Assignment period: November 2026 – June 2027
Geographic scope: Tanzania Mainland
Consultancy modality: Consultancy firm or multidisciplinary team
Background
Children in Crossfire Tanzania is supporting the strengthening of Tanzania’s childcare system, with particular attention to the quality, accessibility, inclusion and sustainability of daycare services. An important part of this work is enabling daycare owners and childcare workers to establish credible representative institutions that can advance their collective interests while contributing to improved childcare quality, safeguarding and the development and wellbeing of Tanzanian children. This work also recognises that childcare provision is predominantly undertaken by women and that gender-related inequalities can affect their representation, leadership, working conditions, access to finance and opportunities for professional and enterprise development.
The Union of Daycare Center Owners in Tanzania (UVIWATA) is an emergent social organization formally established in 2025 and headquartered in Dar es Salaam, with mandate to operate throughout mainland Tanzania. UVIWATA unites daycare and early childhood center owners to promote collaboration, professional standards, and quality care for young children. Its mission focuses on advocating for an enabling environment for daycare centres, strengthening member-owned centers, coordinating capacity-building efforts, supporting strategic investment initiatives, and providing essential educational resources. By engaging national government and the wider stakeholder community, UVIWATA supports private daycare and early childhood services to be effective, sustainable, and impactful, thereby improving learning outcomes and positively influencing young children’s development, as well as supporting a rapidly growing ecosystem of childcare microenterprises across urban centres nationwide.
UVIWATA is entering a critical transition. It must move from being a newly registered and externally incubated association to becoming a capable, representative and increasingly sustainable national institution. The assignment therefore combines organisational assessment and strategic planning. The organisational assessment will establish a shared understanding of UVIWATA’s current position. Its findings will then be translated into a sequenced Capacity Development Plan and used to shape the organisational assumptions, priorities and implementation arrangements for a 4-YR Strategic Plan (2027/28–2030/31), that is intended to provide an ambitious but practicable first planning cycle for an emerging national institution.
The assignment is best suited to a consultancy firm or multidisciplinary team combining organisational development, strategic planning, finance and operations, monitoring and learning, safeguarding, gender equality and inclusion expertise. The team must demonstrate substantial experience working with civil-society organisations, membership bodies, networks or federations in Tanzania. Collectively, the team must demonstrate knowledge of childcare, early childhood development and the care economy. Experience in comparable contexts may provide additional value but will not replace the requirement for a deep understanding of Tanzania’s institutional, policy and political-economy environment.
A detailed Terms of Reference can be downloaded HERE
The Terms of Reference sets out the scope of work, deliverables and timelines; as well as the required experience and qualifications of the consultants, and tendering procedures and selection criteria.
The final proposal should be submitted by email to UVIWATA at: jobs@uviwata.org and copying in: jobstz@childrenincrossfire.org with the subject line: “Proposal – UVIWATA OCA and Strategic Plan”.
A short cover letter should indicate the candidate’s availability to undertake the assignment within the proposed timescale. Only those candidates selected for interview will be contacted.
Closing date for applications: end of day, Wednesday 30 September 2026.
Documents: