Individual Consultant 83 views

Background:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their lives. The IRC works with people forced to flee from war, conflict and disaster and the host communities which support them, as well as those who remain within their homes and communities. We began work in Ethiopia since 2000 and currently implementing emergency and development programs in health, water and sanitation, economic recovery and development (ERD), women’s protection and empowerment, education, child protection, and multi-sectoral emergency response.

The IRC has a focus on narrowing the gender gap in humanitarian aid and ensuring that we contribute to gender equality, diversity, and inclusion in both our programs and operations by working to establish a context where our clients (including those from minority groups) enjoy the same rights and opportunities as well as an equal access to services. The IRC also has a strong commitment to creating an equitable and inclusive culture, where safeguarding is upheld in our workplace and programs. We are determined to protect our clients and staff from safeguarding violations through prevention and, where misconduct is alleged, to address it without fear or favor.

In 1996, the Inter-Agency Working Group for Reproductive Health in Crises (IAWG) designed the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) to guide first responders in emergencies in preventing SRH-related morbidity and mortality. The MISP pursues six objectives to be implemented as a priority at the onset of a humanitarian response to an emergency. Two objectives focus on coordination and planning, and three objectives address the provision of SRH services that aim to save lives or alleviate diseases and suffering during the initial phase of an emergency (prevent sexual violence and respond to the needs of survivors; prevent the transmission of and reduce morbidity and mortality due to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections; prevent excess maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality).

Over the past 25 years, the MISP has become a minimum standard in humanitarian response, and it is therefore imperative that its content reflects current evidence and best practice, and that its implementation / delivery is well monitored.  Thus, a standardized approach was developed to undertake inter-agency Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) Process Evaluations for measuring the extent to which the MISP has been implemented from the onset of an emergency. The MISP Process Evaluation Tools – including key informant questionnaires, focus group discussion tools, and health facility assessment tools – can be adapted as needed to reflect a current emergency, and then carried out by an agency, working group, cluster group, or other entity to evaluate the extent of MISP implementation across all organizations and in as many settings as necessary.

As SRH needs within the humanitarian sector continue to grow, the humanitarian community needs learnings and consensus on how to direct limited funds so as to have greatest impact. To accomplish these goals, the SRH Task Team, established under the purview of the Global Health Cluster, proposes to undertake MISP process evaluations in several recent responses, including Tigray and Amhara regions in Ethiopia. These evaluations will draw from the processes undertaken previously: we will collect service statistics, as available, in addition to conducting health facility assessments, and FGDs and in-depth interviews to capture perspectives on awareness of and adherence to the MISP. We will also aim to document possible resource and financing gaps for the MISP, and will explore the availability of contraceptive provision and removal, and safe and post-abortion care (including post-partum and post-abortion contraception). In addition to evaluating the response to recent crises, we will also explore how COVID-19 related impacts and preparedness activities may have influenced the implementation.

Learnings and recommendations will be identified for each country evaluation and disseminated nationally through Health Cluster partners. The research team will work with the national health clusters to develop action plans to strengthen MISP preparedness based on results and lessons learned. In addition, synthesized findings will be shared at global level, with implications and recommendations for how to improve MISP implementation within responses.

Research questions for this evaluation include:

• To what extent were the MISP objectives implemented, and what was the reach and quality?
• What were the barriers and enablers to MISP implementation?
• Who were the key players in MISP implementation and coordination? Who were not? (what was the role of local government, CSOs in MISP implementation & coordination?)
• To what extent were underserved groups, such as adolescents, PWDs, etc, served by the MISP during the crisis?
• What was the experience of different client groups during the MISP response?
• To what extent was funding available and used for the MISP, and where did this funding come from? (to be asked of stakeholders rather than formally extracted from FTS systems)
• What should be done differently for effective and efficient humanitarian response for SRH and GBV issues?
• What has to be changed in protracted crises vis a vis the MISP for SRH?
• While not a formal research question, we will also examine stakeholder perspectives on whether COVID has made a lasting change in some way regarding delivery of the MISP / SRH services in the country.

Scope of work

We are looking for an in-country researcher (consultant) for the mixed-methods MISP Process Evaluation, to tentatively take place in Tigray and Amhara regions of Ethiopia.  At the global level, the consultant will be supported by technical advisors from the International Rescue Committee and representatives of the Global Health Cluster SRH Task Team. This team will be responsible for providing technical support, research support, ensuring ethical rigor, ensuring comparability across countries and research sites, and leading cross-country analysis.

Within Ethiopia, the consultant will be supported by and will work closely with members of the SRH Working Group (SRH WG), co-chaired by the Ethiopia Public Health Institute (EPHI) and UNFPA.  These colleagues will support the consultant with site selection, partner outreach, and stakeholder engagement for analysis and dissemination.

The consultant will lead the adaptation of a research protocol, consent forms, and data collection tools (quantitative and qualitative), and will lead on data collection, data analysis, and report writing. Specifically, the consultant will:

• Adapt a global research protocol to reflect country realities and meet country IRB expectations (5 days)
• Oversee process to receive ethical clearance (2 days)
• Adapt global data collection tools, receive approvals from SRH WG, and ensure translation of tools as needed (5 days)
• Undertake a desk review per provided guidance and develop country brief (12 days)
• Lead qualitative and quantitative data collection, including travel to sites in Tigray and Amhara as needed (20 days)
• Conduct data analysis of quant and qual findings, including KII and FGD transcripts (10 days)
• Facilitate data analysis workshop with SRH WG stakeholders (3 days)
• Present the findings to the technical support team(s) and revise recommendations / findings as needed (3 days)
• Write up research findings in final report (5 days)

Timeline:

The work is to be conducted in three phases; phase one will include the desk review and ethical approvals, phase two will involve collecting quantitative and qualitative data, and phase three will by the analysis, documentation, and dissemination of findings.  All three phases are ideally to be completed by December 31 2024, though timelines may flex based on the ethical approval process. Ideally, phase one is to be completed by July 31, phase two by October 15, and phase three by December 31.

Deliverables:

• Ethical approval and package of study tools
• Desk review report
• Study report and power point / slide deck with findings and identified implications / recommendations in English

Payment Rate and Schedule:

The consultant is anticipated to have a daily rate .  The consultant will be asked to keep an hourly timesheet, and will be paid out at major milestones.  The consultant is capped at 70 days of work.

• Milestone 1: Desk review report
• Milestone 2: Completion of data collection
• Milestone 3: Final country study report

• Qualitative research experience required; quantitative research also preferred
• Experience/understanding of the humanitarian contexts and key actors, and ideally with the Global Health Cluster system, preferred
• Experience/knowledge of sexual and reproductive health required; technical knowledge of various sub-sectors, including HIV, STIs, family planning, maternal and newborn health, and abortion care, is preferred
• Experience with/knowledge of the MISP required; familiarity with related tools, including the Inter-Agency Field Manual for Reproductive Health, preferred
• Excellent English writing skills required
• Fluency in English and Amharic required
• Willingness to travel to insecure regions of Ethiopia preferred