DUE: 06 MAY 2025

Terms of Reference (ToR) for Humanitarian Coordination Landscape Analysis: Zimbabwe

1.     Background

Zimbabwe’s humanitarian landscape is shaped by recurring climate shocks, economic volatility, food insecurity, public health crises, and displacement, requiring strong coordination mechanisms to ensure an effective, timely, and well-resourced humanitarian response. Coordination among government institutions, UN agencies, international NGOs (INGOs), local NGOs (LNGOs), and donors plays a crucial role in maximizing impact, avoiding duplication, and improving accountability to affected communities.

While multiple coordination platforms exist—including the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT), cluster system, and various working groups, concerns remain around effectiveness, inclusivity, efficiency, and the overall impact of these mechanisms. Key challenges include coordination gaps between local and international actors, unclear decision-making structures, funding constraints, and limited accountability frameworks.

The Zimbabwe Alliance for Humanitarian Action (ZAHA), a consortium of nine leading INGOs, aims to strengthen collaboration, transparency, and operational efficiency in humanitarian response. ZAHA seeks to commission an independent assessment of humanitarian coordination in Zimbabwe to identify challenges, gaps, opportunities, and actionable recommendations for a more effective coordination system.

2.     Purpose of the assessment

The overall purpose of this assessment is to evaluate the effectiveness of humanitarian coordination mechanisms in Zimbabwe, identify gaps, and recommend practical improvements to enhance efficiency, effectiveness, accountability, and impact.

3.     Objectives

The specific objectives of this assessment are to:

• Map and analyze existing humanitarian coordination structures at national and sub-national levels.
• Assess the effectiveness of coordination among INGOs, local NGOs, UN agencies, government bodies, and donors.
• Identify key challenges, inefficiencies, and gaps within current coordination mechanisms.
• Evaluate the alignment between humanitarian coordination and Zimbabwe’s national disaster response frameworks.
• Examine funding and resource-sharing mechanisms within the coordination landscape.
• Explore opportunities for strengthening partnerships, decision-making, information-sharing, and localisation.
• Develop actionable recommendations for improving humanitarian coordination structures, processes, and policies.

4.     Scope of work

The assessment will focus on the following areas:

• Mapping of existing coordination structures
• Reviewing coordination efficiency among key humanitarian actors.
• Timeline of major humanitarian crises in Zimbabwe over the past 10 years, funding commitments vs. actual funding received, key actors involved (government, donors, INGOs, local NGOs, UN agencies), evaluations conducted per crisis, key lessons learned, particularly in relation to coordination mechanisms.
• Assessing the engagement of local actors within coordination mechanisms.
• Thorough articulation of government coordination mechanisms, including linkages at different levels (national, provincial, and district).
• Examining funding flows, decision-making, and operational coordination between international and local responders.
• Identifying best practices, lessons learned, and persistent challenges in Zimbabwe’s humanitarian coordination landscape.
• Recommending concrete strategiesfor efficient and effective coordination, how ZAHA can practically contribute to promotelocalizzweation, and align efforts with evolving humanitarian and donor trends.

5.     Methodology

The consultant is expected to employ a mixed-methods approach, incorporating qualitative and quantitative data collection:

• Desk Review: Analysis of existing reports, policies, coordination frameworks, and evaluations.
• Key Informant Interviews (KIIs): Structured discussions with government representatives, donors, UN agencies, INGOs, LNGOs, and humanitarian coordination leads.
• Focus Group Discussions (FGDs): Engagement with humanitarian actors at both national and field levels to gather perspectives on coordination efficiency.
• Surveys & Questionnaires: Data collection from key stakeholders to measure perceptions of coordination effectiveness.
• Field Visits: Observations of operational coordination structures and engagement of local actors.
• Stakeholder Validation Workshop: Presentation of preliminary findings for feedback and validation before finalizing the report.

6.     Deliverables

The consultant will be responsible for delivering the following outputs:

Deliverable	Timeline	Description
Inception Report	Week 1	Outlines the methodology, work plan, and key assessment questions.
Data Collection Phase	Weeks 2-3	Conducts KIIs, FGDs, surveys, and desk review.
Preliminary Findings	Week 4	Analysis of data, identification of key challenges, and development of draft recommendations.
Draft Report	Week 5	Submission of an initial report covering methodology, findings, and recommendations.
Validation Workshop	Week 5	Presentation of findings to stakeholders for feedback and final input.
Final Report	Week 6	Submission of the final assessment report incorporating feedback and an executive summary.

The final report should include:

• Executive Summary (maximum 4 pages)
• Introduction and Background
• Methodology
• Findings (Challenges, Gaps, Best Practices)
• Recommendations and Action Plan
• Annexes (Interview Lists, Data Sources, and Additional References)

7.     Roles and responsibilities

1. Consultant’s Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a detailed work plan and assessment framework.
• Conduct primary and secondary data collection.
• Engage with key stakeholders and facilitate interviews/FGDs.
• Provide regular progress updates to ZAHA.
• Draft and present high-quality reports and facilitate the validation workshop.

1. ZAHA’s Responsibilities

• Provide background documents and facilitate stakeholder introductions.
• Support logistics for interviews and field visits (if necessary).
• Organize the stakeholder validation workshop.
• Review and approve assessment deliverables.

8.     Timeline

The assessment is expected to be completed within 6 weeks, with the following schedule:

Activity	Timeline
Contracting and Inception Phase	Week 1
Data Collection	Weeks 2-3
Data Analysis & Drafting Report	Week 4
Stakeholder Validation Workshop	Week 5
Final Report Submission	Week 6

9.     Budget

• Consultancy fees
• Travel and accommodation (if required)
• Data collection and analysis
• Online Workshop facilitation and logistics
• Report writing and production

The consultant should submit a financial proposal outlining the cost breakdown.

10.  Consultant qualifications and experience

The consultant (or consulting team) should have:

• Minimum 7 years’ experience in humanitarian coordination, disaster response, or humanitarian policy analysis.
• Expertise in conducting assessments, evaluations, and stakeholder consultations.
• Strong knowledge of the humanitarian sector in Zimbabwe and global coordination frameworks.
• Senior professional with demonstrated experience in engaging government, donors, and humanitarian leadership.
• Experience working with INGOs, local NGOs, government, and donor agencies.
• Proven track record of high-quality research and analytical writing.

11.  Application process

Interested consultants should submit the following documents:

• Technical Proposal (outlining methodology, approach, and work plan).
• Financial Proposal (budget breakdown).
• CV(s) of key personnel leading the assessment.
• Sample of a previous similar assessment report.

12.  Submission deadline

All proposals should be sent to [email protected]by 6 May 2025 at 1200hourswith thesubject line:
Application – Humanitarian Coordination Assessment Consultant.