Zimbabwe Consultant

CODE 58/2011 CONS ZIM

DURATION 1 month

REQUIRED COMPETENCES Previous experience in developing countries At least 5 years of experience on child protection with International organizations At least 3 years in Monitoring and Evaluation Knowledge of Southern Africa environment Knowledge of EC funded project

Fluency in written and spoken English

DESIDERABLE COMPETENCES Already available in Zimbabwe

WORK CONTEXT On the basis of the CRC (Convention on the Rights of the Child), CESVI's own Policy for Children and Young People, experience working in the field in different countries, the contributions of local partners and considering the seriousness of the situation of abandonment and lack of protection that affects millions of children, Cesvi has defined and put into practice its own intervention strategy which finds its basic expression in the “House of Smiles” formula. The Houses of Smiles (HoS) represent the common factor in the interventions of Cesvi to promote and implement the rights of children (as well as adults) who live in conditions of marginalization and difficulty. The management of the Houses of Smiles is entrusted to the local partners, who are responsible for coordinating the various activities and relations with the beneficiaries, from the point of view of human, social, and economic development, founded on the principle of enhancement of the resources present in the territory. Cesvi developed a manual called “The House of Smiles Policy” to give guidelines for the implementation of this program. In December 2004, Cesvi Zimbabwe received a donation of premises located in Harare CBD (Central Business District). The premises were renovated and a Drop In Centre for children living and working on the streets was opened and called “The House of Smiles of Harare”. From 2005 to 2008, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs granted funds to Cesvi to run the HoS of Harare. Cesvi involved local NGOs as partners of this program: Streets Ahead (which is directly managing the services provided within the HoS) operating in Harare CBD, Mashambanzou Care Trust (which is supporting children affected or infected by HIV/AIDS and receive referrals of children from the HoS) operating in Harare suburbs and St. Albert's Missionary Hospital (which offers skills training to orphans of rural areas and receives referrals of pregnant girls from Streets Ahead) operating in Centenary District in Mashonaland Central Province. In 2008, the European Union signed a three years contract with Cesvi to continue the activities of the HoS and support the local NGO partners involved in the program. Today, the House is a day drop-in centre which offers a range of services for street children. It is the core of an action on the field in support of street children living in the township in extreme poverty, with familiar problems or victims of HIV and sexual abuse. Street kids coming to the HoS range from 0 to 18 years old. The 0-5 year old children are accompanied by their mothers who are part of the young mothers group of the Centre. The partners involved in the program offer services to these vulnerable children and also advocate at national level for their rights, regularly participating to discussions on a number of platforms with the aim of influencing the government policies on child protection and other rights related matters.

JOB DESCRIPTION The collaboration will start in October 2011.

In 2011, with the end of its 3 years programme funded by the European Union, Cesvi would like to take this opportunity to: - make a study on the House of Smiles program in Zimbabwe and its impact on supporting Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in Zimbabwe; and - analyse the partners strategy to influence the government policies on child protection and other rights related matters and its impact. The case-study will be carried out in October 2011 with a view to highlighting good practices and relevance of the HoS program, improving the implementation of the program and also providing inputs to the refocusing of the HoS strategy for Zimbabwe. This exercise will include an analysis of services offered to street children, activities, data, collaboration with partners and stakeholders, achievements and challenges in relation with the street children situation in the country through desk research and field visits. In particular, the consultant will analyze and give recommendations to CESVI on the following: - achievements and challenges to the HoS program's objectives and activities; - identification of lessons learned and best practices; - impact and quality of services offered at the HoS; - partner's data collection systems (for trends analysis and children tracing for follow up); - HoS organization and visibility; - relevance of the action implemented in future program planning (updated analysis of the problems and their interrelation at all levels, beneficiaries, problems to be solved, effectiveness of the solutions proposed and implemented); - HoS activities of referrals, networking, relationship with other actors and government structures; and, in particular, - partners strategy to influence the government policies on child related issues. Moreover, the consultant will produce some specific recommendations for improvement of the CESVI HoS program (on both organizational and programmatic levels) and suggest actions to strengthen the final results of the program. The study will be conducted by the consultant, in close collaboration with the Project Manager and all the stakeholders involved in the action.

1. Methodology The methodology for this consultancy must be developed by the consultant and it will be considered in the selection process.

2. Products to be delivered The consultant shall produce: 1)A draft written report (including a set of recommendations) to be shared and discussed with the Cesvi Project Manger and the three implementing partners by the 21st of October 2011; 2)A final written report (including a set of recommendations) to be submitted to the European Union by the 28th October 2011; 3)A presentation on the case-study by the 28th of October 2011; the presentation will be explained by the consultant during a public event that will take place in Harare in November 2011.

To apply, please visit this page http://hr.cesvi.org/?name=details&id=324