Mercy Corps Ethiopia, supported by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, is seeking a licensed financial institution to design and implement tailored, affordable financial products to help low-income women, refugees, and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Addis Ababa access childcare services.

Terms of Reference (TOR) For creating Access to Childcare through Tailored Access to finance 1. Background and Rationale Mercy Corps Ethiopia, with support from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, is implementing an initiative aimed at strengthening women’s economic empowerment and improving the sustainability, quality, and growth of childcare and women-owned micro and small enterprises in Addis Ababa. Creating affordable and accessible childcare services has multifaceted benefits including creating a safe place for children, enabling mothers to have time to engage in productive work both self and wage employment opportunities. However, women from host communities, refugees, and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) facecompounded economic and social barriers, including limited access to finance, weak business planning capacity, low financial literacy, restricted market access, and limited exposure to formal Business Development Services (BDS). Particularly, Women economic participation is constrained by lack of affordable and accessible childcare services. These challenges are severe for low income and marginalized targets due to high upfront costs, irregular income streams, and limited access to financial services. Therefore, the purpose of this assignment is to enable willing and selected financial institutions to design, deliver accessible tailored financial products that support women/households in financing to access childcare services through affordable and flexible payment mechanisms that will foster economic empowerment and financial inclusion. 2. Objective of the Assignment To improve access to affordable childcare services for marginalized and underserved households mainly women through tailored and affordable inclusive financial product implemented by the financial institutions. 2.1 Specific Objectives Tailor financial product for low-income families Host, IDP and Refugees for access to childcare service. Reduce financial barriers to childcare access through