nationalskillsfund.docVIP

NATIONAL SKILLS FUND Informal Sector Support Funding Window Criteria and Guidelines forApplicantsresponding to the Request for Proposals [Community-based Organizations] 1. The NSF FUNDED INFORMAL SECTOR SUPPORT PROGRAMME BACKGROUND The National Skills Fund (NSF) was established in 1999 in terms of the Skills Development Act, 1998 to support the implementation of the National Skills Development Strategy. The Act seeks to address the structural deficiencies of the labour market, and develop a workforce that can respond to the modern economic environment, taking into account the equity considerations that are peculiar to South Africa. It is a labour market intervention strategy which sets national priorities in skills development to address the scarcity of skills and the lack of capacity within the current labour force to meet the challenges posed by economic growth and poverty alleviation. In March 2005, the Minister launched the National Skills Development Strategy for 2005-2010.This Strategy will continue to enhance work that has already been done during the last eight years. One of the key objectives of this strategy is to promote employability and sustainable livelihoods through skills development. The Informal Sector Support funding window was created to support non-levy paying enterprises (NLPEs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organisations (CBOs) and community-based co-operatives (CBCs) by skills development. PURPOSE OF THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) The purpose of this Call for Proposal is: To allocate funds for the capacity building of Community-based organizations (CBOs) through the Informal Sector Support funding window (ISSFW) programme of the National Skills Fund To invite applications from lead service providers or project implementing and management agencies with a strong project management capacity and experience to roll out and manage community-based capacity building programmes at a provincial or lo