Consultant for a Qualitative Study on Identifying Knowledge and Practices that Promote a Negative Impact on the Intersection between SRHR Outcomes and COVID-19 among Adolescent Girls, Young Women, Young Sex Workers and People Living with HIV

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Duration: 3 Months (starting January – March 2022)

Duty Station: Malawi

1. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a dynamic and growing UN Migration Agency, with over 174 Member States. IOM works to help ensure the orderly and humane management of migration, to promote international cooperation on migration issues, to assist in the search for practical solutions to migration problems, and to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, including refugees and internally displaced people. IOM address the migratory phenomenon from an integral and holistic perspective, including links to development, in order to maximize its benefits and minimize its negative effects.

2. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

IOM Malawi, with funding from UNAIDS within the SDG Acceleration Fund Framework, is implementing a project “joint action on addressing gender-based violence, child marriage and teenage pregnancy in support of Malawi’s COVID-19 response, including strategic gender mainstreaming and integration of HIV prevention and care and support services”. The project aims at improving the health consequences of adolescent girls, young women, young sex workers and people living with HIV (PLHIV) through provision of health services and prevention of gender based-violence (GBV), teenage pregnancies through broad scale Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), GBV information and services in the context of Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The restrictions in mobility and suppressed economic activity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed decades of advancement made in Malawi in the area of gender equality and empowerment of women and girls. This has manifested through increased teen pregnancy, school drop-outs, child marriages and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The systemic disruption in the country’s health system caused by COVID-19 also perpetuates vulnerability among discriminated population such as people living with HIV (PLHIV) due to interruption of services and additional stressors. The project recognizes gender equality as a cross-cutting determinant of health and wellbeing of adolescent women and girls and identifies different but complementary pathways to provide adolescent women and girls the support needed within a relapsing landscape.

To fully understand the linkages between increased vulnerability and gender inequality due to COVID-19, the project includes a component to collect baseline information through a study to be utilized as primary source of evidence for sustainable programming interventions in humanitarian context.

3. SCOPE OF WORK

The study will focus on identifying knowledge and practices that promote negative impact in the intersection of GBV, HIV prevention and care, education retention and COVID-19 among adolescent girls, young women, young sex workers and PLHIV in Lilongwe, Mulanje and Nkhatabay. The selected consultancy/research firm will lead the survey implementation and is expected to carry out the following activities:

1. Development of study plan and methodology
2. Development of study data collection tools
3. Translation of study data collection tools into local languages
4. Obtain an ethical clearance for the study
5. Identify and assemble a competent team of data collectors
6. Piloting testing of the study data collection tools
7. Conduct training and supervision of fieldworkers/data collectors during implementation
8. Qualitative data collection and data transcription
9. Data entry and quality control of data collection process.
10. Data analysis
11. Final report writing
12. Preparing presentation and presenting in dissemination workshops

4. DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINES

5. DESIRED BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE

The lead consultant of the consultancy/research firm should demonstrate the following professional experience, qualifications and skills:

- An advanced university degree in social sciences, public health, population studies, preferably at PhD-level;

- Minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in academia, research institutes, think tanks, governmental, inter-governmental, or non-governmental organizations.

- Experience in Health research especially surveys with key populations.

- Demonstrated skills and experience in qualitative research

- Extensive knowledge and experience in SRHR in the context of the Malawi;

- Proven ability to develop surveys and questionnaires, and finalize survey’s findings’ tables and statistical reports

- Demonstrate cultural and language sensitivity

- Cognizance of social sensitivity of target population.

6. HOW TO APPLY

Interested individuals, consortiums and/or institutions are requested to submit applications expressing their interest to undertake this activity to lilongwevacancy@iom.int

Closing date for submission of applications is 4 January 2022.