Business Development Services (BDS) Analysis For The Childcare Sector In Kenya And Malawi

Consultancy For Action For Paid Childcare Sector Transformation (ACT) Project

World University Service of Canada (WUSC) is a Canadian non-profit organization working to create a better world for all young people. Together, we develop solutions in education, economic opportunities, and empowerment to overcome inequality and exclusion for youth around the world, particularly young women and young refugees. WUSC currently works in 25 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, with an annual budget of approximately CAD $40 million. We have over 90 staff in our Ottawa office and over 200 people overseas implementing 16 development projects in collaboration with donors, including Global Affairs Canada; the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO); the MasterCard Foundation; the World Bank; the Asian Development Bank; and the African Development Bank.

The Action for Paid Childcare Sector Transformation (ACT) project is a 4-year collaborative initiative that uses an innovative systems approach to drive gender-transformative, locally-owned, collaborative action to transform paid childcare from a job of last resort to a vocation of choice. The project also aspires for the paid childcare sector to become one of economic prosperity for women in Kenya and Malawi. ACT aligns with Canada's commitment to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on gender equality and empowerment, SDG 8 on decent work for all, and Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) action area on growth that works for everyone.

ACT responds to recognition within the global policy agenda that women are overrepresented within the largely informal paid care economy, where they face low pay, poor working conditions, limited social protection, and rights abuses. These are key barriers that contribute to significant poverty among women-paid childcare providers, and that limit potential for their economic empowerment. The barriers also severely limit women-paid childcare providers' ability to deliver quality childcare services. Women are the primary participants in the paid childcare economies of Kenya and Malawi. This sector has a high economic opportunity for women due to the potential for sustainable demand for childcare services; however, this opportunity is unrealized.

The essence of ACT's Theory of Change (ToC) is that the economic empowerment of women childcare providers in Kenya and Malawi can only be achieved if systemic, gender transformative change is driven and owned by local ecosystem actors. ACT's systems approach tackles the most pressing underlying issues by working with key actors in Kenya and Malawi who influence those issues. ACT will enable coordination, knowledge, capacity, and performance improvements to address gender-based inequities.

Geographically, ACT will focus on areas with large concentrations of women childcare providers, seeking opportunities to support rural and urban providers, including the most marginalized, and where project partners have existing networks, starting in Kenya. In Kenya, the project is focused on both supply and demand for childcare in Nairobi and Kisumu, while in Kakamega the focus is on the supply side, recognizing that many childcare workers come from Kakamega to provide services in larger cities such as Nairobi and Kisumu. In Malawi, activities will focus on both the supply and demand side in Lilongwe and Blantyre.

The ultimate outcome of ACT is enhanced economic empowerment of women paid childcare providers in Kenya and Malawi. The intermediate outcomes are improved gender responsive performance of childcare ecosystem actors in Kenya and Malawi, enhanced protection and promotion of the rights and needs of women paid childcare providers in Kenya and Malawi, and enhanced provision of gender responsive financial and business services and models by support service providers to women paid childcare providers in Kenya and Malawi. The immediate outcomes are improved gender responsive coordination among childcare ecosystem actors, improved capacity of childcare ecosystem actors to develop and deliver gender and disability responsive training and certification supporting women's advancement in the paid childcare sector, improved capacity of childcare ecosystem actors to develop and implement gender transformative policy and regulation regarding the paid childcare sector, and improved capacity of business service providers to provide gender responsive business services and models that meet the needs of women paid childcare providers.

The primary objective of this consultancy is to contribute to the overall goal of the ACT Project by providing specialized expertise in understanding the business development ecosystems in Kenya and Malawi that serve and have the potential to serve the childcare sector. Specifically, the consultant will map the BDS ecosystem, review existing BDS approaches, develop a BDS capacity strengthening approach, and support the matching grant program design.

The consultant will be responsible for undertaking the following tasks, primarily through a desk review, key informant interviews (KIIs), and focus group discussions (FGDs): BDS ecosystem mapping, review of existing BDS training materials and approaches, development of capacity strengthening approach for BDS providers, and support for small matching grant program design.