TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR DEVELOPING THE AFRICA PROGRAM STRATEGY

1.1 Background
The Center for Reproductive Rights (the Center) is the global leader in using the power of law to advance reproductive rights as fundamental human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the non-profit, non-partisan organizationhas regional offices in Bogota, Geneva, Nairobi, and Washington, DC, and a staff of approximately 200 diverse professionals. The Center’s compelling human rights mission and reputation for excellence and cutting-edge legal work has powered its exceptional growth trajectory to an operating budget of over $40 million and won the respect of the world’s leading law firms, as reflected in the additional $29 million annually in donated legal services, representing the work last year of 820 lawyers in 46 countries.

The Center has a track record of success to back up this ambitious goal. Since its founding in 1992, the Center’s game-changing litigation and advocacy, and its unparalleled expertise in constitutional, comparative, and international human rights law have transformed how reproductive rights are understood by courts, governments, and human rights bodies worldwide, including maternal health, contraception, abortion, and assisted reproduction. The Center has won groundbreaking cases before national courts, U.N. Committees, and regional human rights bodies, led the development of historic, proactive
legislation advancing robust protections for reproductive rights, and has built the legal capacity of women’s rights advocates in more than 60 countries and counting.

The Center’s Global Strategic Plan sets a high impact mark: By 2030, half of the world’s population will be living under stronger protections for reproductive rights than they do today. In order to align with the Global Strategy, the Center is currently in the process of refining its program strategy for Africa for the period 2022-2026. The Center is therefore looking for qualified consultants to analyze the SRHR context in Africa, map out key SRHR stakeholders across the region and in the target countries. The consultants will then use the findings to refine and finalize the Africa Program Strategy, in line with the Center’s Global Strategy 2022-2026.

In Africa, the Center focuses on abortion, adolescent SRHR, maternal health, assisted reproduction and SRHR in humanitarian settings. The Center is active at the regional level, as well as in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia, and Nigeria.

1.2. The Consultancy Objectives
The overall objective of the consultancy is to refine and finalize the Africa Program Strategy for the period 2022-2026 in line with the Center’s Global Strategy 2022-2026.
The specific objectives will include:
 Undertaking a comprehensive analysis of the SRHR context in Africa, with a focus on abortion, adolescent SRHR, maternal health, assisted reproduction and SRHR in humanitarian setting.
 Conducting a comprehensive analysis and mapping of key SRHR stakeholders, including civil society organizations, networks, and alliances at regional and country levels, and identify opportunities for partnerships with the Center.
 Working closely with the Africa Program team, under the leadership of the Senior Regional Director, Africa, to refine and finalize the Africa Program Strategy in line with the Center’s Global Strategy
2022-2026.

1.3. Scope of Work
The consultants will focus on the following themes: (1) abortion, (2) maternal health, (2) adolescent SRHR,
(3) assisted reproduction, particularly surrogacy, and (4) access to SRHR in humanitarian settings. Any other SRHR issues that may come up during this assignment will be noted and flagged by the consultants for discussion with the Africa Program team.

In conducting a comprehensive situational analysis relating to SRHR in Africa at the regional level and country level, the consultants will adopt a detailed desk review of all relevant internal and external documents, including the Center’s Global Strategy 2022-2026. The consultants will also conduct key informant interviews with relevant respondents in and out of the Center, including with staff, various strategic and implementing partners, national and regional organizations, INGOs, regional bodies, UN agencies and individual experts working work on SRHR in Africa. The analysis will focus on the Africa Program’s priority areas of abortion, adolescent SRHR, maternal health, assisted reproduction and SRHR in humanitarian setting. An analysis of the general situation of SRHR in Africa will result in an up-to-date problem analysis along the Center’s priority areas. An analysis of legal and policy landscape relating to SRHR in Africa will seek to map out the existing legal and policy frameworks and identify legal and policy gaps. Based on the context analysis findings, the consultants will provide clear recommendations on 1) the areas of priority for the Center in Africa, 2) the geographical focus for deepening and expanding the Center’s work, and 3) the legal and policy spaces and opportunities for the Center, including strategies that the Program may adopt in their litigation and advocacy work in the Africa. These will be presented in a final report following a robust internal review process.

The consultants will work closely with the Center staff and partners to map key SRHR stakeholders, including organizations, bodies, institutions, and agencies working on SRHR and related areas e.g., gender equality forums, feminist movements, access to justice, legal empowerment, disability rights, children’s rights, sex work, LGBTQIA rights, that intersects with SRHR, in Africa. The mapping will focus on stakeholders at the regional level as well as in the target countries. As part of this exercise, the consultants will identify opportunities for collaboration and recommend strategies for partnerships with the Center in litigation and advocacy in Africa. The consultants will develop and share, with the Center, a detailed table of stakeholders,
including contacts of the various focal points where possible.

The consultants will review all the documents related to the Africa Program Strategy to-date. Based on the findings and recommendations from the context analysis as well as the mapping exercise, the consultants will refine the Africa Program Strategy for the period 2022-2026. The consultants will work closely with the Africa Program team, under the leadership of the Senior Regional Director, Africa, to refine the Africa Program Strategy in line with the Center’s Global Strategy 2022-2026. The zero draft Strategy will then be submitted for various internal reviews and feedback. The consultants will incorporate the feedback and submit draft 1 Strategy for validation and final feedback. Thereafter, the consultants will submit the final Africa Program

Strategy for the period 2022-2026 for adoption.
1.4. Methodology
This consultancy will involve a robust internal and external desk review complemented by key informant interviews (KIIs) and focused group discussions (FGDs) with the Center’s staff and other key sector actors including policymakers, civil society organizations, alliances, networks, girls and women, communities, and other stakeholders in the region as well as in-countries.
The consultants will be responsible for detailing the methodology for carrying out the task. The consultants will detail how these methods will be executed, including proposing a list of key informants to be interviewed.
The consultants will develop questions/tools that will guide the desk reviews, KIIs, and FGDs which will then be discussed and agreed upon with the Center. As much as possible, interviews will be audio recorded and transcribed.

1.5. Deliverables
The consultants will deliver the following:

1. Inception report detailing the proposed methodology, proposed key informants/respondents, and the execution plan.
2. Zero draft context analysis report – aligned to the consultancy objectives and the scope of work.
3. Zero draft stakeholder mapping report – list of stakeholders, their SRHR work, geographical presence, opportunities for collaboration, and strategies for partnership.
4. Validation Workshop – with selected stakeholders and facilitated by the consultants jointly with the Center, following the review and feedback on the zero drafts.
5. Final context analysis report – max 30 pages, incorporating feedback from all reviewers, including feedback from the validation workshop.
6. Final stakeholder mapping report – incorporating feedback from all reviewers, including feedback from the validation workshop.
7. Draft Africa Program Strategy – aligned to the consultancy objectives and the scope of work.
8. Final Africa Program Strategy – incorporating feedback from all reviewers.

1.6. Qualification of the Consultants
The team of consultants must have experience in strategy development.
10+ years’ experience in the SRHR sector or broader human rights field.
Extensive knowledge and experience in the Africa region are essential.
Track record of extensive consultancy experience in organizational or program strategies.
Masters in law, public health, management, international human rights, SRHR, international development, or other related fields, a must for the lead consultant.
Proven research experience in the health sector, preferably in legal and policy review, and qualitative data analysis.
Excellent writing skills and ability to present findings clearly, concisely, and logically.
Experience in effectively managing/coordinating across different teams, regions, or geographies.
A clear understanding of SRHR in the Africa region, previous work, and relevant networks in different parts of Africa (Eastern, Western, North and Southern Africa) are essential.
Demonstrated ability to assess complex situations, to analyze critical issues succinctly and draw clear conclusions and recommendations.
In-depth understanding and consulting experiences in institutional set-ups of complex development programs.
Substantive knowledge of participatory methodologies of research and strategy development involving multiple stakeholders and interventions.

1.7. Management of the Consultancy
The Center is responsible for the overall management of the consultancy. The consultants will be reporting to the Associate Director, Africa Program Operations, and the Africa Strategy Steering team. The Steering team will avail any relevant documents or resources to the consultants.