Baseline Study and Project Implementation Plan: Inkanyezi Project

Closing Date: 9 Mar 2022
Duration: Completion by 22 April 2022

Background of the Inkanyezi Project

Since 2006, Sonke has worked to increase the linkages between community education and activism, rights literacy, media advocacy and the use of the law to advance gender equality in South Africa. Sonke’s recent external 10-year review (2018) found evidence that, “whilst gender equality and human rights remain elusive and are at times under increased threat in South Africa, the region and globally, the organisation has achieved significant success in multiple communities and contexts in advancing gender equality, reducing GBV, increasing health-seeking behaviours, changing social norms on masculinity, and contributing to new laws and policies, in South Africa, the region and globally, that promise to consolidate these gains.” Within its targeted policy advocacy agenda, Sonke and its partners have provided continuous input into the Traditional Courts Bill (TCB) since 2008 and have been campaigning for an NSP GBVF through the launch of the SGV campaign since 2014. Sonke continues to be involved in the various subcommittees that are monitoring the roll out of the NSP GBVF. Sonke’s sustained presence in the Eastern Cape since 2017 has led to the establishment of the municipal multi-stakeholder Mnquma GBV Forum, which was officially launched by the executive mayor in November 2018. 

Sonke therefore draws on expertise, commitment and networks to build on its past experiences and successfully achieve the objectives of the Inkanyezi Project. Using a phased approach, Sonke will launch the Project in the Eastern Cape in year one while strengthening existing and identifying new partnerships to launch the Project in Mpumalanga in year two.

Purpose and Objectives of the Baseline Study and Project Implementation Plan

The baseline study and project implementation plan are contractual obligations included in the project’s Contribution Agreement (CA) with Global Affairs Canada. The consultants are expected to develop both the baseline study and project implementation plan in consultation with the project’s team at Sonke.

Baseline Study

The purpose of the Inkanyezi project’s baseline study is to help key project stakeholders focus on achievement related to a set of expected outcomes; and to empower them to collaboratively measure progress towards them, as well as review them as needed and appropriate. The baseline will include a more thorough gender analysis with in-depth consultations with beneficiaries, intermediaries and other key stakeholders. An important component of the gender analysis will be to carry out a capacity assessment of the elected, traditional and religious women leaders in order to identify the gaps for capacity strengthening initiatives. The baseline will include a project inception meeting in the Eastern Cape (week of 2-5 May) in collaboration with key partners as well as selected beneficiaries in order to extensively review and further validate the project’s approach and activities. Aligned with this purpose, the baseline study is designed to achieve four specific objectives: 

• To support a better understanding of the implementation contexts for the Inkanyezi Project at the onset of the project; 
• To establish starting points or baselines for all indicators in the PMF, suggesting revisions in their formulation if the need emerges; 
• To help validate the assumptions in the project’s Theory of Change (ToC) and define targets of the indicators in the project’s Performance Measurement Framework (PMF); and 
• To provide recommendations for the development, updating and implementation of the results-based monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL) plan for the project. 
• To provide a comprehensive gender analysis of the implementation contexts for the project including national, and provincial for EC and MP

The baseline should take into consideration the following GAC feedback on the final Inkanyezi project proposal:

The project theory of change, logic model and PMF should be informed by a more in-depth gender equality analysis and baseline study that reflects the specific structural barriers the project will address in shifting discriminatory social norms. The revised gender equality analysis and the baseline study should analyze and respond to the structural barriers that reinforce gender inequalities and patriarchal norms in the areas where it is intending to work. Special attention should be paid to the needs of gender diverse individuals if the project intends to address the needs of all women. 

Baseline data is intended to inform the establishment of realistic and achievable targets, provide a point of reference against which progress on or towards the achievement of outcomes can be monitored and evaluated, and provide suggestions for the review of indicators if and where necessary. Furthermore, baseline data: 

• Provides a specific value for an indicator at the outset of a project, program, etc. 
• Should be disaggregated in the same way as its indicator. 
• Is collected at one point in time and used as a point of reference.
• Is the basis upon which progress on or toward outcomes is measured or assessed. 
• Is the foundation for setting realistic targets.

Project Implementation Plan

The consultant(s) will also be expected to develop the draft project implementation plan (PIP) in coordination with Sonke staff. The baseline study represents the bedrock of the Project Implementation Plan, which describes how the Organization intends to implement the Project over the entire duration. The PIP should update Project information, validate the Project design and confirmation that all stakeholders are in agreement with respect to Project design. Core components of the project implementation plan include the theory of change, a description of the main beneficiaries of the project (as informed by the baseline), the baseline report itself (including the gender equality strategy), Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation Plan, Communication Strategy and procurement strategy (as informed by Sonke’s procurement policies). The consultant(s) will be expected to develop the draft of the project implementation plan in close consultation with the projects’ team.

The Mandate of the Consultancy 

The Consultant (or consultancy firm) will serve as the lead coordinator of this baseline study and will be responsible for its design, the development and use of appropriate data collection tools, analysis of collected data, the writing of a final report summarizing the findings and inserting the data in the Performance Measurement Framework. The Consultants will also be responsible for developing the draft of the project implementation plan. The Consultant will design and facilitate a plan in close collaboration with the Sonke project management teams based in Johannesburg and Cape Town, as well as implementation teams in Eastern Cape (EC) and Mpumalanga (MP). Specifically, the mandate of the consultancy is to: 

• Design – Work with designated Sonke staff during an inception workshop (week of 16 – 25 March 2022) to finalize a detailed methodology and workplan for this study; and contingency planning for data collection in the COVID-19 context; 
• Lead and coordinate data collection at national and provincial levels in EC and MP, and act as lead technical coordinator for the baseline study; 
• Support provincial collaboration – Assure collaborative adaptation of the overall baseline design to the local context in EC and MP through the direct involvement of key project staff and identified implementing partner representatives; 
• Assure quality control – Provide oversight and quality assurance during sampling, development of data collection tools, data collection and entry, analysis of the data collected, and report writing; 
• Provide meta-analysis – Integrate the findings from the baseline data collections undertaken in two provinces and nationally, to create a final consolidated and coherent baseline study report. 
• Draft the project implementation plan informed by the findings of the baseline study.

The baseline study and project implementation plan will be supported by Sonke, with close collaboration with the Sonke Research, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning team and Programmes Director. A more detailed consultative and decision-making management structure with clear roles and responsibilities will be determined during the inception meeting.