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Call for Consultancy: A Study on the Role of the Church in Violence in Zimbabwe
Church and Civil Society Forum (CCSF)

Deadline: 26 March 2012

The Church and Civil Society Forum (CCSF) is a coalition of church and civil society organisation which was formed to facilitate national reconciliation and healing in a coordinated and harmonized manner. More specifically; CCSF seeks to help develop Zimbabwe's national healing process into a broad-based; community centered process; to be a strong partner for the Zimbabwean government within the national healing framework and to ensure that ordinary Zimbabwean participate in the national healing framework in a meaningful way.

CCSF is calling for reputable individuals or organizations to undertake a research on the role of the Church in violence in Zimbabwe. The research is commissioned in order to gain an in-depth understanding of and generate information on the church's role in conflict prevention, peace building and national healing in Zimbabwe. The study is expected to come up with strategic policy recommendations to inform lobby and advocacy work by CCSF and other stakeholders with the hope of influencing the violence prevention and national healing framework in Zimbabwe. CCSF will engage with various stakeholders through dialogue and wide public dissemination of the findings of the report through various church and civil society forums. The study will use a structured methodology, based on a wealth of quantitative and qualitative techniques to be carefully articulated in the researcher proposal.

From this study; state and non state actors will be able to develop strategies to strengthen their capacity to positively engage with the church as strategic partner in violence prevention, national healing and peace building. The Church as a sector will also draw important lessons on how it can contribute more effectively to violence prevention and the promotion of a peaceful coexistence through its structures and forging of strategic linkages with government and civil society. Overall; this study is going to bring about important recommendations for stakeholders including civil society; government; regional and international bodies. The CCSF therefore seeks to engage a Consultant for purposes of interrogating the role of the church in violence in Zimbabwe.

Overall Objective

The overall objective of the study is to investigate the role of the church in violence in Zimbabwe and to generate information on possible strategic partnerships and linkages between the church, civil society, government and other key stakeholders to promote a peaceful coexistence. Such information will assist in informing the national healing and peace building framework in Zimbabwe.

Objectives

• To generate information on the current and potential future role of the church in sectoral and political violence and how the church should respond to violence in conflict situations.
• To gather information that will assist churches better understand the nature and character of violence in Zimbabwe
• To offer strategic recommendations on how to improve collaboration between the church civil society, government and other stakeholders including the government in responding to violence more constructively

Methodology

• The methodology will be proposed in the Consultant's bid. The methodology will be further refined in consultation with the Cluster lead and presented in the Inception Report.
• The proposal to undertake the study should clearly indicate the specific data collection methods i.e. field visits, desk studies, review of secondary literature, and interviews with key informants and stakeholders. Interviews may include telephone, email and personal interviews.
• The research methodology must be underpinned by participatory mechanisms to ensure full ownership and participation by member organisations and their various constituencies. Thus it must show how the Church and CSOs will be involved at all stages of the research including problem identification, review of data and validation of findings.

Application Process

All interested individuals or organizations should send in their expression of interest to CCSF Secretariat (NANGO) 5 Meredith Drive, Eastlea, Harare, or email to vimbanai@nango.org.zw and copy machinda@nango.org.zw

The envelope or the email subject line should be marked "The Role of the Church in violence in Zimbabwe".

The application must demonstrate institutional capacity to conduct the study, contactable referees, CVs of lead consultants as well as proposed methodology, implementation plan and budget.

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