As an international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations, the federally owned Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH supports the German Government in achieving its development-policy objectives. It provides viable, forward-looking solutions for political, economic, ecological, and social development in a globalized world. GIZ promotes complex reforms and change processes. Its corporate objective is to improve people’s living conditions on a sustainable basis.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

The GIZ Office in Kosovo invites local NGOs to respond to this call for proposals to deliver: Integrated approach to support economic empowerment of women through training, qualification and employment.

1. Context

Despite progress in education and skills development, women’s participation in the labour market in Kosovo remains significantly lower compared to that of men. Structural inequalities, social norms, and unequal distribution of unpaid care work continue to limit women’s access to decent and sustainable employment. While lack of relevant skills and qualifications is often cited as a key constraint, experience shows that training interventions alone are insufficient to generate lasting employment outcomes for women.

Women’s labour market participation is shaped by a combination of interrelated factors, including responsibility for childcare and elderly care, limited mobility and access to transport, inflexible training and working arrangements, restricted access to information and networks, and gender bias in hiring and workplace practices. These barriers disproportionately affect women in vulnerable situations, such as mothers of young children, women caring for dependent family members, rural women, women with low levels of formal education, and women engaged in informal or precarious work.

To effectively improve women’s employment prospects, interventions must adopt an integrated approach that simultaneously addresses skills development, labour market access, and the structural and social constraints that hinder participation. This Call for Proposals is addressed at local organizations that can design and implement integrated interventions aimed at enabling women to access, enter, and remain in decent employment or sustainable self-employment.

2. Overall objective

The overall objective of this Call for Proposals is to increase sustainable labour market participation of women through integrated interventions that combine skills development, qualification, employment support, and targeted measures to reduce structural and social barriers to participation.

3. Specific Objectives

The specific objectives of this Call for Proposals are to:

1. Improve women’s employability through market-relevant training and recognized qualifications aligned with local labour market demand.
2. Facilitate women’s transition into decent jobs, self-employment, or income-generating activities.
3. Develop context-specific measures that respond to the socio-economic conditions and labour market dynamics of the targeted regions.
4. Identify target-group relevant vacancies in the labor market and discuss with companies/chambers the needed skills-set
5. Reduce key non-skills barriers to women’s labour market participation, including child or elderly care responsibilities, mobility constraints, flexible working conditions etc.
6. Strengthen linkages between women, employers, training institutions, and local institutions.
7. Promote gender-responsive, inclusive, and sustainable labour market practices.

4.Target Groups

4.1 Primary Target Group

Women facing barriers to labour market participation, including but not limited to:

• Women 35-55 years old
• Unemployed or underemployed women
• Women with low or obsolete skills
• Women from rural areas
• Women from non-majority groups
• Women engaged in informal or precarious employment

4.2 Secondary Target Groups

• Employers and business associations
• Training and vocational education providers
• Childcare and care service providers
• Local authorities and community-based organizations

5. Scope of interventions

Proposals submitted with this Call for Proposals are expected to adopt integrated, needs-based approaches that address both employability (5.1) and participation barriers (5.2).

5.1 Employability component

5.1.1 Training and qualification

• Short-term, modular training programmes designed for skills development and/or upskilling in line with labour market demand, including non-traditional and emerging sectors
• Vocational training or tailored qualification measures aimed at developing specific, market-relevant skillset
• Training portfolios that combine traditional and non-traditional skills, including, but not limited to, technological and digital skills supporting remote or home-based work (such as e-commerce, digital marketing, bookkeeping, and care services), creative industries, retail, textile, food technology, handicrafts etc.

5.1.2 Employment support

This component prioritizes placement of women into formal jobs through demand-driven skills development, employer engagement, and employment support services.

Key activities include:

• Identification, engagement and partnership with local businesses/ potential employment sectors willing to employ the target group prior to launching the trainings, ensuring alignment with labour-market demand
• Gender-sensitive career counselling and job matching, with a primary focus on placement in formal employment
• Placement in formal jobs, supported through employer engagement and job-matching services
• Tailored mentoring and coaching to support labour market integration, job retention, and employment sustainability
• Recognition of prior learning to validate informal skills acquired by women (e.g., tailoring, food processing, care services), facilitating access to formal employment pathways

The call for proposals should primarily target job placement of women beneficiaries. Self-employment through business start-up support may be included, provided it is conditional and limited to a selected number of beneficiaries. A clear justification for including self-employment support must be provided.

Activities may include:

• Self-employment support for beneficiaries whose business ideas demonstrate clear market demand and are assessed—based on context and surrounding factors—as more suitable than job placement
• Targeted mentoring and coaching to support business start-up initiatives

5.2 Barrier-reduction component

Proposals must include at least two additional targeted measures addressing non-skills barriers to women’s participation in the labour market. These may include, but are not limited to:

• Childcare solutions (e.g., on-site childcare, childcare vouchers, partnerships with local childcare service providers)
• Elderly or dependent care support arrangements
• Flexible or modular training schedules
• Part-time, blended, digital, or mobile training delivery
• Transport support (stipends, organized transport, mobile training units)
• Mentoring, coaching, or psychosocial support
• Community and family engagement to address restrictive social norms

Each proposed measure under section 5 should be justified by a clear rationale linked to identified labour-market needs and supported by effective coordination mechanisms with relevant local institutions and private-sector stakeholders.

