Organization: UN Children"s Fund
Country: United States of America
Closing date: 08 Jul 2015
Background
Globally, adolescents (aged 10-19) are the only age group where deaths due to AIDS are not decreasing – while across all age groups, AIDS-related deaths declined by nearly 40 per cent between 2005 and 2013[1]. Today, AIDS is the leading cause of death among adolescents in Africa[2] and the second highest cause of death among adolescents globally[3]. In 2013, an estimated 120,000 adolescents (10-19 years of age) died of AIDS1.
In response to this global concern, ALL IN – a global partnership was launched by UNICEF and UNAIDS together with other partners and youth networks as a platform for action and collaboration to inspire a social movement to drive better results with and for adolescents (aged 10-19 years) through critical changes in programmes and policy. ALL IN is aligned to the UNAIDS fast track initiative[4], and seeks to reduce AIDS-related deaths by 65%, new HIV infections by 75% and eliminate HIV- and AIDS-related stigma and discrimination among adolescents by 2020[5]. The partnership seeks to mobilize action to achieve HIV results for adolescents through four work streams:
- Changing the social context to engage, mobilize and support adolescents as leaders and agents of social change.
- Sharpen adolescent component of national HIV programmes through improving data collection, analysis and utilization to drive programming and results.
- Foster innovations and approaches to improve the reach of adolescents and increase the impact of prevention, treatment and care programmes.
- Mobilize global-, regional-and country-level advocacy to firmly position adolescent AIDS on the agenda, communicate needs and successes effectively, and mobilize and direct resources towards effective and efficient programmes for and with those adolescents most in need.
Adolescent and HIV programme context analysis As part of ALL IN, between February and June 2015, UNICEF and partners supported five countries (Botswana, Cameroon, Jamaica, Swaziland and Zimbabwe) to undertake a rapid assessment of
[1] UNICEF analysis of UNAIDS 2013 HIV and AIDS estimates, July 2014.
[2] WHO, 2012. Global health observatory data repository http://apps.who.int/gho/data/view.wrapper.MortAdov?lang=en&menu=hide
[3] WHO, 2014. Health for the World’s Adolescents: a second chance in the second decade. www.who.int/adolescent/second-decade
[4] UNAIDS, 2014. Fast-Track: ending AIDS epidemic by 2030. http://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/JC2686_WAD2014report_en.pdf
[5] UNICEF and UNAIDS, 2015. ALL IN Launch document. http://allintoendadolescentaids.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ALL-IN-Launch-Document.pdf
adolescent programme between January and June, 2015. The rapid assessment is a part of a three-stage country assessment approach focused on the validation of existing data on adolescent health, HIV and well-being with the aim of defining priority populations, interventions and geographic settings to accelerate HIV results in adolescents. The assessment is intended to facilitate countries in undertaking an equity-based analysis on adolescents using a combination of demographic and HIV epidemiological data as well as HIV-specific programme data and various indicators representing well-being and coverage of programmes and services across multiple sectors. See Annex 1 for the list of indicators included in the rapid assessment.
Purpose
The services of an individual consultant are required to document the lessons learned from the rapid assessments in the 5 countries. The report developed through this work (Data-Driven Planning to Strengthen Response to HIV among Adolescents: A 5-Country Synthesis Report) will present perspectives from the global, regional and country levels on the country process, lessons learned and next steps as well as a synthesis of technical findings across the five (5) countries. The report will be developed over a period of 2 months (mid-July to mid-September 2015)
The synthesis report will support government and national partners including adolescent and youth networks, as well as global and regional partners to:
· Understand the data-driven planning process used in the five countries to inform prioritization of adolescent populations, programme interventions and priority geographic areas to accelerate HIV results in adolescents.
· Understand the strategic cross-sectoral opportunities and linkages to health, education, protection and other relevant areas identified in the five countries as strategic platforms to leverage to improve HIV results in adolescents.
· Identify and discuss key enabling environment and programmatic challenges and gaps in the delivery of HIV results for adolescents.
