Consultancy - Scoping RHRN

Deadline: 29 February 2016

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Organization: ARROW

The Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW), is a regional non-profit women’s NGO based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and we have a consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (UN ECOSOC) of the United Nations. ARROW strives to enable women to be equal citizens in all aspects of their life by ensuring their sexual and reproductive health and rights are achieved. We work closely with many national partners in countries, regional and global networks around the world, and are able to reach stakeholders in 120 countries.

ARROW– on behalf of the Strategic Partnership Right Here, Right Now - is looking for a consultant to conduct a scoping on national platforms and relevant key organizations to promote young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights and their meaningful participation in Bangladesh and/or  Nepal. Interested consultants are invited to submit a proposal for either Bangladesh or Nepal, or one proposal for both countries.

Introduction and Background

The Strategic Partnership Right Here, Right Now between Rutgers, The Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women (ARROW), CHOICE for Youth and Sexuality (CHOICE), dance4life, Hivos, The International Planned Parenthood Federation Africa Region (IPPFAR), Latin American and Caribbean Women's Health Network (LACWHN) and the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs addresses the limited protection and respect and the hindered fulfilment of the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) of young people in 10 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America and in 1 sub-region, the Caribbean.

Based on an analysis of the underlying causes of this problem, the partnership strives for the protection, respect and fulfilment of young people’s SRHR, including girls, young women and young lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT). Specific attention is given to: freedom from stigma, discrimination and violence; access to comprehensive youth-friendly services; access to comprehensive information; and space for young people’s voices.

Advocacy is at the basis of how we expect desired change to happen in a particular context. We believe that a more inclusive collaboration of CSOs in national SRHR advocacy platforms will strengthen our advocacy for SRHR. This in combination with strengthened capacity of civil society, and in particular young people, to advocate for the development and implementation of progressive SRHR policies and hold its government accountable.

Young people’s SRHR including girls, young women and young lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT) remains an issue to be addressed in both Bangladesh and Nepal. 

Scope of Consultancy

The Strategic Partnership Right Here, Right Now aims to strengthen cooperation between different complementary types of CSOs, including youth-led, youth-serving, advocacy oriented and CSOs involved in programme implementation that advocate for complementary issues such as SRHR HIV, LGBT, human rights, children’s rights, health, education, safe abortion, women’s empowerment and men’s engagement. How and to what extent the cooperation can be strengthened depends on the specific challenges in a country. The goal of this scoping study is to guide the Strategic Partnership Right Here, Right Now in the start-up process in Bangladesh and Nepal and help to identify CSOs, including youth-led and youth serving organisations and existing networks as potential members of the national platforms and to be informed on important lessons learned around strengthen cooperation within civil society on advocacy for young people’s SRHR.

The scoping will have to provide concrete entry-points for developing a national advocacy platform on young people’s SRHR, as it will give insights in the challenges, success and the local dynamics in the cooperation between organizations and networks.

While we already know many networks and organizations, this scoping is expected to provide the Partnership with a baseline of interested and eligible CSOs and will inform both the strategy of strengthening capacity for advocacy and the strategy on advocacy for SRHR and young people

Objectives

In Bangladesh and Nepal the scoping will:

• Briefly map laws, policies and programmes relating to young people, adolescents, LGBT in the respective country and the current ongoing work in the area of young people SRHR.
• Map relevant, existing and new forms of cooperation within civil society (such as networks, working groups) based on pre-defined criteria (Annex 1) that can promote an inclusive, progressive SRHR youth agenda with a focus on advocacy;
• Identify the existing main challenges and lessons learned concerning cooperation in that particular country examining what has worked, where the gaps are, and what are the unaddressed issues.
• Provide strategic recommendations on what could be opportunities for increasing cooperation on young people’s SRHR including abortion and LGBT, as well as advocacy issues and opportunities which would benefit from more concerted advocacy.

In the scoping, the minimum requirements for potential partners and the guiding principles of national platforms (Annex 1) should be considered as crucial elements for the final recommendations.

Guiding questions to be considered: 

• What are the pressing policy issues and advocacy opportunities in the field of SRHR and young people for organizations to work?  
• What are existing relevant advocacy organizations in the field of SRHR, including youth-led and youth-serving organizations, what are their strengths and weaknesses;
• What are the existing forms of cooperation between SRHR movements and broader civil society movements and organizations?  For example human rights, children rights, health, HIV/AIDS, SOGI and LGBT, education, youth? Are there any opportunities for strengthening cooperation for youth SRHR advocacy and meaningfully involve young people;
• What are the underlying causes of fragmentation in civil society to work on SRHR; What are supporting factors.

Qualifications of Consultant

The consultant needs to possess the following qualifications:

• Be able to draw on their extensive experience in the country / countries, in order to survey and review current literature and undertake extensive consultations with key stakeholders.
• Progressive stance on sexual and reproductive health and rights, specifically young people’s sexual rights and diversity
• In-depth understanding of and experience in advocacy and the sensitive issues of SRHR
• In-depth knowledge/ experience with networks and platforms (functionality, dynamics, etc.) and social movement building
• Strong analytical skills demonstrated through research and analysis.
• Understanding of and work experience in meaningful youth participation
• Understanding of the role and contribution of (generating) public support in the field of advocacy
• Experience in scoping exercises on sensitive topics
• Strong writing skills with ability to present findings in a style that is accessible to readers

Output and deliverables

• Prepare and submit a work plan with a clear description of a youth-inclusive methodological framework to be applied for the scoping study.
• After approval conduct the assessment.
• Conduct analysis and prepare report: The report should:
• Be submitted in English / Spanish
• Not be longer   than 25 pages maximum – excluding Annex
• Follow the outline as indicated in Annex 2  
• Include an executive summary
• A draft report will be shared with ARROW and RHRN Programme Team for feedback.
• After feedback a final report is to be prepared provide concrete recommendations to the RHRN Partnership and its members. 

For full Terms of Reference, Download PDF. 

How to apply:

ARROW – as member of the RHRN Partnership – will solicit proposals.

You can express your interest before 29 February 2016 to azura@arrow.org.my with a cc to  sai@arrow.org.my  .Interested candidates are required to submit a technical proposal explaining how this assignment will be approached. Proposals should include:

• an explanation of the methodology to be used for collecting the required information;
• a work plan for the suggested activities;
• a preliminary budget with number of days required, daily fees and total budget.

Please include in the Annexes:

• Cover letter, CV, including relevant experience(s) and personal profile(s)
• Provide a sample list of relevant of research  and analyses in the area of civil society and advocacy
• Availability in the period March – May 2016

Proposals should indicate how the scoping including the methodology framework will ensure that young people are involved in a meaningful way in the whole process, i.e. being consulted, involved in the identification of eligible organizations and that cooperation with young people is sought actively approach  .

ARROW will select the best proposal in consultation with the members of the Strategic Partnership Right Here, Right Now. The selection of consultants is aimed for 6th March. The selected candidate will be requested to submit a detailed budget and timeline.

Scoping should be for a maximum of 25 consultant days for each of the countries. Scoping includes desk literature review on policies and the CSO movements, scoping visits to the country and district where necessary.  The study would also include interviews (by phone, Skype) with experts.

External consultant or an (affiliative) member of the Strategic Partnership Right Here, Right Now can submit proposals.