Creation

Project 3 Title (IFU)

Project Outcome

Outcome indicators

Baseline

Target

Year

2022

Year

2027

Sharaka Capital Investment Fund Project

SMEs grow and create jobs through improved access to finance and Technical

Assistance

a) Number of new jobs created or jobs improved (sustained) in targeted SMEs

(disaggregated on gender and age)

b) Average Revenue Growth in SMEs

a) 0

b) -

a) 30,000 new jobs created or improved (sustained) in targeted SMEs (disaggregated

on women and youth)

b) Average growth rate of 20%

5 Budget

The budget for each project is presented in the table below.

Projects

Project 1: Youth Inclusion and Employment Project

Project 2: Green Growth and job Accelerator Project

Project 3: Sharaka Capital Investment Fund Project

Acceleration Funds (including pilot activities in

Algeria, if feasible)

Programme Secretariat

TOTAL

MFA budget (DKK million)

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027

105

TOTAL

205

435

For the Youth Inclusion and Employment Project, the tendering organisation(s) will propose a

more detailed budget determining the allocations at the output level. These will have to be

approved by the MENA DAPP Team before signing of agreement. Similarly, detailed cash flow

projections will be agreed with UNDP Nordic and IFU during the inception phase.

In line with the adaptive approach of DDD, DKK 75 million have been allocated to an

Acceleration Fund.

Successful engagements under the three projects with potential for scaling

will benefit from this allocation. During the programme inception phase, the MENA DAPP Team

will decide on the final criteria for how partners can access the acceleration funds. During the

programme implementation phase, it is foreseen that programme reviews will provide input to

specific decisions by the MENA DAPP Team on the allocation of acceleration funds. Activities

in Algeria may also be considered for acceleration funding.

The budget in the table above shows the DKK 75 million allocated under DAPP to the Sharaka

Fund. Beyond the DAPP contribution, IFU expects to also invest DKK 62 million in the Sharaka

Fund so that the total Danish contribution will be DKK 137 million. Furthermore, it is foreseen

that other Development Financing Institutions will invest up to USD 228 million in the Sharaka

Fund.

The

Programme Secretariat

(see section 6.2) will support the financial management of the

Programme according to MFA guidelines as well as be responsible for programme monitoring,

reporting, and communication. The budget for the Programme Secretariat will cover salaries, office

space, IT, travel, etc.

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Annex 3 includes the outcome-based budget. A detailed output-based budget will be prepared by

the tendering partner(s). It is foreseen that the budget allocated to the respective four DAPP

countries will vary. All budgets prepared by the three projects will include a split between the four

DAPP countries for approval by the MENA DAPP Team. Options for a potential expansion of

activities to Algeria will be decided during the inception phase. A maximum of 10% of the budget

may be earmarked for regional activities.

Beyond the budget available at programme level, a budget line for innovation is available at DAPP

level. Detailed procedures for how these funds will be activated are to be developed in the

inception phase.

6 Implementation and management arrangements

6.1 Programme partners

6.1.1 Contractor for the Youth Inclusion and Employment Project

The partner arrangement will be determined by a public tender. It can be an individual organisation

or a consortium of organisations consisting of e.g. NGOs, business member organisations, trade

unions, private consulting companies, etc. The consortium could ideally be led by an organisation

with strong competencies in youth mobilisation, entrepreneurship creation and skills development

as the cornerstone of the Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Programme.

Organisations should have well-established and strong linkages to the Danish resource base to

facilitate the Danish Arab Partnership notion of mobilising Danish expertise and knowhow of

relevance for the MENA region. Organisations should be carriers of Danish value policy,

innovation and know-how, and be able to convey these in the context of the established

partnerships.

6.1.2 UNDP Nordic Representation Office

As the UN’s largest development

organisations, UNDP works to eradicate poverty, reduce

inequalities and build resilience so countries can sustain progress. UNDP works in 170 countries

and territories and partners with all sectors of society to strengthen policies, leadership skills,

partnerships, innovation and institutional capacity to help countries achieve the SDGs and set a

path to a sustainable future for people and planet.

UNDP’s Nordic Representative Office will host the Accelerator Learning Hub. UNDP’s SDG

Accelerator work has been developed and anchored in UNDP Nordic, meaning that the strategy,

coordination, and quality assurance functions will reside here. The team will include the Project

Manager and supporting coordination, knowledge management, communication, training/learning

and operations functions.

UNDP Country Offices (CO) in DAPP countries will lead the country engagement at the output

level under direction and coordination of UNDP Nordic. The UNDP COs will be responsible for

the implementation of the country-specific Green Growth and Job Accelerator Project and other

country-specific activities. Each UNDP CO will recruit a project manager, who will be part of the

overall project management group together with UNDP Nordic.

The UNDP Regional Bureau of Arab States and North Africa (RBAS) serves as headquarter for

UNDP regional programmes and country offices in the Arab countries. RBAS has deep knowledge

and insights into all programmes and activities implemented in the region and will play a central

role as a knowledge partner in this initiative. Specifically, this initiative will explore the relevant

interfaces with the regional youth programming, employment generation initiatives, and other

synergies. RBAS will also play a key role in supporting and advocating for the initiative vis-à-vis

national governments.

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A capacity assessment of UNDP will be carried out before the agreement between UNDP and

MFA is signed. This will include an assessment of the capacity of UNDP Nordic to manage a

project of this size, as well as an assessment of the regional UNDP set-up in the MENA countries,

including the interlinkages between UNDP Nordic, RBAS and the country offices. Proposals for

increasing efficiency in delivering the Accelerators should be included in this assessment.

6.1.3 Investment Fund for Developing Countries

IFU and IFU-managed funds have co-invested directly in 1,300 companies in 100 countries across

the world. Committed investments in these companies total DKK 209 billion, of which IFU has

contributed DKK 23 billion. IFU is an independent government-owned fund offering advisory

services and risk capital to companies wishing to do business in developing countries and emerging

markets. IFU works on a commercial basis, based on the logic that a business investment is a good

way to create lasting economic improvement and thus development. Beyond investing directly in

enterprises, IFU is fund manager of a number of other investment funds, including the Danish

SDG Investment Fund. IFU makes risk capital available in the form of equity, loans or guarantees

for project companies in the 146 countries worldwide eligible for IFU investment.

IFU will invest in the Sharaka Capital Fund (Sharaka). IFU will follow its own well-established

procedures for assessing and approving their engagement in Sharaka including due diligence of

MEII as the owner of Sharaka. This will take place prior to signing of agreement between IFU and

MFA.

The fund’s investors

will enter into a Limited Partnership Agreement which will follow best

international practice and include clauses that will commit Sharaka to live up to international best

practice and standards for business and human rights, environment, labour and other social

standards, including IFU´s tax policy. Sharaka will have credit policies and systems in place to

manage risk. The decision to invest in an SME will be taken by an investment committee consisting

of experienced people from MEII and the region. IFU is expected to take a seat in the Advisory

Committee of the Sharaka Fund, which will be the body monitoring the fund’s activities.

6.2 Organisational set-up

A lesson from DAPP 2017-2022 is a need for better coordination among involved partners in the

management of a programme with multiple stakeholders. In the design of the new programme,

steps have been taken to strengthen coordination.

The Youth Inclusion and Employment Project will be managed and implemented by a single

partner or a consortium of partners winning the tender.

All single tenderers shall propose a suitable management set-up in Denmark as well as in the four

countries in their tender proposal.

All tendering Consortia shall propose a suitable management set-up in Denmark as well as in the

four countries in their tender proposal based on the following guiding principles:

Consortium Agreement

will formalise cooperation between the participating organisational

entities and is to be included in the tender proposal. The agreement shall outline the mutual

obligations and decision-making structure between the Consortium partners. They are expected to

establish a

Project Management Team

(or similar) with representatives from each organisational

entity and headed by a Team Leader, appointed by the implementing partner(s) for the Youth

Inclusion and Employment Project.

It further is foreseen that the three partners, the implementing partner(s) for the Youth Inclusion

and Employment Project, UNDP Nordic, and IFU will sign a MoU establishing that they will

ensure overall coordination and will work together towards meeting the outcomes of the Youth

Employment Programme. This will be operationalised through a

Programme Coordination

Board.

The partner(s) of the Youth Inclusion and Employment Project and UNDP Nordic will

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also coordinate more directly in terms of the interfaces between their engagements, as will UNDP

Nordic and IFU. In addition to the coordination meetings at management level, there will be

coordination mechanisms at regional and country level.

Figure 4: Programme organisation for the Programme on Youth Employment and

Entrepreneurship

To further support coordination and a uniform approach to MEAL, the implementing partner(s)

for the Youth Inclusion and Employment Project will be expected to establish a

Programme

Secretariat

supporting the Youth Inclusion and Employment Project as well as the two other

projects implemented by UNDP Nordic and IFU.

The Programme Secretariat will be led by the

Team Leader,

who will represent the partner of the

Youth Inclusion and Employment Project in all operational relations and contractual obligations

to MENA including compliance with MFA rules and procedures on e.g. financial management,

anti-corruption, safety and safeguarding, PSEAH, etc. UNDP Nordic and IFU will carry the same

responsibilities in respect to their own agreements with the MFA.

