Job Description

The Position:

The consultant will conduct a rapid assessment of bottlenecks inhibiting evidence-based scale-up of post-pregnancy family planning (postpartum and post-abortion) and social & behavioral changes for family planning in Kenya.

The Consultant will work under direct supervision of the Programme Specialist FP/RHCS UNFPA Kenya. 

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.  UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

Job Purpose:

The purpose of the consultancy is to conduct a rapid assessment of bottlenecks inhibiting evidence-based scale-up of post-pregnancy family planning (postpartum and post-abortion) and social & behavioral changes for family planning in Kenya.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) with support from UNFPA and WHO intends to undertake a  Rapid Assessment of Bottlenecks  inhibiting Evidence Based Scale-up of  Post-pregnancy Family Planning (Postpartum and post abortion) and Social & Behavioral Changes for Family Planning.

You would be responsible for:

The rapid BNA rapid assessment will focus on: 

(1)          Conducting a landscape analysis to provide a technical synthesis of what is currently known about scaling up  Post-pregnancy Family Planning (Postpartum and post abortion) and Social & Behavioral Changes for Family Planning interventions in Kenya  in terms of implementation status, reasons for success or lack thereof,  alignment of guidance with national and international standards, and the lessons learned from successful implementation (including approaches that aim to address gender norms and inequalities), by analyzing the local context, policy landscape (i.e.  Strategy documents guidelines, tools/toolkits, plans, and monitoring and evaluation and other relevant technical reports) to help position and/or characterize the PPFP/PAFP programming in Kenya.

(2)          Reviewing current strategies and implementation approaches used to scale up the evidence-based practices (EBPs) (including those that aim to address gender norms and inequalities) and the reasons for their success or failure by interviewing policymakers, program managers, service providers, and civil society. 

(3)          Undertake root cause analysis using the bottleneck analysis methodology (BAM) to identify the bottlenecks in the main determinants of coverage (Enabling Environment, Supply, Demand and Quality), their causes – including environmental/contextual factors such as ownership, commitment, and leadership… – and to identify priorities within the building blocks (domains) for health system strengthening action with potential to lead to increased good quality coverage of PPFP/PAFP interventions along the continuum of care. 

(4)          Understanding the perspectives of other key stakeholders outside of the public health space (private sector and civil society) on the various health systems factors inhibiting scale-up of the EBPs.

(5)          Building consensus among key stakeholders on the most important bottlenecks to EBP scale-up, and on the solutions that address the root causes inhibiting scale-up.

Illustrative review questions might include:

(1)          What is known about scaling up FP EBPs in the country, including implementation status, alignment of guidance with national and international standards, and the lessons learned from successful implementation?

(2)          What are the key drivers of Postpartum and Post Abortion FP in the selected program sites/Counties? 

(3)          What are the perspectives of key stakeholders (policy makers, programme managers, healthcare managers, service providers and civil society) on the various health systems factors inhibiting scale-up of the EBPs in the selected sites? 

(4)          What strategies and approaches (based on local, regional, and global evidence base) can help address bottlenecks hindering the scale up of post-partum FP and Post Abortion Care FP?

(5)          What multi sectoral policy options would be suitable to address the challenges/Bottlenecks identified at all levels of governance?

The proposed methodology is to use an adaptation of the WHO  Bottleneck Analysis Methodology (BAM) Toolkit (Core Protocol) to undertake root cause analysis-(rapid assessment) to identify the bottlenecks in the main determinants of coverage (Enabling Environment, Supply, Demand and Quality) , their causes, and identify priorities within the building blocks (domains) for health system strengthening action with potential to lead to increased good quality coverage of PPFP/PAFP  and SBCC interventions along the continuum of care. 

The assessment is designed to be conducted within  70 days  and will target approximately  15 priority high-MMR burdened counties purposively selected based on a further analysis of the 2022 KDHS coverages for need and demand for family planning among currently married women (unmet need for FP, and met need for modern contraception), teenage pregnancy and an analysis of women who had multiple sexual partners and higher-risk sexual intercourse; plus a review of other routine PHC/UHC biased outcome monitoring indicators to guide technical documentation/ developing of case studies on EBPs

This rapid assessment focuses on asking key stakeholders to identify and come to consensus on the key challenges and drivers contributing and inhibiting evidence-based scale-up of Post-pregnancy Family Planning (Postpartum and post abortion) and Social & Behavioral Changes for Family Planning and to identify solutions to address them. The aim is to understand why the practices have not been scaled-up to the envisaged or desired extent. It is known and understood that uptake of contraception is influenced by social and gender norms. While this assessment focuses on challenges faced within the health system, it does also assess how health systems engage with and consult with individuals, couples, and communities.

