I quite like this:

Several Commuter omnibuses in the CBD had their tyres deflated by the police after they were caught operating at undesignated areas, as the war between the two parties continues. – From a Community Radio Harare newsletter

Mid-Term Evaluation EU NSA funded: “Strengthening Local Governance and Citizen Participation Project in Rural District Councils of Zimbabwe Project”
Deadline: 20 November 2012 (Close of business)

The Civic Forum on Housing (CFH) was formed in 1995 with the core mandate to foster positive communication, dialogue and consensus building involving civil society organizations and stakeholders for improved housing, service delivery and local economic development in rural and urban local authorities of Zimbabwe. The CFH envisions the development of inclusive and open societies where citizens are empowered to drive their own development.

Scope
In April 2010, the CFH started the implementation of a five-year EU funded project under its Non-State Actors Call in Mutoko, Chipinge, Tsholotsho and Nyaminyami Rural Districts Councils of Zimbabwe. The main objective of the project is to promote democratic, effective, transparent and accountable local governance in Rural District Councils of Zimbabwe through Participatory Learning by Doing Approach. The project is now in the third year of its implementation and a Mid-Term Evaluation is needed to establish the current status and future focus of the project.

The scope of the Mid-Term Evaluation (MTE) covers the entire LGCPP in the four targeted districts. The MTE will evaluate the progress in project implementation taking into account the status of the project activities and outputs and the efficiency of project operations to date. The MTE will commence in December 2012 and complete within a month.

Qualifications
Minimum of five years accumulated and recognized experience in Monitoring and Evaluation of Participatory Local Governance and Citizen Participation Programmes in Zimbabwe and/or the Region.

-Minimum of five years of project monitoring and evaluation and/or implementation experience
-Familiarity with socio-economic and socio-cultural or regional conditions relevant to Zimbabwe
-Comprehensive knowledge of EC best practices
-Excellent interview and report writing skills in English.

Proposal Submission
Proposals, including background, methodology, proposed report structure, budget and three references, should be addressed to: Technical Director, under the title LGCPP Mid-Term Evaluation. The sealed bids should be couriered, emailed to: schaikosa [at] gmail [dot] com or physically delivered to: The Coordinator, Civic Forum on Housing, 2nd Floor, Jubilee 2000 Centre, Harare, P. O. Box 1744 Harare.

Work in and for Zimbabwe. Help grow our nation. Check out the vacancies below. If you’d like to receive this sort of information, as well as civic and human rights updates, by email each week drop us a note saying “subscribe” to info [at] kubatana [dot] net

Please note that the job vacancies we carry are related to the NGO and civil society sectors only.

Country Funding Coordinator: Oxfam
Deadline: 21 November 2012 (Close of business UK time)

Job Reference no. INT5819

This position is open to candidates with the right to work in Zimbabwe

Team Purpose
To raise funds for Oxfam’s program in Zimbabwe and effectively manage the funds; To develop and maintain good quality and consistent relationships with donors; To lead on contract management: To effectively support program teams to develop and plan concept papers and proposals in accordance with country strategy and donor requirements.

Job Purpose
To establish, implement and maintain the Oxfam country funding strategy including resourcing for development, humanitarian and policy/advocacy work in order to increase Oxfam income from institutional donors.  This includes spotting funding opportunities, targeted donor relationship building and engaging in joint fundraising initiatives across Oxfam affiliates in Zimbabwe.To support directly the fundraising plans and efforts of Oxfam Novib through joint and individual funding initiatives

Post holder reports to: The post holder is directly accountable to the CLT and reports to the Oxfam Novib Associate Country Director in Zimbabwe.

Works with: All three Oxfam Affiliates in Zimbabwe

Interviews to be conducted: between 26 November 2012 – 7 December 2012

We are committed to ensuring diversity and gender equality within our organization. Women are strongly encouraged to apply.

Please click here to apply

Four (4) vacancies: Catholic Relief Services – Zimbabwe Program
Deadline: 21 November 2012

Catholic Relief Services – Zimbabwe Program (PVO: 6/2002), an international humanitarian and development organization seeks qualified candidates for a USAID-funded, multi-year food security, nutrition and agricultural development project in Zimbabwe.

1) Gender Specialist (50% field office, 50% Harare)

The Gender Specialist will be responsible for integrating a comprehensive gender strategy across activities and overseeing the implementation of that gender strategy for the project. S/he must effectively manage relationships with project and partner staff to establish and oversee implementation of a comprehensive gender strategy for the program. S/he will also serve as the point person for gender with the donor and be responsible for coordinating and preparing all required reports.

Requirements
-Minimum bachelor’s degree in gender & development studies, social sciences and five years’ experience working in gender and development. Masters degree preferred
-Experience working in one or more sectors including food security, rural finance, micro-finance, agriculture, nutrition, and social marketing preferred
-Strong technical capacity in gender including knowledge of best practices and guidelines
-Understanding of donor expectations and trends related to gender
-Demonstrated ability managing project grants, including project design, budget preparation, expenditure tracking, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting; experience working with USG grants preferred
-Demonstrated ability to lead and work effectively with partners and transfer knowledge to diverse audiences through workshops, training, meetings, and participatory methods
-Excellent analytic, organizational and computer skills in MS Office Package
-Ability to work both independently and in a team
-Willingness to travel approximately 25% of time within country
-Excellent English oral and written communication skills required; knowledge of one or more relevant local languages preferred

2) Senior Agricultural Production Specialist (50% field office, 50% Harare)

The Senior Agro Production Specialist will be responsible for leading all agricultural production and farmer mobilization activities and overseeing the implementation of a comprehensive and quality agro-enterprise strategy for the project. S/he will oversee and guide all agricultural production and farmer mobilization activities for the program. S/he must effectively manage relationships with CRS and partner staff to establish and oversee a comprehensive agro enterprise strategy for the program.   S/he will also serve as the point person for agro-enterprise with the donor and be responsible for coordinating and preparing all required reports.

Requirements
-Masters degree in agriculture or a related field
-Minimum five years’ experience working in international development or agricultural production programs; farmer mobilization; experience working with USG grants preferred
-Strong technical capacity in agricultural production, with knowledge of best practices and guidelines
-Demonstrated experience in addressing gender equity in agriculture/food security programming
-Understanding of donor expectations and agricultural production trends and farmer mobilization
-Demonstrated ability with project grants management, including project design, budget preparation, expenditure tracking, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting
-Demonstrated ability to lead and work effectively with communities, partners, and transfer knowledge to diverse audiences through workshops, training, meetings, and participatory methods
-Excellent analytic, organizational and computer skills in MS Office Package
-Ability to work both independently and in a team
-Willingness to travel approximately 25% of time within country
-Excellent English oral and written communication skills required
-Ability to lead a multi-cultural team with a high level of respect for local culture

3) Senior Agro-enterprise/Markets Specialist (50% field office, 50% Harare)

The Senior Agro-enterprise Specialist will be responsible for leading all agro-enterprise activities and overseeing the implementation of a comprehensive and quality agro-enterprise strategy for the project. S/he will oversee and guide all agroenterprise activities for the program. S/he must effectively manage relationships with CRS and partner staff to establish and oversee a comprehensive agroenterprise strategy for the program.   S/he will also serve as the point person for agro-enterprise with the donor and be responsible for coordinating and preparing all required reports.

Requirements
-Masters degree in agro-enterprise, marketing, agriculture, or a related field
-Minimum five years’ experience working in international development or agro-enterprise programs; experience working with USG grants preferred
-Strong technical capacity in agroenterprise, with knowledge of best practices and guidelines
-Demonstrated experience in addressing gender equity in agriculture/food security programming
-Understanding of donor expectations and agro-enterprise trends
-Demonstrated ability with project grants management, including project design, budget preparation, expenditure tracking, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting
-Demonstrated ability to lead and work effectively with partners, and transfer knowledge to diverse audiences through workshops, training, meetings, and participatory methods
-Excellent analytic, organizational and computer skills; skilled in MS Office including Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Access
-Ability to work both independently and in a team
-Willingness to travel approximately 25% of time within country
-Excellent English oral and written communication skills required
-Ability to lead a multi-cultural team with a high level of respect for local culture

4) Senior Health and Nutrition Specialist (50% field office, 50% Harare)

The Health and Nutrition Specialist will be responsible for integrating a comprehensive Health and Nutrition strategy across activities and overseeing the implementation of that strategy for the project. S/he will oversee and guide the integration of health and nutrition throughout project interventions. S/he must effectively manage relationships with project and partner staff to establish and oversee implementation of a comprehensive strategy for the program.   S/he will also serve as the point person for health and nutrition with the donor and be responsible for coordinating and preparing all required reports.

Requirements
1. Masters degree in nutrition and five years’ experience working in public health, nutrition, and development
2. Experience working in one or more sectors including food security, health, nutrition, and social marketing preferred
3. Strong technical capacity in gender including knowledge of best practices and guidelines.
4. Understanding of donor expectations and trends related to health and nutrition, food security
5. Demonstrated ability managing project grants, including project design, budget preparation, expenditure tracking, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting; experience working with USG grants preferred
6. Demonstrated ability to lead and work effectively with partners and transfer knowledge to diverse audiences through workshops, training, meetings, and participatory methods
7.  Excellent analytic, organizational and computer skills; skilled in MS Office Package.
8. Ability to work both independently and in a team
9. Willingness to travel approximately 25% of time within country
10. Excellent English oral and written communication skills required; knowledge of one or more relevant local languages preferred

* Note: these positions are contingent on the awarding of funding by the donor.

