TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NGOCC ADVOCACY AND COMMUNICATION STRATEGY FOR THE 2023-2027 STRATEGIC PLAN

1.0 Introduction

The Non-governmental Gender Organisations’ Coordinating Council (NGOCC) is an umbrella network organisation that was founded in 1985 out of the realization that the empowerment of women in Zambia needed concerted efforts. Its formation by a few women focused NGOs was an outcome of the United Nations Conference on Women that was held in Nairobi, Kenya in 1985. Since then, NGOCC has grown to a current membership of 111 organisations spread in all the ten provinces of Zambia with a presence in 68 districts. NGOCC has continued its coordinating role and strengthening its Member Organisations to enhance their relevance and effectiveness in championing gender equity and equality.

In its over 37 years of existence, NGOCC has attained a strategic positioning as the focal point of the women’s movement in Zambia and is poised to utilize this comparative advantage to continue as the voice for women’s empowerment in addressing the gender agenda. In line with its broad mandate, NGOCC’s vision is, “A society where women are empowered and fully participate in social, cultural economic and political development.” The mission being “To promote women’s empowerment for gender equality through coordinated advocacy, capacity development of member organisations and linkages with government, local and international partners.”

2.0 Background

NGOCC developed a five-year Strategic Plan (2023 – 2027) centering on four Strategic Objectives, which are;

1. Improved cultural norms, practices and beliefs towards gender equity and equality.

2. Improved policy/legal frameworks for women and girl’s empowerment

3. Improved resilience through women and girls’ empowerment

4. Improved organisational capacity.

The NGOCC Strategic Plan builds on from the 2018-2022 plan and is formed based on all organisational strategic interventions carried out in the past years. Furthermore, the Plan seeks to contribute to the global undertaking of the gender agenda through a human rights approach informed by a number of international, regional as well as national gender instruments that would contribute to the development discourse of the country. The Plan is modeled on a Theory of Change which is well anchored on NGOCC’s envisaged change of gender equality and women’s empowerment in Zambia by 2027. The Model has therefore been the blueprint that informs NGOCC’s change strategies to bring about the desired results in as far as addressing gender inequalities between women and men in our country is concerned.

3.0 NGOCC’S ADVOCACY WORK

The NGOCC membership, has since its inception been a strong advocate for gender equality and women’s empowerment in Zambia. As a network it has successfully advocated for the enactment of various pieces of legislation and establishment of institutions in effect today including the establishment of the Victim Support Unit (VSU) that enabled the Police Service to specifically deal with GBV cases; the passing of the Interstate Succession Act of 1989; the adoption of the National Gender Policy in 2000 and its subsequent revisions in 2014 and in 2023; the adoption of the School Re-entry Policy, the passing of the Anti-GBV Act and the Gender Equity and Equality Act among others. Additionally, Advocacy for the review of the Republican Constitution has been high on NGOCC’s agenda. The 2016 amendments to the Constitution took some steps towards gender equality provisions but more needs to be done. Despite these efforts, some problems remain persistent including the negative cultural practices, inadequate and unimplemented pieces of legislation, ever increasing cases of GBV, high rates of child marriage, poverty, the low representation of women in decision-making and negative impact of climate change.

4.0 SCOPE OF ASSIGNMENT

NGOCC intends to engage a Consultant to develop an advocacy and communication strategy for the NGOCC network for the Period of 2023-2027. Specifically, the Consultant shall:

• Conduct a comprehensive review of the previous advocacy and communication strategies used by NGOCC secretariat, its selected members and other like-minded institutions.
• Consult the NGOCC Membership and other NGOCC partners on probable and relevant advocacy and communication strategies.
• Develop an Advocacy and Communication Strategy for NGOCC for the Period 2023-2027 which will correspond to the current needs.
• Facilitate the validation of the Advocacy and Communication Strategy
• Submission of a report on the assignment undertaken

4.0 EXPECTED OUTPUTS/DELIVERABLES

4.1 An inception assignment delivery plan.

4.2 2023-2027 NGOCC Advocacy and Communication Strategy Document.

4.3 Facilitate a one-day validation meeting for NGOCC membership.

4.4 Submission of a process Report

5.0 DURATION

5.1 The entire consultancy will be for a period of fifteen (15) working days to commence immediately the contract is signed.

6.0 REQUIRED SKILL:

Applications are invited from either individual Consultants or organisations with the following experience:

6.1 Degree or Higher qualification in Communication, or any social science.

6.2 Considerable experience in gender related assignments.

6.3 Experience of not less than five years of undertaking similar tasks.

6.4 Understanding of the advocacy and communication work on the needs of women and girls in Zambia.

7.0 Application Procedures:

7.1 A cover letter highlighting suitability and qualifications for this assignment.

7.2 Track record of delivered samples of past works of similar nature.

7.3 Technical proposal with indicative work plan showing consultant’s planned approach to the assignment.

7.4 Cost proposal with proposed payment schedule for the given payment schedule.

7.5 Applicants should enclose proof of competence to undertake the assignment i.e. Curriculum Vitae (CV)

8.0 HOW TO APPLY:

All applications should be addressed to the Executive Director, NGOCC Secretariat P.O Box 37879, Lusaka or email EXRESSION OF INTEREST to: info@ngocc.org.zm not later than Friday, 31st March 2023.