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 Eastern & Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) maintains a large presence in Eastern and Southern Africa region, covering 13 countries with program presence in Somalia and Zambia. In accordance with the UN Women Strategic Note, which is premised on 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 program 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 more greatly affected in both sudden and slow-onset emergencies and are at increased risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV, unintended pregnancy, maternal death and illness, and sexual and gender-based violence. UN Women Program 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) 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 has currently 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; and also leaves them 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 has led to large movements of people within and between countries and significant local, national and regional impacts. Wide geographical and socioeconomic 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 health care facilities, lack of information and some-times difficulties in access or inability to access services due to their vulnerability. Their situation is made more challenging during public health emergencies such as COVID 19.

Experiences of dealing with Ebola and other public health and humanitarian crises have taught us about the consequences we may see if SRMNCAH services are not prioritized. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19, and with the closure of schools, there is escalation in unintended pregnancies especially among adolescent girls.  There are reports of pulling of resources from routine health services.  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 girls reproductive health.  Instances are not lacking where due to fear of infection the family and care givers are reluctant to permit adolescent girls to access such services.

The importance of reproductive rights and access to quality health 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). Important for the implementation of Agenda 2030, the actions under this programme will contribute towards meeting commitments under the SDG Goal 5 on gender equality where all the targets are relevant, but specifically the target 5.6 on sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights. Additionally, multiple targets across Goal 3 on health are significant for SRMNCAH. At the regional level, several instruments and policies are in place to promote SRMNCAH which include the African Union Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Continental Policy Framework (2005) which is operationalized through the Maputo Plan of Action. There are several national and sectoral policies around SRMNCAH and refugee rights that have been considered in design of POWER.

Overall goal of the POWER Programme and Results:

UN Women POWER program is aimed at addressing the barriers that are preventing women, children and adolescents from demanding and realizing their rights to SRMNCAH services and seek to achieve the following outcomes (results) in humanitarian settings:

• 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;
• Empowered women and girls to exercise their SRMNCAH rights and seek services. POWER will be implemented in selected geographies in humanitarian settings in Ethiopia and Uganda and will have some interventions at the regional level for the Horn of Africa (HoA) region.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work:

Reporting to the Program Advisor-EVAW, and working closely with the Humanitarian Specialist and the EVAW/SRMNCAH focal persons in the country offices, the consultant will provide technical support in documenting, sharing and replicating of best practices and strategies on community solutions that promote SRMNCAH rights in humanitarian settings.  She/he will work in close collaboration with the UN sister agencies, specifically, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNHCR, Government and CSO partner agencies.

She/he will contribute to UN Women’s work on SRMNCAH focusing on gender equality and women empowerment, taking into consideration the women with disabilities in line with the principles of leaving no one behind.The consultant will be responsible for providing regular updates to UN Women on the progress and submission of the deliverables in a timely manner.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Prepare a 4-5-page literature review on community solutions and strategies in SRMNCAH in Humanitarian Settings. Reviewing key programs, reports, studies, country analyses and relevant materials by relevant actors in SRMNCAH in Humanitarian settings. Also provide an analysis of the effects of COVID-19 in implementing community solutions and strategies in the humanitarian settings;
• Prepare a list of relevant actors in the humanitarian field to be interviewed and provide further guidance in Identifying key community solutions and strategies. Relevant actors to be interviewed include development partners (UNHCR, UNICEF, UNFPA), government, UN Women staff, CSOs, Community leaders and Traditional Leaders and beneficiaries such as women groups with the humanitarian settings. The interviews will aim to capture, emerging solutions and strategies as regards SRMNCAH services in humanitarian settings; Prepare a narrative based on the findings from the field;
• Based on the literature review and  key informant interviews, prepare a research paper of approximately 20 pages capturing an overall review of community solutions in SRMNCAH in Humanitarian Settings, a collection of 10 proven to work examples of community solutions and strategies and the effects of COVID-19 or other public health and humanitarian crisis on delivery of these community solutions. The best practices and strategies will be useful to facilitate cross-country learning and contribute to informing community interventions, advocacy initiatives, and program development on SRMNCAH in humanitarian settings;
• Undertake substantive editing of the first drafts, after receiving feedback to ensure internal consistency, both intellectual and stylistic; general readability and accessibility to a broad readership worldwide;
• Organize a webinar to facilitate review and validation of the study and incorporation of additional inputs if any;
• Deliver a final approved detailed report with a 3-4-page executive summary document;
• Prepare a PowerPoint presentation based on the final report;
• Organize a webinar to present the findings of the report in with support of UN Women team. These include relevant Humanitarian actors, including Government, Humanitarian actors, CSOs, organizations working on youth and women with disabilities and education institutions.

Plagiarism Test:

ESARO conducts a plagiarism test on all submitted reports and the maximum accepted rate is 20%.  Reports exceeding this percentage will not be accepted.

Outputs/deliverables:

• 4-5-page literature review on community solutions and strategies in SRMNCAH in Humanitarian Settings;
• List of relevant actors in the humanitarian field to be interviewed with a schedule of confirmed interviews;
• Narrative report from the field interviews;
• Draft research paper approximately 20 pages with a collection of 10 good practice examples of community solutions and strategies;
• Webinar organized and presentation of the findings made.

Payment Schedule:

• 50% to be paid upon delivery of the 4-5-page literature review, list of relevant actors and confirmed schedule of interviews and narrative report from the field interviews;
• 50% to be paid upon delivery of the 20-page research paper with 10 good practice examples of community solutions and webinar fully organized and presentation of findings is made.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding SRMNCAH; 
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Functional Competencies:

• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making;
• Strong analytical skills;
• Demonstrates excellent written and oral communication skills;
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Management;
• Good knowledge of UN programme management systems;
• Ability to review a variety of data, identify and adjust discrepancies, identify and resolve operational problems;
• Focuses on results for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Proven networking skills and ability to generate interest in UN Women’s mandate;
• Identifies opportunities and builds strong partnerships with clients and partners;
• Sharing knowledge and experience;
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside UN Women;
• Knowledge and practical experience on SRH and HIV programming.

Required Skills and Experience

Education Requirement:

• A Master’s Degree in Public Health, Health, Sociology, Community Development, Human Rights, Gender and Development, Law, or similar field;
• Additional training/certification in project/programme management and SRMNCAH related issues would be an added advantage.

Experience:

• Minimum 10 years’ working experience at least five of which should be in undertaking research, developing programs on SRMNCAH with national or international organizations;
• Familiarity and experience working on Community Solutions in SRMNCAH in Africa specifically in humanitarian settings;
• Experience in writing/researching topics pertaining gender equality and providing an analytical view is desirable;
• Experience working with, coordinating and liaising with humanitarian actors in government agencies, UN Agencies, or CSOs.

Language Requirements:

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

UNWOMEN is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence