Consultant to Package Training Materials for Programme on Women’s Empowerment in Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (SRMNCAH) rights in humanitarian setting

Contract

This is a International Consultant contract. More about International Consultant contracts.

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

UN Women East & Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) maintains a large presence in the East and Southern Africa region, covering 13 countries with a Programme Presence in Somalia. In accordance with the UN Women Strategic Note, which is in line with the Africa Strategy, UN Women works to advance social, economic, and political rights and protection of women and girls from violence, including harmful practices. The ESARO also focuses on those from marginalized, excluded, and under-represented groups, including rural women, women with disabilities, women living with or affected by HIV, women survivors of violence, women migrants, elderly women among others. Additionally, women and girls are often greatly affected in both sudden and slow-onset emergencies and are at increased risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV, unplanned pregnancies, maternal deaths, and illnesses, and sexual and gender-based violence. UN Women’s Programme on Women’s Empowerment in Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child, and Adolescent Health (SRMNCAH) rights in humanitarian settings in the Horn of Africa Region (POWER), with the generous support from the Austrian Development Agency, seeks to address some of these challenges.

The Horn of Africa (HoA), which consists of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda, currently has 20 million people affected by crises which has a negative impact on the most vulnerable population’s ability to access sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. The context leaves women and girls particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation and abuse, including defilement and rape. This is further compounded by the social distancing and restrictions imposed during COVID-19, making it difficult to make available and access the services in many countries specifically in humanitarian settings.

Several on-going crises in HoA have led to large movements of people within and between countries and significant local, national, and regional impacts. Wide geographical and socio-economic disparities impact access to health services, and coverage of priority SRMNCAH interventions is sub-optimal both in the development and humanitarian settings throughout. Discrimination against women and girls including gender-based violence, economic exclusion, and the disparity in access to quality and affordable SRMNCAH services is common across the region. In humanitarian settings, many women and girls are vulnerable due to the limited healthcare facilities, lack of information and some-times difficulties accessing or inability to access services due to their vulnerability. Their situation has become worse with COVID 19.

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 and the subsequent closure of schools, the number of unplanned pregnancies especially among adolescent girls has escalated. The pandemic risks the reversal of gains made in the access SRMNCAH services and protection of women and girls. Limited access to SRMNCAH services especially, menstrual hygiene products and sexual and reproductive health services including post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) kits will exacerbate risks to girl’s reproductive health. There are instances where fear of infection, family and caregivers are reluctant to permit adolescent girls to access such services.

The importance of upholding sexual and reproductive rights, including access to quality services for women and girls are enshrined in a wide range of normative frameworks, including the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action, the Programme of Action of International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially target 5.6 on sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights and related targets across Goal 3. Most recently, the Generation Equality Forum Blueprints for Action Coalitions on Gender-Based Violence and Bodily Autonomy and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights add new momentum to these commitments. These international frameworks are reinforced by various instruments and policies at the regional and national levels to promote SRMNCAH, such as the African Union Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Continental Policy Framework (2005) which is operationalized through the Maputo Plan of Action. However, discriminatory practices and the diverse barriers prevent women and girls from enjoying their rights and dismantling these barriers is a focus for the POWER.

The POWER aims to address the barriers that prevent women, children, and adolescents from demanding and realizing their rights to SRMNCAH services. It seeks to result in: Established rights-based national and local SRMNCAH frameworks; improved promotion of equal gender norms, attitudes and practices on women’s and girls’ rights to SRMNCAH; and empowered women and girls exercise their SRMNCAH rights and seek services. The POWER programme is implemented in select humanitarian settings in Ethiopia and Uganda and complemented by key activities at the regional level for the Horn of Africa (HoA). In support of these objectives, the POWER has conducted regional trainings complemented by country-level trainings with a focus on advocacy for SRMNCAH, gender-responsive budgeting, transformative leadership, among other areas to empower women and men and adolescents with the knowledge, skills and networks to address the barriers for SRMNCAH in humanitarian settings.

Objectives of the assignment:

The assignment will support UN Women East and Southern Africa Regional Office to refine existing training materials related to two POWER trainings on Advocacy for SRMNCAH and Gender-Responsive Budgeting and package into a set of materials that can be utilized by UN Women personnel at country levels to replicate and adapt the trainings at country and sub-national levels.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work:

Reporting to the ESARO Policy Specialist for EVAW, the consultant will review, refine and package existing training material on Advocacy for SRMNCAH and GRB for SRMNCAH, which was developed and delivered via online sessions for partners from across the Horn of Africa. This will facilitate UN Women’s future use of the materials and will reference and complement training materials developed in Ethiopia and Uganda. The consultant will be responsible for reviewing the training materials, training reports and feedback from participants and consulting with UN Women POWER Focal Points and related colleagues to inform the structure of the training package and required guidance (e.g. facilitation notes) to accompany the training materials. They will be responsible for providing regular updates on the process and submission of the deliverables in a timely manner.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Review and refine the materials related to two POWER trainings (Advocacy for SRMNCAH and GRB for SRMNCAH) for future use by UN Women and partners. Specifically, this will include:

1. Review of the existing training concept, agenda and presentations/ activities, surveys and related materials (including the training report and feedback from participants) from each training;
2. Revise the proposed agenda and content as required to ensure alignment with the training objectives and drawing on good practices related to advancing SRMNCAH in humanitarian settings in relation to the training topics;
3. Package the materials for future use by UN Women personnel and/or partners in a way that can enable facilitators to replicate the training online (as in the original training) or for face-to-face trainings. This should include updates to the following materials: training agendas, brief guidance for facilitators, introductory content for participants/invitations, revised presentations/activities for group work and pre-post surveys for participants;
4. Present the package for each training to the UN Women POWER Focal Points and adjust as needed, retaining attention to presentation and layout in line with existing POWER branding;
5. Submit the revised packages in a structured format for sharing.

Deliverables:

1. Finalized training package for Training on Gender-Responsive Advocacy on SRMNCAH Rights in Humanitarian settings for Women Leaders and Advocates, including: training agenda, brief guidance for facilitators, introductory content for participants/invitations, revised presentations/activities for group work and pre-post surveys for participants.
2. Finalized training package for Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) Training on Responding Gender Specific Barriers to Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child, and Adolescent Health in humanitarian settings, including: training agenda, brief guidance for facilitators, introductory content for participants/invitations, revised presentations/activities for group work and pre-post surveys for participants.

Work Schedule:

Deliverables

Timelines

Allocated Percentage

Submission of draft package of materials for each of the Trainings (Advocacy and GRB), including updates to the following materials: training agendas, brief guidance for facilitators, introductory content for participants/invitations, revised presentations/ activities for group work and pre-post surveys for participants

29th April 2022

50%

Submission of finalized package of materials for each of the Trainings (Advocacy and GRB), incorporating feedback from UN Women, including updates to the following materials: training agendas, brief guidance for facilitators, introductory content for participants/invitations, revised presentations/ activities for group work and pre-post surveys for participants

13th May 2022

50%

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Functional Competencies:

• Strong programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills;
• Ability to synthesize programme performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making;
• Strong analytical skills;
• Strong Facilitation skills;
• Demonstrates excellent written and oral communication skills;
• Ability to review a variety of data, identify and adjust discrepancies, identify and resolve operational problems;
• Proven networking skills and ability to generate interest in UN Women’s mandate;
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside UN Women.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• A Master’s Degree in Public Health, Health, Sociology, Community Development, Human Rights, Gender and Development, Law, or similar field.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international level in design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;
• Demonstrated technical experience related to programming on women and girl’s empowerment, gender and SRMNCAH rights;
• Proven experience developing and delivering online as well as face-to-face trainings with diverse actors across government agencies, UN Agencies, and CSOs;
• Working experience within the East and Southern Africa region is an asset;
• Proven expertise in adult learning methodologies and facilitation;
• Demonstrated capacity to utilize online platforms for developing learning content for diverse audiences with varying levels of connectivity and digital literacy.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in spoken and written English is required;
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.

Application:

Please attach a completed P11 to your application. Kindly note that applications without a completed and signed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

UN Women Personal History form (P-11) can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment .

Note:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)