Background

The Spotlight Initiative (SI) is a joint partnership between the EU and UN aimed at eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls worldwide. It was launched in September 2017 and contributes to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Spotlight Initiative will mobilize commitment of political leaders and deploy targeted, large-scale investments in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Pacific and the Caribbean, aimed at achieving significant improvements in the lives of women and girls. Zimbabwe is one of the eight countries in Africa to benefit from this transformative initiative.

The overall vision of the Spotlight Initiative in Zimbabwe is that women and girls realize their full potential in a violence-free, gender-responsive and inclusive Zimbabwe. The Spotlight Initiative will directly contribute to Zimbabwe’s achievement of three of the country’s prioritized Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Goal 5 on Gender Equality; Goal 3 on good health and well-being and Goal 16 on inclusive and peaceful societies. The programme will contribute to the elimination of SGBV and HPs through the creation of a broad partnership with Civil Society, Government, Private Sector, Media, among others; and, build a social movement of women, men, girls and boys as champions and agents of change at the national, subnational and community levels. A specific focus is on reaching and including in the programme women and girls who are often isolated and most vulnerable to Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) and Harmful Practices (HPs) due to intersecting forms of discrimination. The programme also seeks to address the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) needs of all women and girls using a life-cycle approach.

The SI Zimbabwe Country Programme uses a multi-sectoral, multi-layered, interlinked community-centered approach to the implementation of the interventions on the following six Outcome Areas based on the socio-ecological model for addressing SGBV and HPs:

  • Legislative and Policy Frameworks;
  • Strengthening Institutions;
  • Prevention and Social Norms;
  • Delivery of Quality, Essential Services;
  • Data Availability and Capacities;
  • Supporting the Women’s Movement.

The Zimbabwean context
The Spotlight Initiative provides a unique opportunity to elevate SGBV in the political and public discourse in Zimbabwe, capitalizing on the political leaders’ election campaign promises for SGBV, and messages promoting peace and social cohesion.

Zimbabwe has a rich legal and policy framework on Sexual and Gender Based Violence, Harmful Practices and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights supported by the Constitution, yet years of economic and political challenges, and the brain drain of personnel in key sectors has led to the deterioration of key institutions responsible for the prevention of and delivery of SGBV, SRHR and other relevant services. Further, the government ministries and departments with health and justice mandates have sub-functional mechanisms and protocols. The coordination efforts of the government ministries involved in the development of the referral pathway are governed by the Protocol on the Multi-Sectoral Management of Sexual Abuse and Violence in Zimbabwe and supported by the Victim Friendly System led by the Judicial Service Commission. A comprehensive assessment of SGBV coordination mechanisms in Zimbabwe and the institutional strengths and weakness is required to identify some of the specific financial and human capacity challenges that are often cited as barriers to effectiveness.

SGBV has devastating consequences not only for victims but also for society and countries. A growing body of research has focused on documenting and dimensioning these consequences either by estimating the impacts of SGBV on a set of outcomes or by measuring the monetary costs of SGBV. Evidence on the wide-ranging economic and social costs can influence governments, donors, NGOs and the private sector to increase investment, strengthen global and national policy and improve collaboration to address violence against women and girls. Studies from several countries have concluded that women who survive the violence bear the brunt of costs–as much as six times the cost to the state  and the health impact of SGBV on women can be as high as some of the leading causes of injury; consequences are especially serious in reproductive health. Previous studies estimating the socioeconomic costs of SGBV have documented the impact of SGBV on earnings due to death and lost productivity, job loss, lost productivity of the abuser due to incarceration, and loss of tax revenues due to death and incarceration. A UN report indicate that the cost of violence against women could amount to around 2 per cent of the global gross domestic product (GDP). This is equivalent to US $1.5 trillion, approximately, the size of the economy of Canada.

Financing for gender equality and enhancing Government’s technical expertise to plan and budget for the eradication of SGBV and HPs is an area where far more concerted work is needed. Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) was introduced by government in 2007, however, it remains weakly institutionalized in the legal and policy framework or in practice within the national budget planning process and cycle. Since the 2014-2015 national budgets, government ministries have dropped the budget line item ‘gender mainstreaming’, which was the only indicator for tracking gender in the national budget.

Purpose and Objective of Cost of SGBV Policy brief
One of the main drivers for reducing prevalence of pandemics such as HIV and SGBV is financial investments for comprehensive preventative and response measures. While the prevalence of SGBV continue to remain high, the financial investments have not matched the challenge at hand. This low investment has partly been occasioned by global and national economic recession. The purpose of this policy brief is to explore financing and revenue mobilization options that Zimbabwe as a country can pursue in order to collect and raise funds and invest adequately to address the pandemic of SGBV and HP in the country.
 