Those who meet the above criteria are invited to submit their applications together with a cover letter and detailed Curriculum Vitae that includes the names and contact details (plus email addresses) of three traceable references.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. Please submit to: The Country Representative, 95 Park Lane, Harare or 33A Duncan Road Suburbs Bulawayo or P.O. Box CY 1111, Causeway, Harare, or to: taurai.musakaruka [at] crs [dot] org

The Zimbabwe Market Fair 2012 held in Harare brought together women and young entrepreneurs from all over Zimbabwe. High quality locally made Zimbabwe products were on display. I managed to interact with these three talented groups of women.

1. The Zubo Trust
Zubo hails from Binga, and does Tonga basketry, which they fuse with contemporary stuff to come up with designs for handbags, cell phone cases, cosmetic bags, fruit baskets etc. Available at the Binga Craft Centre or the Craft Designer on 0713 877 949.

2. Gracious Women Institute
These women brought in a unique kind of art to the fair. The seed craft are from Bulawayo. Grace Kamanga who runs the institute also offers training in the following areas: straw art, vase making and flower arrangement. Contact them on 0772 896 798.

3. Stitch in Time Fashions
Ruth Mlambo, an entrepreneur based in Harare’s Hatcliffe Extension, is into fabric design and colouring using the Batik method. Her designs capture Zimbabwean arts and culture. Contact Ruth on 0775 643 709.

I recently interviewed the energetic and vivacious Chenaimoyo Mudede co-founder of With Love Foundation, a dynamic organization dedicated to helping those less fortunate.

Background and Objectives
With Love Foundation is a charity organization, which came into existence in 2012 and has been operating for the past seven months. After getting education and exposure to different cultures overseas, the organization’s founders came back to Zimbabwe and realized that the country is living in a selfish generation where people are not willing to share with the less privileged or dedicate time for voluntary activities. Driven by the passion of improving the quality of life and bridging the gap between communities and the marginalised members of the society, With Love Foundation is a collective idea, which is mainly driven by young people, mostly women, with the ambition of building better communities. The foundation aspires to make a difference in Zimbabwean society through engaging ordinary people in voluntary work. With Love mainly runs three programmes in Harare namely the Soup Kitchen, Zim Clean and One Million Pieces in various areas in Harare.

Programmes
Under its Soup Kitchen programme the organization receives donations of cabbages and mealie-meal from local farmers, which they distribute to the disadvantaged. Assisted by volunteers, the Soup Kitchen runs every Tuesday in Mbare and it provides hot meals to orphans and the less fortunate. So far the organization has been working with the Lutheran Church in Mbare to implement the programme while Childline also chips in identifying the marginalised children.

In order to complement efforts by City of Harare in trying to return the sunshine status of the city, With Love engages in a once a month initiative under the banner of Zim Clean to clean Harare’s streets. Volunteers dedicate their time for this worthy cause, which has received commendable support from the corporate sector in the form of cleaning materials. The organization has also received support from the Zimbabwe National Army and the Mayor’s office

One Million Pieces is such an initiative packaged to address some of the economic challenges being faced by the elderly and orphans. Items of clothing from donations from well wishers are distributed to orphanages and old people’s homes in the country.

Highlights and Future Plans
Recently With Love Foundation hosted the L.O.V.E Funfest aimed at raising funds and donations for the less privileged. Before the end of the year the organization is planning on spreading love through hosting a charity dinner and a Christmas party for children at Stoddart Hall in Mbare.

Some excellent suggestions from Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA):

1. The government of Zimbabwe should take the responsibility and acknowledge the incapacitation inspired by the underfunding of local authorities and declare the water issue as a national crisis. This will definitely bring on board international partners who will assist the government of Zimbabwe to mobilize funds for water infrastructure, rehabilitation and provision. The government of Zimbabwe released only 18 million for the rehabilitation of water pipes in Harare but the figures coming in from council shows us that the local authority is in need of more than USD 200 million to deal with water alone.

2. Collaboration with residents Associations in forming community water groups responsible for water conservation initiatives and education will go a long way in saving the water we have in its small quantities.

3. Construction and funding of the Kunzvi Dam water project (the Zambezi river water project for Matabeleland) will go a long way in easing pressure on the current water sources we have.