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Call for Baseline Consultant YfoSocTra

TERMS OF REFERENCE – BASELINE STUDY

  1. Background/Introduction

Much of the population in Zimbabwe is young. The median age of the 16,335,257 million people in the country, is 18.7[1] years. The youth face significant challenges. For example, the youth unemployment rate in 2022 is officially at 27%[2], but likely massively underreported, and poverty rates are high[3]. Likewise, climate change has increased natural disasters and weather disruptions, contributing to income vulnerability and food insecurity, especially in rural agricultural areas. Furthermore, Zimbabwe has among the highest reported rates of HIV/AIDS and sexual and gender-based violence and discrimination in the region, with mostly key populations being impacted. Digital access is compromised, and the uptake of digital tools for development is slow. These factors undermine the potential demographic dividend offered by the large youth population.  

Despite the important role that youth themselves could play as actors of good governance, contributing to addressing the issues that they face, the National Development Strategy (NDS 1) identifies that the participation of children and youth in public decision-making processes is at a very low 3%. This indicates that, while some structures for youth participation are in place, they are largely tokenistic and ineffective. Consequently, youth are excluded from the oversight, legislative and representative structure that plays a significant role in how central government can be held to account for promoting, protecting, and fulfilling the rights of children and youth. While on paper Zimbabwe has an enabling architecture for meaningful engagement by youth in policy-making spaces, very few young people are actively mobilizing, engaging in collective action, or participating in processes of governance and policy dialogue.  

  • Project summary

Coming together to address these issues, a proposed action called “Youth Collective Action for Social Transformation in Zimbabwe” (YCA4SoTra) was proposed. The action will build on three organisations’ collective strengths to deliver a package of youth-driven, locally relevant, transformative, and sustainable interventions to increase youth participation in governance and policy dialogue, specifically related to issues affecting youth such as poverty,

unemployment, vulnerability to climate change, violence, health, and education from June 2024 to April 2026. For this purpose, SAYWHAT, WILD and Save The Children have allied: with the Youth for Social Transformation Alliance (Y4SoTra Alliance).

  • Project Objectives and Outcomes

Overall Objective: To strengthen local Civil Society Organizations’ (CSOs) engagement as actors of good governance and development in Zimbabwe.

Outcome 1

To strengthen the capacity of youth organizations, including organizations for young Women and young people with disabilities, in movement building and effective representation to engage in policy dialogue at sub-national and national levels

Outcome 2

To contribute to inclusive youth economic empowerment through the development of an enabling environment for green jobs

  • Objectives of the Baseline Study

The study has been commissioned to deepen the consortium’s understanding of the operational context within which the project will be implemented. The study will establish baseline values for the indicators that will be monitored during the project implementation span. The following are the specific objectives of the study:

  • Establish the current landscape or status of youth participation in governance and policy dialogue, specifically related to issues affecting youth development,

  • Establish the current status of project indicators to inform target setting and tracking,

  • Identify Youth-led CSOs and CBOs, their capacities, competencies, interests, influence, and power dynamics to inform the advocacy agenda,

  • Identify key advocacy platforms at the national and sub-national levels to spearhead youth participation in governance and policy dialogue.

Subthemes covered

The following subthemes will be covered

  1. Human Rights, Child protection (CP), Youth centered social accountability (YCSA), advocacy and information.

  • Scope of the Baseline Study:

The assignment shall be conducted in the targeted districts that are Beitbridge, Matobo and Gwanda in Matabeleland South, Binga in Matabeleland North, Bulawayo Metropolitan, Kariba/Nyaminyami in Mashonaland West, Mutare Urban, Chipinge and Chimanimani in Manicaland as well as Harare Metropolitan. The estimated beneficiaries in the targeted areas are 80 000 youths from rural, urban, peri-urban, high school, tertiary education, youths working in the informal sector etc.

Baseline indicators to be covered in the study are to be provided in the project documents.

Key Baseline Questions

  • What is the current level of capacity among youth organizations, including those focused on young women and young people with disabilities, in terms of movement building and participation in policy dialogue at sub-national and national levels?

  • What is the current level of access to and awareness of green job opportunities among youth in the target area, and what are the existing barriers to their economic empowerment in this sector?

  • Target Audience

The baseline study is to benefit the following stakeholders

  1. Project implementing organizations:

  2. Establishing a Reference Point: the baseline study will provide a clear reference point against which future project outcomes and impacts can be measured. This will help in assessing progress and determining the effectiveness of interventions.

  3. Informed Decision-Making: By gathering data on the current situation, the 3 implementing partners can make informed decisions about project design, strategies, and resource allocation. This ensures that interventions are relevant and tailored to the needs of the target population.

  4. Identifying Needs and Gaps: The Baseline study will help identify the specific needs, challenges, and gaps within the target population. This information will guide the development of targeted and effective interventions.

  5. Enhancing Accountability: The study will allow organizations to demonstrate accountability to stakeholders, including funders and beneficiaries, by providing evidence of the project’s starting conditions and progress over time.

