16 March 2026

Consultancy: Assessment of the implementation and integration of Feminist Principles in Sonke’s work at National, Regional and Global levels

Background

Sonke is a leading South African-based non-governmental organisation working across Africa and globally to promote gender equality, prevent gender-based violence, and achieve social justice through an intersectional and rights-based approach. Established in 2006, Sonke transformed harmful gender norms, supported fair and effective health and social policies, and ensured accountability for violations of human rights. Central to Sonke’s mission is the promotion of feminist values that challenge patriarchy and privilege; protect marginalised voices, especially those of women, LGBTQIA+ persons, and others who experience multiple forms of discrimination; and build inclusive, egalitarian spaces both within the organisation and externally, through partnerships, programmes, and policy advocacy. Recognising that adopting feminist principles is not a fixed outcome but an ongoing process of reflection, learning, and institutional transformation, Sonke seeks to undertake a comprehensive assessment of how effectively these principles have been implemented and embedded across its work in South Africa, across the African continent and Internationally. This consultancy will enable Sonke to identify strengths, challenges, and areas of growth in its efforts to embody feminist values in both its internal operations and external engagements.

Purpose of the Consultancy

To review and assess the extent to which feminist principles have been meaningfully implemented and integrated within Sonke’s organisational policies, structures, culture, programming, advocacy, and partnerships.
Identify gaps, contradictions, and unintended consequences in the operationalisation of feminist values across different levels of the organisation’s work.
Provide practical evidence-based recommendations to strengthen Sonke’s feminist approach, both internally and externally.

Objectives

To examine how feminist values (such as power-sharing, intersectionality, inclusivity, accountability, and care) are understood and experienced by Sonke staff and stakeholders.
To assess the consistency and coherence of feminist commitments in program design, delivery, and evaluation.
To evaluate feminist practices in leadership, decision-making, employee engagement, workplace culture, and governance structures.
To assess external partnerships, campaigns, coalitions, and policy influence efforts through a feminist perspective.
To recommend strategies to institutionalise and monitor gender-transformative changes rooted in feminist praxis.

Scope of Work

3.1 Desk Review

The consultant will begin by conducting a comprehensive desk review of Sonke Gender Justice’s core organisational documents. This will include an examination of strategic plans, annual reports, programme documents, internal policies, advocacy materials, and partnership agreements. The objective is to assess the extent to which feminist principles and values are not only referenced, but also actively embedded within these documents. The consultant will pay particular attention to language use, explicit commitments, and the presence of mechanisms designed to uphold and monitor feminist standards. The review will benchmark Sonke’s documentation against recognised feminist frameworks, highlighting areas of strong alignment and identifying inconsistencies or opportunities for strengthening feminist integration.

3.2 Stakeholder Consultations

Following the desk review, the consultant will design and facilitate a series of inclusive consultations with a wide array of stakeholders within and outside of Sonke. These consultations will include staff members from diverse departments, management teams, board members, and key external partners operating at the national, regional, and global levels. The consultant will employ participatory methodologies to ensure that all voices, especially those from historically marginalised groups, are actively encouraged to contribute. Emphasis is placed on fostering open dialogue, attentiveness to power dynamics within and among participant groups, and probing intersectional experiences related to gender, race, sexuality, and other axes of identity. The goal is to generate a holistic and nuanced understanding of how feminist principles are understood and experienced across organisations.

3.3 Analysis

Utilising the data collected through the desk review and stakeholder consultations, the consultant will conduct a detailed analysis of how feminist principles are interpreted, operationalised, and institutionalised within Sonke Gender Justice. This analysis will look at both policy and practice, with a particular focus on the degree of integration across several key domains: organisational governance and leadership, decision-making processes, staff recruitment and retention practices, professional development opportunities, and Programme planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Furthermore, the consultant examines how feminist values are woven into external partnerships, coalitions, and advocacy efforts. The analysis aims to identify not only successes and good practices, but also gaps, contradictions, and systemic barriers to deeper feminist integration.

3.4 Reporting

Based on the findings and insights derived from the previous stages, the consultant presents a comprehensive assessment report. This document will encompass a synthesis of findings, critical analysis, and illustrative case examples, as well as clear, actionable recommendations for advancing the integration of feminist principles at all organisational levels. To complement the written report, the consultant will facilitate a debrief workshop with the Sonke stakeholders. This participatory session will provide an opportunity to discuss key findings, clarify recommendations, and collaboratively identify practical pathways for embedding enhanced feminist practices into Sonke’s operations and culture.

Key Deliverables

Inception Report: Outlining methodology, work plan, and data collection tools submitted and approved within two weeks of contract commencement.
Assessment Report: Comprehensive analysis (approximately 10,000 words) with evidence-based findings, good practices, lessons learned, and priority recommendations.
Executive Summary: User-friendly summarisation of key findings (approximately two pages).
Presentation: Delivery of findings at a workshop/webinar session with sonke stakeholders.

Methodology

The consultant should ensure that the assessment is grounded in a robust, mixed-methods approach, drawing on both qualitative and quantitative tools to ensure a comprehensive understanding of how feminist principles are integrated within Sonke Gender Justice. The following internationally recognised methodologies, all rooted in feminist evaluation practices, will be employed to capture multiple perspectives and layers of experience. The consultant must adhere to the following methodological requirements to ensure a thorough, inclusive, and credible assessment of the integration of feminist principles within Sonke Gender Justice. All methods must be applied in a manner consistent with the international best practices in feminist evaluations.

Literature and Document Reviews

The consultant is required to begin the assignment with a comprehensive review of all relevant literature and organisational documentation. This review includes, but is not limited to,

Internal policy papers
Programme and project reports
Strategic plans and frameworks
External publications relevant to feminist organisational transformation

The consultant must reference internationally recognised frameworks, such as the Gender at Work Analytical Framework and Feminist Evaluation Framework of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), to guide the analysis. Sonke’s approach and outcomes must be benchmarked against these standards to systematically identify documented intentions, implementation gaps, and examples of best practice.

Key Informant Interviews

It is a requirement that the consultant conducts targeted, semi-structured interviews with a broad spectrum of key informants. These should include:

Staff at all levels including senior management
Board members
External partners and stakeholders

The interviews must utilise open-ended questions designed to draw out nuanced perspectives on how feminist principles are interpreted, enacted, and experienced within different organisational and partnership contexts. The approach shall be participatory, ensuring that voices from marginalised or less-represented groups are actively included, in keeping with feminist and intersectional principles.

Surveys and Questionnaires

The consultant is required to design and administer anonymous surveys and structured questionnaires to capture both quantitative and qualitative data from a wider pool of stakeholders (internal and external). These instruments must:

Be accessible and crafted in accordance with feminist research standards
Feature non-hierarchical and inclusive language and design
Generate data to inform statistically robust analysis of the breadth and depth of feminist principle integration across Sonke

All findings and perspectives gathered through these methods should be triangulated to ensure validity and depth, and the consultant must fully document and justify the methodologies applied during the consultancy period. The application of these methods is essential for the successful completion of the assignments.

Ethical Principles and Participatory Approach

The consultant is expected to uphold the highest ethical standards throughout the assessment process. This includes a clear commitment to:

Voluntary Participation: Ensuring that all stakeholders’ engagement is fully voluntary, with the right to withdraw at any point respected without question.
Informed Consent: Obtaining explicit, informed consent from all participants, making the purpose, methods, potential risks, and intended uses of collected information transparent.
Confidentiality: Guaranteeing the confidentiality and anonymity of individual responses and sensitive data, using secure data handling and storage protocols. No information will be disclosed or published in a way that can identify individuals without permission.
Cultural, Gender, and Power Sensitivity: Approaching all interactions with deep respect for cultural, gender, and power dynamics and adapting methods as needed to honour diverse identities, backgrounds, and experiences.

The consultant must employ methods that embody the feminist values of participation, co-creation of knowledge, and mutual accountability. The following practices are required:

Participatory Analysis: Involve stakeholders directly in interpreting data and discussing findings, ensuring that their perspectives inform conclusions.
Co-facilitation with Internal Change Champions: Collaborate with Sonke staff identified as internal facilitators or “change champions” to boost trust and foster inclusive participation.
Feedback Loops: Establish processes that give regular feedback to participants, for example, sharing preliminary findings for participant comments to ensure that their voices shape the assessment at every stage.
Inclusivity and Ownership: Foster a sense of ownership among stakeholders by enabling meaningful involvement in both processes and outcomes, particularly for those from marginalised or under-represented groups.

Strict adherence to these ethical and participatory standards is not optional but a core requirement for the credibility of consultancy and alignment with Sonke’s feminist principles.

Timeline

The consultancy is expected to commence in May 2026, with all deliverables to be completed within a period of three months. A more detailed timeline is agreed upon during the contracting phase.

Activity	Timeline
Inception Report	2 weeks from contract
Data Collection & Stakeholder Engagement	4 weeks
Analysis and Drafting	2 weeks
Review and Feedback	2 weeks
Final Report and Workshop	1 week

Consultant Profile

The ideal consultant(s) possesses the following characteristics:

NQF Level 9 or 10 qualification, master’s degree or PhD in Social Sciences, Public Health, Development Studies, Gender Studies, Anthropology and Community Development with between 5 -10 years’ experience.
Demonstrated expertise and experience in feminist analysis, gender justice, and organisational assessment.
Track record of working with civil society, especially in the field of gender and human rights, at national, regional, and/or global levels.
Strong facilitation and participatory research skills.
Proficient in quantitative data analysis software such as STATA, R, PowerBI, SPSS
Proficient in Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) software such as NviVo; ATLAS.ti, MAXQDA
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Excellent report writing skills.
Familiarity with the contexts in which Sonke operates is an asset.

Submission of Proposals

Interested consultants should submit the following: