Job Description

1. General Information
The Women and Law in Southern Africa Research and Education Trust (WLSA) is a registered Private Voluntary Organization (PVO 16/2016) established in 1989 to enhance the sustained well-being of women and girls in Southern Africa. Operating in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland (Eswatini), and Mozambique, WLSA integrates research with action by challenging laws, campaigning for changes in policies, educating women and girls about their rights, providing legal advice, and gender sensitising communities and leadership. WLSA aims to promote the effective participation of women and girls in decisions that affect their lives.

WLSA is seeking a qualified consultant to serve as a peer reviewer for two key deliverables: a Strategic Impact Litigation Toolkit and an Impact Litigation Strategy on the termination of pregnancy in Zimbabwe and Malawi.

2. Background
WLSA is addressing the high number of unsafe and unlawful pregnancy terminations in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, which are often a result of restrictive laws and policies. In Zimbabwe, the Termination of Pregnancy Act (TOP Act) of 1977 criminalizes abortion except in specific instances like rape, incest, or when the woman's life is at risk. These restrictions have been shown to increase the number of unsafe abortions rather than reduce them.

WLSA has commissioned two separate consultancies to address these issues. The first is to develop a
strategic impact litigation toolkit for legal practitioners, community leaders, and women's human rights defenders to use in sustained and successful litigation cases. The second is to create a 5-year impact litigation strategy to guide WLSA, legal practitioners, and other Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in challenging the TOP Act. The final deliverables from these consultancies need to be reviewed to ensure they meet their intended objectives and are accurate and effective.

Duties and Responsibilities

3. Objectives
The primary objectives of the review are:
• To conduct a comprehensive peer review of both the Strategic Impact Litigation Toolkit and the Impact Litigation Strategy.
• To ensure the deliverables are accurate, evidence-based, and meet the specific objectives of the original consultancies.
• To check the documents for grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and consistency in formatting.

4. Scope of Work
The consultant will be responsible for the following:
Reviewing a) Strategic Impact Litigation Toolkit to ensure it effectively assesses the current legal, policy, and service delivery landscape for termination of pregnancy in Zimbabwe and Malawi. The review should also verify that the toolkit identifies barriers and facilitators to safe and legal termination of pregnancy and provides strategic recommendations to improve access, safety, and quality of services. The reviewer will also confirm that the toolkit is user-friendly and written in plain language for accessibility by various stakeholders, including lay persons.
b) Impact Litigation Strategy to verify that it provides clear guidance on how to successfully litigate on sexual and reproductive health rights and identifies legal cases that can lead to law and policy reform. The review should also confirm that the strategy facilitates the development of legal arguments that expand women's reproductive rights.
• Ensuring both documents are well-researched and grounded in an analysis of the relevant laws, policies, and jurisprudence in Zimbabwe and Malawi.
• Providing tracked changes and recommendations for any necessary revisions to improve the quality, accuracy, and effectiveness of the deliverables.

5. Deliverables
Both the strategic impact litigation strategy and the strategic impact litigation toolkit with tracked changes, including comments and suggested revisions

Qualifications and Experience

6. Qualifications and Experience
The consultant should have:
1. A Bachelor of Laws Honours Degree,
2. A master’s degree or Doctorate in Women’s Law or Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights.
3. At least 15 years proven experience in law, sexual and reproductive health rights, or women’s rights.
4. Experience in research and production of policy and practice analysis papers.
5. Familiarity with gender-sensitive language

How to Apply

7. Application Process
Interested candidates/organizations are invited to submit:
1. A technical proposal outlining their approach including methodology, and timeline.
2. Portfolio of previous work (links, etc).
3. CV which includes 3 traceable references.
4. Academic certificates

8. Submission Deadline
Proposals must be submitted by 22 August 2025 to [email protected]