Background/Context: UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.
This concept note outlines the plan to document a comprehensive five-year project implemented by UN Women Zimbabwe Country Office, focusing on engendering governance to promote peace, and security in Zimbabwe. The project was executed in three phases, each addressing different aspects of these critical areas. The project is generously funded by the Embassy of Ireland in Pretoria.
Project Description: The project aimed to enhance women's political participation and contribute to the women, peace, and security agenda in Zimbabwe. It was designed to address the systemic barriers that prevent women from fully participating in political processes and to promote peace and security by empowering women as key stakeholders in conflict resolution and peacebuilding.The project was initially aligned to the Zimbabwe United Nations Development Assistance Framework (ZUNDAF 2016-2021), which outlines the strategic direction and results expected from the cooperation between the Government of Zimbabwe and the UN System in Zimbabwe. The ZUNDAF was replaced by the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2022-2026 and the project was further aligned to the UNSDCF on Peace Pillar. It also contributes to the UN Women global Flagship Projects on Women’s Political Empowerment and Leadership and Women Peace and Security, the Sustainable Development Goals, 5 and 16 and UN Security Council Resolution 1325 specifically the participation pillar.
The engendering governance to promote peace and security project in Zimbabwe has been focusing on formulating, enforcing, implementing and monitoring strategies to promote women's participation in decision making processes and structures at national and local levels are in line with national, regional and international provisions. This was aimed to be achieved through:
Supporting young and senior women, particularly those most left behind, to effectively and meaningfully participate in national processes. Enhancing the capacity of governance institutions to implement the women, peace and security agenda.
Duties and Responsibilities
The project intended to build on UN Women’s previous work on women’s political participation, leadership, and women, peace and security programming and it supported the establishment and work of the African Women Leaders Network (AWLN) and AWLN Youth Caucus in Zimbabwe. UN Women has been therefore utilising the Zimbabwe Chapter of the AWLN to foster an enabling environment for women’s leadership and participation. AWLN is ‘’an action-oriented initiative that seeks to enhance the leadership of African women in bringing transformative changes focusing on peace, security and development in the continent’’. The AWLN Zimbabwe Chapter’s engagement around its mandate has resulted in a number of note-worthy activities which are in line with the overall objective of creating an enabling environment for women’s leadership and participation as well as the advancement of normative frameworks on women’s rights.
The AWLN Zimbabwe Chapter saw: 1) the localization of high-level regional and global processes on women on women’s rights and gender equality, 2) awareness raising on opportunities and gaps in women’s leadership as per the constitutional amendment and legislative reforms iii) the launch of an intergenerational mentorship programme. 3) promotional segments on national radio and television v) activities under the 16 Days of Activism on Gender-Based Violence and lastly 4) participation in regional and AWLN Global Events.
Notable achievement through this project has been the adoption and endorsement of Zimbabwe National Action Plan (ZNAP) on UNSCR1325 Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and the recognition of the roles of young people in peace processes by contributing to the development validation of the Zimbabwe National Action Plan (ZNAP) on UNSCR 2250 Youth, Peace and Security (YPS). The project has also enabled the development of a legislator’s guide or Handbook for Parliamentarians to promote an appreciate of the UNSCR1325. Further, it also facilitated training for media personnel around gender-responsive media of women in politics to address the barriers and challenges presented to women’s increased political participation through negative portrayals in the media. The project also enhanced the capacity of AWLN to serve as a national platform to galvanize the leadership of African women to reduce discriminatory gender and social norms, stereotypes, practices and power relations. Key to the Chapter’s efforts have been continued engagements with women leaders to place women’s needs and concerns on the agenda. The Network with promoted solidarity in women’s advocacy towards the creation of safer spaces for women to exercise their leadership.
In this regard, documenting the five-year project on women's political participation and women, peace, and security in Zimbabwe is crucial for understanding its impact and extracting valuable lessons for future initiatives.
Qualifications and Experience
The assignment is home-based. The contract duration is tentatively from 20th of August 2024 to 10th Sept 2024. Travel to interview beneficiaries, view project sites and engage with the Project stakeholders is required. UN Women will cover travel and accommodation costs beyond commuting distance from the consultant’s usual place of residence for UN Women authorized travel as per the UN Women standard travel guidelines.
UN Women will facilitate this process by providing contact information such as email addresses and phone numbers of their respective partners. UN Women will oversee the logistics of the documentation and provide support for the arrangements as needed. The consultant will be also responsible for the dissemination of all methodological tools such as questionnaires, conducting interviews, group discussions etc.
Arrangement: The consultant must have own equipment and working space. UN Women will own all rights to the evidence and information gathered during the process, reports, policy briefs, case studies, videos, photos and all documents produced for this assignment, and UN Women must be credited in perpetuity.
Experience: -A national consultant with the following skills and experience -Master level and above educational background in social sciences or a related field; -8 – 10 years’ experience and knowledge in documenting project and programmes related to Women -Political Participation and Women Peace and Security. -Experience in conducting evaluations with a focus on gender equality, women’s empowerment. -Specific evaluation on Governance and Women Political participation will be an added advantage. -Extensive knowledge and understanding of Results Based Management methodologies; -Experience and understanding of gender equality, human rights, and women’s empowerment programming of UN agencies, development partners and government; -Application and understanding of UN Mandates on Human Rights and Gender Equality; -Knowledge of regional/country/ local context will be an asset; -Proven experience and excellent networking and partnership skills with UN agencies, government and CSOs; -Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written and strong presentation skills; -Excellent spoken and written English (all deliverables to be in English). Working knowledge of Shona and/or Ndebele will be an asset; -Capacity to work independently and use own equipment.
