Independent Evaluation Consultant

Working Animals International is seeking to commission an independent evaluation consultant to design and deliver an external evaluation of its upper primary school working animal welfare learning package being implemented and coordinated by AWARE Trust Zimbabwe in government schools in Norton and Tsholotsho districts. Candidates based in Zimbabwe, or with strong knowledge of the local context, are preferred.

The Primary School Learning Package (PSLP) has been implemented in Zimbabwe since February 2026. It targets upper primary school children aged approximately 8 to 12 years and is delivered through extra-curricular school-based clubs.
The programme focuses on:
• Understanding the needs of working animals;
• Developing empathy and responsibility towards animals; and
• Encouraging children to influence positive animal care practices within their families and communities.

The programme operates through a teacher-led delivery model. Teachers receive training, learning materials, and ongoing support from Working Animals International and AWARE Trust, and deliver the learning package to a new cohort of children each academic year. Programme sustainability is therefore expected to be driven through teacher capacity, school-level ownership and repeated delivery to successive cohorts rather, than continued engagement with a single group of children.

AWARE Trust is the implementing partner in Zimbabwe and is responsible for programme delivery, coordination with schools and education stakeholders, and supporting evaluation logistics.

The programme is implemented in two districts, Chegutu (Norton) and Tsholotsho.
These contexts differ significantly. Norton is primarily urban and children’s households generally do not own working animals. Tsholotsho includes more rural and geographically dispersed schools, and approximately half of participating children come from households that own working animals. This difference is important to the evaluation design.

From the start of 2027, the programme is expected to expand to an additional 30 schools in Tsholotsho. Consultants may propose ways of using this expansion to generate learning on implementation, teacher support, adaptation, sustainability and future scale-up.

• Test and refine the programme's Theory of Change, including key assumptions, barriers, and enabling factors.
• Assess whether the teacher-led delivery model is feasible, appropriate, and showing early signs of effectiveness.
• Assess early child-level outcomes using a behaviour-change lens.
• Explore the school-to-household behaviour change pathway in Tsholotsho.
• Identify practical recommendations to strengthen programme design, measurement, sustainability, and future scale-up.

• Candidates based in Zimbabwe, or with strong knowledge of the local context, are preferred.
• Proposals prepared in line with the specifications set out in the Terms of Reference (ToR).