The Jobs Fund is looking for experienced Private and Public Sector organisations and NPO intermediaries to submit applications for its 11th funding round titled: Breaking Barriers: Future Proofing South Africa’s Employment Options.
“In South Africa, there are many barriers (including structural constraints) that hamper economic growth. Therefore, when addressing the country’s employment challenges, a targeted focus on breaking down these barriers on both the demand and supply sides of the employment equation is needed,” the Jobs Fund said in a statement on Monday.
To contribute to addressing these supply and demand challenges, the Jobs Fund urged experienced and future-focused organisations that can provide innovative solutions to South Africa’s employment challenges, to apply for the 11th Funding Round.
“In South Africa, we need to acknowledge that currently, we have a significant imbalance in the supply of skills required for the future, while at the same time, restrained investment constrains demand for new jobs”, says Najwah Allie-Edries, the Head of the Jobs Fund.
“We, at the Jobs Fund, have developed a funding round that will push the boundaries as we enter a new post-pandemic digital era and urge organisations to bring their ideas and innovations forward”, she said.
She invited organisations to submit proposals that would break barriers to labour market entry by stimulating new demand in growth sectors and improving the supply of appropriately skilled labour.
Initiatives that focus on enterprising strategies for the following will be targeted:
- Stimulating demand for new jobs, including enterprise/infrastructure development. The interventions must result in growth and sustainability for the supported enterprises and for the infrastructure that is enabling and must support ongoing job creation.
- Skilling/upskilling, matching beneficiaries to jobs, and facilitating new pathways to jobs. The interventions must result in a new job being created and/or placement into a job.
Competitive projects focused on women and youth will be prioritised, the fund said in a statement.
“Applicants from the private, public and NPO sectors are invited to submit applications, and collaboration is encouraged. The Jobs Fund will only consider applications for a minimum grant amount of R5 million. Applicants must demonstrate that they are able to raise cash-matched funding, at a minimum of 1:1 for private and public sector organisations and 1:0.5 for NPOs (for example, if an NPO requests R10 million in grant funding, they must also contribute R5 million in matched funding towards the proposed intervention),” it said.
All eligible applicants have been invited to submit an application on the Jobs Fund’s Grant Management System.
The Funding Round will be open from 29 May 2023 to 17 July 2023.
BUSINESS REPORT