CARE is an international humanitarian and development organisation fighting global poverty, with a special focus on working with women and girls. As a non-religious and non-political organisation, CARE supports long term development projects and provides emergency relief, primarily in the Asia-Pacific region.

Gender equality sits at the heart of CARE Australia’s programmatic ambitions and is embedded in all that the organisation does, and how it does it. CARE Australia’s theory of change aims to address the intersecting issues of gender, economic and climate justice, and disaster resilience. CARE Australia’s impact goal is that women lead social change for just, fair and sustainable lives, when engaging with economic systems, and when responding to disasters and the impacts of climate change.

Rationale and purpose of consultancy

CARE Australia works with CARE Vanuatu and partners, and directly with partners in Tonga and Solomon Islands on the women’s economic justice impact area under the ‘Pacific Partnerships for Gender Equality’ program. We are currently exploring ways of building on existing support for income generation activities, and village savings and loans associations (VSLAs) in rural areas of Vanuatu, via an entrepreneurship incubator, with potential expansion to the Solomon Islands and Tonga. The programming is focused on women who do not have ready access to capital and skills development for small business – both informal businesses (with a single worker or a subsistence small business) and micro and small entrepreneurs (MSEs) (registered businesses with between 2 and 5 employees).

The consultancy’s purpose is to:

– Identify, review and analyse entrepreneurship support, and entrepreneurship incubator models for informal business entrepreneurs and MSEs – particularly those tailored for Pacific Island Country contexts in rural areas, and for women;
– Develop a profile of the different types of female micro and small entrepreneurs, and capacity development needs amongst CARE’s ‘Pacific Partnerships for Gender Equality’ program impact populations in Vanuatu for engaging in new or enhancing existing business activities;
– Develop recommendations for an entrepreneurship incubator that is relevant for CARE’s ‘Pacific Partnerships for Gender Equality’ program impact populations and that can be implemented as a pilot in Vanuatu with potential expansion to the Solomon Islands and Tonga.

Approach and methods

​- Review CARE’s project documents and existing data pertaining to impact populations in project sites.
– Conduct a desk review of published and unpublished articles, documents and reports of entrepreneurship incubators and support designed in or for rural global South contexts for women, and especially those designed and implemented in Pacific Island Countries.
– Interview key stakeholders at Pacific-based or focused organisations who have programs or projects that support entrepreneurship incubators or local entrepreneurship via skills development, business management or funding (see Annex A for a minimum list of stakeholders for interview).
– Develop and apply an assessment criteria for the desk review and stakeholder interviews to analyse the various aspects of entrepreneurship incubator models that are suitable for both Melanesian and Polynesian contexts in which CARE’s ‘Pacific Partnerships for Gender Equality’ program is implemented (see Annex B for a list of criteria to be further developed and refined).
– With CARE’s partners in Vanuatu, Tonga and the Solomon Islands, analyse and/or gather additional data on CARE’s impact populations in project site locations to inform the design of an entrepreneurship incubator or potential for partnering with an organisation with an existing incubator.
– Present draft findings and recommendations to CARE Australia, CARE Vanuatu and Pacific partners. Gather feedback and incorporate it into a final report.

Consultant role and responsibilities is outlined below

– Present and finalise approach to consultancy: The consultant will meet with key personnel in CARE to present the assessment criteria, list of stakeholders to interview and interview questions, and to clarify definitions of working terms
– Undertake review: The consultant will analyse relevant documents and websites (desk review) and conduct consultations (interviews) with Pacific entrepreneurship stakeholders
– Review information on CARE’s ‘Pacific Partnerships for Gender Equality’ program impact populations as input to shaping recommendations for an entrepreneurship incubator
– Based on desk review, the consultant will draft a table of contents with chapter headings, subheadings and bullet points outlining chapter content for a final report
– Present and finalise table of contents: The consultant will meet with key personnel in CARE to present and finalise the table of contents
– Report drafting: Based on agreed table of contents the consultant will draft a report of no more than 20 pages
Report draft comment and consultation: The consultant will provide a draft report of no more than 25 pages (excluding appendices) for review and comment and if required will meet with CARE in up to 3 meetings
– Draft findings presentation: The consultant will prepare a slide deck to share the final draft report findings with CARE Australia, CARE Vanuatu and Pacific partners and incorporate verbal feedback into report
– Final report: The consultant will finalise the report based on proofing and editing

Key deliverables and reporting arrangements

Key deliverables of the consultancy:

– Outline of approach
– Report table of contents
– Draft report
– Presentation of report and slide deck
– Final draft report
– Final report
– Selection Criteria

Required experience:

– Proven capacity and extensive experience in management and conduct of research and evaluations, including strong analytical skills and experience
– Experience in inclusive market systems, innovative entrepreneurship models and incubators for rural, low-income global South populations, preferably in the Pacific
– Experience in women’s economic justice research, programming and impact relevant to rural, low-income global South populations, preferably in the Pacific
– Ability to distil large amounts of complex information and deliver high quality compelling written materials and presentations
– Personable and ability to engage effectively with key stakeholders
– Demonstrated ability to develop relevant, useful recommendations
– Contact, application and required documents

Interested candidates should send the following documents and clearly stating the position title to [email protected] by 11.59PM Monday 20th February 2023.

1. Your CV with plan for work over the period
2. Written quote / daily rate
3. Links to or relevant past work
4. Details of referees who can talk to similar work delivered

Please also refer to the attached Terms of Reference for more information. Only short-listed applicants meeting the requirements stated above will be contacted. Enquiries may be directed to [email protected].