Development of Sonke Strategic Plan 2025-2029

Introduction

Founded in 2006, Sonke is a womxn’s rights organisation that is committed to feminist principles, using a rights-based and gender-transformative approach to achieve human rights and gender justice. Sonke’s foundation came about as a result of the shared understanding that violence against womxn and girls constitutes one of the gravest and most pervasive human rights violations and that it undermines South Africa’s new democracy in far-reaching ways. A further driving motivation was a belief that gender inequalities, gender norms, and power relations underpinning domestic and sexual violence are bad not only for womxn but also for men. 

Recognising that these norms and the harmful perceptions of what it means to be a man or a womxn encourage men to engage in high-risk behaviours, Sonke established with a firm conviction that men and boys have a critical contribution to make in ending violence, in transforming gender roles and ultimately in being part of the solution to achieving gender justice. In line with the United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) motto, ‘Leave No One Behind’, Sonke prioritises work that improves the lives of the most marginalised populations, such as refugees and migrants, sex workers, the LGBTQI community, prisoners and ex-offenders, people living with HIV, children, and youth. 

As a non-partisan civil society organisation, Sonke works with community-based organisations, faith-based organisations, UN agencies, media, academic institutions, government, international NGOs, private sector, multilateral agencies, international human rights bodies, development partners, and intergovernmental agencies to achieve human rights and gender justice.

Sonke works at a community, national, regional, and global level. In South Africa, Sonke is a registered NGO with offices in the Western Cape Province (Cape Town), Gauteng Province (Johannesburg and Diepsloot), Mpumalanga Province (Bushbuckridge), and Eastern Cape Province (Butterworth). Our Wellness Centre is situated in Gugulethu, Cape Town. In addition to its offices in South Africa, Sonke has offices in Kampala in Uganda, Lesotho, and Buea in Cameroon and works in 24 countries across Southern, Eastern, Central, and Western Africa.

Background

Sonke is a South African-based non-profit organisation working throughout Africa. The organisation asserts that women and men, girls, and boys in all their diversities can work together to resist patriarchy, advocate for gender justice, and achieve gender transformation. Sonke envisions a world in which violence of any form is socially unacceptable and dramatically reduced; a world in which duty-bearers – multilateral agencies, governments, religious and traditional leaders, the private sector, community leaders – and womxn, men, and gender-non-conforming people take action to address violence. 

Between 2020 and 2024 the organisation implemented the Rights, Action, Accountability and Sustainability strategy. Over the past 5 years, Sonke has significantly contributed to gender justice and human rights in the region through various programs including Gender Transformative Approaches (GTA), Men Care 50/50 and the development of the State of Fathers Report. Furthermore, the organisation has enjoyed its growth in the region as a secretariat of the Men Engage Africa Alliance Secretariat. 

The current strategic plan is being funded by approximately 30 donors. The organisation continued to provide technical support to various organisations and private businesses through its Fee for Service projects (FFS).

The strategic plan for the period 2020-2024 has been guided by four key strategic objectives which are:

1. Rights: Individuals and communities are aware of and able to articulate their rights.
2. Action: Individuals, institutions, organisations, and communities put their knowledge into action for the realisation of rights.
3. Accountability: Duty bearers, including government, multilateral institutions, the private sector, and Sonke, are accountable for collective responsibilities and obligations to advance gender equality and health and human rights as laid out in national and international law.
4. Sustainability: To ensure the gender justice and human rights sectors are sustainable through increased funding, improved capacities, stronger partnerships, and a stronger evidence base.

The current strategic plan is coming to an end in December 2024 and therefore Sonke would like to engage the services of experienced service providers or consultants to develop the 2025-2029 Strategic Plan.

Strategic Plan Rationale

The rationale behind Sonke Gender Justice strategic plan is rooted in the urgent need to address and eradicate gender-based violence, discrimination, and inequality in Africa. With pervasive gender disparities and injustices still prevalent in many sectors of society, Sonke aims to be at the forefront of creating lasting change by advocating for policies, conducting research, and empowering communities.

By focusing on prevention through community education, engagement, mobilisation and capacity strengthening, Sonke endeavours to see communities and individuals moving towards behaviours that are more equitable and respectful and shifting from harmful gender norms and socio-cultural practices. 

