National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO)

Deadline: 26 March 2021

Introduction and background

The National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO) is the voluntary coordinating body for NGOs in Zimbabwe. NANGO is the umbrella body mandated to facilitate and promote the effective performance and co-ordination of Civil Society Organisations (CSO) in Zimbabwe. The membership based network organisation is an amalgam of some 10 sector-specific clusters that are organised through their own self- regulating spheres of network governance which facilitate ease of coordination and information flow between NANGO, its members and other stakeholders. Membership includes organizations registered as Private Voluntary Organizations (PVOs), Trusts as well as under the Common law Universitas.

Over the past decades NANGO has identified the lack of a comprehensive and facilitative legal infrastructure, as one of the key obstacles to effective civil society participation in national developmental initiatives in the country. In the same regard, the government of Zimbabwe is working towards the amendment of the PVO Ac which seeks to control, monitor and regulate the operations of Non-governmental organizations operating in Zimbabwe.

The review of the PVO Act has been motivated by various reasons chief among them being the need to include the Anti-money laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism and the Aid Coordination Policy. The government is at advanced stages of developing the amended PVO Act. It is against this background that NANGO intends to develop a shadow PVO Bill that will be used for advocacy and lobbying purposes for a conducive operational environment for NGOs. As a preliminary to the research activities this call invites Expressions of Interest from consultants to conduct a comprehensive study to map currently available information on NGO laws and legislation, conduct a case study and develop an appropriate PVO Shadow Bill that resonates with the current NGO operations in the country.

Terms of reference

Specifically, the terms of reference of the consultancy include: Drafting a Shadow PVO Bill that can be used as an alternative to the yet to be gazetted PVO amendment Bill by the government; Using best practices emanating from the case study to develop a Shadow PVO Bill that resonates with the work of NGOs in the country that can be submitted for consideration to the government as an alternative to the PVO Bill under development; Create a database with all information collected in order to facilitate consultation with stakeholders on reforms to the NGO regulatory environment; Present the draft PVO Bill at a Sensitization Workshop for CSOs, Legislators, policy makers and other stakeholders.

Expected deliverables

The Consultant will be expected to deliver the following: Shadow PVO Bill - The Consultant is expected to produce a draft Shadow PVO Bill that can be used as an alternative to the yet to be government gazetted PVO Bill that will affect the operations of NGOs in the country; Present the Shadow PVO Bill - The Consultant is expected to present the Shadow PVO Bill to all stakeholders.

Qualifications and experience

A postgraduate university degree in law; at least five years in research of which at least 2-3 years must be with international law, human rights law and/or development issues. Previous working experience in Zimbabwe with NGOs is an asset.

Competences: Experience and proven competence in liaising with government authorities as well as with international institutions, NGOs and academia, preferably within the Zimbabwean context. In addition, the candidate must possess strong writing skills; all applicants are required to submit at least two copies of relevant publications or previous studies.

Reporting

The consultant will work with the Programs Unit at NANGO.

Duration

It is expected that the Shadow PVO Bill will be developed over a period of two months commencing 30 March 2021