International Consultant - Adolescents and Young Persons Vulnerability Assessment to HIV and AIDS (50 working days)

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                                                                            TERMS OF REFERENCE

Background and Justification

Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) are disproportionately affected by HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), with 26% of new infections attributed to this population.  In sub-Saharan Africa, six in seven new HIV infections among adolescents aged 15–19 years are among adolescent girls. Around 4,200 adolescent girls and young women aged 15–24 years became infected with HIV every week in 2020 due to a myriad of factors that affect AGYW and more generally adolescent and young people (AYP), including limited knowledge about HIV/SRHR, access to quality services, social isolation, economic disadvantage, discriminatory cultural norms, orphanhood, violence, high school drop-out rates sexual and gender-based violence, drug and substance abuse

Scope of Work

Goal: The goal of this assignment is to support NACC, NASCOP, Global Fund PRs/SRs in strengthening national AYP HIV/SRH targeting approaches through the development of a national risk and vulnerability assessment tool

Objectives:  

• To understand the key HIV risk factors and pathways for AYP;
• To review the current risk and vulnerability assessment tools to determine their effectiveness in targeting AYP most at risk;
• Use data to inform and support prioritization and targeting to interventions, ensuring alignment with UNAIDS subnational estimates work;
• To provide recommendations for the development of a standardized national risk and vulnerability assessment tool and its implementation;
• To support PRs/SRs in the development and analysis of a pilot phase;
• To secure validation of a final national risk and vulnerability tool; and
• To learn from the implementation process and share lessons for regional and country learning

Activities   

• Attend a kick-off call with UNICEF;
• Facilitate an inception meeting with NACC, NASCOP, Global Fund, GF PRs/SRs and UNICEF;
• Develop an inception report outlining the proposed methodology, workplan and tools and present to partners;
• Undertake a desk review of the latest literature, policy and evidence on HIV risk factors and pathways for AYP in Kenya and the region, including UNAIDS subnational estimates work; 
• Review the current risk and vulnerability assessment tools in use across various partners and associated outcome data (e.g. VACs);
• Undertake consultations/key informant interviews, including with users of the current risk and vulnerability assessment tools, to understand their implementation, including bottlenecks, challenges and lessons learned with regards to effectiveness and outcomes to secure further improvements;
• Draft key recommendations on the design of a national risk and vulnerability assessment tool and key implementation considerations;
• Develop a Power Point presentation (PPT) of key findings from the desk review, data, consultations and recommendations on how to secure better improvements of the risk and vulnerability and its implementation to share with partners for feedback;
• Draft a national risk and vulnerability assessment tool and implementation guide with partner feedback incorporated;
• Develop a draft test phase pilot concept, plan, including monitoring and data collection tools, to determine the effectiveness of the draft national risk and vulnerability assessment tool and its implementation, to be carried out by NACC and other partners of the existing Global Fund programme and share for partner feedback;
• Finalise the test phase pilot plan, including monitoring and data collection tools;
• Orient PRs/SRs in preparation for a one-month test piloting the tools in select areas; ​
• Prepare an analysis report + PPT of key findings and make recommendations of how to secure better improvements on the risk and vulnerability tool + implementation guide and share with partners for feedback;
• Develop a final risk and vulnerability assessment tool and final implementation guide + updated PPT, for implementation according to outcomes of test pilot for validation; and,
• Develop a learning report and PPT of process, outcomes and lessons for country and regional dissemination.

Working Relationships 

The consultant will report to the UNICEF Chief HIV in close collaboration with the UNICEF Regional Adolescent and HIV/AIDS specialist, the AYP leads National AIDS Control Council and the National AIDS and STI Control Programme, and the Global Fund PRs/SRs and AGYW advisors. The consultant will also regularly interact with other line ministries and in-country partners as relevant to developing the national risk and vulnerability assessment tool.   

