The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a US Government agency that provides countries with large-scale grants to fund country-led solutions for reducing poverty through sustainable economic growth.
Tunisia, like other countries in the North Africa region, suffers from high water scarcity and impact of climate change will further exacerbate the situation. Agriculture is using around 80% of available water resources, so increasing the efficiency of water usage and improving water governance in agriculture is important to ensure long-term water and food security, and sustainability of the agricultural sector.
Therefore, MCC is currently developing a five-year compact in collaboration with the Tunisian Government, aimed at improving the general business climate and the management of water resources in agriculture in the country.
MCC asked Voluntas Policy Advisory to conduct an in-depth institutional review and political economy analysis of the water sector in Tunisia with the aim of assessing the potential scope and viability of policy and institutional reforms.
In doing so, Voluntas Policy Advisory contributed to a better understanding of the context in which the proposed MCC-supported water program will operate and identified entry points for and possible coalitions to advance change and address key risks. Voluntas Policy Advisory was commissioned to:
Voluntas Policy Advisory conducted an in-depth review of relevant literature, case studies, the legal and institutional framework and relevant sector strategies. The analysis was further informed through more than 20 Key Informant Interviews at national, regional and local level with representatives of the government, civil society, academia, water sector experts and relevant donors active in the sector.
Voluntas Policy Advisory will now provide additional support to MCC on specific insights identified during the initial analysis.
The foregoing information should not be construed as an express or implied endorsement of Voluntas by Millennium Challenge Corporation or the United States Government.
To support effective COVID-19 crisis communication and community outreach by the Libyan Ministry of Health and the National Centre for Disease Control, Voluntās Policy Advisory supported UNICEF in the development and implementation of a nationwide survey-based behavioral assessment in Libya.
On December 9, Voluntās presented the outcomes of a recent feasibility study for the establishment of a Labour Market Information System (LMIS) in Libya to Libyan government and private sector stakeholders.
Supported by the European Union, the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) and the Federation of Egyptian Industry/Environmental Compliance Office (FEI/ECO) aimed to analyze the gaps between Egyptian businesses’ needs and the skills of the workforce in order to enable a dialog on new initiatives to increase employability and thus employment.
Since 2001, the Somali private sector has grown steadily thanks to improved security and increasing stability. As such, agricultural activities and trade have developed significantly, although businesses are often informal with structures based on family and clan (World Bank, Unemployment rate (%) Somalia, 2018).
However, despite this progress and according to the International Organization of Migration (IOM), tens of thousands of people leave Somalia/Somaliland every year, and 60% of young people consider migrating because of youth unemployment – estimated at 25% in 2019 (World Bank Data, Youth Unemployment Rate for Somalia, 2019) – and lack of job prospects (IOM, Somalia, 2017).
In this context, SPARK, a Dutch NGO focused on creating jobs for young people in fragile states, has implemented the Local Employment in Africa for Development (LEAD) program seeking to improve employment opportunities for youth by supporting entrepreneurship and helping create sustainable jobs.
The LEAD program has been focused on activities in Libya, Somalia, and Tunisia aimed at underpinning the human potential of local youth to reduce migration and radicalization in the countries.
To document results of the LEAD program in Somalia, Voluntas Policy Advisory helped SPARK estimate impact of activities in terms of job creation.
This was done by tracing the number of sustainable jobs created thanks to activities in Hargeisa, Mogadishu, Garowe and Borama. At Voluntas Policy Advisory, we also evaluated the feasible means for job verification taking into consideration the Somali context.
To do this, Voluntas Policy Advisory carried out phone surveys with beneficiaries of LEAD activities, and key informant interviews with partners. Through this data collection, it was possible to quantitatively estimate new jobs created by business owners, and new job opportunities identified for job seekers – both formal and informal.
As a result, SPARK is now able to build future job creation activities on fact-based recommendations for the most efficient and effective practices in the Somali context.
To support effective COVID-19 crisis communication and community outreach by the Libyan Ministry of Health and the National Centre for Disease Control, Voluntās Policy Advisory supported UNICEF in the development and implementation of a nationwide survey-based behavioral assessment in Libya.
On December 9, Voluntās presented the outcomes of a recent feasibility study for the establishment of a Labour Market Information System (LMIS) in Libya to Libyan government and private sector stakeholders.
Supported by the European Union, the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) and the Federation of Egyptian Industry/Environmental Compliance Office (FEI/ECO) aimed to analyze the gaps between Egyptian businesses’ needs and the skills of the workforce in order to enable a dialog on new initiatives to increase employability and thus employment.
