Back to Index

Call for Expressions of Interest - Evaluation of the Migration and Development Unit
International Organisation for Migration (IOM)

Deadline: 20 November 2009

Download these documents
- Call for Expressions of Interest - MS Word version - (67KB)
- Call for Expressions of Interest - Acrobat PDF version - (38KB)
- Zimbabwe Migration and Development Strategies - Final Implementation Document - MS Word version - (834KB)
- Zimbabwe Migration and Development Strategies - Final Implementation Document - Acrobat PDF version - (487KB)
- Terms of Reference for the Migration and Development Unit - MS Word version - (21KB)
- Terms of Reference for the Migration and Development Unit - Acrobat PDF version - (10KB)

If you do not have the free Acrobat reader on your computer, download it from the Adobe website by clicking here.

1. Background

The poor economic situation prevailing in Zimbabwe has led to multiple and complex issues characterized by high levels of brain drain, cross border mobility and irregular migration. Breadwinners and in many cases entire families have migrated to other centers or across borders in search of better employment opportunities. Skill areas affected include, but are not limited to medicine, education, engineering, surveying, architecture, audiology, veterinary medicine and forensic science. The loss of skills is of growing concern as it has negatively impacted on service delivery.

The majority of those who migrate to South Africa are doing so without proper documentation. Up until the issuing of the special Visa Free dispensation for Zimbabweans by South African Authorities in April 2009, irregular migrants apprehended by authorities were routinely deported back to Zimbabwe and the height of the deportations from South Africa the IOM Beitbridge reception centre was receiving up to 15,000 deportees per month. This proxy indicator signifies the magnitude of the problem.

Due to the lack of documentation irregular migrants are vulnerable to exploitation, physical abuse and rape in host countries, with little or no access to neither medical care nor legal recourse in the case of sickness or physical ailments resulting from ill-treatment.

While the government lacks information on the diaspora, their skills and potential to participate in the development of Zimbabwe, the majority of Zimbabweans in the diaspora are willing to contribute towards the development of their country of origin. An IOM survey in 2005 revealed that 73% of Zimbabweans in the diaspora would be willing to participate in a skills transfer programme in order to contribute to the development of Zimbabwe. They would want to make such contribution without losing or giving up their positions, benefits or entitlements they have acquired or still enjoy in their host countries. The need was therefore identified to engage the Zimbabwean diaspora and set up mechanisms that facilitate diaspora involvement in the development of their country of origin.

While the foregoing illustrates the magnitude of the migration challenges Zimbabwe is facing, the capacity of the Government of Zimbabwe to manage these multi-faceted migration issues so as to reduce the negative aspects of migration and enhance its positive impact has been constrained by lack of a comprehensive and coherent legal, institutional and policy framework for implementing migration practices in an integrated manner. Up until March 2008 there was no institutional framework that spearheaded the day to day migration and development issues within the GoZ. Migration issues were dealt with by officers in several stakeholder Ministries, with no or limited coordination and without following a common strategy. The core responsibilities of these officers were not related to migration and development. Consequently, migration and development tasks tended to lag behind. The lack of adequate data and analysis of the nature and extent of factors driving migration further limited the ability of the government to devise appropriate policies and programmes focusing on the management of migration for national benefit.

In response to the lack of a coherent migration and development framework, IOM in collaboration with the Government of Zimbabwe held several workshops in 2007, the strategic objective of which was that Zimbabwe maximises the benefits from migration through deliberate national policies and programmes. The major achievement of this initiative included the formulation of a national vision for the migration and development initiative, thus "To be a model in the effective management and integration of migration in national development". In order to achieve this vision the conference identified seven strategic objectives which are set out as follows:

(a) To establish a policy, legal and institutional framework for the effective management of migration;

(b) To mainstream migration policy and practice in Zimbabwe's national and sectoral development plans;

(c) To increase the participation of diasporas in the development process;

(d) To formalize and harness the positive impact of labour migration for national socio-economic development, including leveraging and maximizing the developmental potential of remittances;

(e) To mitigate the brain drain and strengthen skills retention;

(f) To protect and promote the human rights and well-being of migrants;

(g) To strengthen technical cooperation for border management.

The workshops also tasked the Ministry of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion to co-ordinate the drafting of a policy paper on migration and development. In recognition of the lack coordination of migration activities, the workshops recommended the establishment of a migration and development unit in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion. The unit would coordinate Zimbabwe's migration and development agenda. A Migration and Development Unit was duly established in April 2008 in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion. Since its inception, the Migration and Development Unit has been working closely with IOM in addressing national migration and development issues. It was foreseen that since migration and development was a fairly new area, the unit might need technical support during its formative stages. In this regard, IOM provided the unit with office furniture and equipment, stationery and a vehicle as part of ongoing efforts to build the capacity of the MDU.

It is within the context of this support that IOM would like to assess the extent to which the technical support has assisted the MDU to fulfill its mandate.

2. Terms of Reference

Specifically the evaluation will:

(a) Evaluate the impact of the technical support provided to the MDU by IOM within the context of Zimbabwe's migration and development agenda (as embodied in the seven migration management and development strategic objectives).

(b) Assess the capacity of the MDU to coordinate and implement Zimbabwe's migration and development agenda, including its ability to coordinate with other organs of government, civil society and the private sector; and the adequacy of the resources assigned to fulfill the MDU's mandate.

(c) Assess the performance of the MDU to date with specific reference to the Unit's Terms of Reference and tasks performed to date.

(d) Review at least three international case studies of similar structures that have been set up in comparable countries and draw lessons that could be adopted by the MDU.

(e) Provide recommendations based on findings in 2 (a) through (d) above.

For more information, contact Peter Mudungwe on pmudungwe@iom.int

Download full documents

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP