South Africa UNFPA Consultancy vacancy-2016
Title:UNFPA east and Southern Regional Office Consultancy
Summary
UNFPA East and Southern Africa regional office is seeking the services of a research institution/consultancy firm to support: a) data analysis, report writing and validation of findings from a Regional Assessment of the Status of Institutionalization of Adolescent and Youth Friendly Health Service Delivery (AYFHS) in pre- and in-service training programmes for health providers in East and Southern Africa (ESA) region, b) organizing regional and national validation meetings; and c) development and validation of Regional Guidelines for Institutionalization and scaling up of Adolescent and Youth Friendly Health Services in East and Southern Africa in collaboration with the Regional Economic Communities in ESA (SADC, EAC, IGAD and COMESA).
Introduction
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is the international development agency that promotes a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.
UNFPA East and Southern Regional Office (ESARO), in partnership with other UN agencies, civil society organizations, the East African Community (EAC) , the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) , Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) promotes comprehensive adolescent’s sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) including HIV-prevention, with the aim of harmonizing the legal and policy environment within all East and Southern African countries to protect the sexual and reproductive health and rights of adolescents and young people. The ESA Commitment on Comprehensive Sexuality Education and Youth Friendly Services for Adolescents and Young People adopted by Ministers of Health and Education from 20 ESA Countries in 2013 increased national level commitment and programming for young people in the ESA Region. The year 2015 also saw the passing of the landmark Agenda 2030 which has provision for the provision of sexuality education and services for young people among other important issues. The ESA Commitment also responds to Africa’s Agenda 2063 and the regional push to achieve the Demographic Dividend by investing in the health, education, and employment of adolescents and young people in the region.
Background
The evidence presented by a 2013 regional diagnostic report on ASRH[1] including comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) and adolescent and youth friendly health service (AYFHS) delivery and country assessments from Malawi, Namibia and South Africa, suggest that many countries in the ESA Region have some form of policy or guidelines on providing youth friendly services to adolescents. However, the quality and coverage of youth-friendly services in these countries vary, and many young people do not access these services. Insufficient budget and poor institutional capacities of government and other implementing agencies affect quality of national guidelines, training manuals and other relevant tools, service provider’s capacities and attitudes, and monitoring and evaluation of AYFHS. Also, a number of existing legislative and policy frameworks in many ESA countries continue to be barriers for young peoples’ access to SRH information and services. Even in countries where significant progress has been made regarding the development of AYFHS policies and standards, a lot remains to be done to institutionalize AYFHS into national health systems and ensure quality implementation at scale.
Rationale
In December 2013, Ministers of Education and Health from twenty ESA countries affirmed and endorsed their joint commitment to deliver Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services for young people (ESA Commitment). Two of the ESA Commitment targets are:
Pre- and in-service sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and CSE training for teachers and health and social workers are in place and being implemented.
Decrease the number of adolescents and young people who do not have access to youth-friendly SRH services by 50%. This includes equitable, accessible, acceptable, appropriate and effective services related to HIV.
In 2015, to advance the AYFHS component of the ESA Commitment and support the implementation of the two ESA Commitment targets on AYFHS mentioned above, UNFPA, with support from GIZ, undertook an assessment of the status of institutionalization of AYFHS training programmes for health service providers who are in-service or in pre-service training institutions. The assessment aimed to address the following:
a) The level of integration and delivery of adolescent and youth friendly health services through the curricula of health provider training institutions especially in medical and nursing schools (pre-service training).
b) The extent to which adolescent and youth friendly health services are integrated and delivered in continuing education programmes for health providers (e.g. nurses, midwives) (in-service training).
c) The alignment of national AYFHS pre- and in-service training curricula and materials with WHO Guidelines and the extent to which they are conferring adequate competencies to providers to enable them address the sexual and reproductive health needs and rights of adolescents and young people.
The data collection and initial analysis was completed in 2015 and a draft report is available, awaiting finalization, review by the Regional Advisory Committee and validation by national and regional stakeholders.
Together with the findings from a complementary study to review the extent to which AYFHS guidelines and standards are applied to improve quality and coverage in the ESA region conducted by IPPF Africa Regional Office and UNFPA ESARO, the assessment will serve as a baseline. Preliminary findings from the two studies include the need to develop regional guideline for institutionalizing quality AYFHS in the ESA region which can then be adopted by the RECs, training institutions and Ministries of Health and Education in the ESA region.
Purpose
The purpose of the assignment is to finalize the Report from the Regional Assessment, validate this report and companion study report assessing the quality of AYFHS in 23 ESA countries and develop and validate regional guideline for institutionalization and scale up of AYFHS in the ESA region.
Scope of work
a) Regional Assessment of the Status of Institutionalization of Adolescent and Youth Friendly Health Service Delivery (AYFHS) in pre- and in-service training programmes for health providers in the East and Southern Africa (ESA) region
● Review and finalize the Regional Report using data collected from interviews with trainees, trainers and representatives from nursing colleges, midwifery schools and medical schools, NGOs, government officials and other providers of pre- and in-service trainings for health care providers.
● Share the Report to Regional Advisory Committee and incorporate their comments.
● Organize and co-facilitate a regional validation meeting with national and regional stakeholders.
b) Validation of the Regional Report on Assessment of AYFHS Services in ESA Region in conjunction with the Report above and in partnership with UNFPA and IPPF Regional Office.
c) Regional guidelines for institutionalization and scale up of Adolescent and Youth Friendly Health Services
● Review the key findings from the two studies mentioned above and any other available literature on institutionalization of AYFHS in training institutions and other government programmes.
● Based on the evidence, develop a conceptual framework for the Institutionalization of AYFHS and share with the Advisory Committee and UNFPA.
● Submit first draft Guideline for feedback by UNFPA and Regional Advisory Committee.
● Finalize Regional Guidelines and organize a regional validation meeting in collaboration with UNFPA.
● Finalize and submit the final report to UNFPA.
Deliverables
● An inception report, detailing an initial assessment of the situation and task, process flow and timelines (work-plan), and proposed outline for the Guidelines to ensure clear understanding of scope of work and timely and quality deliverables.
● A validated Regional Report on Institutionalization of AYFHS in the ESA Region.
● Validated Regional Guidelines for Institutionalization and scale up of Adolescent and Youth Friendly Health Services in the ESA Region.
● Reports of regional validation meetings.
The Research Institution or Consultancy firm is expected to be hired for 30 working days for the finalization and validation of the Regional Assessment of the Status of Institutionalization of Adolescent and Youth Friendly Health Service Delivery (AYFHS) in Pre- and In-service Training Programmes for Health providers in the East and Southern Africa (ESA) Region; and 60 working days for the development, validation and finalization of the Regional Guidelines for Institutionalization and Scale up of Adolescent and Youth Friendly Health Services.
The assignment is expected to commence on 20 June 2016 and the validated report will be finalized and submitted by 15 August 2016 and Guidelines completed and validated no later than 30 November 2016.
Evaluation criteria
The performance of the Research Institution or Consultancy firm will be measured against the following criteria:
● Timely submission of deliverables.
● Quality of deliverables.
● Effective and timely communication and professionalism especially in dealings with Advisory Committee members, UNFPA staff and Partners and management of validation meetings.
Kindly note that UNFPA has the right to add other criteria to the ones listed above.
Payment will be done within 30 days of successful completion of each deliverable.
Organizational information
Under the overall guidance of the Director and Deputy Director of UNFPA Regional Office in East and Southern Africa, the Research Institution/Consultancy firm will report to UNFPA’s Regional ASRH Policy Advisor.
The Research Institution or Consultancy Firm is required to travel to Johannesburg, South Africa for the following meetings: a) Presentation and discussion of the Inception Report, b) for the meeting to discuss the Conceptual Framework of the Institutionalization Guidelines; and c) for the 2 validation meetings. The Consultancy Firm or the Research Institute will be responsible for the cost and arrangement of its travel and logistics in this regard.
Profile of the team working on the task
The Research Institution or Consultancy firm selected should ensure that the following competencies are represented in the team that will work on this task as evidenced by the CVs submitted with the proposal:
● A lead person with an advanced academic degree in a related field (preferably public health, epidemiology social sciences, education and/or international development).
● Extensive professional knowledge and at least 10 years’ experience in the field of adolescent and youth health programming, including youth friendly service delivery, Institutionalization of AYFHS or other reproductive health issues in pre- and in-service training programmes, and evidence on youth friendly service delivery.
● Knowledge and experience of health systems strengthening of public health services and performance improvement principles.
● Evidence of having successfully conducted high quality research including data analysis, and writing clear and concise reports; documentation of similar regional assessments, and organizing consultative meetings.
● Proven experience with development of guidelines/standards in the area of sexual and reproductive health and preferably AYFHS.
● Related experience in the Africa Region highly desirable.
● Strong consultation and facilitation skills.
● Experience in involvement of diverse and inter-disciplinary stakeholders.
● Excellent writing and communication skill.
● Experience with development of infographics
● Language skills in English, and preferably French and Portuguese.
HOW TO APPLY:
All applications should be addressed to, The International Operations Manager and sent to the following e-mail address, jobs.esaro@unfpa.org on or before the closing date of 16 June 2016. Alternatively, applications can be hand delivered to the following physical address:
UNFPA – ESARO
Sunninghill Place
Block B
9 Simba Road
Sunninghill
Johannesburg
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