  • Improving Monitoring and Evaluation: Baseline data will support the development of robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks, enabling organizations to track progress, measure impact, and adjust strategies as needed.

  1. Project funders

  2. Enhanced Reporting: The donors will receive detailed information on the initial conditions and challenges faced by the target population, which aids in understanding the context of project implementation and the significance of reported changes.

  3. Risk Assessment: By understanding the baseline conditions, donors will better identify potential risks and challenges associated with the project, allowing for more informed risk management strategies.

  4. Learning and Adaptation: The Baseline data will provide a foundation for learning throughout the project lifecycle. Donors can use this information to support adaptive management, enabling adjustments based on what is learned during implementation.

  5. Long-Term Planning: Understanding baseline conditions will inform donors’ long-term strategies and priorities, guiding future funding decisions and initiatives.

  1. Youths, Youth-led CSOs and CBOs

  2. Needs Assessment: Baseline studies will help identify the specific needs, challenges, and priorities of beneficiaries. This ensures that project interventions are relevant and tailored to address their unique circumstances.

  3. Empowerment and Participation: The process of conducting a baseline study often involves engaging beneficiaries in discussions and data collection, which empowers these groups to voice their concerns and contribute to the project design.

  4. Accountability: With baseline studies providing clear initial conditions, beneficiaries can hold project implementers accountable for delivering on promised outcomes and improvements, fostering a sense of ownership.

  1. Policymakers

  2. Informed Decision-Making: Baseline studies will provide critical data and insights about the current situation and challenges faced by target populations, enabling policymakers to make informed decisions about project design and priorities.

  3. Evidence-Based Policy Formulation: The data gathered may be used to shape policies and strategies that are grounded in real-world evidence, ensuring that interventions are relevant and effective.

  • Improved Resource Allocation: Understanding the baseline conditions helps policymakers allocate resources more efficiently and effectively, targeting areas that require the most attention.

  • Promoting Transparency: By utilizing baseline studies, policy-makers cans demonstrate their commitment to transparency and evidence-based governance, enhancing public trust and support for their initiatives.

  • Government sectors/ministries with a direct contribution to youth development

  • Informed Policy Development: The insights gained from baseline studies helps ministries develop and refine policies that are relevant and responsive to the needs of the population, ensuring better alignment with national priorities.

  • Enhancing Accountability: With clear baseline data, ministries can demonstrate accountability to stakeholders, including the public and other government entities, by showing how programs are performing relative to initial conditions.

  • Facilitating Inter-Agency Collaboration: Engaging in baseline studies often involves collaboration between various government agencies and ministries, fostering a more coordinated approach to addressing complex issues.

  • Methodology and sampling

All applicants are strongly encouraged to utilize rigorous and comprehensive participatory methodologies and design that are community-driven in conducting this evaluation. The proposed methodology will contribute significantly to the final score allocated to each application. This should also include the proposed sampling frame

  • Planned Outputs

The project’s final baseline study report will provide the following outputs to the various stakeholders as per their interests:

  • Inception report and Data collection tools: The inception report will detail the scope of work, and methodology, including sampling, data collection methods, data analysis methods, data quality assurance plan, risk upon management, staffing, and ethical considerations in conducting the study. The data collection tools also complement the indicators and project documents and any areas of interest that may benefit the project. These must be submitted within a maximum of 10 days after the inception meeting.

  • First draft report and validation meeting: Expected on the date to be agreed. This shall be done during a meeting facilitated by the alliance partners and other relevant stakeholders to discuss preliminary findings and share recommendations to strengthen the report.

  • Final draft Baseline study report: This shall be submitted within 10 days after the presentation of the first draft report and should encompass feedback provided during the validation meeting.

  • Baseline report PPT presentation: This is a summarized version of the findings and recommendations that shall be shared with the final report draft to enable the implementing partners to also share with other interested parties within their operational spaces.

The major product of the study is a Final Baseline Report in English with the following structure:

  • Executive Summary

  • Introduction

  • Methodology

  • Findings

  • Conclusions

  • Recommendations

  • Populated Results Framework

  • Annexes

The report should not exceed 30 pages plus an Executive Summary of no more than 3 pages with fully cross-referenced findings and recommendations. It shall be prepared using Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel if applicable, and according to the SAYWHAT format and descriptions in English. The report shall essentially follow the structure of the Terms of Reference and detailed materials shall be attached as an appendix. It shall be clear and concise, limiting itself to essential points. In addition, a short, separate PPT should be prepared, to facilitate the validation process and presentation to the other stakeholders. In addition, the report should analyze the main findings and key recommendations. Where applicable, the annexes should present any differences in findings between the consultant and other interested stakeholders. Upon completion of the first draft report, and after obtaining feedback from the stakeholders, the Consultant shall be responsible for

incorporating the comments and suggestions in the final substantive and technical editing of the report as required ensuring that the final report is a well-written document.

  • Ethical considerations

Below are some of the key ethical considerations of this study:

  1. Informed Consent

  2. Ensure that all participants fully understand the purpose of the study, what it involves, and any potential risks. Obtain clear and voluntary consent before participation.

