Institute for Young Women Development (IYWD)

Deadline: 15 June 2021

Who we are

Founded in 2009, the Institute for Young Women Development (IYWD) is a feminist organisation with proven experience in promoting the participation of young women to inform and influence socio-economic and political decision-making processes. The IYWD is committed to mobilising and strengthening the voice and power of young women in marginalized communities to challenge the systems and norms that oppress them. Grounded in young women's realities, we collectively create pathways to imagine a better future and promote and defend the rights and wellbeing of young women. Through community organizing, raising political consciousness, movement-building, documentation and thinking alongside marginalised young women we compassionately promote and demand the rights of marginalised and exploited young women.

Background

The IYWD is seeking a Consultant to conduct a three year external program evaluation for its work from 2018-2021. IYWD has been implementing a Civic Engagement for Accountability and Democracy in Zimbabwe (CEADZ) project titled Young Women Advancing Devolution and Public Accountability for inclusive and improved Gender Responsive Social Services Delivery (GRSSD). The project’s overall goal was to strengthen young women’s agency who sought accountability from policy makers at local and national levels on local government budgeting and spending; advocated for gender responsive social services delivery (GRSSD) and advocated for the alignment of laws such as the Rural District Councils Act [Chapter 29:13] to the constitution through the implementation of devolution in line with Chapter 14 of the country’s constitution at local and national level. This work fed directly and at multiple levels into the IYWD’s 3 year Strategy Plan for the period 2019-2021. The overarching goal of our global strategy was to enhance young women’s feminist leadership in democratic governance, economic and environmental justice in Zimbabwe. In line with the CEADZ intervention and the organisation’s strategy, our work incorporated a multi-pronged approach that included, but not limited to, capacity strengthening of young women, alliance building with various civil society and community based organisations and advocacy with various government stakeholders at local and national levels. In addition, our work included enhancing organisational stewardship in line with our Strategy Plan. It is against this background that IYWD is seeking the services of a consultant(s) to carry out an external program evaluation for this period.

Purpose and coverage

The main goal of the external program evaluation is to carry out an (i) analysis of the extent to which IYWD fared on its broader strategy’s goals and (ii) end-line survey of the extent to which IYWD realised outcomes of the CEADZ project at a local and national level. The survey will be conducted to achieve two broad outcomes, that is, i) track and document the impact and lessons learnt from IYWD’s work including community level mobilising and policy advocacy and (ii) to evaluate the success rate of the CEADZ project including tracking the rate of implementation of devolution. The outcomes of the evaluation will be used by IYWD for planning and strategizing internally, sharing our good practices with partners and other like-minded organisations and to recommend to communities and policy makers at local and national levels.

Consultant deliverables

The following specific deliverables are expected from the consultant: An Expression of Interest (EOI) detailing the proposed outline of the methodology to be used to conduct the assignment, detailing specific timelines for each phase of the evaluation and inputs required from IYWD; An Inception Meeting Report; A detailed scientific research report of the end-line survey including an analytical stock-take of the impact made by IYWD during implementation of the CEADZ project and concrete recommendations for future programming; A close-out report detailing how the assignment was carried out, survey findings and any lessons and recommendations for IYWD.

Competencies, experience and skills requirements

Consultancy Competencies, Experience and Skill Requirements: Minimum of a university degree in Social Sciences, Development Studies, or other relevant fields; Extensive experience in external evaluations of a similar nature and; Extensive knowledge of civil society and feminist organising in Zimbabwe is an added advantage; Excellent communication and written skills in English language including Zimbabwean local languages.