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Call for Proposals

The Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network is a local Non-Governmental Organization that seeks to empower women in Zimbabwe. ZWRCN is seeking a consultant to carry out a Gender Analysis of the 2009 Zimbabwe National Budget. The gender analysis of the 2009 National Budget is expected to contribute to the main objective of the Gender Budgeting and Women’s Empowerment Programme currently under implementation by ZWRCN. The programme seeks to promote the formulation and implementation of gender sensitive national policies, programmes and budgets at the national level.

The Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network is a local Non-Governmental Organization that seeks to empower women in Zimbabwe. ZWRCN is seeking a consultant to carry out a Gender Analysis of the 2009 Zimbabwe National Budget. The gender analysis of the 2009 National Budget is expected to contribute to the main objective of the Gender Budgeting and Women’s Empowerment Programme currently under implementation by ZWRCN. The programme seeks to promote the formulation and implementation of gender sensitive national policies, programmes and budgets at the national level.

We require a consultant with recognised expertise and experience in Gender Budgeting, Economics, Gender, Public Policy, or any other related field, and policy analysis skills to conduct this analysis.

Contact Details

Proposals to undertake this analysis should reach ZWRCN by 27 January 2009, and should include a detailed budget. All correspondence concerning this work should be addressed to:

Heather Panganai (Programme Assistant)
288 Herbert Chitepo Avenue
Harare
Tel: 252387-90

Or via email to: [email][email protected]

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Background

The proposed action, for which these Terms of Reference are prepared, is the gender analysis of the 2009 National Budget, which is expected to contribute to the main objectives of the Gender Budgeting and Women’s Empowerment Programme currently under implementation by ZWRCN. The programme seeks to ensure that public resource allocation is pro-poor and gender equitable, and is premised on advocating for the formulation and implementation of gender sensitive policies and budgets that take into account the differential needs of men, women, boys and girls in Zimbabwe.

Gender budget analysis is a crucial strategy adopted by gender budgeting initiatives in order to highlight the gender gaps in policies and budgets and to promote efficiency in resource allocation. ZWRCN has been conducting gender analysis of national budgets yearly since 1999, to inform budget advocacy.

The gender analysis of the 2009 National Budget is critical as it ties together the different components of the programme, which are Training and Capacity Building; Research and Publications; Advocacy, Networking and Coalition Building; and Institutional Support and Development. Research conducted on the socio-economic situation of men and women in Zimbabwe will feed into the analysis, which compares the responsiveness of policies and programmes, and the extent to which resource allocation through the budget addresses the situation of citizens. The analysis will also be used as resource material in training and capacity building activities such as workshops when training the various stakeholders on gender budgeting. In addition, publication of the analysis will ensure that stakeholders gain increased knowledge and understanding of the gendered nature of budgeting outcomes.

Purpose:

The gender analysis of the 2009 National Budget seeks to promote the formulation and implementation of gender sensitive national policies, programmes and budgets at the national level.

Objectives:

• To increase the level of understanding of key stakeholders of gender budgeting, particularly on aspects of gender budget analysis
• To capacitate ZWRCN and key stakeholders with knowledge and substantiation on the impact of resource allocation decisions on the poor for effective advocacy
• To promote the monitoring of specific national budgetary allocations through the creation of an accurate and proficient pool of analyses for year on year comparison

Outputs and Outcomes

• A gender analysis of the 2009 National Budget report
• Policy and budget advocacy
• Increased level of understanding and knowledge by stakeholders (researchers, civil society organizations (CSOs), government officials and technocrats, media) on gender budgeting
• Increased capacity for monitoring key budget issues
• Formulation and implementation of gender sensitive national policies, programmes and budgets that address the specific needs of women and men, girls and boys

Justification

Poverty Reduction and Gender Equality Commitments
Zimbabwe has expressed its commitment to fighting poverty at the national and international levels, and has prioritised as national development goals, three of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs):

Goal 1: Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 3: Promoting Gender equality and empowering women
Goal 6: Combating HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Gender analysis of the 2009 National Budget will contribute to the upholding of human rights and international obligations such as those above through promoting the monitoring of gender mainstreaming activities and poverty eradication programmes, and establishing whether government’s poverty reduction and gender equality obligations translate into policies and budgetary commitments. Gender budget analysis will also contribute to poverty reduction by encouraging fair distribution of resources, and redressing of inequalities resulting from better targeting of policy measures.

Good Governance and Transparency
The key requirements of good governance can be considered to be state capability, responsiveness, and accountability. Gender budget analysis addresses these and promotes good governance by improving the extent to which central government leaders are able to get things done. This involves probing the management of public finances, and seeking to ensure that the needs of the specific groups of people are met, i.e. men, women, girls and boys. Proficient undertaking of gender budget analysis is expected to promote increased accountability of government as a result of enlightening CSOs and citizens on analysis of policies, programmes and budgets that query the extent to which gender equality and other commitments by government translate into action. In addressing gender inequalities and promoting fairness in the distribution of resources, gender budgeting will contribute to strengthening good governance.

Key focus areas

The gender analysis of the 2009 National Budget is expected to take into account the following crucial areas:

• The general situation of women and men, girls and boys in Zimbabwe relating to basic socio-economic indicators
• A critical analysis of policies underpinning the National Budget announcement
• A critical analysis of the resources allocated (the budget) to implementing specific policies, highlighting the extent to which the budget addresses the socio-economic situation of the population
• A trend analysis of the national budget for the past 5 years across different sectors

Scope of Work

a) Review all relevant documentation on the macroeconomic situation in Zimbabwe, National macro-economic policy framework documents, poverty assessment studies, and other relevant materials
b) Review previous gender analyses of national budgets undertaken by ZWRCN and other regional organizations implementing Gender Budget Initiatives such as the Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) in Uganda, and the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP)
c) Critically review the 2009 National Budget announcement by the Minister of Finance
d) Provide an analysis of the national budget, comparing budget shares across sectors and ministries over the past 5 years
e) Using socio-economic indicators, analyse the adequacy of specific budgetary allocations in selected sectors (Health, education, agriculture and small and medium enterprise development)
f) Analyze the level of priority given to selected programmes in the above sectors (e.g. by expressing the allocation to this programme as a percentage of the total sector budget)
g) Submit a draft of the gender budget analysis to ZWRCN for review
h) Following comments from the organization and other key stakeholders, produce a second draft of the gender analysis of the 2009 National Budget
i) Present the findings of the analysis at a post budget analysis workshop
j) Make appropriate adjustments to the analysis following its presentation to key stakeholders at the workshop

Reporting

The consultant will report directly to the Programmes Coordinator at ZWRCN

Required Qualifications

The consultant is expected to demonstrate the following:

• Recognised expertise and experience in Gender Budgeting, Economics, Finance, Gender, Public Policy, or any other related field
• Experience in analysis of public policies
• Knowledge of the Zimbabwe national policy making and budgeting processes
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English

Contact Details

Proposals to undertake this analysis should reach ZWRCN by 27 January 2009, and should include a detailed budget. All correspondence concerning this work should be addressed to:

Heather Panganai (Programme Assistant)
288 Herbert Chitepo Avenue
Harare
Tel: 252387-90

Or via email to: [email][email protected]

ZWRCN policy in establishing fees is that the Consultant will assume any tax obligation that may be imposed by one’s government/country.