NGO JOBS

Organization: Government of Sierra Leone
Country: Sierra Leone
Closing date: 12 Aug 2013

TERMS OF REFERENCE
COMMUNICATION EXPERT
Consultancy to Develop a National Communication Strategy
For the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy

Background

In Sierra Leone, teenage pregnancy is one of the more pervasive problems affecting the health, social, economic and political progress and empowerment of women and girls. The issue to address is alarming and is reflected in the following national statistics: 34% of all pregnancies occur amongst teenage girls (SLDHS 2008), 26% of women age 15-19 have already had a birth (MICS 2010), 40% of maternal death occur as a result of teenage pregnancy (MICS 2010) and the untimely pregnancy of young girls is ranked as the third most common reason for them dropping out of school (UNICEF 2008).

Adolescent pregnancy is dangerous, with serious long-term health consequences for the young mother and the baby. Pregnancy is the leading cause of death for adolescent girls and the youngest girls are particularly at risk and babies born to adolescent mothers are also at greater risk. But the impacts of adolescent pregnancy are felt far beyond the walls of the family home. It also has a demonstrable impact on the social and economic development of communities and countries.

In the multiplicity of interacting influences or causes of teenage pregnancy, strong emphasis must be put on social norms, which are key drivers of this problem (on this topic, see Wessell’s M. (2011). A rapid ethnographic study: Interagency Learning Initiative on Community-Based Child Protection Mechanisms and Child Protection Systems). Often, girls view it as normal – even expected and desirable – that they become pregnant at an early age. The fact that many girls decide at an early age that they want to have a baby is itself an indication of a social norm. The importance of social norms is also visible in regard to contraceptives — in Sierra Leone, it is not a social norm to use them and there is peer pressure against using them. Peer-pressure in general plays a central role. Bullying, teasing and name-calling are worldwide problems, which especially happen in schools.

The National Strategy

Under the leadership of H.E. the President, a multi-sectoral committee was set up in 2012, involving key Ministries as well as key stakeholders (UN-Agencies, NGOs, civil society), to develop a comprehensive strategy. The strategy’s expected outcome is to reduce teenage pregnancy in Sierra Leone by 2015, through integrated and coordinated interventions of all partners. By 2015, the strategy intends to have reduced the adolescent fertility rate from 122/1000 (MICS4-2010) to 110/1000.

At the Launching ceremony of the National Strategy, on 13 May 2013, His Excellency the President indicated that: “The Government of Sierra Leone will make all efforts necessary to achieve the ambitious objectives that the National Strategy is setting. (…) This strategy presents a multisectoral approach to empowering adolescents and young people, particularly girls. It involves all key stakeholders and present simple but ambitious solution to Teenage Pregnancy. But more than that, it is a commitment that we make for the younger generations.”

Purpose and rationale

To contribute to the efforts on promoting social change, there is a need to develop a national strategy that will guide activities aimed at creating behavior change in all sectors covered by the National Strategy (Health, Social Protection, Education, Gender, Youth Empowerement and Employment, etc.); strengthen technical expertise among government staff, community workers and implementing partners; and support the development of a monitoring framework for social and behavior change.

Existing strategies have focused mostly on top-down sensitization and awareness raising through workshops, meetings, radio discussions, drama, jingles and IEC using messages developed by the organizations with little coordination, minimal consultation with their target audience and limited feedback.

Sensitization messages have been varied and to some extent have conflicted from organization to organization. Sensitizations messages have been mostly general and have neglected the heterogeneity of the stakeholders. Moreover, they have often stressed information with little regard for cultural appropriateness and delivered in a didactic and top-down manner.

The national communication strategy for behavior and social change is needed to harmonize disparate communication strategies; approaches and messages. Such a strategy also needs to understand and appreciate local contexts and build on them for sustainable behavior and social change. Therefore the strategy would identify ways to work with communities that is not only participatory but appreciative of enabling customs and norms. The objective is to empower communities, promote meaningful engagement and lead to the adoption of sustainable positive social behaviors for adolescents, young people and other community members.