The implementing partner(s) the Youth Inclusion and Employment Project must further appoint

or recruit a Programme Coordinator (subject to a no-objection from MENA), a Monitoring

Officer, and a Controller as Programme Secretariat staff.

The

Programme Coordinator

will facilitate and coordinate the overall programme management

and ensure that the Programme partners prepare and plan, implement, and report against the same

formats and procedures. She/he will ensure collaboration between Programme partners, facilitate

learning, synergy, and adaptive management and be responsible for compiling and managing all

required reporting to MFA. The

Monitoring Officer

will be responsible for i) the programme

monitoring system with inputs to be provided by the Programme partners; and ii) liaising with the

MEAL Unit. The

Controller

will be in charge of i) financial management and accounting of the

Programme, including the Acceleration Budget, according to MFA Guidelines; and ii) liaising with

controllers from the Programme partners and facilitating joint annual financial reports to MENA.

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Besides ensuring proper management of the implementation of the Youth Inclusion and

Employment Project itself, the Secretariat will also assist the Programme Coordination Board and

serve as a link between the implementing partners and the third party monitoring (MEAL Unit) to

be engaged directly under the MENA DAPP Team, cf. Section 6.3.

As such key tasks of the Secretariat will be:



Harmonisation and streamlining of the monitoring set-up between the three projects;

Coordinating M&E data collection between the three projects;

Linkages to the strategic MEAL Unit (c.f. section 6.3);

Streamline reporting to MENA DAPP Team;

Dialogue with MENA DAPP Team and Embassies;

Secretariat for the Programme Coordination Board;

Advise and support to streamline financial management arrangements to MFA

requirements;

Convene space for coordination across countries.

The implementing partner(s) for the Youth Inclusion and Employment Project will be responsible

for staffing the Secretariat appropriately and will propose a suitable management set-up in the

tender proposal. The Secretariat will be in Copenhagen while the implementing partner(s) awarded

the tender for the Youth Inclusion and Employment Project will have a physical presence in each

of the four DAPP countries.

The budget includes

Acceleration funds

to support the upscaling and acceleration of successful

initiatives and activities under all three projects. During the programme inception phase, the

MENA DAPP Team will decide on the final criteria for how partners can access the acceleration

funds. The funds will be allocated based on decisions made by the MENA DAPP Team after an

annual stocktaking in 2023 and a mid-term review in 2024. To qualify as a recipient of acceleration

funds, the programme partners must provide an initial justification that demonstrates the success

of the initiative and why it is likely to benefit from the acceleration funding. The proposal should

be backed up by an adjustment of the results framework and Theory of Change of the programme

to accommodate the effects of upscaling and acceleration at the output level. Furthermore, the

programme partners must submit a brief project description with a budget to qualify for

e a ‘no

objection’ from

the MENA DAPP Team. The no objection will consider the partner level of

financial execution, progress in terms of results, and overall absorption and financial management

capacity.

Youth Sounding Board (YSB)

will be established in each of the four DAPP countries. The

YSB is a group of young people who will function as a consultative group with the purpose of

safeguarding

and strengthening young people’s voice and perspective in relation to policy,

implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. The YSBs will provide their views on the design of

specific interventions to ultimately ensure a better programme. During the inception phase, the

MENA DAPP Team will in consultations with the Embassies and the MEAL Unit facilitate the

set-up of YSBs and identification of relevant candidates.

6.3 Monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning

DAPP will be monitored according to Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning

(MEAL) principles,

and the MENA DAPP Team will have the overall responsibility for

These five principles include (1) tracking real-time progress, (2) continuous learning and identifying needs for

adjustments, (3) ensuring the information exists for adaptive management, (4) documenting unintended effects, both

positive and negative, and (5) assessing real impact on the ground.

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maintaining a comprehensive overview of the progress towards achieving outcomes and impacts

of DAPP.

Monitoring at the Youth Employment Programme level

Results-based monitoring at programme level will provide the information needed to assess

whether programme performance is as expected. It entails measuring progress towards achieving

outputs and outcomes as specified in the results framework. It will include the compilation,

assessment, and presentation of monitoring information according to the agreed results-based

frameworks and SMART indicators defined for the programmes.

The DDD approach entails a programme design with space for adaptive and iterative learning

processes leading to adjustment of the intervention logic over time. A fundamental basis for

succeeding with this approach is that implementing partners have analytical capacity and a strong

and well-functioning MEAL system capable of collecting data, tracking results and accumulate

learning. The detailed methodologies for implementing MEAL by partner organisations at the

programme level (programme results-based monitoring) will be developed as part of either tender

proposals (Project 1) or in dialogue with MENA DAPP Team (Projects 2 and 3) and further

refined during the six months inception phase. The programme partner(s) will be responsible for

compliance of all MFA strategies and requirements on fraud and anti-corruption, safety and

safeguarding, PSEAH, etc. The level and quality of all reporting to MFA will follow the

requirements outlined in the AMG and follow the DDD principles.

Programme results-based monitoring will be implemented by the Programme Secretariat. Each

programme partner is responsible for reporting on the results frameworks of their respective

projects based on collecting, validating, analysing, and reporting data and evidence of results from

their partnerships and activities in the DAPP countries. The Programme Secretariat will ensure

that each programme partner prepares plans, implements and reports against the same monitoring

and reporting formats. The Programme Secretariat will also facilitate and coordinate the

collaboration between the partners and act as secretary of the Programme Coordination Board.

The Monitoring officer in the Programme Secretariat will be responsible for compiling and

formatting inputs from all programme

partners’

monitoring officers. The Programme Secretariat

will facilitate consolidated annual programme progress reports, work plans, and other relevant

reporting to the MENA DAPP Team.

Job creation is one of the key indicators in the Youth Employment Programme. It is generally

acknowledged that it is challenging to measure the impact of employment creation interventions.

If only new jobs created directly in the enterprises are measured, there is a risk of not sufficiently

capturing the effects of the programme. In cases where a job or an employment situation has

significantly improved (e.g. through better working conditions, higher wage and/or more secure

markets) due to the interventions such improvements should also be included in the results

reporting. Furthermore, according to UN research, every direct job created creates 1-2 additional

jobs in for example local supply chains or service companies. Hence, underreporting of results is

a risk that needs to be carefully considered by the project partners and discussed with the MEAL

Unit.

Another dimension of measuring job effects in the Youth Employment Programme is the risk of

double-counting part of the employment effects. As mentioned above, DAPP partners will be

working actively to harness complementarity between the interventions. Therefore, some of the

same individuals might benefit from both being involved in the youth entrepreneurship activities

and the Green Growth and Job Accelerator while some SMEs might be enrolled in both an

Accelerator and receive investment by Sharaka. The results of the individual interventions vis-à-

vis the individual or the SME obviously merits to be counted and reported on its own, but this

ultimately means that the same job effect might be counted twice. The DAPP partners should

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address these dilemmas during the inception phase of the Programme. The MEAL Unit will also

address the issue.

The partner(s) will also prepare a plan for the communication of results including to a broader

audience.

MEAL at the strategic DAPP level

The MENA DAPP Team and an externally recruited MEAL Unit will together be responsible for

MEAL at the strategic DAPP level. The MEAL Unit will be a crucial link between the

implementation level on the ground by partner organisations and the DAPP MENA Team’s

oversight function. It will have a full-time presence in the region, with two field offices, in Amman

(Jordan) and Tunis (Tunisia) to undertake third party monitoring in all DAPP countries, focusing

on quality assurance as well as strategic and impact monitoring for both programmes (Youth

Employment and Human Rights). The MEAL Unit will also provide relevant input in terms of the

adaptive approach of the programme as the MEAL Unit will have a more holistic overview of the

programme and can provide input in terms of how the different interventions might be adjusted

for better results or greater impact. Further details on the MEAL Unit are provided in Strategic

Framework Document (section 5.2).

7 Financial management, planning, and reporting

Management of the Danish funds will be undertaken by the

partners in accordance with MFA’s

Financial Management Guideline for Development Cooperation:

https://amg.um.dk/en/tools/financial-management/accounting-and-auditing/

Both UNDP Nordic and IFU have past engagements with the MFA and are assessed to have

sufficiently solid guidelines and procedures for financial administration and management. For the

Youth Inclusion and Employment Project Contractor it will be a criterion of the evaluation of

tenders to assess their capacity to manage the funds in line with MFA requirements.

IFU:

The MFA commitment will be allocated as earmarked funding to IFU. IFU will invest the

funds in accordance with its investment mandate and procedures. Financial reporting on the

initiative will be integrated into IFU’s overall financial reporting. It is agreed that IFU contributes

to the initiative with own resources. Reflow of funds from the investments will be an integrated

part of IFU’s capital

and business activities in line with the investment mandate. The specific

procedures for the operation of the Sharaka initiative incl. financial management will be elaborated

during start-up and detailed in the agreement between IFU and MEII.

7.1.1 Disbursement & accounting

Funds will be disbursed by MFA directly to the three partners on the basis of annual budgets and

work plans. Funding requests will be in accordance with the MFA guidelines and will be submitted

before any disbursements are carried out.

