Call for Expression of Interest for Consultancy Service: Developing a public policy brief on issues affecting entrepreneurial development amongst the women of Zimbabwe – Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) and Women Alliance of Business Associations in Zimbabwe (WABAZ)
Deadline: 18 May 2012

The Assignment: To facilitate the development of a public policy brief that addresses the needs of women entrepreneurs and suggesting specific recommendations to the authorities. Based on the information collected during regional meetings and monthly meetings of representative leaders of women‘s business organizations, the consultant is expected to come up with a synthesised policy briefs that will inform the advocacy by WABAZ. Find out more

Terms of Reference: Procurement & Logistics Consultant – Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF)
Deadline: 20 May 2012

Title: Procurement & Logistics Consultant
Location: Harare, Zimbabwe
Primary Manager: Senior Officer – Financial Analysis and Procurement
Period: June to September 2012

Note: This is a full time fixed term contract

Summary

Ensuring that all procurement activities for the foundation are done in compliance with donor rules and regulations, EGPAF policies and government laws. The activities include, among other things:

Terms of Reference

-    Facilitate the quantity and quality control of procured goods and services as per specification and arrangements set out in the Requisitions, Purchase Orders or consultancy contracts
-    Prepare procurement documentation with recommendations for approval by the relevant authority structures in line with the relevant procedures and guidelines
-    Assist in monitoring of deliveries (local) and shipment (import)
-    Hotel accommodation and conference bookings
-    Maintain purchase order tracker
-    Prepare detailed inventory list
-    Maintenance of stock bin cards
-    Perform other related duties and activities upon instruction from Senior Officer – Financial Analysis and Procurement

Knowledge, skills and abilities

-    Ability to work with limited supervision
-    Excellent written and verbal communication skills
-    Computer literate

Qualifications

-    Degree in Accounting / Administration or equivalent
-    Minimum of 1 year working experience in a similar post

Application procedure

To apply email Cover Letter and CV to: zimrecruiting [at] pedaids [dot] org

Consultancy: Development of an advocacy package for the SRH and HIV Linkages Programme – UNFPA
Deadline: 24 May 2012 (12 noon)

The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare (MOHCW), with support from UNFPA and other development partners, is implementing Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) and HIV linkages programme. The aim of the programme is to ensure that SRH and HIV are integrated and addressed in national and decentralized health and development plans through adopting policy reforms as well as developing tools that address barriers to linking HIV and SRH programmes and policy, systems and service delivery levels.

Purpose of the consultancy

The MOHCW and UNFPA would like to recruit a consultancy firm/company or organization to develop an advocacy package with materials that the MOHCW and its partners will use in enlisting support towards advancing the agenda on linking SRH and HIV programmes at policy, systems and service delivery levels.

Criteria for selection

-    Professional experience of at least 3 years in communication for health, advocacy systems design and/or implementation
-    High level technical knowledge of SRH and HIV
-    Availability of the technical staff and relevant equipment required for materials development
-    Public health and proven in-depth understanding of SRH and HIV issues is an added advantage

TORs for the consultancy may be requested from srhhivlinkages [at] gmail [dot] com

Please deliver all the relevant CVs, portfolio of previous work, less than 5 pages concept note on how the consulting firm intends to carry out this assignment and a cover letter marked “SRH and HIV Linkages advocacy package” no later than 12 noon on Thursday, 24th May, 2012 to:

The UNFPA Country Representative, Ref: SRH and HIV Linkages Advocacy Package, Block 7, First Floor, Arundel Office Park, Mt Pleasant, PO Box 4775, Harare or by email to mailzwe [at] unfpa [dot] org

Technology for Development (T4D) IT – Software Consultant – UNICEF
Deadline: 27 May 2012

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world’s leading children’s rights organization would like to hear from you. For 60 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection and development. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS.

Consultancy Notice No. Zim/2012:06, Technology for Development (T4D) IT – Software Consultant
(Please note that this advert replaces previous advert, ref Zim/2012:05, advertised on 6 May 2012)
Duration period: 11 months

Background

Within the framework of the 2012-2015 Government of Zimbabwe-UNICEF Country Programme of Cooperation the use of Technology for Development (T4D) has been identified as a critical strategy to help accelerate positive results for children and women, in the areas of knowledge management, health, education, protection and participation.  In this regard, T4D technical assistance is required to add technology, development and innovation capacity to the existing Communications Cluster and the Collaborative Centre for Operational Research and Evaluation (CCORE).

The technical assistance will provide the capacity in the country office to create and support at least three IT platforms for  prototype projects with projected quick wins.  This engagement will prove the value of this additional capacity in a country office, in collaboration with ongoing work being done in Tech4Dev and real-time monitoring at HQ. It will support the set up and roll out of Technology for Development initiatives aimed at real time data collection.

The ZCO has identified a specific need to add a technology, development and innovation capacity to the existing work of CCORE (whose focus is currently on data, analysis and operational research).  This additional capacity will be modeled on other successful Tech4Dev engagements – where small teams have been created in country offices to support specific programme needs.  The objectives will be lined up directly with the organizational priority of real-time monitoring and management of Programmes within the ZCO.

Objective: To support the set up and roll out of Technology for Development initiatives aimed at real time data collection.

Methodology & Expected Output

Working under the direct guidance and supervision of the Chief of Social Policy and in collaboration with the IT Manager and the Communications Section within UNICEF, the T4D Specialist will add a technology, development and innovation capacity to the ZCO to develop and support IT platform for three prototype projects over an 11-month period.

Summary of Deliverables

1.    Development of Real-time Systems for  Programme monitoring and children’s participation.
2.    Development of  appropriate technology to address identified needs for children with disabilities – such as “hard of hearing”
3.    Analyze software requirements and develop paper prototypes
4.    Develop software both independently and as team leader using agile methodology
5.    Analyze and comment on software partners’ code, on both a technical and a strategic level
6.    Develop and implement software and technology innovations on a national scale (understanding constraints of working with various partners, but also the strengths of representing an international organization)
7.    Set-up and administer servers, networks and mobile gateways

Consultancy Requirements

1.    A recognized T4D/IT professional with proven experience in designing and implementing technology for development initiatives, including social media programming and use of digital media.   Prior experience in similar assignments with the UN system including UNICEF is an advantage.
2.    Minimum 5 years hands-on software development experience with a mix of the following frameworks, tools and languages:
- Python or Ruby
- Django (or extensive experience with a framework such as Cheetah, Camping, Rails)
- Source code management / Version control systems (Git)
- AJAX and JavaScript including libraries (such as jQuery and Mootools)
- mySQL (postgres)
- XHTML and CSS
- XML
- Mapping (Google Maps API/ Openlayers)
- Lightweight libraries for interacting with graphing, photos
Platforms
- Linux
- Apache
- Windows
3.    Strong, proven developing country experience in T4D including negotiating agreements with ICT private sector.
4.    Existing personal and professional network of technology partners
5.    Self-motivated, responsive and innovative
6.    Proficiency in object oriented back-end programming languages; specifically Python

If you have experience of working in a similar capacity, meet the above profile and want to make an active and lasting contribution to build a better world for children, send your application letter and curriculum vitae, quoting Consultancy Notice number to the following address.

Human Resources Manager
(Consultancy Notice No. 06: Zim-2012)
UNICEF, 6 Fairbridge Avenue,
P O Box 1250
Belgravia,
Harare

or email: hararevacancies [at] gmail [dot] com

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

I got a bit depressed this morning when I read The Herald article COPAC in gay storm. For all the bombast of the headline, and the frenzy around keeping gay rights out of Zimbabwe’s new Constitution, there really isn’t much of a story – which just makes the intolerance of the article all the more apparent.

The article references the Constitution’s Bill of Rights, where a non-discrimination clause provides that “Everyone has the right not to be treated in an unfairly discriminatory manner on such grounds as their nationality, race, colour, tribe, place or circumstances of birth, ethnic or social origin, language, class, religious belief, political or other opinion, custom, culture, sex, gender, marital status, age, disability or economic, social or other status.” It latches particularly onto the phrase “circumstances of birth,” and then proceeds to report feedback from a number of lawyers and analysts who acknowledge that yes, hypothetically, this could be used to make an argument to the courts against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Of course, depending on where you fall on the nature versus nurture debate, I suppose one could also make the same argument using the protection of opinion, custom, culture, or other status. But does this mean we must remove the broad notion of tolerance from our Constitution – because some group we might not like might use it to their own benefit? Racism, sexism and xenophobia remain prejudices in some people’s minds – which is why the Constitution explicitly protects people regardless of race, sex and nationality.

Regardless of whether it is used to make an argument in favour of tolerance for homosexuality, including protection against discrimination regardless of circumstances of birth demonstrates the sort of broad tolerance a Constitution should provide. This means it doesn’t matter whether your parents were married when they had you, if you were born in prison, on an inauspicious day, as the child of rape or incest, malnourished, premature and in need of extraordinary medical support, exposed to narcotics in utero, as conjoined twins, as an intersex baby, or any of the other myriad ways in which you might be different from others. You still have the same rights everyone else does.

All human beings are equal. That why they’re called Human Rights. We all get them, regardless. But all human beings discriminate. That’s why fundamental rights and freedoms are including in Constitutions, and why we need protection against intolerance – our own and other people’s. Finding yourself trying to take out a part of a clause designed to promote tolerance? Is all the more reason to work for its inclusion.

Request for Expression of Interest – Communication Consultant to support CHRA with ICT pilot project to improve service delivery in Harare

Deadline: 6 May 2012 (3pm)

The World Bank is soliciting Expressions of Interest and CVs for a short-term Communication Consultant to support the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) in preparing for an ICT pilot project to enable citizens to use ICT to report on service delivery failures in Harare.

It will be a short-term consultancy (30 days) with an expected start date mid-May and a completion date around June 30, 2012.

Download the Terms of Reference here

Four headlines on the front page of The Herald over Workers Day caught my eye:

- RBZ retrenchees stage demo
- Ethanol plant to lay off 4,500
- Infighting in labour unions blights Workers Day
- May Day a damp squib

Certainly, Workers Day has lost some of its luster. But surely this is less because of infighting in the labour unions, and more because soaring unemployment (of which RBZ and the ethanol plant are just two examples) has made being a worker – and particularly of being a worker in a formal sector job in which you are accessible to organising in the way trade unions have traditionally operated – an impossibility for the vast majority of Zimbabweans?

According to the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition’s Dewa Mavhinga, the Zimbabwe Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has submitted its first draft of the Constitution of Zimbabwe to the Management Committee. This follows the release of several “unofficial” drafts in February and March of this year as part of Zimbabwe’s ongoing Constitution-making process.

Mavhinga writes:

Please find attached the First COPAC Consolidated Constitution Draft which the COPAC team today (30 April 2012) submitted to the Management Committee. There are a number of issues that have not been finalized which the Management Committee is expected to deal with including on citizenship, land, structure of government devolution, number of MPs, among others. Notably, the draft constitution retains an executive president, retains the death penalty, but only for aggravated murder, prohibits gay marriage, abolishes to post of Prime Minister and removes prosecuting power from the Attorney General who becomes only a legal advisor to president while a new National Prosecuting Authority is created.

On the question of gender parity in Parliament the Draft gives with the right hand but takes with the left when it acknowledges 50 – 50 representation but provides that Parliament shall not be rendered unconstitutional by failure to meet the 50 -50.

As civil society we are studying the draft closely with a view in the near future to convene a national civil society all stakeholders conference on the constitution. Earlier today COPAC Co-Chair Douglas Mwonzora of MDC-T addressed Civil Society Leaders at Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Offices where he presented the Draft with a commentary on it.

View the COPAC First Draft

Don’t know about you but 16 hour long power cuts are starting to get me down. This update from the Zimbabwe Power Company helps to explain the current spate of bad power:

It is with regret that I advise of the fact that we (Zimbabwe Power Company) lost the four producing units at Hwange Power Station yesterday afternoon (Wednesday 25th April). One unit was brought back onto the grid last night and we hope to bring a second, larger unit, back around 4am tomorrow (Friday 26th April). Repair on the third unit is scheduled for completion such that it will be ‘returned to service’ on Saturday morning. Two phase one (smaller) units are having their rotors re-wired in South Africa – this is major work.

Kariba has five units on line with the sixth due back on the grid in mid-May after routine, but critical, maintenance ahead of winter.

The Hwange and Kariba expansion plans remain on program at this time. The tenders are out and close in June. this will be followed by 2 three month periods for tender review and finalisation of funding/award. Thereafter construction will take between three to four years (2016-17).

R. Maasdorp
Chairman ZPC

——

Update from the ZPC Chairman – 10pm 29 April:

Please be advised that the 4 units at Hwange Power Station are now back on the grid. I take this opportunity to thank those, at the station,  who worked extremely long hours to get these units operational. In addition I thank ZETDC technical support staff for the rapid response to this situation.