The policy brief will be presented at a series of high-level dialogues of government, UN and other stakeholders to galvanize further concrete commitment by government and other stakeholders to invest concretely and consistently in the eradication of SGBV and HP.

The Spotlight Initiative through UNDP requires the services of a consultant to:

  • Develop financing model options besides gender-based budgeting for raising funds and resources for addressing SGBV/HP/SRHR anchored in the national/government revenue or other systems;
  • Draw on global best practices on how governments have effectively resourced and financed initiatives on prevention and response to SGBV and HP.

Duties and Responsibilities

Working closely with the Spotlight Initiative Team in UNDP and in collaboration with key stakeholders including Government, Civil Society, the will:

  • Undertake a Desk Review of current financing mechanisms for SGBV and HP in Zimbabwe;
  • Prepare an inception report as guided by the Terms of Reference (ToR) and a draft outline of the Policy Paper;
  • Undertake a desk review of global best practices on raising revenue and financing for SGBV and HP and provide a synthesis findings and outcomes;
  • Develop revenue raising and financing model options;
  • Hold stakeholder consultations based on initial analysis and model options;
  • Present policy paper at a series of high-level policy dialogues;
  • Submit final policy paper incorporating inputs from the high -level policy dialogues.

Expected deliverables

  • Inception report and policy paper outline, within 2 Days;
  • Draft Policy Paper for stakeholder consultations,  within 17 Days;
  • Stakeholder consultations, within 19 Days;
  • Presentation of paper at High-level policy dialogues, within 21 Days;
  • Submission of Final policy paper, within 23 Days.

The consultant will work with the Spotlight Team under UNDP and key stakeholders including the Government.  The duty station is Harare for ease of liaison with both the Spotlight Team and key government department. The UNDP will arrange travel if travel required.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

  • Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
  • Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

Judgement/Decision-making

  • Strong technical skills and analytical capacities, sound judgment;
  • Strong technical problem-solving skills;
  • Ability to understand and establish priorities and work by objectives.

Teamwork

  • Ability to work in a team and establish effective working relationships with people from different nationalities and cultural backgrounds;

Ability to work under stress and work overtime when required.

  • Excellent knowledge of the UN system and UN joint country programming processes (CCA/UNDAF).
  • Good knowledge and experience with the national development frameworks, especially Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) PRSP, SWAP, key legislation, etc.
  • Specialised technical knowledge, including in conducting external programme evaluations, data collection and analytical skills, mainstreaming the HRBA to programming and gender equality and women’s empowerment considerations, and transition contexts.
  • Excellent communication, interpersonal skills, teamwork and adept at working with people of diverse cultural and social backgrounds.
  • An understanding of and ability to abide by the core values of the United Nations.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:  

  • A post- graduate qualification in Gender Studies, Development Studies, Economics, Anthropology, Sociology or a relevant academic qualification.

Experience:

  • Ability to seek and synthesize information from a variety of sources and draw solid conclusion based on in depth analysis;
  • Good communication skills, including ability to write high quality reports, conduct research and articulate ideas in a clear concise style;
  • At least 5 years experience and proven track record in research with specialization in gender equality, economics, policy research; 
  • Familiarity and previous working experience with international development organizations particularly on human development/SDG reports or similar reports.

Language Requirements:

  • Excellent command of written and spoken English.

Application procedure:

Applicants are requested to upload copies of:

  • Latest CV highlighting the relevant experience. Prospective candidates could apply either as a team or as individuals. When applying as a team, the CVs of all experts in the team should be provided, along with the application
  • Updated P11 Form template of which can be downloaded from this website - http://www.sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.
  • A detailed technical proposal on undertaking the tasks and evidence of previous work;

Please group all your documents (CV, P11, Technical Proposal and certificates) into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document. Incomplete applications will not be given consideration.

Applicants must reply to the mandatory questions asked by the system when submitting the application
Please note that only applicants who are short-listed will be contacted.

Evaluation criteria:

The Consultant will be evaluated based on qualifications and the years of experience, as outlined in the qualifications/requirements section of the ToR.  In addition, the Consultant will also be evaluated on the following methodology:
 
Technical Criteria weight: 70%;
Financial Criteria weight: 30%;

The award of the contract shall be made to the Consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the Terms of Reference.

“UNDP is committed to gender equality in its mandate and its staff, and equal opportunities for people with disabilities. Well qualified candidates, particularly women and people with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply”.