TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE JOINT GENDER AND YOUTH ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR WWF ZAMBIA

1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

World Wide Fund for Nature Zambia (WWF Zambia) invites applications from reputable, well experienced consultants’/consulting firms to develop the Gender and Youth Engagement Strategy. These ToRs therefore outline requirements for the said consultancy.

World Wide Fund for Nature Zambia (WWF Zambia) is part of WWF International, the world’s leading independent conservation organization with a global network in over 100 countries. Our mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which people live in harmony with nature, for the benefit of both people and nature. The organization has been working in Zambia since 1962; focusing on wildlife, forests, freshwater as well as People and livelihoods. Further, in its Strategic Plan for 2021-2025, WWF Zambia will further focus organization’s mission. WWF Zambia implements through strategic and implementation partnerships. Besides partnering with government at various levels, WWF Zambia also partners and collaborates with other stakeholders including communities, traditional leaders, institutions of higher learning, researchers and research institutions, community based organizations, civil society organizations as well as other WWF network organizations.

In its Strategic Plan, WWF Zambia recognizes women and youths as powerful drivers of change and an effective channel through which public perception and action  on sustainable conservation of natural resources can be achieved . We further believe that supporting women and youth-led conservation can lead  to  positive and impactful decisions towards conservation at local, national, regional and global levels. It is for this reason that WWF Zambia has set an ambitious target to engage over 1 million youths and focus on women-led initiatives in its conservation work for the next five years across its strategic plan pillars.

Organization Development Project Background

The Organization Development project is a five (5) year project with the implementation period of January 2019 to December 2023. The project is being implemented by WWF Zambia in partnership with Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance Zambia (CSAAZ) and Zambia Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) Forum with support from WWF Germany/BMZ and WWF Netherlands. The project is conceptually underpinned by the model of a strong and effective civil society, which is based on 3 pillars:

• Institutional capacity: strong civil society actors and institutions
• Participation and representation of interests: broad participation of civil society in political decision-making processes and agenda-setting
• Scaling, learning & exchange: institutional learning, exchange and scaling of experiences

2. TERMS OF REFERENCE (ToRs)

The ToRs take cognizance of the requirement for ‘as-is’ assessment and strategy development. WWFZCO envisages that the Gender and Youth Engagement Strategy will strengthen women and youth led conservation interventions at local (WWF focal landscapes), national, region levels and global level.

2.1 Focus of this Consultancy

The consultancy focuses on (i) the development of the gender and youth engagement strategy with a clear action  plan to deliver sustained  women and youth mobilization; (ii) Mapping out and identifying youth and women led organizations for WWF Zambia to consider as  strategic partnership to achieve the 1 million youth engagement target; (iii) Identifying areas of strategic opportunities to deliver conservation outcomes through youth and women led engagement and advocacy and iv) Identify  future program  gender and youth projects and initiatives. WWF Zambia envisages use of this strategy and action plan will support and drive work in which youths provide solutions and conduct advocacy that promote nature conservation.

2.2 Objectives and Scope of Work of this Consultancy

2.2.1 Objectives of the Consultancy

WWFZCO seeks to develop a gender and youth engagement strategy and action plan to support the delivery of conservation impact at scale through the following objectives, among others:

• To develop a gender and youth engagement strategy with a clear action plan for women and youth mobilization to participate in the capacity building, mentorship programs and act as advocates for sustainable nature conservation per WWF strategic plan pillar
• To map out and identify women and youth led organizations for strategic partnerships to deliver conservation impact.
• To identify areas of strategic opportunities such as innovative nature based research, communication, advocacy, fundraising for gender and youth led programs that unlock their entrepreneurial and leadership skills to support stronger delivery of conservation impact across the WWF ZCO strategic pillars.
• Identify future programs for  gender and youth projects and initiatives.

2.2.2 Scope of Work of the Consultancy

The scope of work for this consultancy shall include the following tasks:

• Conduct a desk review of key WWF ZCO documents including other external documents that the consultant will deem relevant to this assignment.
• Develop data collection tools for the key informant interviews.
• Write an inception report
• Conduct key informant interviews with WWF ZCO staff – thus Senior Management Team (SMT), M&E, Communications, Project Managers and CSAAZ and ZCBNRMF staff.
• The consultant will also have a special focus in interviewing the youths within the WWF Zambia.
• Map out and identify women and youth led organizations, including their focus areas in line with sustainable conservation and propose to WWFZCO potential areas of synergy with such organizations
• Develop a gender and youth engagement strategy with an action plan on youth mobilization in line with the WWF ZCO strategic plan’s priority areas on youth
• Present findings to WWFZCO and its partners on the proposed youth engagement strategy

2.3 Approach

The proposed approach will be a combination of both desk review and participatory and consultative approach, involving KII with Senior Management Team (SMT) and relevant/key staff of WWFZCO; CSAAZ and ZCBNRMF. During the desk review, the consultant is expected to identify key documents such as government policies, research papers and other materials that will form part of the literature and as an input into the development of data collection tools. The consultant will be expected to make relevant additions to the approach based on their expertise.

2.4 Deliverables

Related to the objectives and scope of work (section 2.2) above, the following will be the deliverables for this consultancy:

1. The inception report with a clear description of the methodology/approach as well as proposed tools for the interviews
2. Draft Gender and Youth Engagement Strategy
3. PowerPoint Presentation to WWFZCO and its OD project partners.
4. The finalized Gender and Youth Engagement Strategy with a clear plan in alignment with the WWFZCO Strategic Plan’s gender and youth priority areas

2.5 Time-frame

It is anticipated that this consultancy will take 20 days over a period of two (2) months between April and May, with the final deliverable date of 31 May 2022.

2.6 Reporting, Coordination and Payment

• The consultant shall report to WWFZCO’s Program Quality Assurance/Interim OD Manager, with whom the consultant will coordinate the implementation of this assignment, including for logistical arrangements and facilitation of any required reference materials from WWFZCO.
• The proposed payment schedule is as follows
• Submission and acceptance of inception report – 20%
• Submission and acceptance of first draft youth engagement strategy and action plan – 40%
• Submission and acceptance of the final and validated youth engagement strategy and action pla – 40%

2.7 Application

Qualified consulting firms and individual consultants are invited to apply in writing. The application should include (i) cover letter (ii) technical proposal, clearly proposing how they intend to carry out the assignment with a clear work plan based on the timeframe indicated in section 2.5; and a (iii) financial proposal, giving breakdown and total costs, including consultancy fees for the assignment (iv) profile of the company and CV of proposed lead-consultant and sub-consultants (if a team). The application should be as one document.

Applications should be submitted by email, by 25 April 2022, 5pm, to wwfcareers@wwfzam.org,  with subject line “Development of the Joint Youth Engagement Strategy.

^[1] The time period includes the review and feedback processes between the consultant and WWF