Objectives
There are two specific objectives of this consultancy:
1. To develop a national communication strategy for the reduction of Teenage Pregnancy
2. Develop an implementation and M&E plan for the strategy

Expected Deliverables
1. Development of first draft strategy – shared internally with the National Secretariat
2. Second draft – to be shared with all partners and presented at a meeting of the Multisectoral Technical Committee
3. Final draft communication strategy
4. Validated strategy by MCC
5. Implementation and M&E plan

Methodology
The consultant will implement this process using the following methodology:
1. Desk review of existing literature, including research studies, communication plans and strategies.
2. Consultations with partners of the National Strategy (concerned Ministries, UN agencies, NGOs, regional and district level actors) – the consultant will hold meetings/consultations with the partners and the wider forums and with community representatives to brainstorm on culturally appropriate methods of communication.
3. Focus group discussions – the consultant will hold focus discussions with community people including women, adolescents and young people, teachers, health and social workers, traditional and religious leaders to discuss the main issues related to Teenage Pregnancy and better understand community perceptions around existing behaviors and as a guide to the strategy development.
4. Engage different media groups to assess existing work and arrangement and identify possible forums for collaboration or adaptation of existing materials. Pretest materials with community /NGO workers on the strategy to be developed.
5. Finalize the communication strategy.
6. Develop an implementation and M&E plan for the strategy
7. Develop ToR for TP strategy Communication sub-commitee
8. Develop and operationalize planning and coordination tools for use by TP Strategy Communication sub-commitee

Geographical scope
The consultancy will be national in scope with the consultant dividing his/her time in Freetown and the provinces.

Supervision
Under the supervision of the National Secretariat for the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy, in consultation with the Multisectoral Technical Committee, the international consultant is expected to produce the above-mentioned deliverables.

Responsibilities of the consultant
• Ensure that all deliverables outlined in these ToRs are carried out
• Give the property rights of documents produced to the National Secretariat for the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy
• Secure own laptop

Time frame
The contract will be for a period of 50 days (with 40 days in country).

Qualifications sought for the contractor/consultant
• Advanced university degree in Social Sciences or any relevant fields
• Over ten years of experience in C4D strategy development
• Over eight years of experience in toolkit development and participatory learning
• Experience in facilitating participatory processes and consensus building with stakeholders
• Good communication and writing skills in English
• Substantial experience of having worked in West Africa would be desirable.

How to apply:

Candidates will be selected further to a written test and interview. If interested, please send a CV to Philippe Lust-Bianchi at lustbianchi@nationalsecretariat.org . The closing date for the receipt of application is 12 Aug 2013

Organization: Government of Sierra Leone
Country: Sierra Leone
Closing date: 12 Aug 2013

TERMS OF REFERENCE
MONITORING & EVALUATION EXPERT
Consultancy to Establish an M&E System –
National Strategy for the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy

Background

In Sierra Leone, teenage pregnancy is one of the more pervasive problems affecting the health, social, economic and political progress and empowerment of women and girls. The issue to address is alarming and is reflected in the following national statistics: 34% of all pregnancies occur amongst teenage girls (SLDHS 2008), 26% of women age 15-19 have already had a birth (MICS 2010), 40% of maternal death occur as a result of teenage pregnancy (MICS 2010) and the untimely pregnancy of young girls is ranked as the third most common reason for them dropping out of school (UNICEF 2008). To address this issue, H.E. the President, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma launched in May 2013 the National Strategy for the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy.

Adolescent pregnancy is dangerous, with serious long-term health consequences for the young mother and the baby. Pregnancy is the leading cause of death for adolescent girls and the youngest girls are particularly at risk and babies born to adolescent mothers are also at greater risk. But the impacts of adolescent pregnancy are felt far beyond the walls of the family home. It also has a demonstrable impact on the social and economic development of communities and countries.

In light of the large spectrum and heterogeneity of partners involved, the implementation of the National Strategy requires close coordination of all the stakeholders, internal communication as well as a detailed Monitoring and Evaluation system in place. To guarantee daily coordination of the implementation of the Strategy’s activities, the Government of Sierra Leone has approved the creation of the National Secretariat for the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy.

The role of the National Secretariat is to promote and facilitate the collection and dissemination of information to enhance the partners’ decision-making and planning capacity within the framework of the National Strategy. The Secretariat bears the responsibility to support the design and implementation of the Monitoring and Evaluation System.

Objectives

The overall objective is to develop a Performance Management System for measuring the achievements of the National Strategy for the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy, which includes both a strategic and operational framework for results-based management.

The immediate objective is to design a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system that will enable the National Secretariat to effectively manage and measure the achievement of the Strategy’s activities, assess challenges and the lessons gained and make recommendations for the replication and/or expansion of activities.

Scope of Work

The National Secretariat is currently seeking to procure the services of a suitably qualified M&E Expert to act as Consultant for the establishment of an M&E system for the National Strategy for the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy.

Specifically, the Consultant will focus on developing a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system that aims at providing accurate and reliable data to ensure the effectiveness of the intervention management as well as the achievement of the objectives and targets of the National Strategy for the Reduction Teenage Pregnancy.

The M&E system should be aligned with the objectives of the Strategy and customized to the needs of the beneficiaries (specifically, but not limited to, Adolescents and Young People). To ensure the objectives are achieved, programme management need to track results at the output and outcome level consistently. This will enable appropriate results-based management allowing adjustments to program components. Effectiveness and efficiency of programme benefits need to be monitored closely. Ownership from the programme stakeholders (Government at national and district level, partner organizations, civil society but also beneficiaries themselves) will ensure both that activities are effectively delivered, and contribute to the overall objective of the Strategy.

The M&E system for activities undertaken through the Strategy for the reduction of Teenage Pregnancy follows several principles corresponding to the following approaches:

(i) A results-based management approach: The M&E system should aim at enhancing results-based management. Therefore, management at all levels needs to keep abreast of M&E tools and use them in planning and improve programming.
(ii) A system focused on people and beneficiaries: Results and “change measured” should be consistently communicated as feedback to the beneficiaries and other stakeholders.
(iii) A targeted M&E system: The M&E tools and data should pay special attention to gender and youth. Gender and youth issues must be highlighted and, when possible, data will also be disaggregated accordingly.
(iv) An M&E strategy aligned with “Sector Specific Management Frameworks”: the M&E system, and related indicators, should be directly aligned with existing national management systems. The approach should also be compatible with systems developed by partners of the Programme.

Deliverables

1. An M&E Assessment of already existing and complimentary systems that involve indicators selected for this strategy, particularly partners’ M&E frameworks and data collection mechanisms.
2. A minimum of 6 years of professional work experience in the design, development and operational application of Monitoring and Evaluation systems.
3. An overall M&E system for applying performance management successfully completed (including an M&E plan, a budget, a data collection framework, reporting formats as well as review and accountability mechanisms) developed through a participatory process involving representatives of all partners of the National Strategy (Government, UN Agencies, NGOs, Civil Society Organization) as well as Adolescents and Young People and others stakeholders.
4. A finalized baseline study from best available data covering all sectors.
5. Brief presentations on the proposed overall M&E system for the National Strategy to key stakeholders for feedbacks and comments.
6. Trained partners on the RBM approach, indicator relevance, monitoring flows and reporting accuracy for the National Strategy M&E system (including, but not limited to, the member of the National Secretariat, particularly the M&E Officer and Ministry Focal Points).
7. The following reports will be required:
   • An M&E Plan which sets out the action plan and the major components of the M&E system.
   • A Final Report summarizing the ‘learning outcomes” at the end of the assignment, collate the methodological approach and the lessons gained as well as make recommendations on how to implement the M&E plan.

Desirable Qualifications and Experiences
1. The candidate must have obtained at least a master’s degree in Economics, Social Affairs or Public Administration or related subjects.
2. Practical experience with monitoring and evaluations, Results-Based Management (RBM) and Logic Model planning and reporting frameworks; inclusive of designing and delivery of training sessions.
3. Experience with establishing baselines, targets and indicators within a results- based performance measurement frameworks
4. Experience in providing monitoring and evaluation services for national, regional or international agencies.
5. Experience in analyzing data from a variety of sources.
6. Experience in developing accurate, timely and reliable data-gathering tools.
7. Experience in working in regional and international contexts gathering and analyzing data from a wide range of sources and agencies will be an asset.
8. Knowledge of the Adolescent focused programmes and/or of Sierra Leone will be an advantage.

Duration and Timing
The consultancy is expected to be undertaken over 5 weeks (with 4 weeks in country).

Reporting

The Consultant will report to the Multisectoral Coordinating Committee (MCC) of the National Strategy. S/He will be under the direct supervision of the Coordinator of the National Secretariat for the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy. The Consultant will also work closely the members of the Multisectoral Technical Committee. The Consultant is expected to work with a high degree of independence coupled with proactive planning and a collaborative approach for the involvement of all key stakeholders.

How to apply:

Candidates will be selected further to a written test and interview. If interested, please send a CV to Philippe Lust-Bianchi at lustbianchi@nationalsecretariat.orgThe closing date for the receipt of applications is 12 August, 2013.