Expected activities to be undertaken
a. Review and analyse background documents related to ALL IN, guidance document for the country assessments and the rapid assessment reports from the five countries
b. Interview relevant national, regional and global partners to further understand the in-country processes and lessons learned from the rapid assessment. Where appropriate, perspectives will be highlighted as case studies in the report.
c. Based on the outputs above (a & b), identify key issues, trends and programmatic challenges from the rapid assessment
d. Follow up with UNICEF staff and key partners to articulate recommendations to address the observed challenges
e. Prepare a synthesis report with complete citations. The synthesis report should include the following areas:
· Documentation of the process of the rapid assessment:Who are the key stakeholders involved? And what were their roles? How were adolescents and young people involved? How did country teams take decisions on programme priority settings? What are the innovations with regards to the approaches and engagement of partners during the assessments? What are the key success factors, constraints and lessons learned?
· Thematic analysis of key findings:What are the emerging trends and concerns from the findings? How does the assessment of the programme environment and other local information explain observed trends and concerns? Are there specific contradictions, and if so can they be explained? What are the potential opportunities for programme synergies for cross-sectoral adolescent programming?
· Data system review:What is the current state of data on HIV and adolescents? What are the key data gaps? And opportunities to improve data and monitoring systems?
· Key recommendations and opportunities to accelerate HIV results in adolescents
f. Undertake other tasks as necessary to ensure the timely completion of the report.
Tangible and measurable outputs of the work assignment:
· Draft synthesis report for review and input from UNICEF and partners
· Final synthesis report and dissemination slides
Duty Station
The consultant will work off-site and available for face-to-face meeting in New York and teleconference/e-mail contact with partners in the 5 countries (as appropriate)
Timeframe
Assignment will start on or around 15 July 2015 to 15 September 2015. Payment will be commensurate with consultant’s experience and qualifications and be made based on satisfactory submission of deliverables.
Deliverables and Expected results
The work for 2 months will be full time. Consultants should indicate the expected time to complete the work (estimated in # of days) to complete the work to quality standards:
· Draft synthesis report, by 20 August 2015, for review by the core advisory team[1].
· A final report and dissemination slides, by 15 September 2015.
Qualifications or specialized knowledge/experience required:
· Post-graduate degree in social science or public health.
· Minimum 8 years of relevant Mid-to-Senior-level experience in the area of public health, adolescent health and communication or related field.
· Experience working with HIV programmes internationally, familiarity with adolescent health, health promotion and sexual and reproductive health is an advantage
· Strong analytic and communication skills
· Excellent writing skills (experience in research and writing on programme briefs and report will be considered a strong advantage)
· Excellent, clear and concise English writing skills and style. Ability to condense information into sharp, short paragraphs.
[6] Drawn from the ALL IN Global Steering Group on Data-Driven Planning.
· Flexibility
· Teamwork
· Ability to work under deadline pressure
· Precision and attention to detail.
Performance indicators for evaluation of results:
· Analytical skills
· Communication
· Quality
*Please see deliverables in attached chart.
*Please see Annex 1 in attached.
How to apply:
How to Apply
Qualified individual candidates (NOT companies or NGOs) are requested to send their submissions to <**pdconsultants@unicef.org>with subject line: **“*Synthesis Report on Adolescent and HIV Programme Context Analysis from five Countries (Botswana, Cameroon, Jamaica, Swaziland and Zimbabwe), Consultancy” by 08 July 2015 5:00PM EST.*
Due to the volume of applications being processed, only short-listed candidates will be contacted, and that these candidates might be required to take a timed written test. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to a reference-checking process to verify the information provided in the application.
Applications must include:
• Cover letter
• Maximum 3-page curriculum vitae (CV);
• Signed P11 form (http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc)
· Indicate where you heard about this advertisement
An indication of ability, availability and a quote for daily rate to undertake the terms of reference above, (in US$). Applications submitted without a daily rate will not be considered.
NOTE: Files should not exceed 5.0MB limit
UNICEF 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.
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