 

The BNA will use a combination of secondary data review (of key outcome and implementation indicators), guidance review (guidelines and tools), and review of implementation case studies, a survey with key stakeholders, and a workshop with key stakeholders. The methodology includes components used in other SRH/MNCH programme assessment, problem-solving and consensus-building tools including: 

●           Scale-up assessment methods

●           Micro planning

●           Community engagement and planning tools

●           Guideline implementation research

●           Policy assessment tools

●           DELPHI consensus-building

This Rapid Assessment will focus on asking key stakeholders to identify and come to consensus on the key challenges their health system faces in scaling-up the interventions, and identify solutions to address them. The aim is to understand why the practices have not scaled-up to the envisaged or desired extent. It is known and understood that uptake of contraception is influenced by social and gender norms. While this assessment focuses on challenges faced within the health system, it does also assess how health systems engage with and consult with individuals, couples, and communities.

Implementation Arrangement 

A)           The Ministry of Health (MoH) will take the lead and provide overall technical supervision. It will facilitate stakeholders and organize meetings and make available all the necessary technical documents and guidelines required in the assignment.

B)           WHO and UNFPA: will provide technical and financial support for this assignment. They will provide necessary technical guidance and facilitate technical review processes. They will also provide relevant tools and materials. 

 

The tasks to be performed and expected deliverables include:

●           Prepare an inception report with a detailed methodology, a literature review on Post-pregnancy Family Planning (Postpartum and post abortion) and Social & Behavioral Changes for Family Planning including driving factors, bottlenecks and key interventions that have been tested, a work plan with timelines and a budget. 

●           Review the BNA Framework to make any local adaptations as required and verified by MOH, UNFPA and WHO 

●           Liaise and coordinate with MoH, UNFPA and WHO to conduct the bottleneck rapid assessment on PPFP, Post Abortion FP and SBC,

●            Review and adapt the data collection tools to adapt to national context and priorities in consultation with MOH, UNFPA and WHO 

●           Coordinate the pre-testing of the key informant questionnaire and adapt to local understanding to ensure ease of use and understanding local context.

●           Collect data from various sources using various methods including desk review of national and county data, guidelines/policy review, case studies and key informant interviews.

●           Data analysis and summary of data in provided template 

●           Ensure that bottlenecks raised by participants during KIIs are covered in the framework and workshop tools 

●           Lead and organize the consensus workshop ensuring participation of stakeholders.

●           Lead consensus-building workshop on the most important bottlenecks, root causes and solutions to overcome them. 

●           Lead the technical review, revision, and validation of the assessment report.

●           Prepare and submit a final report of the assessment and a PowerPoint presentation that captures the main findings and recommendations.

●           Support dissemination of the BNA findings. 

Deliverables

●           Inception Report with a detailed methodology, a literature review of Post-pregnancy Family Planning (Postpartum and post abortion) and Social & Behavioral Changes for Family Planning including driving factors and key interventions that have been tested, a work plan with timelines and a budget for the task.

●           Draft report of key findings: - A preliminary report summarizing background, methodology, key findings, conclusions and recommendations, with annexes 

●           Final print ready report: - A polished and comprehensive report detailing the bottleneck assessment, ready for publication 

●           PowerPoint Presentation: - A presentation summarizing the main findings and recommendations of the assessment, suitable for sharing with stakeholders.

The bottleneck analysis will be implemented in four phases, namely: 

Phase 1: Inception and Preparation

Conduct a desk review of relevant literature, policy documents, and data on PPFP/PAFP and SBC in Kenya.

Develop a detailed work plan, including timelines, budget, and data collection tools.

Prepare and submit an inception report detailing the methodology, literature review, work plan, and budget.

