Patience Siwadi

 Consultants:Herma Majoor, Afsana Wahab and Patience Siwadi 1. Country Context Zimbabwe´s population was estimated at 13.72 million in 2012 with 52% of them being women. The average age is 20.2 years, and the country has a population growth rate of 4.36% (2014 est.), the second highest in the world according to 2014 statistics. Zimbabwe was ranked 172nd out of 187 countries according to the 2013 Human Development Index1 and is classified as one of the 62 Low-Income Food-Deficit Countries2. The Human Development Index (HDI) was as high as 0.425 between 1985 and 1990 and plummeted to 0.338 during the years of economic meltdown. There has been a significant rise in the country’s HDI, at 0.397 in 2013. However, this was still below the Sub Saharan average of 0.4633. In 2011, 72.3 percent of Zimbabweans were classified as poor. Poverty in the country has a much higher incidence rate in the rural areas than in the urban areas. About 76 percent of rural households are poor as compared to 38.2 percent of urban households. At least 67% of the population i in the rural areas and 70% are dependent on agriculture4 Even though in the last decade the number of people living with HIV has decreased, 18% of the female population and 12% of the male population are reported to suffer from HIV5, only half of whom have access to anti-retroviral drugs. HIV/AIDS related deaths topped 49 605 in 2013 and according to the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare. Nutrition indicators have been poor over the last decades; even though the wasting rate has been under 5% since 2007 and thus not alarming, since 2008/9 the stunting rate has been above the critical level of 30%6 as established by WHO; this indicates a serious chronic malnutrition problem. Reasons for poor nutrition indicators include poverty, food insecurity and low dietary diversity, as well as inadequate child care and WASH practices and childhood diseases. The Districts with high prevalence of diarrhoea for instance coincide with the Districts with a high prevalence of stunting and wasting. However, good progress has been made on wasting rates, which have declined steadily from 8% in 19997. A rapid nutrition assessment carried out in November 2012 revealed a global acute malnutrition (GAM) of less than 3 per cent in five of the ten most affected livelihood zones, while four zones had GAM rates between 3 and 4 per cent8. Of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) only four of the 21 targets are likely to be met by 2015 one of which is achieving universal primary education. Literacy rates for 15 to 24 year olds rose to 99% in 2011. This rate was a result of interventions like the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM)which aims reduce the number of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) dropping out of primary school by covering their tuition fees and other levies9. This was supported by the Educational Transition Fund (ETF), a multi-donor funding mechanism designed to mobilize resources for the education sector. The country faces the largest challenges in achieving MDG1: eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and MDG5: improve maternal mortality, a challenge to be achieved by 2015.10 The Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) has been making inroads into empowering women both politically and economically under the backdrop of the new constitution Number 20 of 2013 which sets out to provide basic human rights, gender equity, children and youth rights, land distribution and political accountability. The constitution also provides for special measure reserving 60 seats for women to be elected through a system of Proportional Representation, based on the votes cast for political party candidates in the lower house (National Assembly). This saw Women’s representation in Parliament more than doubled from 17 per cent following the 2008 general elections, to 35 per cent in the elections on 31 July 2013.11 Economic and political empowerment has also been well expressed in the current national strategy, Zim-Asset under the social services and poverty eradication cluster. The general focus is funding of women’s groups under the Women Development Fund and that women are to participate in all levels of decision making as well as in key social, economic and political sectors12. On the international front Zimbabwe has ratified the CEDAW without reservations and has gone on to implement its provisions through the parliamentary portfolio committee on gender and development. Further to that departmental focal points have been developed in all ministries but this has not been cascaded to provincial and districts offices. The Optional Protocol for CEDAW has not been ratified however. Zimbabwe is recovering from a decade of economic turmoil from 1999 to 2009, a period which witnessed unprecedented hyperinflation which resulted in unemployment, rising poverty, erosion of savings and low investment. The multicurrency regime which was implemented in 2009 resulted in a measure of economic stability and growth, with an increase in the GDP rate to 5.4% in 2009, 8.1% in 2010, and 9.3% in 2011, which were above the envisaged rate of 7%13. In 2012, Zimbabwe’s GDP was $9.802 billion and its GDP growth rate was 4.4%.14 Zimbabwe had a strong GDP growth rate from- (increased by 20.1%), recovering from the crisis of-. Unemployment rates is officially 11% and more males than females in every category of paid economic activity. 2. Project objectives With the aim of reaching marginalized women including those living with HIV/AIDS, the project is being implemented in 4 wards in Binga namely Manjolo, Pashu, Siachilaba and Simatelele. The project aimed to get Women in Binga economically empowered in line with the provisions of the National Gender Policy and related international treaties aimed at contributing to poverty reduction. The project deliver its objective through enhancing knowledge and skills among local level policy makers on Gender budgeting Gender mainstreaming Local government policies Policies and legal frameworks related to women's economic empowerment Economic empowerment of women living with HIV/AIDS. Increased access to economic empowerment opportunities for rural women/girls living with HIV/AIDS Increased capacity for Binga women, including women living with HIV/AIDS to claim their economic rights within their communities Partnering with Binga Rural District Council Campfire Department, Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development, Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. The project was modelled to cascade DVA, CEDAW, SADC PROTOCOL, the Maputo Protocol The NATIONAL GENDER POLICY OF ZIMBABWE to the policy makers at district level and to women’s groups at large. Engagement of these strategic partners has enabled the provision of technical support and knowledge sharing towards the successful project implementation. 