Consultancy Service for Development of Handbook on Gender-responsive Business Planning - FLOW/EOWE

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Country:        Vietnam
Organisation:  SNV Netherlands Development Organisation
Programme:  Enhancing Opportunities for Women’s Enterprises (FLOW/EOWE)
Donor:          The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Social Development Department (DSO)
Abstract:       Consultancy service for the development of handbook on business planning for women running start-up businesses
Location:       Ha Noi and other provinces as required
Duration:       September – November 2018

I. Background

SNV Netherlands Development Organisation has been working in Vietnam since 1995. Using market-based approaches and SNV’s Balancing Benefits framework for the promotion of gender equality. SNV is committed to reducing poverty by catalysing environmentally sustainable solutions for low-income people in agriculture, energy, water & sanitation, and REDD+.

The “Enhancing Opportunities for Women’s Enterprises” (EOWE) programme is being implemented between 2016 and 2020 in Vietnam and Kenya by SNV Netherlands Development Organisation. The Programme is part of the Funding Leadership Opportunities for Women (FLOW) framework funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Social Development Department (DSO). In Vietnam, FLOW/EOWE will be implemented in collaboration with local partners in Quang Binh, Binh Dinh, Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan provinces, leveraging on previous as well as existing projects and relationships to ensure more benefits for women.

Women's capacity to participate and compete in economic activities is limited by a series of structural barriers, including the lack of gender-sensitive policies, access to assets, technology, markets, and information, as well as gender roles in households, businesses and communities. SNV’s “Enhancing Opportunities for Women’s Enterprises” (EOWE) programme addresses these issues and aims to advance women’s economic participation and self-reliance in Kenya and Vietnam by creating a conducive environment for female entrepreneurship as a vehicle for change.

The EOWE programme focuses its support on women working in agribusinesses by increasing their access to agribusiness models, assets, technology, markets, and information. In order to increase the income and improve the livelihoods of women in agricultural value chains, the programme supports and promotes climate-smart agriculture business models and women leadership in farmer groups and cooperatives.

In addition, the programme aims to transform key gender norms within households and communities that inhibit women from starting or advancing their business including: time use, leadership, and control over income. On the national level, SNV focuses on increasing the gender-sensitiveness of key policies and laws and the establishment of a women’s economic platform and gender network. Within the programme, SNV closely collaborates with local partners and promotes a network of different actors in the agricultural sector, the Women’s Union, Cooperative Union, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and national and local government actors for technical support and policy influencing.

Supporting women in business start-up and development through the Women’s National Business Start-up Programme for the period 2017 - 2025

Through the FLOW/EOWE programme in Vietnam, SNV is supporting the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU) to become a key player in fostering the entrepreneurship ecosystem of Vietnam, which will allow it to play a much more substantive role in the country’s private sector development, and thus increase its policy influence to promote a women’s economic empowerment agenda. On a policy level, SNV together with VWU will organise Public-Private-Civil society dialogues to engage different stakeholders, from female entrepreneurs to senior policy makers, to discuss challenges and opportunities for women businesses and start-ups, with the aim that these reflections and insights could feed into new gender-responsive policies and programme.

The Women’s National Business Start-up Programme (WNBSP) is an important target of FLOW/EOWE programme, both at the policy level and the business level. SNV has worked together with VWU in formulation, technical development and evidences for advocacy of the WNBSP, which was approved by the Prime Minister in 2017. SNV has successfully supported the kick-off of the programme in 2017 and is now in close collaboration with VWU to build the capacity of local WUs and start-up businesses to assist better implementation of the WNBSP at local levels and ensure the effective and efficient achievement of FLOW’s business interventions which enable more and more women to accelerate business development and start-up.

II. Assignment description

1.    Objective:

The consultancy aims to support VWU and the FLOW/EOWE programme to enhance the implementation of the WNBSP by:

• Developing a handbook on business planning for women running start-up businesses. The handbook will provide basic knowledge and skills on business management and in-depth knowledge on business planning with cases/good practices which will help entrepreneurs leverage production and make their businesses both more profitable and sustainable;
• Building capacity for VWU’s trainers/mentors to better reach and support women entrepreneurs through using the aforementioned handbook, and practical coaching.

2.    Scope of work:

• Reviewing FLOW/EOWE programme documents and the WNBSP to understand programme objective and the context of business start-ups in Vietnam; knowledge and skills on women’s business start-ups, legal documents related to start-up ecosystem in Vietnam;
• Reviewing existing start-up materials from various sources for reference;
• Developing the work-plan that consists of a timeline and resources for the assignment as well as an outline of the handbook;
• Drafting the handbook incorporating the references and inputs of stakeholders;
• Validation workshops combined with piloting training and field testing;
• Feedback and improvements for finalisation of the handbook;
• Publishing and presentations.

3.    Expected outputs and deliverables

Output 1: 01 handbook on business planning for business start-up women. The handbook contents will be based on consultant(s) proposal and be discussed/agreed with 2 core modules and a training guide/mentoring (as Annex):

• Module 1: Basic knowledge on business management
• Module 2: Business planning (substantial)
• Annex: Traning guide for WU trainers/mentors

Output 2: A training to use the handbook

The consultant(s) will deliver a 3-day ToT training course on business planning for about 25-30 participants including WU trainers/mentors, key WU staff at national level and key trainers from provinces. The training principles of participatory and learner-centred methodology must strictly be applied in the training course.

4.    Time frame

The following schedule is an indicative schedule as an input into the detailed work-plan to be developed by the consultant and in agreement with FLOW/EOWE and VWU.  

III. Consultancy management

The consultant(s) will work closely and under the direction of the FLOW/EOWE Advisors and VWU staff.

IV. Requirements of consultant(s)

The consultant(s) should have:

• A higher degree (preferably with a Master Degree or doctoral degree) in Economics or Business Administration;
• Sound writing experience (at least 5 years);
• Proven at least five - ten year experience in providing consultancy service for start-ups, enterprise/cooperative development, women’s economic empowerment;
• Excellent analytical skills, high competency in synthesizing and compiling documents in Vietnamese or English;
• Excellent presentation skills;
• The ability to deliver the committed deliverables on time.

IV. Submission of application

Interested consultant(s) are invited to submit an application including CV, expected fee, total person-days, and evidence of similar works with the title “FLOW/EOWE – Consultancy service for development of handbook on gender-responsive business planning” by 9 September 2018 to:

SNV Netherlands Development Organisation
3rd floor, D Building, La Thanh hotel, 218 Doi Can, Ba Dinh, Hanoi
Email: [email protected]

Only short-listed applications will be contacted for interviews.