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Partnership for Improving Prospects for Forcibly Displaced Persons and Host Communities (ILO/PROSPECTS) - Midterm cluster evaluation

eval_number:

3368

eval_url:

https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/eval/3368

lessons_learned:

themes:

theme:

Programme sustainability

category:

Organizational issues

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comments:

This lesson is relevant for ILO and the other members of the PROSPECTS partnership, implementing partners, as well as governments and the private sector, including financial institutions – as well as the beneficiaries.

challenges:

Limited access to finance often hindered the ability of participants in start-up and entrepreneurship programmes to capitalise on their newly acquired skills and knowledge, leading some to abandon their business ideas. Some even felt that by committing time to the training resulted in a trade-off that ultimately worsened their livelihoods. “It would have been great if we were given the opportunity to be given in-kind support with the basic tools needed to repair the machines; I could start my own business as I succeeded with flying colours in the theory and the trainings, my teachers and bosses said that I was perfect.”

success:

In a related focus groups on a skills development training, some participants explained that although they lacked startup capital, they found solutions by pooling their individual resources and forming a group to purchase a toolbox, which they share and use together to earn income. Similarly, some beneficiaries of a tailoring training have successfully purchased sewing machines through rental arrangements within their neighbourhoods.

context:

The support programmes provide training and skills to assist participants, among other, in developing business plans, identifying resource and equipment needs, and finding potential sources of financing of their businesses. Conversely, direct financial support for (costlier) equipment purchases is typically not provided. Some participants in the interviews and focus groups conducted for the mid-term evaluation stated to invest their own resources or seek alternatives through informal lending or sharing schemes. However, many participants, forcibly displaced persons in particular, have limited opportunities to secure capital due to limited resources, lack of collaterals, low financial literacy, as well as legal issues, all of which can restrict their ability to start or expand their businesses. See also, for instance: A rough guide to entrepreneurship promotion in forced displacement contexts, ILO, 2019

description:

Limited access to finance can limit the effectiveness or sustainability of start-up and entrepreneurship programmes. The Partnership for Improving Prospects for Forcibly Displaced Persons and Host Communities (PROSPECTS) project implemented a wide range of start-up and entrepreneurship programmes in the eight countries covered in the project, among other by applying its Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) or Gender and Entrepreneurship Together (GET Ahead) programmes. Entrepreneurial support can be an effective way for members of the host and forcibly displaced communities to create their own economic opportunities and become self-reliant. Interviews and focus groups revealed that these trainings are valued by the participants. However, there were frequent remarks that the participants face difficulty in utilising the newly acquired knowledge and skills due to inadequate capital to invest in necessary tools and equipment to start their businesses (such as welding equipment, toolboxes, sewing machines, and other tools that are required depending on the specific occupation and context).

administrative_issues:

This lesson reinforces the importance of ILO/PROSPECTS’ ongoing efforts to improve access to finance, including through the facilitation of commercial financing as well as other financing or saving approaches. Additionally, partnerships with institutions or organisations that can provide direct equipment support to start-up and entrepreneurship training participants could increase the effectiveness and sustainability of support programs. See also recommendation 2 on enhancing entrepreneurship support and access to finance in the mid-term evaluation report.

url:

https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/lessons/215863

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location:

country:

Inter-Regional

region:

Inter-Regional

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eval_title:

Partnership for Improving Prospects for Forcibly Displaced Persons and Host Communities (ILO/PROSPECTS) - Midterm cluster evaluation