81307382-Digital Empowerment of Rural Women Micro entrepreneurs through Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

The GIZ project, Digital Transformation for Inclusive Entrepreneurship in Ghana (DTEG), tackles the digital divide for women micro-entrepreneurs. Recognizing limited technical expertise, DTEG goes beyond traditional training with a user-friendly Interactive Voice Response (IVR) platform. Accessible via standard mobile phones, this central hub provides essential information, training, and support services. The IVR Platform: Empowering Through Mobile Access The platform promotes DTEG's digital advisory and coaching services. Bite-sized training modules adapted from existing DTEG coaching curricula cater to users with varying digital skills. Importantly, the platform plays a key role in DTEG's monitoring and evaluation by collecting data on the economic situation, needs, and challenges faced by these women. This data will be used to refine project interventions and maximize impact. Contractor Responsibilities: Building and Measuring Success The selected contractor will handle five key tasks. First, they'll develop and operate the IVR platform, ensuring accessibility through user-friendly interfaces, ideally leveraging zero-rated mobile access or toll-free options. A live dashboard will allow DTEG to monitor platform performance. Second, the contractor will design a multi-channel awareness campaign using radio, social media, and collaboration with stakeholders to reach women micro-entrepreneurs. Campaign materials will prioritize user-friendliness and address gender equality and women's economic empowerment. User surveys will track the campaign's impact. Third, the contractor will develop beginner-friendly training modules for the IVR platform, forming a gender-responsive IVR Learning Path on digital entrepreneurship topics. Existing content will be adapted, ensuring accessibility and allowing users to pick up where they left off. Additionally, functionalities will help users transition to in-person support offered by DTEG partners. Fourth, the contractor will conduct two surveys. The first will assess access to technology, digital skills, and support needs, with a focus on gender-related challenges. The second will examine awareness of policies affecting informal micro-enterprises in the digital space. A participatory approach will ensure surveys are accessible to offline target groups, using online, SMS, and phone distribution methods that consider literacy levels. Finally, the contractor will develop a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plan to track user engagement, content effectiveness, and overall project impact. This plan is expected to complement DTEG's existing M&E activities by focusing on the impact of advisory services. Data collection will leverage the IVR platform and surveys while considering data providers' contexts. Collaboration with the DTEG M&E specialist will ensure real-time insights and project accountability.