Call for proposals to conduct qualitative baseline study in one district in Tanzania

Task: Qualitative Baseline Study on the situation of citizen participation, service delivery and local governance capacity in one district in Tanzania

Background

Twaweza East Africa is a regional non-governmental organization registered in Tanzania with offices in Kenya and Uganda. Following ten years of experience in contributing to ensuring that children are learning, citizens are exercising their agency and authorities are improving responsiveness to citizens’ concerns and priorities, Twaweza has embarked on implementing its third strategic plan (2019-2022).

As a learning organization, our current strategy builds on past experience: our own experience internally as well as experience from other practitioners and researchers in the region and around the world.

To accomplish our first mission area stated above (demonstrating citizen agency for collective local action), we have adopted the “animation approach” for galvanizing citizen agency in solving systemic problems at the local level.

The approach has already been implemented in four districts (Kigoma, Maswa, Mbogwe and Pangani) and at the moment Twaweza is looking to expand the animation work in one district in Tanzania. In the selected district (TBD) we will identify local change agents who will act as catalysts to facilitate community members to define and address priority problems through increasing public participation in deliberations and decision-making. This approach will involve working with partners to support local citizen groups, diagnosing core issues in their community and problem-solving around them, particularly through involving and collaborating with local authorities.

It is also a critical demonstration of how democratic processes lead to better development. The identified local change agents will take on directly engaging with local authorities including attending relevant government meetings as observers or participants, making information requests and functioning as conduits between citizens and local government.

The ultimate plan of this strand of work is to see citizens who are acting and organizing for change, use multiple strategies to drive their own destiny and their local governments are largely supportive and responsive to their demands.

Objective and scope
The overall purpose of this assignment is to analyze baseline situations on citizen participation, service delivery and local governance capacity. This baseline data will provide a reference against which we will assess the performance of our intended initiatives in the selected District.

These terms of reference will guide the identification of capable researchers to partner with in conducting qualitative baseline assessments in the selected district in Tanzania.

Required skills and qualifications of consultants

• At least five years of experience in conducting qualitative participatory action research and evaluation exercises
• Strong social science research and analytical skills
• Excellent communication skills in English language: writing, reading, speaking and listening.
• Minimum Master’s level education. PhD in relevant fields is an added advantage
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience on relevant topics including governance, citizen participation, community development, accountability and transparency among others
• Knowledgeable and respect for professional and research ethics

How to apply?

Please submit an expression of interest not more than 10 pages (double spacing) together with a CV (as one document in .pdf format) and a financial proposal to jobs@twaweza.org cc to jkalemera@twaweza.org with “Proposal to conduct qualitative baseline in one district in Tanzania” in the subject line not later than Friday 08th July 2022.

The submitted application must include the following;

• One (1) page application letter expressing interest to undertake this statement and summarizing key qualifications
• Maximum eight (8) pages (double spaced 11-point font size Calibri) of the technical proposal demonstrating the applicant’s understanding of the assignment, proposed approach/methodology and timeline including how the applicant/s meet the minimum qualifications for this assignment.
• Maximum of three (3) page financial proposal with a detailed breakdown of professional costs and reimbursable costs.
• Abridged CVs (resumes) of all key personnel in the application (maximum two pages each).
• Two (2) recent relevant writing samples.
• Names and contacts of three references who can attest to the applicant/s capability and professionalism in undertaking the proposed assignment.
• If it’s a company include all relevant documents of registration.

For more details, read the full Term of Reference here