Terms of Reference for service provider company Cross-Border Sector Selection between Lebanon, Jordan and Syria for Inclusive Job Creation

Background

The International Labour Organization (ILO), through the BOUZOUR project funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Manzuma project funded by the multi-donor Regional Development and Protection Program (RDPP), promotes inclusive and market-driven approaches to support decent work opportunities for vulnerable populations in Lebanon and Jordan, including Syrian refugees as well as Lebanese and Jordanian host communities.

Since 2011, the conflict in Syria has led to one of the largest refugee crises globally, with Lebanon and Jordan respectively hosting over 800,000 and 730,000 UNHCR-registered Syrians refugees, respectively. The protracted nature of the displacement, compounded by Lebanon’s ongoing socio-economic crisis, has intensified vulnerabilities for both refugee and host communities, with rising poverty, informality, and declining access to decent work opportunities. In Jordan, prolonged regional instability and the influx of Syrian refugees have strained infrastructure, resources, and an already fragile economy marked by high youth unemployment. Women's participation in the labour market in Jordan remains alarmingly low, particularly among refugee women.

In parallel, discussions around voluntary returns to Syria have gained prominence. While conditions for large-scale, safe, dignified, and voluntary returns remain uncertain, the number of individual returns has increased modestly in the recent year. At the same time, the situation in Syria is evolving, with pockets of relative stability in some areas and renewed efforts from development actors to explore durable solutions, including economic reintegration of returnees.

In this context, the ILO is seeking to explore innovative, market-based approaches to support livelihoods in Lebanon, Jordan and in Syria, anchored in cross-border economic dynamics. This includes identifying and promoting sectors or value chains with strong cross-border trade or economic ties that can offer decent work opportunities, particularly for youth, women, and returnees.

This assignment is part of the ILO’s broader efforts to adopt a market systems development (MSD) approach to employment creation, enterprise development, and economic resilience in fragile and displacement-affected settings. By identifying high-potential sectors that span both sides of the border, the ILO aims to contribute to economic recovery, job creation, and reintegration pathways that are sustainable, inclusive, and grounded in real market opportunities.

The assignment will provide a critical analytical foundation for future programming and interventions by identifying 3 to 5 high-potential sectors or value chains for deeper analysis and pilot support. These sectors will ideally have relevance for both Syrian and Lebanese actors, potential for inclusive economic growth, and feasibility of implementation in the current complex context.

Objective of the Assignment

The main objective of this assignment is to identify and prioritize 3–5 promising sectors or value chains with cross-border trade potential between Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, based on their potential to:

• Offer potential for inclusive and decent employment, especially for refugees, returnees, and vulnerable host communities;
• Enable the leveraging of private sector incentives to stimulate sustainable growth and job creation;
• Present clear opportunities for cross-border trade, joint production, or economic interdependence that can be harnessed to strengthen livelihoods on both sides of the border.

To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the service provider and the ILO team will apply the ILO’s ‘value chain development for decent work’ and the ‘Approach to inclusive market systems for Refugees and Host Communities (AIMS)’ methodologies and adjust these in a way that will place SMEs and their incentives for growth and job creation at the centre of the research. 

Scope of work

The assignment will focus on, but not be limited to, the following steps and activities:

Review and adapt sector selection criteria:

The consultant will work closely with the ILO team to refine the sector and value chain selection criteria, using Chapter 2 of the ILO VCD methodology as a foundation. The criteria will be adapted to the Lebanon–Jordan-Syria context with a focus on:

a. Relevance to target groups: including Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, potential returnees, and vulnerable host communities, particularly women and youth.

b. Potential for inclusive and decent job creation: prioritizing sectors where there is evidence of employment potential or where incentives could be designed to encourage SME growth and job creation

c. Cross-border economic viability: sectors must have potential for bilateral trade, joint production, or complementary demand/supply between Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

d. Feasibility of intervention: alignment with ILO’s and partners’ strategic priorities, and the existence of willing and capable stakeholders to support implementation as well as potential motivated and capable partners to implement innovative interventions.  

Review a short list of 10 sub-sectors or value chains provided by the ILO: the service provider will be provided with a preliminary short analysis of 10 sectors or value chains and is expected to conduct additional d desk research on existing and relevant literature, including market assessments, sectorial studies, trade flow data, project documents, and national strategies from the three countries for these 10 promising sectors or value chains. The results of this initial research will be shared in a well-documented power point presentation with a comparative table filling key evidence and statistics to support a brainstorming session with the ILO team for the validation of the short-list. Together with the ILO team, a short-list of 5-6 sectors or value chains will be selected for more in-depth field research.

Conduct field research in both Lebanon, Jordan and Syria to collect information on the 5-6 shortlisted high-potential sub-sectors or value chains: the service provider will take the lead in organizing a schedule of semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders relevant for the long-list of sub-sectors. The field research would take approximately one week in each Jordan and Lebanon country and up to 2 weeks in Syria. Stakeholders to be interviewed in each country include: key market actors and enterprises in the sub-sectors, key stakeholders, sectorial associations and chambers of commerce, development partners, workers associations, etc.

The field research is expected to provide an overview of the current state of sectors and activities in the different countries and collect information challenges and on the potential for growth and job creation benefiting several countries in the region. It will do so by highlighting existing and potential trade links and options for cross-country collaboration in these sectors. Specifically, the service provider is expected to collect information to answer the following questions:

• What is the current state of the sector in each country and what are key actors involved in the sector at each step of the value chain (inputs suppliers, producers, processors, traders, exporters, etc.) in each country?
• What type of activities (input production/supply, production, processing, trading, etc.) take place in which country and how are these activities linked or not linked across the countries?
• What kind of trade links and collaborations exist between actors in the sector across the target countries? To what extent are these links formalized?
• Are there opportunities to expand production and/or processing and sell more of any given product on the local, national or international market?
• Are there opportunities to strengthen access to international markets through improved cross-country collaboration and strengthen trade linkages across the three countries?
• What do we know about the specific competitive advantage each country has for the production/provision of specific products or services required along the value chain (inputs, key products, processed goods, required services or logistics, etc.)? Is there potential to combine these competitive advantages for mutual benefit?
• What kind of challenges do private sector actors in the different countries face? What do we know about the specific support services that actors in the sector can draw on?
• What are the current levels of innovation, productivity and competitiveness in the sector in each country and would there be opportunities to strengthen productivity, innovation or competitiveness by strengthening cross-country exchange, collaboration and learning?

Draft rapid market assessment for the sectors/value chains in question summarizing all relevant information obtained through desk and field research. Reports should not exceed 20 pages per sector.

Present the results of the sector selection during a validation workshop: the service provider will present the results of the field research in a well-structured power point with clear recommendation for sector selection as part of a validation workshop with the ILO team and other key partners. The workshop will result in the validation of the three of six selected sub-sectors.

Final deliverables

1. Submit a final report with a rapid market assessment for each of the selected sectors, summarizing all relevant information and findings and providing recommendations 
2. Include sector-specific data sheets summarizing opportunities and risks for each selected value chain.

Please review the outputs that will be expected in the attached ToR.

TIMEFRAME AND ROADMAP (please review the timeframe and Roadmap in the attached ToR)

Payment schedule:

First payment covering 30% of the full payment, to be paid by 10 July 2025 upon satisfactory delivery and project approval on the following deliverable:

• Deliverable 1: Work Plan
• Deliverable 2: Reviewed Sector Selection Criteria

Second payment covering 30% of the full payment, to be paid by 1 August upon satisfactory delivery and project approval on the following deliverable:

• Deliverable 3. Desk review PowerPoint and recommendation for shortlist of 5-6 sectors

• Deliverable 4. Fieldwork interview schedule

Third and final payment covering 40% of the full payment, to be paid by 30 September 2025 upon satisfactory delivery and project approval of the following deliverable:

• Deliverable 5. Rapid market appraisals for 5-6 selected sectors summarizing all relevant information of no more than 20 pages per sector.
• Deliverable 6. Final presentation of findings

Focal Point at ILO:

The Service provider will coordinate with Luana Ayala and Sumaiya Virji, Project Coordinators for Bouzour and Manzuma, and with the backstopping of the DWT Specialists in ILO Beirut Office and Nadja Nutz and Elisa Mandelli, from the AIMS team in ILO Headquarters.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATION AND APPLICATION

To apply for this assignment the service provider (company) should possess the qualifications below. Applicants that don’t meet all requirements should not submit to this call. NGOs are not considered for this call.

• Proven experience in market systems development and value chain analysis
• Experience in fragile or cross-border contexts is considered an advantage;
• Documented experience in conducting sector selection for market systems development programmes;
• Knowledge of ILO’s value chain development and/or AIMS approach would be a strong advantage
• Ability to access and conduct fieldwork in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria;
• Fluency in English and Arabic within the core team of the service provider is required to conduct interviews and analyze local sources;
• Strong coordination and communication skills to facilitate multi-stakeholder engagement.