Phase 2: Data Collection and Analysis

Adapt data collection tools to the national context and pretest them to ensure local understanding.

Conduct key informant interviews (KIIs) with policymakers, program managers, service providers, and civil society representatives in selected counties.

Gather data through a mix of methods, including desk reviews, KIIs, and possibly focus group discussions or surveys.

Analyze the collected data using qualitative and quantitative methods to identify bottlenecks and their root causes.

Phase 3: Consensus-Building Workshop

Organize and lead a workshop involving key stakeholders to discuss the findings from the data analysis.

Facilitate discussions to reach a consensus on the most critical bottlenecks hindering PPFP/PAFP and SBC scale-up.

Brainstorm and prioritize potential solutions to address the identified bottlenecks.

Phase 4: Report Development and Dissemination

Prepare a draft report summarizing the background, methodology, key findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

Incorporate feedback from stakeholders during a technical review process.

Finalize and submit the print-ready report, along with a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the main findings and recommendations.

Support the dissemination of the BNA findings to relevant stakeholders and audiences.

Duration of consultancy  35 Working Days.

Place where services are to be delivered:            

The Consultancy entails data collection in 4 purposively selected counties out of the 15 candidate counties (i.e. 4 each from ASAL and AGRARIAN Categories) and ALL the 3 URBAN Counties; plus 2 each for AYSRH and “At-Risk Pops” clusters as summarized here under: 

(1)  ASAL: Marsabit, Tana-River, Kilifi, Narok (1 counties i.e. top 2, middle and the lowest – Unmet Need for FP)

(2)  AGRARIAN: Siaya, Migori, Kericho, Bungoma (1 counties i.e. top 2, middle and the lowest- Unmet Need for FP)

(3)  URBAN: Mombasa, Kisumu, Nairobi City 

(4)  AYSRH: Samburu, Homa-Bay (2 counties, i.e. Top-most + middle)

(5)  At Risk Populations (Multiple Sexual partners): Embu, Laikipia, Kwale, Kajiado purposively enlisted to incorporate inputs from the consensus building workshop.

The Consultant will be expected to travel to the sites to collect data. 

UNFPA will cover travel and accommodation costs in line with the contract agreement. The Consultant will use their own equipment as guided by the UNFPA consultancy terms and conditions.

Qualifications and Experience: 

Education:  

Advanced degree (Masters or PhD) in relevant academic areas e.g. public health, social sciences, public policy, epidemiology, international development, economics, and demography.

Knowledge and Experience: 

At least 5 years’ experience in the field of FP/ sexual and reproductive health.

 A strong portfolio of published research in peer-reviewed journals on topics related to reproductive health, family planning, and maternal and child health.

Proficiency in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, including data collection, statistical analysis, and interpretation.

Expertise in developing data collection tools and methodologies tailored to health system assessments.

Experience in working with government departments, UN Agencies and  communities

Excellent report-writing skills with the ability to present complex findings in a clear and actionable manner

Desirable skills, knowledge, and experience:

Knowledge/ familiarity with the SRH and particularly Family Planning, Post Abortion Care and Behavior change communication research and their links to programming 

Ability to facilitate focus group discussions, stakeholder meetings, and workshops to gather insights and feedback.

Strong analytical skills with a solution-oriented approach to identifying and addressing barriers.

Ability to adapt to changing circumstances and environments while maintaining focus on the objectives.

Languages: 

English

 Required Competencies: 

Values:

Exemplifying integrity, 

Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system, 

Embracing cultural diversity, 

Embracing change

Core Competencies: 

Achieving results,

Being accountable,

Developing and applying professional expertise/business acumen,

Thinking analytically and strategically,

Working in teams/managing ourselves and our relationships,

 UNFPA Work Environment:

UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of UNFPA's workforce - click here to learn more.

Remuneration:

 Consultancy rates shall be guided by the UNFPA IC  policies and procedures.

 

Other Relevant Information

The Consultant will be required  to declare any potential conflict of interest before undertaking the work.  

The Consultant will discharge his/her functions exclusively as an adviser to UNFPA and the Division for Reproductive and Maternal Health Services within the MOH. 

Consultant will be expected to undertake some mandatory courses (if not done previously) such as Security (BESAFE) and the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA).

Disclaimer:

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts.