Mwanamke Initiatives Foundation

November, 2024

Mwanamke Initiatives Foundation

November, 2024

1. Introduction

Mwanamke Initiatives Foundation (MIF) is non-government and non-for-profit organization established with the aim of setting up a framework for dialogue, networking, information and skills exchange regarding women, youth and children’s welfare in health, education and social economic dimensions. The intention is to translate global and national strategies on these sub-populations into strategic actions that are relevant to community’s real problems. 

MIF envisages progressive communities free from poverty, ignorance and diseases in Zanzibar and Tanzania as a whole. It embarks at providing leadership to inspire communities in Zanzibar in particular and Tanzania in general to embrace a mind-set change through coordinated and concerted efforts to improve education, health and economic status of women and youth.

In 2022, MIF developed and launched its first strategic plan (SP) in order to provide both documentation and guidance of the organizational mission, vision, goals and objectives and how these will be achieved, followed up, measured and communicated. The SP includes inter-alia, identification of key stakeholders to work with, organizational positioning within the bureaucratic system and how the organization will work with and complement the Government efforts. The strategic planning aimed also at ensuring that the organisational set up is well linked to the main functions of the organisation hence institutionalising good governance and accountability within the organisation.

The strategic plan identifies five main areas of focus which define the main strategic objectives of the Foundation namely: 

1. To improve performance of secondary school students in Zanzibar through increased investments in the education system by 2026

2. To alleviate poverty and elevate socio-economic status of women and youth in Zanzibar by 2026

3. To provide care, treatment and psycho-social support to mitigate mental health problems among women and youth arising from GBV/VAC in Zanzibar by 2026

4. To strengthen maternal and new-born health services with a focus on family planning and adolescents sexual and reproductive health in Zanzibar by 2026

5. To strengthen the institutional capacity of MIF in resource mobilization and efficient management of resources (human, financial and material) to sustainably attain goals of its mission

The strategic plan lay down a total of 10 strategies and 19 interventions to respond to the main identified problems and their causes as were defined in the course of developing this strategic plan. MIF embarked at implementing this strategic plan in the referred period with optimism of success attributable to strong networking of MIF collaborators, sincere commitment of all stakeholders, and strong leadership of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar. 

1. Background Information of MIF Scope of Work

The idea to create the Mwanamke Initiatives Foundation (MIF) was first conceived by the Chairperson of the organisation. Being a Member Parliament and a young woman activist, she had overtime, witnessed, heard, received and documented concerns regarding declining education performance in Zanzibar, deteriorating socio-economic status of women and youth, growing evidence of substance abuse and gender-based violence. She felt an idea of serving the nation in an additional way beyond representing people’s views in the Parliament was needed. That’s when she involved a few colleagues with similar interests who joined her to become the founder members of the Mwanamke Initiatives Organization. 

The Mwanamke Initiatives Organisation was registered by the Zanzibar Registrar of NGOs in the President’s Office, Regional Administration, Local Government and Special Department (PORALGSD) on 18^th June 2021 under Societies Act Number 6 of 1995 with Registration Number Z0000115619. The founders of Mwanamke Initiatives Organisation decided to establish a foundation under the Registered Trustees of the Mwanamke Initiatives Foundation to lead resource mobilization and advocacy needed to support its goals. The area of operation is the United Republic of Tanzania with a Headquarters in Unguja, Zanzibar. MIF panned to establish sub offices in Dar es Salaam and Dodoma at later stage.

In order to clarify its scope of work and strengthen its strategic focus, mode of action, organizational arrangement and governance and leadership envisioning, the Mwanamke Initiative Foundation developed its strategic plan to clearly define its vision, mission, strategic goals and objectives as well as its plan of action in implementing its strategic objectives. 

In implementing its programmatic activities, MIF chose to employ the following approaches:

• Conducting advocacy activities and lobbying

• Building capacity within and outside the organization for resource mobilization

• Organizing resource mobilization events and activities

• Conducting networking and developing partnerships

• Engaging in frontline implementation including construction activities, awareness creation, procurement and supplies, capacity building and training, demonstration through resource centres and centres of excellence in education, health, technology and socio-economic empowerment. 

• Coordination and leadership in a proactively manner

• Monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL)

MIF, being a newly established organisation was prepared to face a number of considerations and challenges as it took off with its first strategic plan. Some of the key challenges (for which some specific strategic interventions were included in the SP) include:

1. Staffing and professional diversity requirement

MIF had identified, in its organizational structure, type and number of staff that were required to fill in the managerial and technical positions. However, the organization took off with limited funding base to enable filing in all positions. As a result, the few management staffs were expected to carry multiple responsibilities as a transitional mitigation Strategic Plan for this challenge. 

1. Initial volume of funding and prospects

The organization started its operations with contributions from Board members and donations from other partner organizations and Institutions. The initial funding base was significantly small which called for resource mobilization to be among the first priority activities to be implemented.

1. Potential penetration in Government system 

Being a new organization with little popularity and with no reference of past achievements and records to claim credibility, MIF struggled to establish its identity and building trust to the Government. It used (and still using) individual records of its senior management team and board members to build trust, access and entry for collaborations to create awareness of its existence and its scope of work. 

1. Networking and partnerships with organizations/institutions working in the same area of work streams
   1. Objectives of the strategic plan 

In the same manner as for the struggle to proclaim identity with the Government, MIF started its operation in a state faded visibility to the majority of well-developed and giant organizations. MIF strategically developed a partners’ engagement plan to facilitating working with and establish partnerships with as many as stakeholders as possible. In partnerships, the Foundation envisions “receiving while giving” (expertise, knowledge, materials, finances etc.). MIF is challenged with all these while establishing new networks and contribute to the efforts in improving education, vocational training and economic empowerment of women.

This strategic plan was developed to provide both documentation and guidance on the organizational vision, mission, goals and objectives and how these will be achieved, followed up, measured and communicated.  It aimed at ensuring that the organisational set up is well linked to the main functions of the organisation hence institutionalising good governance and accountability within the organisation. 

The overall objectives of developing the strategic plan included to:

1. Set overall goals of Mwanamke initiatives Foundation in improving education for youth, economic empowerment of women, improving maternal health, family planning and adolescent sexual and reproductive health and reducing mental and psychosocial effects of gender-based violence, violence against children and family trauma

2. Develop plan(s) to achieve the organisational goals in collaboration with the Government and other stakeholders

3. Develop a resource mobilization Strategic Plan for leveraging resources to support achievement of the Foundation’s goals

Specifically, the objectives of the strategic plan were to:

1. Set priorities among many issues that MIF will focus at; 

2. Identify, define and package focused efforts and resources that would be needed to implement adapted strategies; 

3. Set ground for principles and guidelines that would be used to strengthen operations of the organizations; 

4. Laying the pathway approaches and methodologies to ensure that MIF and its partners are working towards common goals; 

5. Establish agreement around intended results, outputs and outcomes through set targets and milestones; and 

6. Envision risks and challenges and set mitigation strategies based on the assessment of the context for timely response to a changing environment. 

1. Purpose and Objectives of the Mid-Term Evaluation of MIF Strategic Plan
   1. Purpose

The Mid-Term Evaluation (MTE) for MIF MIF Strategic Plan (2022-2026) will be conducted with the aim of:

• Evaluating MIF’s scope of work and operational progress based on its strategic plan while considering key crosscutting issues: gender, advocacy and policy, research and innovation etc.

• Evaluating MIF progress on its Organizational Growth and Development 

• Evaluating the extent to which systems and/or processes have been set up to measure MIF progress on the above internally.

• Evaluate the effect of any unforeseen challenges (such as COVID-19 and others) on programs and operations, with best practices and learnings established along the way.

And as a result;

• Recommend actions to improve the chances of achieving our objectives by 2026.

• Recommend any changes to our strategic plans to reflect the changed circumstances MIF finds itself in three years after the strategic Plan was originally developed.

• Recommend ways in which foreseeable future interventions and services need to be adjusted in emerging pandemics e.g. COVID 19 environment.
  1. Objectives of the midterm evaluation

The main objective of the midterm evaluation (MTE) is to evaluate MIF Tanzania’s progress on its country Strategic Plan objectives guided by the country Strategic Plan results framework. 

Specifically, the MTE aims are to

1. Evaluate and determine progress of MIF’s programs particularly on the extent to which the priority objectives outcomes and targets have been achieved in comparison with baseline indicators as was established in 2022

2. Evaluate the extent to which cross cutting issues (advocacy, gender and inclusion or youth and women empowerment, innovation and research) have been integrated in all programme of work of MIF

3. Evaluate and determine the contribution and influence of operational functions (People, the Board, quality, agility, financial resources and visibility) have supported the implement the strategic plan.

4. Evaluate the extent to which systems and/or processes have been set up to measure MIF’s progress on Strategic Plan dimensions internally.

5. Assess the extent to which programmatic response, as well as its operational aspects were affected by unpredictable events such as COVID 19 pandemic. 

6. Provide recommendations including actions to improve the chances of achieving the Strategic Plan objectives in the remaining period and by 2026; this includes any changes to the objectives to reflect the reality based on the evaluation findings, and ways in which foreseeable future interventions and services need to be adjusted in emerging pandemics such as in COVID 19 environment.
   1. Scope of information and depth of evaluation to be covered

In order to provide the relevant recommendations to the overall and specific objectives described above, the Consultant shall ensure that, the information collected in the course of this evaluation includes:

• Progress against objectives (with evidence) and reasons for lack of/no progress;

• Major challenges and if/how they have been overcome;

• Deviations from objectives;

• Significant new interventions (based on their results);

• Lessons and best practices to be applied for future projects;

• Effect of unforeseen events such as COVID-19 on interventions, and responding adjustments made (or to be made) to future interventions (other major contextual issues in the strategic period to also be considered);

• Effectiveness of support from the Founder, Trustees, Board of Directors and the Management on programmes, operations and other aspects.
  1. Key evaluation Questions

The following Table 1 constitutes key questions to be answered. 

1. Approach
   1. Methodological approach

A consultant will be hired for the design and implementation of the Evaluation. The Head of Programs together with the MEL unit and the senior leadership team will review the recommended process and methods provided by the Consultant, which the consultant will refine accordingly to ensure that the Evaluation is undertaken according to the requirements, and the processes required are followed through.

The approach is expected to consist of the following: 

• Undertake a desk Evaluation (of evaluations of completed projects, reports and Evaluations) against the targets and priorities set (see content requirements below) and document progress using existing monitoring and evaluation information.

• Identify gaps where sufficient data is not available, or supporting explanations for existing data is lacking, or where information collected through various sources are contradictory; also note potential success stories/case studies that require in-depth information.

• Document gaps and develop tools/processes necessary to fill them to be applied internally – discussions as necessary with project/programme managers, heads of programs, and heads of support units, the country director to provide qualitative narrative and corroborate finding established through regular collection of information.

• For the field perspective, discussions with partner organizations will be conducted as applicable.

In addition to the above dimensions of the evaluation, the Consultant will be expected to ensure that, the evaluation takes into account:

1. Alignment of MIF scope of work with national education, health and social economic priorities

2. Alignment of Scope of work of MIF with Public-Private Partnership plans including how MIF ensures integration of its functions and operations with

3. Central and local governments through relevant ministries 

4. Development partners, and donors

5. Implementing partners

6. Non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations 

7. Private sector (Banks, private and business institutions etc)

8. Research institutions and universities,

9. Political leaders (Members of parliament and councillors)

10. People receiving the services and support (Communities/beneficiaries)

11. MIF Management and Staff 

12. Geographical positioning of work of MIF’s functions, activities and operations

13. Organizational arrangement for implementing the Strategic Plan including efficiency and effectiveness of 

14. The office of the Chief Executive Officer

15. Monitoring and Evaluation Accountability and Learning (M&EAL) and Research related functions 

16. Finance Unit that provides a financial framework and control system for the organisation in accordance with organization's policies and procedures.

17. The Human Resources (HR) which is positioned to oversee and coordinate all human Resource issues including personnel recruitment, welfare of staff, compliance to work ethics etc. 

