BACKGROUND
The unintended pregnancy rate in Africa stands at 89 per 1000 women of reproductive age (aged 15-44 years); many of whom seek abortion because they do not have the intention of being pregnant. It is estimated that of the 21.6 million unintended pregnancies that occur in Africa, 38% end in abortion (Guttmacher, 2010-2014). Safety in abortion requires more than liberalisation of the law; countries need to commit to ensuring that safe abortion services are available, develop, adopt and disseminate service provision guidelines, create awareness on availability of service, break barriers to access, engage in provider training and ensure that there is adequate infrastructure to meet service provision needs.
The Global Comprehensive Abortion Care Initiative (GCACI) is a project that has been implemented by the International Planned Parenthood (IPPF) since 2007. The project which is in its 5th implementation phase (Feb 2019 to Jan 2022) was designed with the overarching goal of increasing access to comprehensive and quality abortion care (safe abortion and/or treatment of incomplete abortion depending on local context) and contraceptive services. In its current phase, GCACI is being implemented by Member Associations (MAs) in 9 countries in the Africa Region; Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Cameroon, DRC, Benin, Burkina, Togo and Guinea Conakry.
During its previous implementation phase the project faced both internal and external challenges related to abortion and contraceptive service provision. A mid-term review conducted by the IPPF Africa Regional Office in March 2018, identified social-cultural norms, stigma, restrictive laws, lack of/insufficient articulation of abortion service provision in national guidelines, social-economic barrier, and low uptake of comprehensive abortion care by young people as the main challenges. Additionally, where need was high or awareness existed, it did not necessarily translate into uptake of services. To achieve the goal of the project, it is critical for the current phase to learn from the lessons and promising practices of the previous phase which will be essential in addressing the underlying factors that hinder uptake of abortion services. One area of focus will be strengthening and sustaining demand generation strategies to successfully deliver Phase Five of the project.
To this end, the project plans to embark on a consultative process of developing a demand generation strategy and Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) plan to not only increase awareness on service availability but also improve knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours that lead to uptake of contraceptive and safe abortion services.
PURPOSE
IPPF is seeking expression of interest from suitably qualified resource person/s to work with the IPPF Africa Regional Office and its 9 Member Associations implementing the project to refine the broad demand generation strategies and develop related activities and align them to the existing metrics developed to measure their effectiveness. Specifically, the consultant will work with the team to (i) assist the Member Associations to adapt the broader strategies to country specific demand generation strategies; ii) assist the Member Associations to develop SBCC plans that work in their country contexts for contraception and safe abortion (iii); establish a system that is engrained in their plans to measure impact of each demand generation strategy; and (iii) facilitate a demand generation and SBCC workshop in Nairobi.
Description of the assignment:
- Familiarise with the IPPF Strategic Framework and how the project fits in with the service delivery outcome, which includes contraception and abortion.
- Conduct in-depth consultations with GCACI project team and all the 9 MA program staff to understand the value proposition of the project over time.
- Review current demand generation strategies and SBCC approaches in the 9 countries and generate a report cataloguing the current strategies with a summary of the strengths and limitations of each
- Develop a resource for use by IPPF Member Associations providing guidance on how to develop effective demand generation strategies, including the integration of SBCC.
- Support the Africa Region to organize a demand generation and SBCC workshop with all 9 Member Associations with the aim of contextualizing the strategy and plan into country specific strategies and plans
DELIVERABLES
1. A written compilation of existing demand generation strategies, outlining the strengths and weaknesses of each
2. A written guide on how to develop, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of demand generation strategies for abortion and contraceptive programmes. The guide should include:
a. A matrix outlining the phases of demand generation strategy development, including identification of problem, segmenting markets, identifying population dynamics, conducting market intelligence and developing strategies
b. The list of various strategies developed under Deliverable 1
c. An overview of how to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of demand generation activities and revise strategies and activities accordingly
d. An overview of how an SBCC approach can be integrated into demand generation strategies
i. Outline appropriate approaches in both media and community-based interventions for contraception and safe abortion
ii. Provide examples of options for packaging, messages, and IEC material
3. Support the IPPF Africa Regional office in the planning of a workshop to roll-out the guide to Member Associations
Experience and Qualification
- An experienced development communication specialist. Experience in public health experience is a plus.
- Expertise and demonstrated success in developing demand generation and SBCC strategies;
- Excellent written communication skills, with experience developing and writing resources and guidelines
- Strong appreciation and proven in-depth understanding of sexual and reproductive health and rights, especially in contraception and abortion.
- Experience working in Sub-Sahara Africa is essential
- English is a must and strong preference for a bilingual (French and English) person ▪ Company or Individual documents, profile and resume of the consultant with references (for each of the consultants proposed for the assignment)
- Samples of previous work
- Separate technical and financial proposals and confirmation of availability in the suggested time frame
All applications must contain:
TIMELINE
This assignment is expected to cover 15 working days over a period of 4 months starting July 2019.
APPLICATION PROCESS
All applications should be sent [email protected]. Quote ‘GCACI Demand Generation Strategy / SBCC in the subject line of your email by July 23, 2019
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