3. Statement of work The evaluation will seek to determine Relevance: Are the programme outcomes addressing identified rights and needs of the target group(s) in national and regional contexts? How much does the programme contribute to shaping women’s rights priorities? Appropriateness of the interventions Do the activities address the problems identified? What rights does the programme advance under CEDAW, the Millennium Development Goals and other international development commitments? Is the programme design articulated in a coherent structure? Is the definition of goal, outcomes and outputs clearly articulated? Effectiveness: To what extent is the programme design coherent with UN Women strategic plan and its priorities? What has been the progress made towards achievement of the expected outcomes and expected results? What are the results achieved? Were there any unexpected results /unintended effects (negative or positive)? What are the reasons for the achievement or non-achievement? To what extent are the intended beneficiaries participating in and benefitting from the project? Does the programme have effective monitoring mechanisms in place to measure progress towards results? To what extent have the objectives been achieved, and do the indented and unintended benefits meet the needs of disadvantaged women? What are the changes produced by the programme on legal and policy frameworks at the national and regional level? To what extent have capacities of duty-bearers and rights-holders have been strengthened as a result of the programme? To what extent have capacities of gender equality advocates have been enhanced as a result of the programme? Efficiency: Is the programme cost-effective, i.e. could the outcomes and expected results have been achieved at lower cost through adopting a different approach and/or using alternative delivery mechanisms? What measures have been taken during planning and implementation to ensure that resources were efficiently used? Have the outputs been delivered in a timely manner? Have UN Women’s organizational structure, managerial support and coordination mechanisms effectively supported the delivery of the programme? To what extent are the inputs and outputs equally distributed between different groups of women, and have the potentials of disadvantaged women (poor, racial, ethnic, sexual, ethnic, and disabled groups) been fully utilized to realize the outcomes? How does the programme utilize existing local capacities of right-bearers and duty-holders to achieve its outcomes? Sustainability: What is the likelihood that the benefits from the programme will be maintained for a reasonably long period of time if the programme were to cease? Is the programme supported by national/local institutions? Do these institutions demonstrate leadership commitment and technical capacity to continue to work with the programme or replicate it? What operational capacity of grantees, also known as capacity resources, such as technology, finance, and staffing, has been strengthened? What adaptive or management capacities of grantees, such as learning, leadership, programme and process management, networking and linkages have been supported? Do grantees have the financial capacity to maintain the benefits from the programme? Impact: ( The question of attribution) What are the intended and unintended, positive and negative, long term effects of the programme? To what extent can the changes that have occurred as a result of the programme be identified and measured? To what extent can the identified changes be attributed to the programme? What are the positive and negative changes produced directly or indirectly by the programme on the opportunities of different groups of women, and on the socioeconomic conditions of their localities? What is the evidence that the programme enabled the rights-holders to claim their rights more successfully and the duty-holders to perform their duties more efficiently? To which extent efforts have been successful to stop harmful and discriminatory practices against women? 4. Evaluation approach and Methodology 4.1Secondary data Desk review of key documents, including the original Project Plan document, quarterly reports, yearly Reports, Tripartite agreements (These will be provided to the consultant before the evaluation exercise), monitoring reports, and other documents judged relevant; Review of the monitoring data collected during the project Literature search and review material on the environment in which the program operates and recent developments which impact objectives and activities 4.2 Primary data Interviews with key project and project implementing staff especially from Binga Rural District Council Campfire Department, Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development, Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. Project stakeholders at district level Community visits Focus Group Discussions and semi-structured interviews among target beneficiaries and community representatives Case studies The interview guides and FGD questions will be included in the evaluation matrix of the inception package. Wherever possible, data will be validated by triangulation and cross-validation. In the process of analysis (during the field phase and during the report phase), the consultant will cross-validate the information gathered to the maximum extent possible using as a variety of sources available and relevant. Evidence will also be triangulated over time and between geographical zones. 5. Deliverables Inception report with detailed work plan, evaluation tools, data collection tools and literature review. Presentation of inception report to the Evaluation Management Conduct field data collection in Gweru and Zaka, data cleaning, compilation and reporting after analysis by CARE and the Global consultant. Draft/Preliminary evaluation report with key findings and Presentation of findings to the project steering committee Revise draft report and make presentations to the Reference Group/Steering Committee Final evaluation Report. The final report will be presented in soft copy. 5.1Work plan Phase and milestones Timeline 1 Briefing and review of project documents, Inception report including evaluation matrix 10 days 2 Review of the work plan and agreement on inception report 2 days 3 Team travel to Harare 2 days 4 Team briefing with FGE and UNEG with the Ntengwe project team 1 day 5 Field interviews in Harare with State and Non State Actors on the project 5 days 6 Travel to Binga ( preferably weekend) 1 day 7 Data collection from district stake holders 2 days 8 FGDs in Manjolo, Pashu, Siachilaba and Simatelele wards. ( Assume 2 groups per ward and allowance for travel) 8 days 9 Travel to Harare 1 day 10 Submission of draft report 5 days 11 Prep for dissemination meeting 1 day 12 Dissemination meeting with key stakeholders and EMT 1 day Total number of working days 39 days 6.1Consultant Professional Service Fees Description Currency Daily Rate Number Days Amount Professional fees Team Leader US$ 10 $- Technical expert 50 Country expert $450 50 (Including weekends. 6.2 Consultant Administrative Costs Description Currency Unit Cost Number Days Amount Per diem Harare US$ $-x2 $6834.00 Per diem Binga/travel days US$ $-x2 $9900.00 Communication US$ $.00 50 .00 Travel; Local US$ $0.31/km 600 $186.00 International TOTAL Travel for the project will be borne by Ntengwe ( Is this usual) Total Consultant Fees Professional Fees:___$__________ [Local currency] or USD [Amount is subject to tax] Administrative Costs:_$_____________ [Local currency] or USD [Amount may not be subject to tax] 6.3Terms of Payment Professional fees 20% on submitting of inception report 30% on submission of draft report 50% on submission and approval of final report Administrative costs 100% on commencement of the project