Libya is currently witnessing an increased escalation in fighting as General Haftar commanded of the so-called Libyan National Army is trying to take control of Tripoli from the internationally recognized Government of National Accord. Our Principal Alexander Kjaerum weighted in on the developments for Danish Radio P1 Orientering discussing the prospects and role of foreign powers and UN.
One option in focus by the international community is further decentralization of power, enhancing power at the municipal level to generate trust in public governance institutions. In 2012, Law no. 59 ‘Concerning the Local Administration System’ laid the foundation for decentralization determining the relationship between local and national level institutions. The implementation of this law has however not been very successful so far as there is still a lack of clarify on roles and responsibilities of different government actors, gap between the law and the actual governance system, as well as external constraints such as insecurity and limited funding. Voluntas has been hired to carry out a political economy analysis to assess the challenges, risks, limitations, and opportunities of decentralization programming. To this end, Voluntas designed an analytical framework to investigate the dynamics of power, economic and social forces influencing development, and how prospective interventions may interact with these dynamics. Our Head of Tunis Office, traveled to Libya and conducted +15 interviews and 3 FGDs with mayors, political leaders, civil society, expert and representatives from international organization. Furthermore more than 30 reports and publications on decentralization, Libya, and local governance were reviewed to identify trends and knowledge gaps Based on the data collected and desk-review of other material, we provided the client with a report laying out pathways for reform and programming despite the contextual challenges.
To support effective COVID-19 crisis communication and community outreach by the Libyan Ministry of Health and the National Centre for Disease Control, Voluntās Policy Advisory supported UNICEF in the development and implementation of a nationwide survey-based behavioral assessment in Libya.
On December 9, Voluntās presented the outcomes of a recent feasibility study for the establishment of a Labour Market Information System (LMIS) in Libya to Libyan government and private sector stakeholders.
Supported by the European Union, the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) and the Federation of Egyptian Industry/Environmental Compliance Office (FEI/ECO) aimed to analyze the gaps between Egyptian businesses’ needs and the skills of the workforce in order to enable a dialog on new initiatives to increase employability and thus employment.
Migration, transnational criminal networks and state fragility in the Sahel-Maghreb are becoming an increasing challenge for EU and an effective policy response is needed.
Together with the Danish Institute for International Studies we have established a research platform with experts from EU, US and the Sahel-Maghreb region to provide ongoing policy inputs to the Danish MFA.
An evidence-based policy addressing the root causes of migration, state fragility and transnational crime building on scalable, local-level interventions.
To support effective COVID-19 crisis communication and community outreach by the Libyan Ministry of Health and the National Centre for Disease Control, Voluntās Policy Advisory supported UNICEF in the development and implementation of a nationwide survey-based behavioral assessment in Libya.
On December 9, Voluntās presented the outcomes of a recent feasibility study for the establishment of a Labour Market Information System (LMIS) in Libya to Libyan government and private sector stakeholders.
Supported by the European Union, the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) and the Federation of Egyptian Industry/Environmental Compliance Office (FEI/ECO) aimed to analyze the gaps between Egyptian businesses’ needs and the skills of the workforce in order to enable a dialog on new initiatives to increase employability and thus employment.
Conflict in Libya has seen more than 400,000 people being internally displaced and international organizations and NGOs have had to evacuate to Tunis, making it difficult to monitor their activities on the ground in Libya.
We monitor food distributions by WFP’s local partners, assessing issues and challenges in the distribution process, as well as give beneficiaries an opportunity to provide feedback to WFP.
Our ongoing monitor help to ensure accountability and efficient provision of food aid to vulnerable groups, improving the operations of WFP local partners.
To support effective COVID-19 crisis communication and community outreach by the Libyan Ministry of Health and the National Centre for Disease Control, Voluntās Policy Advisory supported UNICEF in the development and implementation of a nationwide survey-based behavioral assessment in Libya.
On December 9, Voluntās presented the outcomes of a recent feasibility study for the establishment of a Labour Market Information System (LMIS) in Libya to Libyan government and private sector stakeholders.
Supported by the European Union, the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) and the Federation of Egyptian Industry/Environmental Compliance Office (FEI/ECO) aimed to analyze the gaps between Egyptian businesses’ needs and the skills of the workforce in order to enable a dialog on new initiatives to increase employability and thus employment.
Recent Comments