18. The Procurement procedures under the Finance and Administration Section that ensures adherence to the procurement functions and monitors policies and procedures. 

19. Information Communication Technology (ICT) functions for planning of infrastructure and support to staff in all ICT related matters to enable the staff carry out their roles efficiently, productively and securely. 

20. Communications & Publications-Public Relations Unit: responsible for public and internal communication, branding, visibility and documentation of the work of MIF 

21. Fundraising operations that aim to increase the funding base of the organisation through different initiatives such as fundraising events (gala dinners and charity walks) encourage individual givers, staff contributions and others. 
    1. Processes and steps taken by MIF Management to ensure successful implementation of the strategic plan. These include People, Financial Resources, Visibility, Quality and Agility.

• People means ensuring recruitment of the right people for the right positions, who are multi-skilled, and who will promote staff development, retention and promotion schemes, as well as expanding diversity among staff. 

• Financial Resources means efforts on diversifying sources of funding – building on existing initiatives, i.e., grants, contracts, corporate engagement including PPP, public fundraising, and also bringing in strongly social enterprise including co-investment for social impacts. 

• Visibility means promoting MIF brand in the country, fostering presence and leadership in scientific and/or technical forums, publications and dissemination 

• Quality means, adherence to continuous quality improvement scheme across programmes and support functions. Facility- and community-based programmes should adapt national quality assurance guidelines across programmes and programme supervision 

• Agility means adoption to the culture of speed not only in its systems, but also to the individuals in execution and efficiency while rolling out the planned interventions and activities. 
  1. Key Documents for Evaluation:

• MIF Strategic Plan 

• Lea Mwana Costed Implementation Plan

• Programs and Project Documents (Proposals, Concept notes, activity plans and reports)

• Annual/Quarterly Program Performance Reports

• MIF Institutional Documents (Manuals and Guidelines)

• MIF’s website and social media postings in the implementation reference period
  1. Key respondents:

• Chief Executive Officer

• Deputy Chair for Board of Directors of MIF

• Technical Advisor

• MIF Management (Head of Program, Head of Admin and Finance, Head of Human Resources, Head of MEL, Program Coordinator).

• Supporting Staff

• MIF Fellows (Volunteers Teachers supported by MIF)

• Beneficiaries of MIF’s programs (Women and youth from Mkoa wa Kusini Unguja, secondary school students, district and community leaders)

• MIF partners and stakeholders including Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Special groups, NGOs and CSOs (exhaustive list to be provided to the consultant)

1. Roles and Responsibilities
   1. The Consultant

The consultant will be overall responsible for;

• Designing and/or refining the methodology of the Evaluation 

• Evaluating relevant information from MIF’s monitoring and evaluation information in relation to the SP and the associated Results Framework

• Designing and testing tools that contain requirements related to the results framework, Strategic Plan, Evaluation objectives, scope of work, etc. 

• Develop an inception report to describe approach, methodology and overall plan of work for executing this assignment

• Conduct an inception meeting to MIF Management to present, review and discuss the inception report and work plan

• Implement the evaluation based on the proposed and agreed approach and methodology

• Analysis against the evaluation objectives and requirements, and produce a technical report

• Present the evaluation report to MIF Management and other staff

• Document Learnings and Recommendations for further implementation 

Key deliverables of the consultant;

1. An inception report consisting of the evaluation framework based on the evaluation goal, objectives, evaluation questions and the proposed dimensions of the evaluation

2. Evaluation tools as needed based on evaluation approach and methodology 

3. Draft evaluation report for review by the Management

4. Final report with recommendations

5. Final Power Point Slide Doc with key evaluation findings and recommendations 
   1. MIF Management

Members of the MIF Management will act as a steering committee, supporting the direction of the MTE. The steering committee will also engage in the following roles: 

• Advise on approaches or methods to be taken and interviewees

• Evaluation the inception report, tools, draft report and final report

• Participate as key informants

• Lead the planning of incorporation of recommendations to ensure gaps are addressed by the final evaluation of the strategic period.

1. Timeline