Deliverables   

1. Summary minutes of meetings with NACC, NASCOP, UNICEF, Global Fund PRs/SRs and key stakeholders.
2. Inception report detailing the proposed methodology for meeting deliverables of this consultancy, including workplan and relevant data gathering and reporting tools e.g. interview/ consultation guide and list of interviews with key stakeholders.  
3. PowerPoint (PPT) summary that includes the desk review, county-level data, and consultations, with recommendation on the design and implementation of the national risk and vulnerability assessment tool, for feedback at the national partner meeting.
4. Draft national risk and vulnerability assessment tool and implementation guide, with inclusion of feedback from partners.
5. Draft test phase pilot plan, including monitoring and data collection tools and share with partners.
6. Final test phase pilot plan with partner feedback incorporated.
7. Test phase data analysis report and share with partners for feedback.
8. Final national risk and vulnerability assessment tool and implementation guide based on outcomes of test phase pilot with accompanying PPT for presentation at validation meeting.
9. Short learning report and PPT from the TA implementation process, outcomes and lesson learned for country and regional dissemination.

Payment Schedule

Payments will be based on timely and quality deliverables cleared by PME section to be invoiced with completion of each deliverable as highlighted in the workplan.

Conditions

• As per UNICEF policy, payment is made against approved deliverables. No advance payment is allowed unless in exceptional circumstances against bank guarantee, subject to a maximum of 30 per cent of the total contract value in cases where advance purchases, for example for supplies or travel, may be necessary.
• The consultant selected will be governed by and subject to UNICEF’s General Terms and Conditions for individual contracts.
• Performance will be evaluated considering quality of deliverables, consultation with stakeholders, timeliness of deliverables of and comprehensiveness of work as defined in the terms of reference.
• The consultant may not publish or disseminate Reports, data collection tools, collected data or any other documents produced from this consultancy without the express permission of and acknowledgement of UNICEF.
• The consultant will be required to clearly identify any potential ethical issues and approaches, as well as the processes for ethical review and oversight of the evaluation process in their proposal

Desired competencies, technical background, and experience

1. Advanced university degree in public health, paediatric/adolescent health, social sciences, epidemiology, or related field. 
2. At least 8 years of professional experience at national and international levels, including field experience and expertise in HIV programming, adolescent programming or related field in Eastern and Southern Africa, is desirable
3. A set of strong quantitative and qualitative analytical skills and a good understanding of translating research into policy and programmatic implementation
4. Strong knowledge and experience in the development and piloting of tools/materials
5. Demonstrated ability to work across a range of partners, including national, sub-national and community-level stakeholders and partners to secure buy-in and ownership
6. Technical field experience with data collection and pathway analytics would be an asset
7. Demonstrated ability to work in a multicultural environment and establish harmonious and effective relationships, including with national-level stakeholder
8. Experience working in Kenya will be an asset
9. Excellent English oral and written communication skill

Must exhibit the UNICEF Core Values of:

1. Care
2. Respect
3. Integrity
4. Trust
5. Accountability
6. Sustainability

Competencies

• Builds and maintains partnerships
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
• Drive to achieve results for impact
• Innovates and embraces change
• Manages ambiguity and complexity
• Thinks and acts strategically
• Works collaboratively with others

Conditions

The candidate selected will be governed by, and subject to, UNICEF’s General Terms and Conditions for individual contracts. The work can be performed remotely/home-based. All products and data developed and collected for this agreement are the intellectual property of UNICEF. The consultant may not publish or disseminate the final report, or any other document produced from this work without the express permission and acknowledgement of UNICEF.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

How to Apply

Interested and qualified candidates should apply online using the button below. As part of their application, candidates should provide:

1. A cover letter that specifies how you meet the desired competencies, technical background and experience (no more than 2 pages)

2. A short CV (no more than 4 pages)

3. A technical Proposal

4. A financial proposal that should include the daily rate and total fees in USD for the assignment. (Any application without a financial proposal will not be considered)

5. 3 Referees.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization