CONSULTANCY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMMUNICATION & ADVOCACY STRATEGY FOR THE REGIONAL SRHR – HIV KNOWS NO BORDERS PHASE II

  • Contractor
  • Pretoria South Africa
  • TBD USD / Year
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IOM

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS – – CFAROSA2022-02

CONSULTANCY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMMUNICATION & ADVOCACY STRATEGY FOR THE REGIONAL SRHR – HIV KNOWS NO BORDERS PHASE II (2021 – 2026)

  1. Duty Station of the Consultancy: IOM PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA (Home Based)

  2. Duration of Consultancy: 30 Working days, spread over the period May to August 2022.

  3. Nature of the Consultancy

The purpose of this assignment is to develop the communication and advocacy strategy for the SRHR and HIV Knows No Borders! covering the period 2021-2026. The Communication and advocacy strategy will entail both short-term and long-term objectives to bring about the change in the social determinants of HIV and SRHR through Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) aimed at changing the behaviours, attitudes and practices of key stakeholders. Key stakeholders include regional bodies, governments, local NGOs, faith and religious leaders, service providers, target populations and the communities affected by migration and SRHR. The short-term objectives of this advocacy and communication strategy will improve health literacy among the target stakeholders on the SRHR-HIV needs of Young vulnerable people (YVP), including migrants and sex workers, and what everybody can do to improve and protect their SRHR-HIV health and rights. The long-term objective aims to address social determinants of health that prevent migrants, young vulnerable people and sex workers from attaining the highest level of sexual and reproductive health and rights, by reducing their risks to sexually transmitted infections (STI), including HIV, unplanned pregnancy, and other negative SRH-HIV outcomes. Put differently, advocacy will be used to encourage communities, influencers of policies and policy makers to afford more resources and support for programmes or policies to benefit young vulnerable people, migrants and sex workers. The Strategy will be a product of several consultations with national governments, faith and religious leaders, partner Non-Governmental Organizations, service providers, target populations and other key stakeholders.

  1. Project Context and Scope

The Knows No Borders! Programme (KNB), Phase II (2021-2026), is a regional programme aimed at improving the sexual and reproductive health and HIV (SRH-HIV) outcomes and quality of life among young vulnerable people (YVP), including migrants and sex workers, aged 10 to 29 years, living in migration affected communities in six countries (Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia) in Southern African region. The programme is implemented by the International Organisation for Migration, the United Nations Migration Agency (IOM) in partnership with Save the Children and Ministries of Health and migration-affected communities The programme is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands through the Embassy in Maputo. Data from the mid-term review (2019) and the 2020 Annual Report reflect that Phase I of the programme (2016-2020) noted substantial achievements including: over 500,000 migrants, sex workers (SWs) and young people were reached with SRHR-HIV information and services; nearly 25,000 migrants, young vulnerable people and sex workers were referred for SRHR services and other services; an increased capacity of health and non-health stakeholders to provide responsive SRHR-HIV services; and progressive recognition of migrant’s and young vulnerable people’s (YVP) rights in migration and SRHR-HIV policies and plans at the country and regional levels. However, numerous challenges still exist in the above areas, especially regarding gender equality and other issues directly related to gender such as unmet SRHR needs and access to contraception, agency over one’s body, access to safe abortion and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Based on lessons learned and reviews from Phase I, a context analysis and with support and input from 56 young people and 50 other stakeholders who were interviewed in May 2020, the programme identified the issues and urgent needs that YVP, including migrants and SWs, currently face in the six focus countries, especially in migration-affected communities. Issues and challenges have been identified on the demand side, supply side and in the availability of an enabling legal and social environment.

Young vulnerable people (YVP), including migrants and SWs, have limited access to friendly, appropriate, and targeted SRHR and HIV information. Limited access to available SRHR and HIV services is attributed to several factors including stigma, discrimination, and the costs associated with the services. Migrants and SWs face high levels of SGBV, substance abuse, and the limited options to earn a livelihood. Discrimination against services due to migration status and continuity of care for cross-border migrants remains a huge barrier, especially among irregular migrants and PLHIV. The weak and/or negative policy environment, service provider biases, and prevailing social and cultural values and norms in the communities where they live, prohibit them the space and agency they require to achieve better SRHR and HIV outcomes.

Many commitments and pledges to improve the health status of migrants have been made on a regional level through SADC. It is documented in the SADC SRHR Strategy, the SADC Transport Corridor Strategy, and the SADC minimum SRHR standards. But there is an urgent need to strengthen advocacy and awareness among policy makers and implementers at the regional and national level around these migration policies, around behavioural change interventions and communications, gender and social norms and human/migrant and SRHR-HIV rights to really make improvements to the health status of migrants. It also needs to be noted that these regional commitments and pledges leave specific groups behind in their formulation and/or implementation such as women and girls and LGBTQI people. Concerted and coordinated efforts to invest and step-up efforts to establish quality, responsive, accessible, comprehensive and policy-backed SRHR-HIV services are critical for attaining sexual and reproductive healthy lives among the targeted groups.

To address important drivers of poor SRHR and HIV health outcomes, the programme will invest in efforts to combat SGBV, early and child marriage, teenage pregnancies. Abortion is available under certain circumstances in all Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) countries, with varying degrees of restrictions. Data[1] showed that about 61 per cent of the abortions in Southern Africa are performed in an unsafe way. Therefore, advocacy on safe abortion and post abortion care is needed. Lastly, the programme seeks to create enabling local, national & regional environment by a) addressing physical, economic & social barriers to health b) establishing a cadre of SRHR-HIV and Migration advocates by building capacity of policy makers, influencers, academics on SRHR needs and rights of migrants workers and young people.

