Helvetas Regional MSD East/WB 2020-22

The Inception Phase of RECONOMY has developed a proof of concept for a regional market system development program in the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership regions. Through studies, analyses and pilot projects, the inception phase has laid the ground for the implementation of the main phase, taking into consideration the regional value addition (common/shared problems and opportunities), institutions (engaging partners and actors to anchor the thematic focus), and territorial (to link local realities and systems which the target groups). It also includes the three aspects, social (inclusion), income and jobs (economic), and sustainability (environmental) impacts through the regional application of Market Systems Development approach. The main phase has been approved and is now under implementation. The Programme in Eastern Partnership Countries started 1 January 2023 (Contribution nr. 14713) and the programme in Western Balkans started 1 April 2023 (Contribution nr. 14710). The inception phase also yielded some early development outcomes from the pilot projects. However, the number of beneficiaries with improved employment opportunities only reached 6,540 (instead of 11,600) and the mobilized capital only CHF 132,000. Helvetas notes that the targets at output level have mostly been reached and surpassed, indicating that the program has mainly completed the interventions it proposed itself to undertake and that the market uptake of these initiatives is later shown at outcome and impact level. However, this takes time. Programs like RECONOMY that, through a Market Systems Development approach, empower local market actors to take the lead in promoting sustainable and scalable solutions which will produce impacts that outlive the implementation of the pilots. Hence, Helvetas suggests that over the foreseeable future the pilots will continue to generate outcomes and impacts that will improve the lives of the target groups. The coming two years will double the timespan of the pilots. Helvetas believes that this extended timeframe will allow to generate the expected results for most indicators. The most flagrant shortcoming is linked to capturing the investment of private sector as a consequence of the pilot interventions. The value reported in private sector investment does not make justice to the impacts of the program and this is due mainly to that Implementing Partners did not manage to report the resulting investment from the private sector. Various entrepreneurial initiatives were supported by RECONOMY, which have mobilized additional investments by entrepreneurs and investors, although the monitoring systems of RECONOMY and implementing partners did not capture. Learning from the above, in the main phase, monitoring capabilities of the team have been upscaled with the hiring of two full-time MRM officers (one for each hub). The MRM officers will work closely with market actors and implementing partners to ensure the timely validation of the data and sensitization of implementing partners on what and how shall be measured and reported. They have also been trained on the DCED standards for results measurement. The objective of the training is ensuring that the team and partners understand that monitoring results is the role of everyone in RECONOMY. Some examples of results are provided below (from Annex 2 in the End of Inception Phase report). Eastern Partnership Region: Pilot 3: Energy transition for income and employment 1,500 women and youth were trained and 500 were employed through establishment of linkages between the vocational training colleges and local (certified), as well as multinational companies, for jointly designing and delivering the new market-demanded training modules to bridge the gap in certified skills supply in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors in the three EaP countries - Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Armenia: Pilot 9: Textile and Apparel in Armenia and Moldova "From Design To Production" 78 women and youth were trained and 36 were employed by fostering trust and belief among large producers in the importance and value of designers' work in the production process, promoting dialogue and collaboration between these producers and creative designer teams, as well as facilitating communication and collaboration between educational institutions and businesses to address labor demands. Western Balkans Region: Pilot 1: Vibrant service sector for better economic opportunities 1,500 women and youth were trained and 500 were employed through a training program focused on the ICT-BPO competencies, particularly the use of digital technologies; transferable skills including teamwork, interpersonal skills, leadership, and innovation management; and entrepreneurship skills. The pilot also included mechanisms for linking the training with the private sector for continuously updating curricula, training, and upskilling through regular engagement and job matching. North Macedonia: Pilot 2: Self-employment through freelancing 300 women and youth were trained and 150 were employed through a self-employment system through freelancing developed in North Macedonia. This was done by facilitating accessible and informative services for engaging women and youth and other disadvantaged groups to pursue work in online outsourcing platforms. Access to the right skills set and relevant intermediation services together with adapted human resource strategies of private sector enterprises (employers) to utilize freelance human capital and develop and improve their performance contributes to better income and job opportunities for the target groups.

The intervention is a research and piloting phase of a larger and longer term expected programme. As such, the majority of objectives relate to deliverables in research, piloting, institutionalization and long term design work as outlines in the Inception Plan section of the Proposal (Annex 7.2).  In addition to the output level deliverables referenced above, the pilot interventions envisioned for this phase is expected to yield some early development outcomes in themselves (Annex 7.1). The ultimate objectives of the longer term programme envisioned are improved incomes and employment opportunities for economically disadvantaged people. Women and youth are pre-defined as belonging to this group. A hypothetical assessment presented in the results framework attached to the Proposal, is that around 8,000 people's lives are likely to be affected by changes catalyzed by the project, out of which 4,000 will see explicit income improvements already during the course of the programme. An estimated CHF 3.3 million (SEK 33 million) are expected to be mobilized by the private sector towards the programme objectives. With a cost extension for the programme which extends operations up to the end of 2022, the number of beneficiaries with improved employment opportunities are expected to increase by 1,800. The additional amount of private sector capital expected to be mobilized is CHF 1 million (SEK 10 million).