The development of the 2025-2029 Strategic Plan is therefore critical as it will enable Sonke to leverage its partnerships with governments, civil society organisations, bilateral donors, and social justice movements, amplify its impact and reach a broader audience with its message of gender equality and social justice. By strategically leveraging resources, building networks, and mobilizing supporters, Sonke aims to create a sustainable and scalable model for transformative change that can be replicated across the continent.

Scope and overall objectives of the consultancy

The purpose of these terms of reference is to invite interested service providers or consultants to submit a proposal for developing the 2025-2029 Strategic Plan. Furthermore, the consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

1. Conduct a comprehensive review of Sonke Gender Justice’s current strategic plan evaluation report and achievements.
2. Extract Key lessons learned and recommendations from the external evaluation report for the 2020-2024 Strategic plan and use them to guide the development of the new strategic plan for 2025-2029.
3. Engage key stakeholders, including staff, partners, Board Members, Community Action Teams and Donors, to gather input and feedback for the new strategic plan.
4. Analyse internal and external factors that may impact Sonke Gender Justice’s work and future direction.
5. Develop clear, measurable, and achievable strategic objectives that align with Sonke Gender Justice’s mission and values.
6. Define key performance indicators (KPIs) to track the progress and success of the strategic plan implementation.
7. Create a detailed timeline and work plan for the development, approval, and implementation of the new strategic plan.
8. Ensure that the strategic plan reflects Sonke Gender Justice’s commitment to gender equality, social justice, and human rights.
9. Establish mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the strategic plan to make data-driven adjustments as needed.
10. Develop Result Based Framework for Sonke’s Five-Year Strategic Plan
11. Identify key risks associated with the implementation of the new strategic plan and develop a risk management and mitigation plan.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

No.	Deliverables /Outputs	Deadline	Review and Approvals required
	Inception report highlighting the methodology with clearly defined timelines and outputs presented to Senior Management Team (SMT) (Virtual Meeting)	10th June 2024	SMT
	Desktop review of all relevant documents including (Current Strategic Plan, Annual Reports, Operational Plans, External Evaluation Report	20th June 2024
	Situational Review and Analysis (External) (Virtual Meeting with FMT)	30th June 2024	FMT
	Institutional Mapping and Analysis (Internal) (Virtual Meeting with FMT)	05th July 2024	FMT
	Consultation with Staff, Board, Partners, CATs, key stakeholders and Donors (Virtual Meetings)	12th July – 22nd July 2024	SMT and FMT
	Development of the draft strategic plan (2025-2029)	23rd July – 19th August 2024
	Submission and presentation of draft strategic plan to SMT and FMT (2025-2029) (Virtual Meeting)	20th August 2024	SMT
	Provision of feedback on the Draft strategic plan (2025-2029)	21st-28thAugust 2024	SMT and FMT
	Validation of the draft strategic plan (2025-2029) (Virtual Meeting)	30th August 2024	SMT
	Finalise the development of the strategic plan (2025-2029) using feedback from SMT, FMT and validation workshops	27th September 2024
	Submission of the final Strategic Plan (2025-2029)	13th October 2024	SMT
	Submit the developed Result Based Framework for Sonke’s Five-Year Strategic Plan	13th October 2024	SMT and RMEL Manager

Roles and responsibilities 

The Consultant will be responsible for undertaking the development of the strategic plan (2025-2029) from start to finish and for managing the strategic development team under the supervision of the Research Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (RMEL) Unit Manager from Sonke Gender Justice

Required Competencies

Team lead and co-lead

1. Experience in Strategic Planning: Demonstrated experience in developing strategic plans for non-profit organisations, particularly in the gender equality, Human Rights, and social justice sectors.
2. Development of the Result Based Framework: Notable experience in developing a result-based framework alongside M and E-tools.
3. Knowledge of Gender Issues: Strong understanding of gender equality issues, intersectionality, and the specific challenges faced by marginalized and underserved communities.
4. Facilitation Skills: Ability to facilitate meetings, workshops, and consultations with diverse stakeholders to gather input and build consensus.
5. Analytical Skills: Capacity to conduct thorough environmental scans, SWOT and PESTLE analyses, and data-driven decision-making to inform the strategic planning process.
6. Communication Skills: Effective written and verbal communication skills to articulate complex ideas clearly and concisely in reports, presentations, and discussions.
7. Project Management: Experience in project management, including developing timelines, and work plans, and ensuring deliverables are met on time and within budget.
8. Commitment to Social Justice: A strong commitment to social justice, human rights, and gender equality principles, aligning with Sonke Gender Justice’s values and mission.
9. Collaborative Approach: Ability to work collaboratively with Sonke Gender Justice staff, leadership, and stakeholders to ensure buy-in and ownership of the strategic plan.
10. Ethical and Culturally Sensitive: Understand the context in which Sonke operates and be able to respect different cultures and ethical principles that Sonke abides by.
11. Language Skills: The Consultant must be able to speak fluently in English fluility to speak and understand any additional Languages such as French or Portuguese will be an added advantage.

Criteria for Selecting the Best Proposal

All received proposal which includes both the technical proposal will be evaluated and scored based on cumulative criteria specific to this assignment which include:

1. Highest quality of the proposal, which is compliant with the requirements, submitted on time, and 
2. Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria. In this regard, the respective weight of the proposal is:
   • Technical Criteria Weight is 70%
   • Financial Criteria weight is 30%.

NO:	Technical Capacity and Related Qualifications	Weight %
	At least a master’s degree in a relevant Field (Human Rights, Law, Public Health, Strategic Planning, Anthropology, Political Science and Monitoring and Evaluation etc.)	10
	At least 10-15 years professional experience in Social Justice, HIV/AIDS, and Human Rights Organisations	15
	Prior Strategic plan development work and evidence of undertaking similar assignment in Social Justice, Human Rights, HIV/AIDS, and developmental work	20
	Ability to work with minimal supervision, a high level of written and Oral communication skills in English including any language spoken in Africa. Additional languages such as French and Portuguese will be an added advantage	15
	Prior experience in conducting baseline, external evaluations and clear understanding of Monitoring and Evaluation Principles	10
	Financial weight	30
	Total Score Technical *70% + Financial Score*30%	100

Management Arrangements for the strategic plan development

The overall strategic development process will be managed by Sonke’s Research Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (RMEL) unit. The developer will liaise with the Sonke RMEL unit and program staff for relevant project documentation and clarification, and assistance in liaising and connecting with relevant stakeholders and primary and secondary beneficiaries. The Sonke RMEL unit will also set up feedback/check-in sessions to discuss any further support or clarification required. All strategic plan development deliverables will be approved by the Senior Management Team (SMT).

Privacy and Confidentiality

As part of the engagement to develop Sonke Gender Justice’s strategic plan, all service providers involved, including consultants, agree to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of all information shared throughout the process. This includes, but is not limited to, strategic planning documents, internal reports, financial data, organisational strategies, and any other proprietary or sensitive information disclosed during consultations, meetings, or reviews.

All consultants and service providers involved in the development of the strategic plan are expected to adhere to the following guidelines:

1. Non-Disclosure: Information shared during the strategic planning process is considered confidential and should not be disclosed to any third party without explicit permission from Sonke Gender Justice.
2. Data Security: All electronic and hard copy documents containing sensitive or proprietary information should be stored and shared securely to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure.
3. Use of Information: Information gathered or generated during the strategic planning process should only be used to develop Sonke Gender Justice’s strategic plan and should not be utilized for personal gain or shared for any unrelated purposes.
4. Retention and Disposal: Upon completion of the project, all confidential information, data, and documents should be returned to Sonke Gender Justice or securely disposed of as in line with the provisions of the POPI Act.

Application Procedures 

All application documents below should be sent to the Research Monitoring and Evaluation Manager, Attention Mr. Jacob Segale at jacob@genderjustice.org.za by COB 05^th May 2024:

1. Full strategic plan development proposal highlighting proposed timelines, deliverables, and budget including CV of the project team.
2. A comprehensive budget outlining the costs associated with all activities in the work plan.
3. A sample of a recently completed project report and a previously completed strategic plan will be an added advantage.
4. Three written references with contact details.