  1. Organizational Department / Unit to which the Consultant is contributing:

IOM Regional Office for Southern Africa, Project Code: MA.0502.

Department of Migration Health (SRHR and HIV Knows No Borders), IOM Regional Office for Southern Africa (ROSA). The consultant will under the direct supervision of the Programme Manager SRHR and HIV Knows No Borders, and overall supervision of the Regional Director, IOM ROSA. The consultant will work in close collaboration with IOM’s partners, including Save the Children Regional office for East and Southern Africa and implementing Missions and partners within the project countries.

  1. Tangible and measurable outputs of the work assignment:

The overall objective of this consultancy is to develop the communication and advocacy strategy for the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and HIV Knows No Borders Project (2021 – 2026) that will ensure that the KNB Partners fulfil their mandates towards attaining the long-term goal of attainment of the highest standard of health and wellbeing among migrants in migration affected communities. The consultant will conduct the following activities:

a) Conduct a desk review and thematic analysis of the IOM’s migration health programme documents, existing strategic plans, the Global IOM MHD Strategy, the SRHR Knows No Borders Project Advocacy and Communication strategy(2016-2020) and other key project documents;

b) Analyse potential service gaps and search for additional materials if needed and submit the draft strategy for review, comments &feedback;

c) Where appropriate, conduct additional stakeholder consultations to enrich the contextual background and capture the voices of the target populations;

d) Conduct a literature review on migration, SRHR and HIV with a focus on understanding the programming context and SRHR-HIV priorities in the region;

e) Design the advocacy messages to guide on exact SBCC messages to overcome identified HIV and SRHR problem behaviours;

f) Guide with the selection of appropriate communication channels and materials to reach the target audience;

g) Amend draft strategy with comments, inputs from project team and stakeholders

h) Conduct half day validation workshop among project team, implementing partners and stakeholders to refine strategy;

i) Compile and submit the final advocacy and communication strategy of the KNB II project (designed and well laid out in pdf and ready for printing) and a report of the validation and consultative process; and

j) Dissemination of the final strategy among project teams and stakeholders

  1. Deliverables and Payment schedule

a) 40% upon receipt and approval by IOM of the inception report outlining technical approach to the assignment, including the workplan and a draft communication and advocacy strategy.**

  • Zero draft advocacy and communication strategy for feedback and comments**

  • PPT on draft 1 of Advocacy and communication strategy to be presented at the validation workshop **

b) 60% upon receipt and approval by IOM of the final SRHR strategy for IOM Regional Office for Southern Africa region.**

  • A final clean copy of the communication and advocacy strategy (e-copy and hard copy) in English and Portuguese **

  • Report of the advocacy and communication strategy validation and consultative process which is publishable.**

  • Performance indicators for the evaluation of results

· The strategy conforms to the IOM’s Internal writing guidelines and communication policies and is responsive to the needs of the implementing partners and target populations

· Ability to transfer skills in strategy development and consultation approaches to the migration health project and mission staff

· A well designed, formatted and laid out SRHR strategy document that is analytical and technically sound

  1. Education, experience and/or skills required

· A minimum of a post-graduate University degree in a field related to public health, communications sciences, mass communication, social sciences, development studies, public health policy and migration studies with a preference for a graduate degree and relevant professional certification.

· Minimum of 7-10 years of experience in communication and advocacy for SRHR and migration health at the global, regional and national levels in the fields of SRHR, HIV and migration, preferably in sub-Saharan Africa.

· Proven excellent technical writing, effective communication and facilitation skills within a multi-cultural setting.

· Capacity to organise and facilitate senior-level consultative meetings involving the UN, government and NGOs.

· Ability to work under pressure with restrictive timelines and to establish and maintain effective working relationships with people.

· Fluency in English (written and spoken); fluency in another language especially Portuguese is highly desirable.

  1. Travel required:

Possible travel to Pretoria and project countries within the Southern African region. If travel is required, a Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) and flights will be paid for by IOM in addition to the all-inclusive consultancy/professional fee.

  1. Competencies

Values

· Inclusion and respect for diversity respects and promotes individual and cultural differences; encourages diversity and inclusion wherever possible.

· Integrity and transparency: maintains high ethical standards and acts in a manner consistent with organizational principles/rules and standards of conduct.

· Professionalism: demonstrates ability to work in a composed, competent, and committed manner and exercises careful judgment in meeting day-to-day challenges.

Core Competencies – behavioural indicators

· Teamwork: develops and promotes effective collaboration within and across units to achieve shared goals and optimize results.

· Delivering results produces and delivers quality results in a service-oriented and timely manner; is action-oriented and committed to achieving agreed outcomes.

· Managing and sharing knowledge continuously seeks to learn, share knowledge, and innovate.

· Accountability: takes ownership for achieving the Organization’s priorities and assumes responsibility for own action and delegated work.

· Communication: encourages and contributes to clear and open communication; explains complex matters in an informative, inspiring, and motivational way.

[1] Iqbal H. Shaha, Elisabeth Åhmana and Nuriye Ortaylib, Access to Safe Abortion: Progress and Challenges since the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), 2014

How to apply

Interested individual consultants are expected to submit the following:

• Financial quotation/proposal relating to this assignment in USD, specifying the daily professional fee as well as the total all-inclusive consultancy fee

• Letter of motivation describing the consultant suitability for the assignment,

• Up-to-date curriculum vitae with three professional referees and

• Two examples of similar works

All applications clearly indicating the position title (consultancy service – CFAROSA2022-02) in the subject line must be submitted on or before 18 May 2022 via e-mail to [email protected].

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.


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