Evaluation of LO-Norway Programme of Co-operation with Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions

Background:
The collaboration between the LO-Norway and ZCTU started in the late 1980s.  Initially much of the support was in the increasing the capacity of women in trade unions, but since 1997 the collaboration has been aimed at supporting work to strengthen the trade union movement in general and the capacity of the ZCTU. The basic objective was to enable the ZCTU and its affiliated unions to be able to develop strategies on how to improve labour rights through negotiating collective agreements to benefit its members as well as strengthening capacity of the trade union movement.

Purpose/objective:
The basis of this evaluation is to determine the performance and progress of the programme cooperation, and to gauge if results or objectives are being met.  The evaluation was also deemed necessary in order to form a basis for decisions in LO-Norway regarding possible finalising or continuation of the project. The evaluation covers the period 2006-2009.

The objectives of the evaluation were:
(i) To assess  results of the support provided to ZCTU  by LO to strengthen  capacity of the organisation; and
(ii) To assess modalities of cooperation with ZCTU and provide recommendations on areas for improvement, in particular related to monitoring and reporting on performance by ZCTU.

Methodology:
The findings of this evaluation were based on a combination of review of relevant documentation and broad-based interviews with prior-identified selected respondents and field work in Zimbabwe. 

The evaluators reviewed an extensive range documents pertaining to the project cooperation.  Much of these documents related to management reports, audited accounts, and activity reports.  The evaluators were also used various reports of the International Labour Conference and ILO Governing Body pertaining to the trade union situation in Zimbabwe.  More documentation was obtained from the field visits including ZCTU Congress Resolutions, Constitution, policy documents and position papers, speeches, work plans, and evaluation reports.

The full list of people interviewed is shown in appendix 2, but the main institutions and persons met can be summarized as follows:

 ZCTU (elected leadership, Women’s Advisory Committee, Administration and Finance Committee, selected affiliates, heads of departments, regional offices (2), shop stewards
 Minister of Labour and Social Services
 Employers' Confederation of Zimbabwe (EMCOZ)
 National Constitutional Assembly
 Human rights organizations
 ILO Country Office
 Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
 American Center for International Labor Solidarity
 Royal Norwegian Embassy
 LEDRIZ, ANSA
 External auditors

At the end of the field visit, the evaluators made a presentation to the ZCTU leadership (elected leaders) and the Women’s Advisory Committee on 13 May 2010.  The presentation was aimed at highlighting the general findings of the evaluation, discuss the conclusions and suggest recommendations emanating from the exercise.

Key finding and results:
The findings of the evaluation exercise (summarized below) are organized into nine categories as specified in the Terms of Reference for the evaluation.

Relevance: 
Programme cooperation is very relevant as it targets the needs, almost always reaches its objectives and strengthens the capacity of the ZCTU and its affiliated unions.

Efficiency: 
Despite the adverse social, economic, political and economic situation, the operations of the programme has remained substantially efficient.
Project results:  
The programme cooperation has achieved good results, including commendable financial management.  However, many of the quantitative objectives related to membership recruitment and organizing and payment of union dues have not been realized.

Sustainability:  
Given the current financial base, the ZCTU is considered a going concern for the next one year.  But, the organization is not financially sustainable after the withdrawal of donor support.
External impact:   
 ZCTU has been very influential with a national and international outlook. It is the cornerstone of the bedrock of the labour and human rights movement in Zimbabwe. It enjoys strong support from its membership as well as with external partners and has much respect in its interventions in human and trade union sphere.

Gender issues:  
 The level of women participation in trade union activities remains low and gender disaggregated data remains a challenge. Despite the absence of a comprehensive gender policy and lack of dedicated budget to support women activities ZCTU maintains a strong position that labour should not be divided or discriminated on the basis of gender. During the period under consideration, the ZCTU achieved many positive attributes in relation to gender mainstreaming.

Internal democracy:  
 ZCTU leadership have largely practiced the principles of internal democracy by holding elections every five years.  Many of the constitutional meetings have also been held regularly.  In recent times, there has emerged a group of the “concerned affiliates” who have increasingly expressed some discomfort with the current leadership. 

Risks analysis:   
 The effects of the social, economic, political and trade union situation have had decimating effects to the implementation of the programme cooperation.  It was highly unsafe to carry out trade union work, yet ZCTU remained steadfast to the set objectives.

Recommendations:
The evaluation team recommends for a more sustainable continuation of the co-operation between LO-Norway and ZCTU.  The ZCTU requires a sustained (if not increased) level of support from its partners. It is further recommended that this continuation must be in accordance with clear and specific indicators of achievement that are subject to internal periodic monitoring and evaluation.

It is the informed opinion of the evaluation team that specific steps could be undertaken to further enhance the next phases of the programme cooperation. Recommendations for effective co-operation include:
◦ Baseline survey and database on union membership,
◦ Update of the ZCTU Constitution,
◦ Enhance the role of gender mainstreaming in trade union work,
◦ Young workers holding the key of the future of the trade union movement,
◦ Enhance trade union solidarity amongst affiliates and increase viability of unions through mergers and amalgamations,
◦ Focus on sustainability aspects,
◦ Information networks within unions,
◦ Project and financial management including enhanced relations with the external auditors, and
◦ ZCTU/LO-Norway relations
 
Comments from the organisation, if any:
LO-Norway finds the evaluation thorough and useful. It has also been presented to ZCTU for feedback and comments before conclusions. The recommendations from the evaluation have been discussed with ZCTU and will form the basis for the renewed agreement for 2010-2014. We have already agreed to carry out a comprehensive baseline study, and will also include the other recommendation in our future co-operation.