  1. Confidentiality and Anonymity

  2. Protect the identities of participants by keeping their responses confidential. Use anonymized data in reports to prevent any negative consequences for individuals or organizations.

  1. Voluntary Participation

  2. Participation should be completely voluntary, without coercion. Participants should know they can withdraw at any time without facing any penalties.

  1. Cultural Sensitivity

  2. Respect local customs, norms, and values. Engage with communities in a culturally appropriate manner, considering local perspectives in the study design and implementation.

  1. Data analysis plan

Below is a summarized expectation of the data analysis plan:

  1. Quantitative Analysis:

  1. Descriptive Statistics: Calculate frequencies, percentages, and means to summarize data from surveys regarding CSO engagement, resource availability, and training needs.

  2. Comparative Analysis: Use cross-tabulation to examine differences in engagement levels and challenges based on factors such as organization size, type, and geographic location.

  1. Qualitative Analysis:

  2. Thematic Analysis: Identify and analyze key themes and patterns from interview and focus group data. This will help contextualize quantitative

findings and provide deeper insights into the challenges and opportunities faced by CSOs.

  1. Content Analysis: Review open-ended survey responses to extract common sentiments and recommendations related to capacity building and governance engagement.

  1. Triangulation:

  2. Combine quantitative and qualitative findings to provide a comprehensive picture of the current landscape for CSOs in Zimbabwe. This approach enhances the validity of the results and ensures a nuanced understanding of the data.

  1. INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT

    1. Functions and Responsibilities

The Consultant will design the process to draw out the various viewpoints of the stakeholders on the study objectives. The designed process will guide all stakeholders in coming up with a shared understanding of the project’s goals and outcomes, and how they ought to be achieved. Specifically, the consultant’s responsibilities are:

  • To develop the detailed design of the baseline and the work plan,

  • To develop a comprehensive and robust baseline study methodology that speaks to the objectives and intended outcomes,

  • To ensure that concrete and specific outputs are developed in a participatory manner for each step of the baseline study process,

  • To provide an external view during the generation of findings and the development of recommendations,

  • To present the preliminary study output to the project management team,

  • To prepare the draft report, incorporate comments, and finalize the report according to the prescribed format in the TORs,

  • To hire their staff, as deemed necessary, such as documenter (s) to support his consultancy contract. The consultant is responsible for paying his staff, office, and administrative costs of the study.

The Consultant/s will be selected based on the following criteria:

  • A Doctorate or Post-graduate Degree in Governance, Economics, Political Science, or International Development, or if it’s a team their lead/ team member should possess this qualification

  • Must have at least five years of continuous professional experience in evaluation designs and implementation,

  • Must have at least five years of professional experience in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of youth empowerment projects,

  • Must have sufficient knowledge of issues that affect youth development in general, including child protection and child safeguarding principles

  • Must demonstrate experience working with multi-cultural communities, youth-led CBOs and youth-led CSOs, government representatives, youths, and the implementing team,

  • Must demonstrate experience in research methodologies including data collection, data analysis, interpretation, and report writing.

Desirable

  • Previous experience working with the European Union (EU) on other assignments,

  • Failure to meet any of the mandatory criteria will result in disqualification of the submission.

Management

  • The Consultant will report to the alliance’s monitoring and evaluation committee,

  • The Consultant will be responsible for their own overheads and logistical requirements such as office space, administrative and secretarial support, telecommunications, and printing,

  • All deliverables will be prepared in English.

  1. Evaluation of proposals

All interested Consultants are required to submit a Technical and Financial proposal separately via email. The technical proposal should be no more than 10 pages, and will be assessed on the following:

  • Approach to the assignment that demonstrates the extent to which the Consultant understands the requirements as set out in TOR,

  • Feasible and technically sound methodology, appropriate for fulfilling the overall purpose of the baseline study,

  • Realistic work plan with specific treatment of key deliverables and priorities,

  • Expertise and experience of the Firm/Entity; expertise, experience, and qualifications of the Team leader.

The financial proposal should be no more than 3 pages and should detail the following:

  • An appropriate Price Schedule that includes, as a minimum, the consultancy rate per day, and the number of workdays per main activity to assist the Contracting Department to determine, which items may be negotiated, if applicable, or which items can be modified as per the budget. All prices shall be quoted in US dollars.

Category Score
Comprehension of the TORs 15
Evaluation Design and Methodology 50
Financial Proposal 20
Qualifications and Experience 15
Total 100

  1. Application Procedure

Please be advised that technical and financial proposals should be submitted to procurement@saywhat.org.zw, by 5:00 PM on or before 10 October 2024. The subject line of the email should clearly state ” YCA4SoTra-Baseline“.

[1] Zimbabwe Population 2022 (Demographics, Maps, Graphs) (worldpopulationreview.com) 

[2] Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency

[3] Zimbabwe Unemployment Rate 2022 & Employment Data | Take-profit.org.

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