Partners will establish designated bank accounts for the MFA funds. Procedures regarding cash

handling, approval of expenditures, reporting, budget control and other internal controls, including

control of assets (fixed assets, stores, debtors and cash) shall be based on sound financial

management procedures and International Accepted Accounting Standards.

7.1.2 Audits

The partners are audited on an annual basis. The audit period follows the calendar year. For the

Contractor the audits are carried out as a stand-alone or special purpose audit, i.e. covering only

7.1 Financial management

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income and expenditure for the particular activities funded through DAPP. For UNDP, audits will

be carried out in accordance with the internal and external procedures provided for in the financial

regulations of the organisations, as agreed in the Partner-Specific Financing Agreement between

UNDP and the Government of Denmark, negotiated in March 2018. For IFU financial reporting

and audit on the initiative will be integrated into IFU’s overall financial reporting.

The audits will

be conducted in accordance with International Standards of Auditing (ISA) and should include

elements of compliance and performance audit. The audit report shall include a management

letter/report.

It is the responsibility of the partners to ensure that any sub-grantees and sub-contractors are

audited on an annual basis, that the audit reports are received timely and that these reports are

consolidated into the overall audit reports. The partners shall ensure that any material issues raised

in the auditor’s report is appropriately and timely followed up and appropriate actions taken. The

MENA DAPP Team reserves the right to claim full reimbursement of expenditure regarded as

ineligible according to the agreement between the parties. The accounting documentation shall at

any time be available for scrutiny by the MFA and the Danish Auditor General.

7.1.3 Anti-corruption

Upon suspicion or awareness of specific cases of corruption involving staff members and/or

implementing partners, the implementing partner is obliged to notify the lead Team Leader, who

is obliged to immediately notify the MFA’s MENA Department in accordance with the Anti-

Corruption Policy of the Danish Ministry for Foreign Affairs (“Zero tolerance”).

The below standard corruption clause applies between the parties of this Programme and should

be inserted in agreements signed with sub-partners:

Corruption Clause:

No offer, payment, consideration or benefit of any kind, which could be regarded as an

illegal or corrupt practise, shall be made, promised, sought or accepted

–

neither directly nor indirectly

–

as an

inducement or reward in relation to activities funded under this agreement, incl. tendering, award or execution of

contracts. Any such practise will be grounds for the immediate cancellation of this agreement and for such additional

action, civil and/or criminal, as may be appropriate. At the discretion of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

a further consequence of any such practise can be the definite exclusion from any tendering for projects or other funding

from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

7.2 Reporting

The partners will produce yearly progress reports (narrative and financial). The reports will be

submitted to the MENA DAPP Team. The following shall be addressed in the narrative reporting:



An assessment of developments in the contextual framework during the past year and how

the partners have reacted to contextual changes;

Implementation of the work plan and budget based on output targets for the reporting

period, including brief explanations of challenges encountered and deviations from

targets/milestones and how these have been assessed and handled;

Progress to date compared to output and outcome targets for the entire programme period

as stipulated in the results framework (mainly annual reports);

An analysis of risks, including both reflection on the reporting period and the upcoming

reporting period;

Challenges encountered and specification of recommended changes and adjustments

(including budget re-allocations) for approval by the relevant authorities;

Update on implementation of decisions; follow up on recommendations from reviews,

audits, monitoring visits etc.

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Financial reporting shall as a minimum include:



The financial reporting shall be drawn up to the same level of detail as the approved

detailed and output-based budget;

Include budget figures, actual spending and variance for the period under reporting and

for the entire engagement period;

Funds received during the period and accumulated.

Deviations should be explained and any budget reallocations within the period should be

noted and include details on the written approval of the reallocation/adjustment.

Monitoring, meetings and reviews:

The MFA is entitled to carry out technical and/or financial

missions, reviews, evaluations and audits during the grant period either themselves or through the

third-party monitoring contract. The annual progress reporting and documentation on monitoring

and evaluation will be the basis for continued support and development of new work plans, as well

as for continuous assessment of and adjustments to risks. Through the MEAL Unit, the MENA

DAPP Team will facilitate coordination, learning and synergies across the programmes. A number

of reviews are foreseen as input to the management of the programme:



An inception review after six months to assess the start-up process and the result

frameworks established and to possibly adjust indicators, baseline values etc.;

An annual stocktaking in 2023 and in 2026 to assess progress. The annual stocktaking in

2023 will furthermore provide recommendations related to the potential use of the

Acceleration Funds.

A mid-term review (MTR) in 2024 to assist in planning the second half of the programme

period and adapt the programme to changing circumstances. The MTR will have a

particular focus on emerging opportunities for scaling synergies on human rights and

business interventions between the Youth Employment Programme and the Human

Rights Programme, and provide recommendations related to the potential use of the

Acceleration Funds.

8 Risk management

DAPP operates in a high-risk environment and implementation is likely to be affected by the

fragile political, security, and economic situation in the region.

The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic will most likely continue affecting countries, societies, and

communities in the near future, including the DAPP countries. The pandemic will constitute a risk

factor for the overall implementation of the programme. However, the current DAPP 2017-2022

has demonstrated flexibility and capacity to adapt and address such risk factors.

The partners for the new programme will provide an overall risk management framework for all

risk management and mitigation measures including how the partners will address current and

possible new risks that have emerged after the tender.

Despite differences in the level of risk in the DAPP countries, main contextual, programmatic,

and institutional risks

–

some of which are naturally interlinked

–

include the following:

Contextual risks:

Contextual risks include worsening economic situation and political

destabilization in one or more DAPP countries. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic represents

a significant contextual risk as it is leading to economic recession, causing higher levels of

unemployment and consequently increasing the likelihood for unrest.

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The risk that a worsening economic situation and further polarisation of wealth will lead to

increased poverty and migration is present in all four DAPP countries. Economic crisis will make

the prospect for private sector-led growth and entrepreneurship difficult. Politically, the risk for

decreasing political stability and the increasing spread of corruption, in the private and public

sector is considered likely. While the overall political context is relatively stable, all four DAPP

countries can be considered as prone to destabilisation. Worst-case scenarios could lead to a phase

out of a DAPP focus country, although this is considered unlikely. Corruption is pervasive in the

focus countries, thus hampering the business climate for start-ups and SMEs.

Programmatic risks:

Key risks at the programmatic level relate to securing an enabling

environment for private sector growth. Although the focus countries have improved elements in

terms of the climate for doing business, hindrances to private sector growth persist. Another risk

is related to insufficient engagement from duty bearers to secure an enabling environment. As

experienced in the DAPP 2017-2022, there is also the risk that cumbersome administrative

procedures, make it difficult for start-ups to operate.

Institutional risks:

A likely institutional risk is the loss of human resource capacities following a

high turnover of partner organisations’

key staff, which has been experienced

in earlier programme

phases. Earlier phases have also experienced challenges related to the effective cooperation among

consortium partners, which has hampered an efficient programme implementation. A repetition

of this scenario is considered unlikely, as there is a strong focus on ensuring an appropriate

organisationsal set-up in the new management structure.

Partners are expected to present a detailed Risk Management Framework. The risk matrix in Annex

5 further details risks and mitigating measures.

9 Closure

Overall, a key feature of DAPP is the facilitation of partnerships between implementing partners

and organisations in the DAPP countries. Lasting partnerships are expected to be built and

contribute to strengthened capacity to continue activities post-DAPP.

The activities of the Green Growth and Job Accelerator will have demonstrated the importance

of innovation and support to SMEs for their growth, and eventually job creation. The Green

Growth and Job Accelerator will contribute to developing an eco-system in support of SMEs with

the participation of governments, donors, incubators etc. that is expected to be sustained post

DAPP. Lastly, the SDG Accelerator for Job Creation will have supported 800 enterprises that are

on a growth path that lives up to higher standards.

At the time of closure of DAPP, the Sharaka Capital Fund will be up and running and being a 10-

year fund, Sharaka will operate for at least another five years. Nevertheless, more importantly,

Sharaka will have demonstrated and proved the concept of providing SME finance in the region,

which can be replicated and further scaled.

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Annex 1

–

Programme context

Reference is made to Annex 1 in the Strategic Framework Document for the Danish Arab Partnership, which

includes a full standard Annex 1 with a detailed context analysis. Here, only key information related to the job

and entrepreneurship agenda in the four countries is included.

In Morocco,

COVID-19 has led the economy into recession for the first time in 25 years. GDP

is expected to contract by 6.3% in 2020 with a return to pre-COVID-19 levels in 2022. The

unemployment rate has increased from 9.2% in 2019 to 11.9% in 2020 and has disproportionally

affected youth (15-24 years) with an increase from 24.9% in 2019 to 31.2% in 2020. The Moroccan

economy relies on the performance of the agricultural sector, which accounts for nearly 15% of

GDP and employs around 40% of the workforce. Efforts have been made to attract FDIs and to

diversify the economy by supporting industries such as the automotive and aeronautics sectors.

The industrial sector now accounts for approximately 25% of GDP.

The private sector does not act as an engine of job creation and remains dominated by a few large

companies and a multitude of MSMEs (formal or informal) ranging from modern ICT start-ups

to household enterprises. According to the World Bank, Morocco is behind other countries

concerning anti-monopoly policies and market competition regulations. Policy weaknesses are

having a negative impact on companies entering the economy and their ability to grow and create

jobs. Limited educational outcomes and labour force skills that are not aligned with the labour

market’s demands and the business climate has deteriorated in the past five years due to labour

regulations, lack of access to credit, and corruption.

Much like other countries in the MENA region, Morocco belongs to one of the most water scarce

environments in the world, making it vulnerable to climate change and to desertification.

Morocco’s economic

performance is dependent on rainfall, given that its economic growth is

highly dependent on the performance of the agricultural sector, which uses 80% of the country’s

water resources. Water scarcity is also closely linked to potential social tensions, which became

apparent through protests a few years ago in southern Morocco due to lack of access to water.

Furthermore, Morocco is importing approximately 95% of its energy. The government has thus

taken important steps to reduce this dependency and move towards energy transition. A number

of green economy initiatives have been rolled out, which has allowed Morocco to top the

Germanwatch’ Climate Change Performance Index. There are many opportunities to create links

between DAPP’s job creation for youth and Morocco’s ambitious programs regarding green and

sustainable growth.

Morocco’s gender gap is significant, which is reflected in its ranking as 148

out of 156 countries

in the Global Gender Gap Report 2021. Despite increasing trends worldwide and improving

educational attainments of Moroccan women, female labour force participation has declined over

the last two decades. In 2021, only 23.4% Moroccan women were in the labour force. Such figures

are further exacerbated by a strong rural-urban divide, meaning that more women are employed

in rural areas and many of them in precarious and informal jobs, mostly in the agricultural sector.

While unemployment affects many segments of the population, the disproportionally higher share

of unemployed women partly stems from persisting social norms that limit their options on the

labour market.

In Tunisia,

where youth have the least positive perception on their economic situation of the four

DAPP focus countries, the already fragile economic situation has further deteriorated and affected

many sectors. GDP contracted by 7% in 2020 and is estimated to bounce back by (only) 4% in

2021. As such, the pandemic has further catalysed existing weaknesses of the Tunisian private

sector, which, particularly since 2013, has been in a steady decline. According to the World Bank,

both SMEs and larger enterprises are investing less, they are less innovative, less export oriented

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and therefore, less productive. Net job creation is low and a majority of newly created jobs have

not corresponded to the areas with highest unemployment levels, both in terms of economic

sectors and geographical areas. This is leading to an increased frustration in the population,

especially among youth. When compared the MENA region as such, its youth unemployment at

36.6% (15-24 years, against a general unemployment of 14.9%) is among the highest in the region.

Tunisia is home to an increasingly flourishing, yet still nascent, start-up and entrepreneurship

sector. Though many international donors are engaged with large-scale programmes, access to

funding and liquidity remains a constraint for growth. Tunisia has a weak ability to nourish so-

called ‘green shots’ (i.e. the most promising start-ups),

exposing the need for further supporting

innovation measures such as increasing the supply of specialised skills, supporting accreditation,

encouraging infrastructure/equipment upgrading, and attracting FDIs to promote global value

chain linkages.

Green growth is a key aspect of Tunisia’s future, not least because of the country’s significant

exposure to climate threats. Among various areas of intervention, Tunisia will particularly require

improved integrated water resources management, including in the agribusiness sector. Tunisia

relies heavily on imported fossil energy resources, yet energy subsidies and constraints to third-

party access continue to pose key obstacles to mitigate its foreign energy dependency, only

aggravated by the fact that its primary energy consumption has more than doubled from 1990 to

2015.

Even if it ranks as one of the region’s least energy and carbon intensive economies, only

1/10 of its primary energy supply comes from renewable sources. Tunisia remains ambitious in

transforming its energy in a green direction, though requirements for FDIs to advance this process

have yet to be met. Both before and after the revolution of 2011, Tunisian governments have had

a strong focus on creating ‘green jobs’. The ‘National Strategy on the Green Economy’ from 2014

served as a recent attempt to create linkages and synergies between various interventions in this

field. Interests from both national and international stakeholders have centred around investments

in sustainable construction, agriculture, energy, and water management, all of which could

potentially

present useful links to DAPP’s objectives on employment creation for youth.

Even if it is less visible than in other MENA countries, the Tunisian labour market is characterised

by a significant gender gap. Unemployment is more widespread among women (24.9%) than men

(14.4%). Women often have less skilled jobs, are more exposed to informal working conditions,

and are more prone to living in poverty. According to the 2021 Global Gender Gap report, Tunisia

is ranked 126 out of 156 countries and has closed 64.9% of its overall gender gap. In the field of

entrepreneurship, the gender gap is particularly significant. ILO has found that only 7.6% of

women in rural areas consider themselves as entrepreneurs or independent workers (compared to

28.1% among men), a discrepancy particularly fuelled by the persistence of strong gender based

norms and attitudes. Such norms are also seen as a main factor behind the paradox between low

female labour market participation and the fact that Tunisian women and men have similar

education levels.

In Egypt,

the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted a period of

macroeconomic stability. Growth declined from 5.6% in 2019 to 3.5% in 2020 and is projected to

decline further to 2.3% in 2021 before rebounding in 2022. While the average real growth remained

positive over the course of 2020 and foreign reserves continue to be sufficient, the COVID-19

pandemic has inevitably caused job and income losses. Yet, the pandemic also hit as longstanding

challenges continued to

persist, notably Egypt’s elevated debt-to-GDP

ratio, slow revenue

mobilisation and a below-potential performance of non-oil merchandise exports and non-oil FDI.

This has exacerbated existing challenges of job creation for youth, notably in the formal private

sector. The unemployment rate was 30% in 2020 for youth aged 15-24. Employment remains

concentrated in low value-added sectors such as private sector agriculture (including subsistence)

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and public social services while shifting away from opportunities in higher-value added sectors.

Few companies are in a position to offer employment to youth that is attractive in terms of

remuneration, working conditions and employee relations. There is currently a negative correlation

between productivity and employment. The sectors that have shown the largest shares of

employment increases have seen only limited growth in productivity such as in private sector

construction and ICT, which constrains their ability to expand and create more jobs for Egypt’s

large youth demographic. There is currently little technology transfer and established companies,

particularly SMEs, have limited capacity for innovation. Business start-up owners are often

innovative but they must contend with a state and private sector support system that is

unconsolidated and largely inadequate while processes for setting up new companies are

cumbersome and lack transparency.

Egypt is the most populous country in the MENA region. High population growth rates and

densities impose huge pressures on the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of

sustainable development. Because rainfall is scarce in much of the country, the population and

economy rely on the Nile River for about 95% of all water needs. There is significant uncertainty

regarding the anticipated impacts of climate change on the flow of the Nile River. Projected

increases in temperature and potential decreases in rainfall throughout Egypt will likely increase

water demand, particularly by the agricultural sector, which consumes about 80% of all freshwater

resources. Agriculture accounts for 12% of the GDP and around 30% of employment in Egypt,

with many more engaged in informal or unpaid agriculture work, particularly women. The

increased water demand combined with increased variability and potential overall decreased flow

of the Nile River leave agriculture particularly vulnerable to changing climate conditions. Egypt’s

national development strategy “Egypt Vision 2030” envisions a range of projects and programmes

to support the creation of green jobs and jobs in the agricultural sector, including the development

of agricultural areas and support to agro-industry, development of fisheries and the establishment

of national programmes for livestock and poultry.

According to the 2021 Global Gender Gap report, Egypt is ranked 146 out of 156 countries in

terms of “Economic Participation and Opportunity”. Only 20% of women are in the labour force,

corresponding to a gap of 73.4% that Egypt still has to close and which ranks Egypt 150

globally

on this indicator. According to the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) the

percentage of enterprises owned and managed by women is 23%, and most (18%) are found in

the micro sector. Access to finance is the main challenge for female entrepreneurs for a multitude

of reasons, not least because banks impose stringent collateral requirements.

In Jordan,

efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 have reaffirmed structural weaknesses, led

to production disruptions and forced enterprises to suspend or scale down operations, with

negative consequences for the economy and for job creation for youth. Unemployment in Jordan

in 2020 reached 38.4% for youth aged 15-24. The World Bank has forecast a -3.5% GDP growth

rate in 2020. With a saturated public sector, the private sector constitutes the main opportunity for

enhancing growth and innovation. Jordan's vocational training system, a potentially significant

factor in increasing youth employability, is poorly aligned with the needs of the economy while

on-the-job training by private sector enterprises remains limited. Sectors such as food processing,

which is highly diversified, has forward and backward linkages in the economy and a relatively high

degree of integration, are more promising in terms of youth employment. Likewise, the ICT sector

in Jordan accounts for 2.5% of GDP, with a total annual revenue of USD 682 million, employs

over 16,000 people and involves 928 companies. Furthermore, the sector has a higher rate of

employment of women than any other sector, at 29% of the ICT labour force.

Jordan is beset by a scarcity of natural resources (in particular water) and a small industrial base

within the service sector, which contributes around 70% of GDP and dominates the economy.

The rapid growth in economic activity and population as well as successive influxes of refugees

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over the last decade have imposed additional demands on energy and water resources. The

country’s infrastructure is overstretched to the point where drinking water is in short supply

and

unemployment is high in many of the communities hosting refugees. Furthermore, Jordan imports

about 97% of its energy requirements, and local sources cover the remaining 3% of requirements,

with renewable energy contributing only a small proportion to this mix. The import of energy

accounts for almost 20% of the GDP, which makes the country completely reliable on and

vulnerable to the global energy market. Climate change is expected to negatively affect economic

growth in Jordan and scarcity of water resources is one of the major barriers facing sustainable

development.

Jordan’s Green Growth National Action Plan prioritises the promotion

of green

jobs coupled with GHG emission reductions and climate adaptation, among other areas. The

National Action Plan has a particular focus on the water, tourism, agriculture, transport and waste

sectors. At present, Jordan faces challenges in relation to green finance. Although several green

financing mechanisms have been established that can support small scale projects, these

mechanisms do not have sufficient financial resources or technical capability to support country

priorities and high-level development projects.

Women’s labour force participation in Jordan was the lowest in the region prior to the COVID-

19 pandemic

and the impact of the crisis will create additional barriers to women’s retention and

entry to the labour force. The 2021 Global Gender Gap report ranked Jordan 131 out of 156

countries in “Economic Participation and Opportunity” and noted that Jordan

was an extreme

example of low female participation in the labour market with only 15.6% of women in the labour

force. Only 19% of businesses in Jordan are co-owned by women and less than 3% of firms has a

woman as the top manager. In 2018, only 4% of working women were employers or own account

workers compared to 13% of working men. Overall, businesses owned by women tend to be rare,

small, seasonal, informal and home-based, confined to low productivity activities and with limited

access to markets.

List the key documentation and sources used for the analysis:

Sustainable Development Report 2020:

https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/

IMF World Economic Outlook:

https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/profile

Morocco Economic Monitor, Fall 2020: From relief to recovery (worldbank.org)

Note d’information du Haut-Commissariat

au Plan sur les principales caractéristiques du chômage et du sous-emploi en 2020 (hcp.ma)

OECD Review of Foreign Direct Investment Statistics for Jordan: :https://www.oecd.org/investment/OECD-Review-of-Foreign-Direct-

Investment-Statistics-Jordan.pdf

World Bank. Overview of the World Bank in Jordan:

https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/jordan/overview

Danish Trade Union Development Agency

–

Labour Market Reports:

https://www.ulandssekretariatet.dk/materialedatabase/#mtt-search-

labor-reports

Morocco Economy, Politics and GDP Growth Summary - The Economist Intelligence Unit (eiu.com)

World Bank - The Unfinished Revolution: Bringing Opportunity, Good jobs and Greater Wealth to all Tunisians:

https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/tunisia/publication/unfinished-revolution

EBRD -

Tunisia Diagnostic paper: Assessing Progress and Challenges in Unlocking the Private Sector’s Potential and Developing a

Sustainable Market Economy:

https://www.ebrd.com/publications/country-diagnostics

EBRD

–

Transition Report Tunisia 2019-2020:

http://www.ebrd.com/documents/oce/transition-report-201920-tunisia.pdf

Carnegie Papers. Rethinking Economic Reform in Jordan:

https://carnegieendowment.org/files/cmec4_alissa_jordan_final.pdf

Climate Change Performance Index: Still no country good enough; EU stands at a crossroads | Germanwatch.

ECFR

–

Power Surge: How the European Green Deal can Succeed in Morocco and Tunisia:

https://ecfr.eu/publication/power-surge-how-

the-european-green-deal-can-succeed-in-morocco-and-tunisia/

World Bank

–

Tunisia Economic Monitor: Rebuilding the Potential of Tunisian Firms:

https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/tunisia/publication/tunisia-economic-monitor-december-2020-rebuilding-the-potential-of-

tunisian-firms

UNFCCC. Egyptian Intended Nationally Determined Contribution:

https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/ndcstaging/PublishedDocuments/Egypt%20First/Egyptian%20INDC.pdf

USAID. Climate Risk Profile for Egypt:

https://www.climatelinks.org/sites/default/files/asset/document/2018_USAID-ATLAS-

Project_Climate-Risk-Profile-Egypt.pdf

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC):

https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/ndcstaging/PublishedDocuments/Jordan%20First/Jordan%20INDCs%20Final.pdf

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Annex 1a

–

Update on the context in Tunisia

Tunisia’s political situation as of

September 2021 and its impact on DAPP

On 25 July 2021, widespread demonstrations took place across Tunisia to protest against the

government’s poor handling of the COVID-19

crisis as well as the dire economic situation. The

protests called for the government to be dissolved. Tunisia’s President Saied invoked Article 80 of

the Constitution and took executive control, citing an imminent threat to the Tunisian State. He

dismissed the Prime Minister (supported by the Islamist Ennahdha party), suspended the

parliament, and lifted immunity for all parliamentarians, citing the need to address widespread

corruption amongst MPs. In September, the President further suspended certain parts of the

Constitution. To underpin his executive control, the President appointed himself head of Public

Prosecution, a former national security advisor as new Minister of Interior and the head of the

presidential guard as the Acting Minister of Interior. In achieving and maintaining this temporary

political arrangement, the President is heavily reliant on the police and the military. Although the

President has not made an official statement on the length of such emergency measures, the Office

of the President has informed that the current arrangement will last until further notice. A road

map towards either new elections and a new parliament or a proposal to revise the Constitution

may then emerge, although it is also possible that the current arrangement will be prolonged.

The debates regarding the constitutionality and legitimacy of the invocation of the Constitution’s

Article 80 are ongoing at the time of writing.

Some foreign commentators describe the President’s

decisions as a coup while Tunisian commentators for the most part are describing it as a necessary

measure to end the political bottleneck that prevented the government from functioning. Analysts

also describe the situation as the result of the long-standing political feud between secular-oriented

and Islamic-oriented political groupings in Tunisia. The political situation may have an impact on

the on-going negotiations with the International Monertary Fund, although the extent and nature

hereof remains to be seen. In addition, there are emerging geopolitical factors at play.

Since his decisions of 25 July, the President has consulted with civil society and labour unions.

While some decisions taken in the aftermath of the 25 July emergency pointed to an apparent

crackdown on freedom of expression, these were met with a swift and harsh backlash from civil

society, resulting for instance in the President calling for a reversal of the arrest warrants issued

against two Islamist MPs. These efforts by civil society, including the Ordre National des Avocats

Tunisien (ONAT), the Syndicat National des Journalistes Tunisien (SNJT), and the Instance

National pour la Prevention de la Torture (INPT) are encouraging signs that Tunisian civil society

is strong and capable of defending human rights and liberties gained in the 2011 revolution. It also

demonstrates that the democratic foundation at the level of civil society and dialogue between civil

society and the state remains intact as one of the key democratic outcomes of the 2011 revolution.

Tunisian civil society remains vigilant, watching the developments closely and with the freedom to

speak out critically and effectively against infringements of rights and liberties. Many organisations

have pledged their commitment to continue playing this watchdog role, while at the same time

contributing to the democratic process. There do not appear to be any current concerns with

continuing to work on the protection and promotion of human rights in Tunisia for national and

international organisations, including those related to DAPP. However, the situation is still

unsettled and the new DAPP will have to adjust to one or a combination of the following scenarios:

a prolonged status quo of the current situation, a return to full parliamentary democracy or a more

volatile situation with incursions on democratic freedoms. DAPP is designed to navigate under

any of these circumstances.

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Annex 2

–

Detailed results framework

Strategic level

Danish Arab Partnership Programme 2022-2027

Vision statement

Programme

Programme Objective

Impact Indicators

A better life for young people in the Middle East and North Africa

Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship

Increased employment of young people through entrepreneurship and enterprise

development

SDG 4.4 By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have

relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs

and entrepreneurship

SDG 5.1 End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere

SDG 8.3 Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities,

decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the

formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including

through access to financial services

SDG 8.5 By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all

women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal

pay for work of equal value

SDG 8.6 (By 2020) substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment,

education or training

Youth Inclusion and Employment Project

Young women and men have enhanced employability and engage in entrepreneurship

a) Number of young women and men who become employed or have established

themselves as entrepreneurs

b) Number of young people who have been reached by the project and enhanced

their employability

a) 0

b) 0

a) 20,000 young people are employed or have established themselves as

entrepreneurs (minimum 50% young women)

b) 100,000 young people (minimum 50% young women)

Inclusion of youth to engage productively in society

Number of young people who have benefitted from engagement with the programme

and have increased awareness of labour market rights, job opportunities. and improved

life-skills

Number of youth organisations engaged and with increased capacity

Project 1 Title (Tender)

Project 1 Outcome

Outcome indicators

Baseline

Target

Year

2022

Year

2027

Output 1.1

–

Inclusion

Output indicators

Baseline

Target

Year

Year 1

Year 3

Year 5

Technical skills development for increased capacity and employability

Number of young people benefitting from skills development

Training offered better adapted to the needs of the private sector

Output 1.2

–

Skills development

Output indicators

Baseline

Target

Year

Year 1

Year 3

Year 5

Output 1.3

–

Enabling entrepreneurs

Output indicators

Access to business development services and mentoring for entrepreneurs

Number of young entrepreneurs who are supported

Indicator on increased capacity (specific indicator TBD in tender)

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Baseline

Target

Output 1.4

–

Access to finance

Output indicators

Baseline

Target

Year

Year 1

Year 3

Year 5

Improved business environment for entrepreneurs and SMEs

Strengthened policy framework (and enforcement) for doing business (specific

indicator TBD in tender)

Social dialogue and labour rights strengthened (specific indicator TBD in tender)

Framework for skills development strengthened (specific indicator TBD in tender)

Year

Year 1

Year 3

Year 5

Better access to finance for entrepreneurs

Number of entrepreneurs who access finance through the intervention (seed capital,

grant funding, small loans, etc.)

Number of finance institutions engaged with who see youth as interesting clients

Output 1.5

–

Business environment

Output indicators

Baseline

Target

Year

Year 1

Year 3

Year 5

Green Growth and Job Accelerator Project

SMEs grow and create jobs through development of new innovative solutions or

scaling of existing solutions

a) No. of new jobs created by entrepreneurs and SMEs that have been part of the

SDG Accelerator for Job Creation



Proportion of new jobs created for women



Proportion of new jobs created for youth (up to 35 years)

b) Proportion of entrepreneurs and SMEs who report an increase in employment

as an effect of the Green Growth and Job Accelerator Project (disaggregated by

gender and age)

c) Proportion of entrepreneurs and SMEs who report an increase in turnover as an

effect of the Green Growth and Job Accelerator Project

a) 0

b) -

c) -

a) 4,000 new jobs created in the targeted 800 companies



40% of jobs created for women



70% of jobs created for youth (up to 35 years)

b) 70% experience an increase in company employment as an effect of the Green

Growth and Job Accelerator

c) 50% experience an increase in company turnover the following years as an effect

of the Green Growth and Job Accelerator

Innovative Job Accelerators for SMEs are implemented

Number of Job Accelerators implemented

Project 2 Title (UNDP)

Project 2 Outcome

Outcome indicators

Baseline

Target

Year

2022

Year

2027

Output 2.1

–

Job Accelerators

Output indicators

Baseline

Year

Target

Year 1

Target

Year 3

Target

Year 5

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Output 2.2

–

Exposure to investors

Output indicators

Baseline

Target

Year

Year 1

Year 3

Year 5

Job-rich, sustainable business solutions get increased exposure to venture capital and

other forms of investments to support growth.

Proportion of entrepreneurs and SMEs who have been part of an Accelerator and

voice investment needs, who enters discussions with capital providers about financing

for further growth

Companies with investment needs for growth identified during

Accelerator implementation

90% of entrepreneurs and SMEs with finance and investment needs enter

discussions with investors or financial institutions

Enhanced innovation, e-commerce, and digital transformation capacity of

entrepreneurs and SMEs to grow their business

No. of entrepreneurs and SMEs benefit from learning modality on innovation, e-

commerce, and digital transformation critical to grow a business

Output 2.3

–

learning modality

Output indicators

Baseline

Target

Year

Year 1

Year 3

Year 5

5,000 entrepreneurs and SMEs benefit from critical learning on

innovation, e-commerce, and digital transformation (by gender and age

of company-lead)

Youth view entrepreneurship and SMEs as positive means for youth employment,

contributing to a positive mind-set change on future opportunities

Positive job and SDG impact opportunities in entrepreneurship and SMEs promoted

at local and regional level through media and partners

Opportunities for synergies identified in inception phase

At least 100 media promotion and social media pieces each year

Sharaka Capital Investment Fund

SMEs grow and create jobs through improved access to finance and Technical

Assistance

a) Number of new jobs created or improved (sustained) in targeted SMEs

(disaggregated on gender and age)

b) Average Revenue Growth in SMEs

a) 0

b) -

a) 30,000 new jobs created or improved (sustained) in targeted SMEs (disaggregated

on women and youth)

b) Average growth rate of 20%

A non-traditional financial service provider is established and invests in SMEs

a) USD Amount of approved investments

b) Number of investments in SMEs, disaggregated into



Size of investment (USD100,000-300,000, USD300-000-600,000, USD

600,000-1,500,000, USD 1,5000,000-3,000,000)



Sector (energy, water, agribusiness/food, industry/manufacturing, other)



Youth-led enterprises (is the manager/CEO below 35 years?)



Women-led enterprises



Export oriented enterprises

Output 2.4

–

External communication

Output indicators

Baseline

Target

Year

Year 1

Year 3

Year 5

Project 3 Title (IFU)

Project 3 Outcome

Outcome indicators

Baseline

Target

Year

2022

Year

2027

Output 3.1 -

Finance

Output indicators

Baseline

Target

Year

Year 1

Year 3

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Target

Year 5

USD 350 million before 2027 and USD 850 million in a ten-year

horizon

600 SMEs before 2027 and 1400 SMEs in a ten-year horizon

with (targets) monitoring of share of benefitting SMEs that are:



in the USD 100,000-300,000 bracket



investments in green technologies



investments in youth-led enterprises



investments in female owned enterprises



investments in export-oriented enterprises



broken down in % of investments by sectors

Output 3.2

–

Technical assistance

Output indicators

Technical assistance is provided to support the capacity of SMEs with growth and job

creation potential

a) Number of SME owners who report that the Sharaka TA has given them better

opportunities for growing their business

b) Support from TA facility encourages investment in environmental and

occupational, health and safety improvements (ESG).

Baseline

Target

Year

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

a) 75% of TA Facility beneficiaries

b) 100% of investments consider ESG factors

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Annex 3

–

Budget

Projects

Project 1: Youth Inclusion and

Employment Project (Tender)

Output 1.1: Inclusion of youth to

engage productively in society

Output 1.2: Technical skills

development for capacity building and

increased employability

Output 1.3: Access to business

development services and mentoring

for entrepreneurs

Output 1.4: Better access to finance for

entrepreneurs

Output 1.5: Improved business

environment for entrepreneurs and

SMEs

Project 2: Green Growth and Job

Accelerator Project (UNDP Nordic)

Project 3: Sharaka Capital Investment

Fund Project (IFU)

Acceleration Funds

(including pilot

activities in Algeria, if feasible)

Programme Secretariat

TOTAL

Budget (DKK mio)

2022

2023

2024

2025

2026

2027

TOTAL In %

205

47.1

10.3

11.5

105

12.6

4.6

8.0

14.9

17.2

3.4

435

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Annex 4

–

Partner assessment

Brief presentation of partners

Contractor for the Youth Inclusion and Employment Project

The partner arrangement for

the Youth Inclusion and Employment Project

will be determined by a public tender. It can be an individual organisation

or a consortium of organisations consisting of e.g. NGOs, business member organisations, trade unions, private consulting companies, etc. The

consortium could ideally be led by an organisations with strong competencies in youth mobilisation, entrepreneurship creation and skills development

as the cornerstone of the Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Programme.

Organisations should have well-established and strong linkages to the Danish resource base in order to facilitate the Danish Arab Partnership notion

of mobilising Danish expertise and knowhow of relevance for the MENA region. Organisations should be carriers of Danish value policy, innovation

and know-how, and be able to convey these in the context of the established partnerships.

UNDP Nordic Representation Office

As the UN’s largest multilateral development

organisations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) works to eradicate poverty, reduce

inequalities and build resilience so countries can sustain progress. UNDP works in 170 countries and territories and partners with all sectors of society

to strengthen policies, leadership skills, partnerships, innovation and institutional capacity to help countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

and set path to a sustainable future for people and planet.

UNDP’s Nordic Representative Office will host the Accelerator Learning Hub, which

will be established as a central anchor point for physical and

digital learning, training, ongoing support and supervision of implementation, collection of lessons learned and improvement feedback that can be

looped back into the program and its deliverables.

UNDP’s SDG Accelerator work has been developed and anchored in UNDP Nordic and thus the

strategy, coordination, and quality assurance functions will reside here. The team will include the Project Manager and supporting coordination,

knowledge management, communication, training/learning and operations functions.

UNDP Country Offices (CO) in DAPP countries will lead the country engagement at the output level under direction and coordination of UNDP

Nordic. The UNDP CO’s will be responsible for the implementation of the country-specific

SDG Accelerators for Jobs and other country-specific

activities. Each UNDP CO will recruit an overall project manager, who will be part of the overall project management group together with UNDP

Nordic.

The UNDP Regional Bureau of Arab States and North Africa (RBAS) serves as the headquarters for UNDP regional programmes and country offices

in the Arab countries. RBAS has deep knowledge and insights into all programmes and activities implemented in the region and will play a central role

as a knowledge partner in this initiative. Specifically, this initiative will explore the relevant interfaces with the regional youth programming, employment

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generation initiatives, and other synergies. RBAS will also play a key role in supporting and advocating for the initiative vis-à-vis national government

leaders.

The Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU)

The Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) and IFU managed funds have co-invested in 1,300 companies in 100 countries in Africa, Asia,

Latin America and parts of Europe. Committed investments total DKK 209 billion, of which IFU has contributed DKK 23 billion. IFU is an

independent government-owned fund offering risk capital and advice to companies that want to invest in commercial investment activities in developing

countries. IFU works on a commercial basis, based on the logic that a business investment is a good way to create lasting economic improvement.

Beyond investment directly in enterprises, IFU is the fund manager of a number of other investment funds, including the Danish SDG Investment

Fund. IFU makes risk capital available in the form of equity, loans or guarantees for project companies in one of the 146 countries eligible for IFU

investment. IFU has over the years been an important executer for the private sector component in Denmark’s strategy for development

cooperation.

IFU will invest in the Sharaka Capital Fund, which is being set up by the Middle East Investment initiative (MEII). MEII is a U.S. non-profit corporation

whose mission is to stimulate sustainable economic activity and long-lasting job creation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). For over a

decade, MEII has been making the case that formal and informal SMEs are both credit worthy and net contributors to job creation in the MENA

region. Starting in Palestine in 2008 and expanding to Tunisia (2015), Jordan (2015) and Egypt (2019), MEII is currently managing three multi-million-

dollar loan guarantee facilities and has financed over US$345 million in lending to more than 2,600 businesses with a cumulative loss rate of less than

2%. Over this period, more than 30,370 jobs have been created and sustained in the region.

Summary of partner capacity assessment

Contractor for the Youth Inclusion and Employment Project:

The capacity of the implementing partner(s) will be a key aspect of the evaluation

of the tender proposal.

UNDP

is a well reputed multilateral organisations with solid financial management systems. A capacity assessment of UNDP will be carried out

before the agreement between UNDP and MFA is signed.

IFU

has built up a strong experience with investments in developing countries including low-income countries, and IFU has the required capacity and

networks to develop and implement the new instrument. No additional capacity analysis has been conducted due to the fact that IFU is a well-

established organisations, and the planned

commitment to the new instrument will only to a minor extent affect IFU’s current governance procedures

and business activities.

URU, Alm.del - 2021-22 - Bilag 35: Orientering om ny fase af Dansk-Arabisk Partnerskabsprogram 2022-27

Danish Arab Partnership Programme 2022-2027

Programme Document for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship

Summary of key partner features

Core business

An organisation or

consortium of

organisations will

implement the youth

inclusion and

entrepreneurship project,

in close partnership with

organisations in the four

countries.

Multilateral development

organisations collaborating

with all sectors of society

in 170 countries to

eradicate poverty, reducing

inequalities and building

resilience.

UNDP Nordic Office will

implement an SDG

Accelerator for job

creation, together with

UNDP’s

country offices in

the four countries.

IFU will as an independent

gov. owned fund, invest in

Sharaka Capital Fund.

IFU has built up a strong

experience with

investments in developing

countries including low-

income countries, and IFU

has the required capacity to

develop and implement the

new instrument.

Importance

N/A

Influence

The tender proposal has

a strong influence on

how the activities

under the Youth

Inclusion and

Employment Project

are to be developed.

UNDP Nordic has

been central in the

development of the

Green Growth and Job

Accelerator Project. All

approaches and

methodologies are

based on experiences

from the current SDG

accelerator projects in

Denmark and Eastern

Europe.

IFU has had a high level

of influence in the

design of the Sharaka

Investment Capital

Fund Project.

Contribution

Capacity and network

Capacity

N/A

Exit strategy

Partnerships and

capacity built in

organisations in partner

countries.

Name of Partner

Implementing

partner(s) for

the Youth

Inclusion and

Employment

Project

UNDP

Nordic Office

The programme has

high importance for the

UNDP Nordic Office,

but for UNDP globally

it has low importance.

Moreover, the

programme has high

importance for the

development of the

SDG Accelerator for

Jobs project.

The programme is of

medium importance for

the partner’s activity

level in the MENA

region and with SMEs.

At IFUs overall activity

level the programme is

of low importance.

Use its tested and

scalable methodology

for innovation to drive

growth and create jobs

for youth

Well established

network in MENA

region through UNDP

country offices, regional

hub in Jordan and

regional office.

IFU will invest USD 10

million (DKK 62

million) in Sharaka

There is a high level of

additionally to the

DAPP funds as these

will contribute to

unleashing an IFU

investment into Sharaka

and subsequently other

impact investors

seeking market conform

returns.

Importance of

identifying staff with

the proper private

sector skills and mind-

set.

Local start-up and

business support

ecosystem

strengthened.

IFU

Agreement on

management set-up and

reporting structures.

Return flow of funds

will go into IFUs overall

portfolio.

URU, Alm.del - 2021-22 - Bilag 35: Orientering om ny fase af Dansk-Arabisk Partnerskabsprogram 2022-27

Danish Arab Partnership Programme 2022-2027

Programme Document for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship

Annex 5

–

Risk management

Contextual risks

Risk Factor

Overall risk factor

Worldwide pandemic or

health crisis.

Likelihood

Likely

–

Almost Certain

Impact

Significant

Risk response

Activities carried out

digitally or with few

participants respecting

sanitary measures.

Residual risk

Short-term risks are

reduced substantially due

to commitment to health

and safety measures.

However, general risk of

curbing of rights and

potential unrest prevails if

crisis is prolonged.

The risk is minor and

actions can be taken by

Denmark to mitigate the

situation.

Background to assessment

The COVID-19 pandemic is leading to economic recession

and causes higher levels of unemployment, potential unrest,

and limitation of rights and liberties. Governments have

enforced full or partial lockdown, impeding and delaying

activities.

Bilateral/diplomatic

relations between

Denmark and DAPP

countries worsen.

Political

Increasing political

instability with potential

for civil unrest.

Very unlikely

Major

Danish government and

representatives to

ensure and foster

bilateral relations with

all DAPP countries.

Significant deterioration

could lead to a reduced

scope of activities in

affected countries.

Denmark has longstanding relations with all DAPP focus

countries.

Likely

Major

Increasing authoritarian

rule, repression of

minorities, and abuse of

power by security

apparatus.

Likely

Major

The Human Rights and

Inclusion Programme

aims to address these

issues through

collaboration with duty

bearers and right

holders.

Risk continues to be

substantial. The situation

will be carefully

monitored and

appropriate actions taken

as needed in close

collaboration with other

development partners.

Risk remains but varies

among the DAPP

countries. Mitigation

through the programme is

limited to engagement of

government stakeholders

on specific human rights

and youth employment

issues.

Risk varies considerably from country to country, but overall

political context remains prone to destabilisation.

Affects possibilities of strategic partners to collaborate with

most critical parts of civil society and may deter new potential

local partners from civic engagement.

URU, Alm.del - 2021-22 - Bilag 35: Orientering om ny fase af Dansk-Arabisk Partnerskabsprogram 2022-27

Danish Arab Partnership Programme 2022-2027

Programme Document for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship

Risk Factor

Continued presence of

private and public sector

corruption.

Economic

Potential international

economic crisis affects

main trading partners

(such as the EU) and has

a negative impact on

trade, remittances and

FDIs to the focus

countries.

Worsening economic

situation and further

polarization of wealth is

leading to increased

poverty, potential societal

and political unrest and

migration.

Partial or complete

breakdown of financial

institutions and banking

systems or impediment of

cross-border financial

transactions.

Societal

Increasing conflict

between

population groups; social

and religious tension.

Likelihood

Likely

Impact

Major

Risk response

Difficult to mitigate

through instruments

available to the

programme.

DAPP aims to improve

economic conditions,

especially for youth.

However, difficult to

mitigate this risk solely

through DAPP.

Residual risk

Short- and long-term risks

remain.

Background to assessment

Corruption is pervasive in focus countries and affects many

sectors, including hampering the business environment.

Likely

Major

Residual risk remains.

However, actions taken

by programme and other

donors can mitigate the

situation.

The economic downturn in the EU following the financial

crisis had a direct impact on the DAPP partner countries.

Almost certain

Major

DAPP aims to mitigate

economic and social

exclusion of youth.

Risk not substantially

reduced by DAPP alone.

However, actions taken

by programme and other

donors can mitigate the

situation.

Short- and long-term risks

remain but are unlikely.

Risk in all focus countries. Bleak outlook for economic growth

and redistribution of wealth. However, IMF programmes

under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) provide incentives to

ensure that macro-economic and financial policies remain

sound, reforms on track and that fiscal buffers and reserves

remain adequate.

DAPP focus countries have varying degrees of stable financial

infrastructures and access to international credit markets. The

MENA region has in recent years witnessed either severe

depreciation or near collapse of national currencies and rising

inflation, all of which puts pressure on the livelihood and

wealth of their respective populations.

Unlikely

Major

While DAPP aims at

improving economic

condition in its focus

countries, developments

in currency and financial

markets are difficult to

mitigate.

DAPP is sensitive

towards the inclusion of

various social

/urban/rural (youth)

groups and minorities.

The programme has an

inclusive approach to

Unlikely

Major

The short-term residual

risk is not reduced.

However, DAPP aims at

including youth and

minorities and will in the

medium and long-term

contribute to bridging

Social tension and unrest already seen in several focus

countries. High risk of persecution of religious and other

minorities.

URU, Alm.del - 2021-22 - Bilag 35: Orientering om ny fase af Dansk-Arabisk Partnerskabsprogram 2022-27

Danish Arab Partnership Programme 2022-2027

Programme Document for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship

Risk Factor

Likelihood

Impact

Risk response

various population

groups, but cannot

mitigate these risks

through tools available

to the programme.

DAPP aims to promote

the inclusion of youth

–

socially, politically and

economically by

addressing their specific

challenges and needs.

Residual risk

divides between

urban/rural groups and

minorities.

Background to assessment

Generational gap widens

with a growing youth

population that rejects

tribal/communal/age

hierarchies leading to less

social cohesion and

possible youth-led

protests.

Environment

Environmental

degradation, increased

water scarcity, etc. might

lead to internal migration

e.g. rural exodus which

puts pressure on large

cities.

Security

Deterioration of domestic

security context and

occurrence of terrorist

acts.

Likely

Major

Residual risk is not

reduced in the short term.

However, DAPP will

address youth needs and

challenges and in the long

term contributing to

reduce youth frustration.

Youth are not included and experience a growing frustration

and lack of trust in institutions.

Likely

Minor

DAPP will support job

creation and growth in

the green sector and

seek to address root

causes of migration.

The short-term risk is

minor and can be

mitigated by the inclusive

approach of DAP.

All focus countries are considerably prone to water scarcity

and vulnerable to climate change.

Likely

Major

Increased instability in

border regions due to

violent conflicts in

neighbouring countries.

Unlikely

Major

DAPP and partners to

have strong focus on

safety, maintain

situational awareness,

prepare contingency

plans, and ultimately

phase out projects.

DAPP and partners to

maintain situational

awareness, prepare

contingency plans, and

ultimately phase out

projects. Projects to be

Short term risk is reduced

due to safety measures

and contingency plans,

but overall risk prevails.

Terrorist attacks against public experienced in several focus

countries. Extremist tendencies might be catalysed through

spill over from regional conflicts in e.g. Syria, Iraq, and Libya.

Residual risks reduced by

selecting safe areas.

However, the risk is

outside the sphere of

influence of DAPP.

Conflicts in neighbouring countries to DAPP focus countries,

such as Syria, Iraq, and Libya, create regional instabilities.

While border regions to these countries might experience spill-

over by conflict and violence, borders are likely to remain

intact.

URU, Alm.del - 2021-22 - Bilag 35: Orientering om ny fase af Dansk-Arabisk Partnerskabsprogram 2022-27

Danish Arab Partnership Programme 2022-2027

Programme Document for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship

Risk Factor

Likelihood

Impact

Risk response

implemented in

geographical areas

deemed as relatively

safe.

Residual risk

Background to assessment

Programmatic risks

Risk Factor

Narrowing space for civil

society and continued

tightening of control due

to security concerns and

public discontent.

Foreign NGOs denied

authorisation, banned or

harassed, e.g. by money

transfer controls.

Likelihood

Likely

Impact

Minor

Risk response

Engagement in civil

society donor groups

and policy dialogue with

bilateral and multilateral

partners.

Engagement in civil

society donor groups

and policy dialogue with

bilateral and multilateral

partners.

Residual risk

The risk remains likely

and cannot be mitigated

solely through DAPP.

Impact on job creation

remains minor.

The residual risk is likely

to remain high for NGOs

in general, yet lower for

those working on job

creation as this is a

political priority of all

focus countries.

Significant reduction of

the risk given the strict

control mechanisms in

place.

Background to assessment

The programme does not solely rely on civil society

organisations and job creation remains top priority for

governments in all focus countries.

Likely

Major

The risk varies from country to country, but is significant in

Egypt and is increasing in Jordan. However, job creation

remains a top priority for governments and CSOs working on

these topics are less likely to be affected.

Financial mismanagement

and misappropriation of

funds.

Likely

Major

Conflicting/non-

aligned/duplicated

development efforts.

Likely

Minor

Strict financial

management

requirements and

vetting of partners

imposed on both

strategic and local

partners. No tolerance

policy implies phase out

in serious cases of

corruption.

Increased efforts

towards strategic

coordination,

collaboration, and joint

Potentially damaging but limited evidence of mismanagement

and misappropriation of funds in the past.

The residual risk is

reduced. In general,

donors have a common

interest and obligation to

Coordination remains challenging but efforts to align in the

preparation of DAPP and established donor coordination

platforms reduces risk of duplication.

URU, Alm.del - 2021-22 - Bilag 35: Orientering om ny fase af Dansk-Arabisk Partnerskabsprogram 2022-27

Danish Arab Partnership Programme 2022-2027

Programme Document for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship

Risk Factor

Likelihood

Impact

Risk response

programming with other

donors, CSOs, and key

stakeholders.

Increased dialogue with

duty bearers and support

to right holders on

advocacy for reform.

In the preparation of

DAPP, research will be

conducted on youth

challenges and needs and

a rigorous selection of

beneficiaries will be

carried out

DAPP aims to support

start-ups

and

entrepreneurs

navigate

the

administrative system.

Rigorous

participant

selection, which includes

testing motivation and

entrepreneurship skills.

The use of capacity

building, coaching and

mentoring programmes

specifically designed to

meet the needs of

participants strengthens

capacities and helps

mitigating this risk.

Sharaka is in close

dialogue with a range of

potential investors. IFU

will activate its network.

If challenges occur, it is

Residual risk

align activities and avoid

duplication.

The residual risk remains

high in the short term, as

these processes take time

and cannot be addressed

solely by DAPP.

The residual risk is

significantly reduced, as

the programme will be

demand-driven and

tailored to needs.

The support from DAPP

is likely to reduce the risk

significantly for

entrepreneurs supported

by the programme.

The residual risk is

significantly reduced.

DAPP specifically targets

these issues.

Background to assessment

Insufficient engagement

from duty bearers to

secure

enabling

environment.

Disappointment, lack of

interest, possible drop-out

of youth participating in

the programme.

Likely

Major

Focus countries have improved elements in the doing business

climate, but hindrances to private sector growth persist.

Likely

Major

This has occurred in the current DAPP phase, especially in the

entrepreneurship support programme.

Cumbersome

administrative procedures

making it difficult for

start-ups to operate.

Lack of training and

experience of start-ups to

run their business, lack of

funding. Difficulty in

managing their venture,

day-to-day operations.

Likely

Major

Experienced in DAPP phase in the entrepreneurship support

programme.

Likely

Major

Experienced in DAPP phase in the entrepreneurship support

programme.

Sharaka is unable in due

time to raise the necessary

investment capital from

other

DFIs

which

jeopardizes the ability to

Unlikely

Major

The residual risk is

significantly reduced given

the large network of IFU.

Discussions with partners.

URU, Alm.del - 2021-22 - Bilag 35: Orientering om ny fase af Dansk-Arabisk Partnerskabsprogram 2022-27

Danish Arab Partnership Programme 2022-2027

Programme Document for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship

Risk Factor

reach the employment

targets within the lifetime

of DAPP.

Likelihood

Impact

Risk response

an option to either delay

the start-up slightly or

start-up prior to having

mobilised

the

full

targeted capital. In a

worst-case scenario an

alternative

partner

should be identified.

Outreach and conditions

key to project design.

Residual risk

Background to assessment

Inability of IFU and

UNDP Nordic to attract

relevant enterprises.

Unlikely

Major

Residual risk reduced by

the response.

Both projects are based on well tested concepts.

Institutional risks

Risk Factor

Lack of coordination and

synergy between

programme partners and

intervention areas.

Loss of human capacities

due to frequent turnover

of staff in country offices

and headquarters.

Likelihood

Unlikely

Impact

Major

Risk response

Strong focus on

effective organisationsal

set-up in management

structure. Integrative

approach to outcomes.

Emphasis on the need

for partners to monitor

Human Resource

developments and react

adequately and quickly

to changes in personnel.

Partners to ensure equal

distribution of local

staff across countries

and to ensure frequent

consultations with key

local and international

stakeholders, if there is

no representation/staff

in the focus countries.

Residual risk

The risk response is based

on lessons learned from

the current DAPP and is

likely to significantly

reduce the residual risk

The risk for loss of

institutional memory and

unfilled positions remains

but is reduced.

Background to assessment

Consortium partners in earlier programme phases have

struggled to cooperate effectively, hampering efficient

programme implementation.

Likely

Minor

Earlier programme phases have experienced high turnover of

key staff in partner organisations.

Insufficient contextual

understanding affecting

the quality of

intervention.

Likely

Major

The risk is significantly

reduced through regular

and broad consultations

with key stakeholders.

Earlier programme phases have experienced inadequate use of

partners’ contextual insights in order to inform and adapt

programming..