Local NGO

Deadline: 27 January 2021

Background

Peace, like many theoretical terms, is difficult to define. Like happiness, harmony, justice, and freedom, peace is something frequently recognized by its absence. Thus, Johan Galtung, a founder of peace studies and peace research, has proposed the important distinction between “positive” and “negative” peace. “Positive” peace indicates the simultaneous presence of many desirable states of mind and society, such as harmony, justice, equity, and so on. “Negative” peace indicates the “absence of war” and other forms of large-scale violent conflict. The Zimbabwean context is currently characterized by negative peace. Negative peace implies the absence of widespread violent conflicts associated with war and the presence of structural violence (deep seated inequalities which lie at the root of the conflict, including gender-related violence). While there is an absence of widespread violent conflicts, the presence of social violence is rife. Social and gender conflicts are manifested in many forms including rape, intimidation and conflicts based on customary and religious beliefs that perpetuate the minority status of women thus negatively affecting women’s peace and security. Violence against women is a well-known problematic issue in all contexts undergoing political and social transition globally.

Women and vulnerable groups are largely excluded in the peace building processes in Zimbabwe (National Budget Estimate Bluebook, 2019). The gender profile of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission indicates that women are underrepresented in Commission’s employment posts. For instance, in 2019, out of the 6 Directors only 2 were females. Out of the 5 Deputy Directors, only 1 was female (Ibid). More concerted efforts are required to ensure a gender responsive peacebuilding process which includes the voices and active participation of women. At local level there is a data gap on the number of women and men who participate in peace building initiatives. However, women are active in peace committees, religious groups and other social spaces where they have contributed to the local home-grown solutions for their communities.

Despite this there are gaps in information as to where peace champions are located, who they are and what initiatives have contributed positively to peace building in Zimbabwe. Therefore, a gender conflict assessment at the national level needs to be carried out. This may be based on a holistic analysis of the conflict actors, local structures, potential triggers and to understand the historical grievances, real and perceived injustices and current conflicts which may be used as a basis for the formation of inclusive structures and interventions. The development of a gender conflict profile should be conducted utilising mixed methods such as on the ground data as well as pre-existing data sources to ensure that rich data is collected and assessed.

It is important to understand and highlight conflict dynamics, demographics, key actors and stakeholders, spoilers, administrative gaps, and local conflicts, that have historically driven conflict in Zimbabwe, as well as understanding the existing power structures and impacts of various conflicts on women.

Given the role marginalization and historical grievances play at the local level, the conflict profile must focus on underlying conflict issues, triggers, and hotspots in the country in order to mitigate future conflict.

Objective of the assessment

The overall purpose of the Conflict, Political, Economic, Gender and Security Assessment (COPESA) is to give the a detailed holistic analysis on the country-wide conflict assessment, the political economy, to understand conflict dynamics, ethnic demographics, key actors and stakeholders, spoilers, administrative gaps, the historical grievances, real and perceived in-justices and current conflicts which can impact gendered inclusive peacebuilding interventions and social cohesion in the country.

To establish a basis for monitoring changes that may impact upon the stabilization of peace dividends objectives, there is need to pay special attention to an analysis of women’s and youth rights and gender equality, especially on issues such as service delivery, women and youth representation in local councils, economic empowerment opportunities, and security for women. This information will be essential for understanding how the stabilization of peace dividends can maximise positive impacts.

The conflict analysis shall examine the past, present, and possible future conflicts – and how this can impact on the rights of women. The gender analysis part should help stakeholders understand the status, challenges, and context of women’s participation within the electoral and decision-making processes. In trying to achieve the above it is critical to identifying the needs and interests of women, youth and marginalized groups from the rural and remote communities who have not been specifically involved in the political and decision-making process and who may have different needs from female leaders/activists and other elected women with better knowledge, experience and education.

Specific objective

Establish a clear picture of the political power distribution, gender, social inclusion, and peace building context in Zimbabwe, and how the activities of women’s rights and peace building interventions should respond and interact with these realities to inform future programming.

Key deliverables and tasks

The required outputs of this assignment will be as follows: Developing tools of the conflict profiling and adjusting tools of gender analysis; Validation of tools; Presentation on the main findings and validation of the assessment to key stakeholders upon agreed timelines; Assessment report in English language with Executive Summary detailing the findings of the assessment. The finding should also be presented to Stakeholders and validated; Identify and prioritize major conflict drivers that could undermine on-going peace building efforts and identify reconciliation needs and recommendations; The gender conflict profile must focus on underlying conflict issues, triggers, and the different scenarios and hotspots in the country in order to mitigate future conflict. The conflict analysis shall examine the past, present, and possible future (social, economic, ethnic, and politically-based) conflict and how this can impact on women’s rights and peace building processes.

The selected consultant for the assignment should come up with a clear plan of action on how the assessment will be carried out one week upon the award of work including an inception report. A draft report constituting but not limited to the following components; Overview and background of the assessment; Approaches and methodologies; Findings and main results; Challenges and obstacles of the assessment; Conclusion and recommendations; Annexes (KII and FGD reports, tools used for the assessment and others); List of references; A final report with comments/inputs from key stakeholders and other project actors; Formulate and ensure timely delivery of the final report after the analysis of the findings and participate in meetings with different stakeholders to discuss draft report before finalization.

Team / Institution competency

Advised to propose a team for conducting the needs assessment. The consulting firm/NGO will ensure that relevant members from the assignment execution team should possess the following experiences, skills, and competencies: Master’s degree in relevant social science discipline (preferably Peace and conflict studies, or political science) with minimum of 5 years’ experience in the field of politics, peace and/or gender, and development with a focus on politics/governance; At least one member of the team must have a qualification in Gender with minimum of 5 years’ experience in the field of politics, peace and/or gender, and development with a focus on politics/governance; Extensive knowledge of political and peacebuilding systems in Zimbabwe and background in working towards increasing women’s participation in peacebuilding; Proven ability in developing and implementing qualitative research methodology and identifying relevant stakeholders with solid understanding of and experience in carrying out multi-stakeholder studies; Knowledge of critical gender and peacebuilding issues in the Regional or Zimbabwean context; Superior skills in gender mainstreaming, analysis, and monitoring; Strong analytical skills on gender analysis in overall aspects of survey designing and conducting; Excellent communication and facilitation skills as well as fluency in English; Ability to work collaboratively with partners and groups; Ability to produce high quality work under tight timeframes; Evidence of having undertaken similar assignments; Ability to develop high quality research reports in English.

Duration of the assignment and schedule

The consultancy will take place starting from the 4th of February 2021 The final report is anticipated no later than 2 weeks after completion of fieldwork.