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Terms of Reference - Evaluation of IOM's Livelihood Projects in Zimbabwe
International Organisation for Migration (IOM)

Deadline: 30 September 2009

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1. Background

Since 2003, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has been providing humanitarian assistance to several groups, collectively referred to as Mobile and Vulnerable Populations or MVPs who have either been internally displaced within the country or at risk of displacement. These groups include: ex-farm workers who lost their livelihood as a result of the Government of Zimbabwe's Fast-track Land Reform Programme, families that were displaced by Operation Restore Order (ORO) and Operation "chikorokoza chapera" (end illegal mining). IOM also provided assistance to flood victims and expanded the scope of its interventions to cover victims of politically motivated violence (VPVs) that resulted from the post-March 2008 harmonised elections. With support from the donor community, IOM has been implementing its Humanitarian Assistance Programme to MVPs, currently implemented in 26 districts across the country.

The purchasing power and quality of life of most Zimbabweans have been severely affected by the socioeconomic crisis of the last nine years characterised by hyper inflation, falling real per capita incomes, and high rates of unemployment. MVP communities are further rendered vulnerable given their loss of access to land, livelihood, shelter, and basic services.

Particularly during the last four years, Mobile and Vulnerable Communities under IOM assistance have benefited from an array of assistance ranging from emergency food, non-food items (NFIs), water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), livelihood and mainstreaming of gender-based violence (GBV), protection and HIV/AIDS information.. IOM has assisted some 34,000 households in 18 districts from 2007 through the present through livelihood interventions consisting of a food security component, including creation of micro-enterprises in various trades; small-scale livestock distribution; promotion of vocational skills; and agricultural inputs. Note: the majority of these beneficiaries were assisted through agricultural inputs.

Donor reviews and independent research commissioned by IOM have confirmed that livelihood interventions are one of the pillars to bridge relief and recovery assistance as they offer more sustainable solutions for MVPs, and therefore a strong component for an exit strategy.

2. Objectives of the evaluation

The major objective of implementing livelihood activities is to ensure that MVP households are food secure and have access to viable incomes. It is expected that such assistance will allow beneficiaries to gradually become less dependent on food/relief handouts and enable them to meet some of the basic social service requirements, i.e. schooling for the children and health care.

IOM seeks to assess the degree to which it has successfully and efficiently met this major objective visà- vis beneficiaries assisted from 2007 until present, as well as to receive action-oriented recommendations to improve its livelihood activities going forward. Therefore, IOM intends to engage an evaluation consultant/team to undertake an external evaluation.

Moreover, IOM Zimbabwe is developing an overall strategy relating to livelihoods, not only within its support to MVP communities but also to assist other vulnerable groups, including returnees. This evaluation will be an important input to the mission's strategic approach to livelihoods in Zimbabwe. The evaluation results will remain however confidential and with restricted distribution within IOM and to donors of its livelihoods interventions, mainly due to the sensitivity of some of those projects.

For further information, email ncelestino@iom.int

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