6. Cross-cutting principles

All interventions proposed under this Call should consider the following principles:

• Gender-responsive design: Programs should be based on gender analysis and tailored to women’s specific needs and constraints.
• Inclusion and accessibility: Interventions should be also accessible to women with disabilities, low literacy levels, or from remote areas.
• Do-no-harm and safeguarding: Interventions must ensure the safety and dignity of participants.
• Local institutions engagement: Local labour market service providers and municipal institutions should be involved in program design and implementation where possible.
• Employer engagement: Employers should be involved in program design and implementation where possible.
• Sustainability: Projects should demonstrate potential for continuation, scaling, or institutionalization beyond the funding period.

7. Partnerships and Implementation Modalities

Applicants must have established partnerships with local institutions in Kosovo and demonstrate a clear commitment to developing new partnerships with organisations that provide complementary expertise. Across all programme components, structured cooperation with relevant Kosovo institutions i.e. the Employment Agency of the Republic of Kosovo, Vocational Training Centres, Centres for Social Work, municipalities must be ensured. In addition, existing partnerships with private sector actors are required to strengthen labour market relevance, facilitate job placement, and support effective programme implementation.

8. Expected Results and Indicators

Expected Results

• Increased access of women to relevant training and qualifications
• Improved employment and income generating activities for women participants
• Reduced participation barriers related to care responsibilities and mobility
• Enhanced employer awareness and adoption of inclusive practices

Indicators:

• Number and percentage of women completing training
• Percentage of trained women placed in employment or self-employment
• Employment retention rate after 6–12 months
• Percentage of participants reporting reduced care or mobility constraints
• Number of employers engaged and offering flexible or inclusive work options
• Percentage of women from rural areas and non-majority communities

9. Eligibility criteria

• Local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) with proven track record of working with economic empowerment of women
• Operational throughout all Kosovo regions for the provision of decentralized services
• Partnerships, cooperation mechanisms and networking with local institutions, labour market service providers, and private sector.
• Applicants may send individual proposals or as a consortium or partnership

The submitted concept notes should contain all sections listed below and comply with the specified page limit:

1. Problem analysis of the target group (max. 1 page)
2. Proposed intervention and theory of change (max. 1 page)
3. Training and employment pathways (max. 2 pages)
4. Barrier-reduction measures (max. 1 page)
5. Partnerships and engagement (1/2 page)
6. Expected results and indicators (1/2 page)

10. Selection Criteria

This open call is intended for an initial screening and identification of potential NGOs to implement the integrated approach to supporting economic empowerment of women. Applicants will be assessed based on the quality and relevance of the concepts submitted. Proposals should clearly address all sections laid out in section 9. Eligibility criteria. The proposals submitted should demonstrate:

• Alignment with the objectives of the call: The proposed interventions should directly contribute to the overall purpose and priorities outlined in this call for proposals.
• Problem analysis and proposed solution: The proposal should clearly describe the problem being addressed and demonstrate a logical and coherent link between the identified need, the proposed intervention, and expected impact.
• Relevance to target beneficiaries and geographic focus: The proposal should clearly identify the intended beneficiary groups and geographic area(s)
• Concept notes must not exceed the page limit specified above.
• A detailed budget is not required at this stage.
• Detailed organizational capacities and references are not required at this stage.

Shortlisted organizations will be invited to submit a full proposal and will undergo a comprehensive eligibility and technical assessment process.

Fraudulent Practices

The highest standard of ethics shall be observed during the filing of response for this call for proposals The organization shall not be eligible to participate if it has been established that it is or has been engaged in corrupt or fraudulent practices. In this regard the decision of GIZ will be final and binding on the organizations.

Only applications meeting all criteria will advance to the second stage.

1. Submission Details

• Deadline: 30 March 2026
• Email submissions: [email protected]
• Subject line: Call for Proposals – Economic empowerment of women through training, qualification and employment.

Important Notes:

• PDF format only (max 20MB per email). Larger files must be sent via filetransfer.giz.de with a provided password.
• GIZ reserves the right to accept, reject, or annul applications at any stage without justification.
• The project documents, guidelines, and templates will be sent only to short-listed applicants.

Disclaimer: Following the evaluation of proposals, selected organizations will be invited to submit a full project proposal, including a budget. GIZ bears no responsibility for any costs incurred during this process and reserves the right to accept or reject any offer, annul, or repeat the procedure without liability or obligation to provide reasons. This call for proposals is not a solicitation, nor does participation guarantee selection or future engagement. GIZ retains full discretion to discontinue the process at any stage without any commercial or consequential liability.