Consultancy – Documentation of Promising Practices in Responsive Interventions for HIV Prevention, Care and Treatment for Adolescents at Risk or Living with HIV

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                                                                     TERMS OF REFERENCE

Title of Assignment	Documentation of Promising Practices in Responsive Interventions for HIV Prevention, Care and Treatment for Adolescents at Risk or Living with HIV
Section(s)	HIV and AIDS
Location	Kenya (Nairobi, Kisumu, Homabay, Migori, Siaya, Mombasa, Kilifi)
Duration	30 working days over a duration of 3 months
Start date	From:           Sept 2021	To:  Nov 2021

Background and Justification

Kenya is one of the high HIV burden countries in the world which has made significant gains in reducing new infections, especially amongst children, decreasing mortality rates amongst people living with HIV; and through the provision of antiretroviral therapy, improved health outcomes and wellness especially for children, adolescents, pregnant and breastfeeding women and their families.

UNICEF is a key partner to the Government of Kenya in its HIV response. The organization’s focus is mostly in the areas of HIV prevention for children and adolescents, and care, treatment and prevention of mother-to-child transmission. UNICEF Kenya aligns its HIV and AIDS programming to that of the Government and contributes to the HIV response as articulated in the Vision 2030 agenda, The Kenya AIDS Strategic Framework (2014/15 – 2018/19 and 2020/21 – 2025/26), the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV Strategic Frameworks and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF).

Against the backdrop of a changing economic landscape, Kenya continues to face challenges attributable to the diminishing resources for the HIV response that affect sustainability efforts for the gains made over several years. UNICEF Country Programme in collaboration with the Government of Kenya and partners continues to work towards achieving an overarching outcome of “improved and equitable use of proven HIV prevention, treatment and care interventions by children, adolescents, pregnant and breastfeeding women.” The overall goal is to contribute to country, regional and global efforts through prevention of new HIV infections and increasing access to efficacious treatment during both decades of a child’s life.
Between 2014 and 2020, UNICEF Kenya has implemented proof-of-concept programmes to strengthen the HIV response at county and national levels. It has concentrated on optimizing, integrating, leveraging, and enhancing existent systems, using innovative and differentiated approaches while creating a balance between equity and impact in the lives children and adolescents living with HIV. Throughout this period, important lessons have been learnt and best practices adopted which have shown important promise in informing and influencing adolescent programming. For these reasons, it has now become critical to formally document these lessons and capture UNICEF’s contributions toward them into a practical reference document which will ensure stronger more evidence-informed programming in the future.

Scope of Work
This knowledge management consultancy aims to document UNICEF Kenya’s contribution to the HIV response for adolescents. The incumbent will be tasked to develop one “Promising Practices” document collated from adolescent programmes and interventions implemented by UNICEF KCO since 2014.

The aim is to identify practices which can be translated into pragmatic interventions and can be taken to scale. This will de done with the intention of optimizing HIV diagnostics for adolescents; integrating into the reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH) landscape; leveraging on and strengthening existent systems; using innovative and differentiated approaches and technologies and creating balance between equity and impact in the lives of children and adolescents exposed to or living with HIV.

Recommendations from the evidence generated is also intended to inform a coordinated response for children and adolescents. The consultancy will specifically consider the collaboration with the sectors of education, health, nutrition, child protection, social protection and behavioural change interventions; and identify gaps/bottleneck as well as recommend areas for better linkage and convergence. The consultant will also work with UNICEF Kenya’s partners: the Ministry of Health – National AIDS Control Council and National AIDS and STI Control Programme; LVCT Health, World Vision, I Choose Life-Africa, Investing and Children and Their Societies and Sauti Skika under the umbrella of the National Empowerment Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya (NEPHAK) and other relevant stakeholders.

Task	No. of Days	% of payment for each deliverable	Responsible
Review existing programme documents, reports and data on adolescents to identify unique approaches that have contributed to these results.	3	25%	HIV Specialist, C4D Specialist, Consultant.
Plan and facilitate a stakeholder virtual workshop with NASCOP, NACC, NCAHU, county governments of Nairobi, Kisumu, Homabay, Migori, Siaya, Mombasa, Kilifi, LVCT Health, I Choose Life Africa, Investing in Children and their Societies, KEPRECON and Sauti Skika.	4		HIV Specialist, C4D Specialist, Consultant.
Develop Promising Practices document outline for review.	1		Consultant
Conduct key informant interviews with a defined number of key HIV focal points and other programme staff in UNICEF, government officials at county (Nairobi, Kisumu, Homabay, Migori, Siaya, Mombasa, Kilifi) and national level and programme focal points among the implementing partners.	14	25%	HIV Specialist, CAP, Consultant
Conduct interviews with a defined number of beneficiaries of the programmes.
Report consolidation and presentation of first draft for internal and external review.	2		HIV Specialist, C4D Specialist, Consultant.
Revision and incorporation of recommendations	2		Consultant
Plan and facilitate a stakeholder workshop for dissemination of results.	3		HIV Specialist, C4D Specialist, Consultant.
Submission of final  report.	1	50%	Consultant

Outputs/Deliverables
The key deliverables would be the following:
• Develop a report on “Promising Practices in Collectively Responding to Children and Adolescents at Risk or Living with HIV in Kenya” – this will be a – collation of thematic case studies, human interest stories and results from UNICEF’s collaborative programmes for adolescent HIV responses, standalone executive summary and slide deck to summarize the promising practices and resources available to implement them, include recommendations, a cost analysis of the investments made on adolescent programmes since the inception of the programmes, that will serve as an annex to the “Promising Practices” document.
• The incumbent will develop 8 case studies (max 2 per partner) on successful system strengthening achievements at national or county level that the programmes have achieved, that will serve as annexes to the report.
• The incumbent will develop 8 human interest stories (max 2 per partner) from beneficiaries of the programmes UNICEF has supported, that will serve as annexes to the report.
• Identify opportunities where UNICEF’s comparative advantage can further contribute to the HIV response in Kenya

Desired competencies, technical background and experience
• Key competencies, technical background, and experience required
• Bachelor’s degree in communication, journalism/medical journalism, social science or public health or a related field.
• At least 3 years’ experience in compiling good practices documents on development issues.
• Ability and proven experience in gathering and packaging compelling human-interest stories and case studies from the field.
• Sound knowledge and understanding of public health and development in Kenya will be an asset
• Excellent written, verbal, and analytical skills.
• Strategic and creative mindset.
• Meticulous attention to detail.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, and ability to promote collaboration and consensus building.
• Our core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

Payment Schedule

Performance will be evaluated on timeliness, alignment with TORs, and quality of work.
Payments will be made upon satisfactory completion of all deliverables as per schedule.

Administrative issues and Conditions

• The consultant will conduct his/her work using his/her own computerequipment and office space
• The consultant is expected to commit fully to this task as per the TOR and adhere to the timeline, subject to changes and revisions by UNICEF KCO team (HIV Specialist and relevant teams).
• The consultant will not have supervisory responsibilities nor authority on UNICEF budget and other resources.
• The consultant will be governed by and subject to UNICEF’s General Terms and Conditions for individual contracts
• As per UNICEF DFAM policy, payment is made against approved deliverables. Advance payment is only allowed in exceptional circumstances against bank guarantee, subject to a maximum of 30 per cent of the total contract value in cases where advance purchases, for example for supplies or travel, may be necessary.

Risk Assessment

Risk	Mitigation
COVID-19 Pandemic causing delays in implementation	Where travel is contraindicated, virtual engagements will be encouraged
Delays by MOH to provide feedback to the consultant as the materials are developed	UNICEF officers will consistently follow on MOH counterpart to ensure the appropriate feedback is received in time.
The consultant does not conclude the work in time	The consultant will not receive his /her final payment until the required deliverables are received.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply online using the button below.  As part of their application, candidates should provide:

1. A cover letter that specifies how you meet the desired competencies, technical background and experience (no more than 2 pages)
2. A short CV (no more than 4 pages)
3. A fee structure that should include: daily/monthly rate and total fees
4. Sample of writing of a similar nature to that required for this consultancy
5. List of Referees
6. Quoted all-inclusive travel cost (as per the table above)
7. Confirmed availability to start in September 2021 (in writing)

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.