Call for Concept Notes (CN) for youth employment projects

الوصف

Call for Concept Notes (CN) for youth employment projects,

under F4J Careerz youth employment program

F4J Development Impact Bond (DIB 2)

F4J Careerz is an innovative employment Program targeting Palestinian youth, now in its second term (2025-2027). It is managed by Finance for Jobs for Consulting Services (F4J-CS), a Palestinian Private Limited Company, based in Ramallah. The program funds employment projects implemented by local Service Providers (SPs), who provide training and employment services for Palestinian unemployed youth, aged (18-29). SPs work with both employers and youth to identify any problems hindering their employment, including the skills gap, and provide employment solutions and interventions, including bespoke training to help place those youth into sustainable jobs (for at least 6 months). F4J Careerz youth employment program is now soliciting Concept Notes (CN) for employment projects.

The F4J Careerz program is a results-based program that utilizes the Development Impact Bond (DIB) financing tool, with investment from social investors, who provide working capital to fund the previously employment projects, and performance management of those providers.

The company is paid by Outcome Funders only if the services succeed in achieving the targeted jobs outcomes. Those proceeds are then used to fund more employment projects and, eventually, if the program is successful, it will be able to repay its investors. It is worth noting the job outcomes are checked by an Independent Verification Agent (IVA) for transparency as a condition for payment.

The first phase of the project, DIB I, was successfully implemented between 2020-2024. The four investors of that phase were the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO), and the Chilean Palestinian Diaspora Investment Fund “Semilla de Olivo (SDO)”. DIB I Outcomes Funders were the Ministry of Finance, through the Finance for Jobs (F4J) project, implemented by DAI, with funding from the World Bank.

Following the successful completion of F4J DIB I, surpassing all employment targets, the F4J Outcome Funders and Investors have decided to implement another Impact Bond, F4J DIB II, to be implemented between 2025-2027. DIB II is now rebranded to F4J Careerz youth employment program. This second phase is implemented with investment from PIF and SDO. The Outcomes Funders are the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MoPIC), through the DAI’s F4J project, with funding from the World Bank.

The program emphasizes employment as opposed to just training, which has helped to shift the culture of Service Provider partners to focus on job outcomes. This results-based financing scheme has created the right incentives for Service Providers to focus on the end-result, i.e. employment, and not run any training unless there is an employer - with a vacancy - waiting for the training result, i.e. a skilled youth.

Conditions of the call

The F4J Careerz employment program is now soliciting ‘Concept Notes (CN)’ from potential Service Providers to help it expand its pipeline of employment projects, to be implemented between 2025-2027. The program announced its first Call for Concept Notes in May 2024. The program has already contracted its first two Service Providers partners from that call and is working to co-design more projects.

Applicants to the first call can reapply to this second call, regardless of the status of their application to the first call, especially if they have identified new employment problems they wish to address.

Deadline for this call is 15 July 2025, end of day. However, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis as they are they submitted, so we highly encourage early applications, due to budget constraints. This is decided at the sole discretion of the F4J Careerz program management.

Due to the current war on Gaza and the current focus on humanitarian responses there, the F4J Careerz program is currently receiving applications for employment projects in the West Bank only.

We will conduct online information sessions to answer questions from interested applicants to help fill the online Concept Note form. If you have any questions, please make sure to attend one of these two information sessions, as we will not answer any questions via email or phone. The sessions require prior registration via the below links. You are not required to attend both sessions, the session is repeated to accommodate audience availability.

First session: [15 June 2025 at 11:00 am – 12:30 pm], Registration LINK: Session 1
Second session: [18 June 2025 at 11:00 am – 12:30 pm], Registration LINK: Session 2

Below you will find the needed links for: