Terms of Reference
Consultancy for Coordinating and Liaising for Faith Actors and Health Journalism Activities
Objective
The consultant will be primarily required to act as the coordinating and liaising person for the technical team sent by the Centre for Communication Programs Pakistan (CCPP) for mobilisation and capacity-building events involving faith actors and journalists respectively. The consultant will also undertake any relevant monitoring and analyses.
Background
Pakistan’s maternal and neonatal mortality rates are amongst the highest in the world: nearly 12,000 women die during childbirth every year, and one in every eleven children in Pakistan dies before reaching his or her fifth birthday, with more than half of these deaths occurring during the first month of life. Sindh’s maternal and neonatal mortality indicators are even poorer than these national averages: 314 mothers die during every 100,000 live births (national: 272/100,000 live births) and 81 neonates die during every 1,000 live births (national: 54/1,000 live births). These deaths frequently occur in the province because of “three delays” in seeking effective healthcare: delays in the recognition of the problem and the decision to seek care in the household; delays in reaching the appropriate facility; and delays in the care received once the woman reaches the facility. The first and second sets of delays broadly belong to demand-side barriers, while on the third set of delays belongs to supply-side barriers. In the context of Sindh, these three delays affect both urban and rural areas, but are most common and severe in rural areas, where access to appropriate knowledge, transportation and communication, and health services are not adequately available.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Health Communication Component (HCC) is specifically focusing to improve maternal and child health in Sindh. It is implemented by a consortium of four organisations led by the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP). The Centre for Communication Programs Pakistan (CCPP) is the consortium member responsible for undertaking a set of communication and media focused activities, including supporting an enabling environment at the community and health facility level to foster beneficial health-seeking behaviours.
Among these activities is are two health communication interventions that seek to improve maternal and newborn health, specifically by engaging faith-inspired actors to remove three delays in seeking appropriate care during obstetric emergencies in Sindh; and training journalists in health journalism so that they produce competent news that focuses on MNCH.
Scope of Work
The following is the scope of work, with the understanding that the organisation will work closely to further clarify the scope and objectives the activities, as needed:
- For activity-set involving faith actors, the consultant will coordinate the orientation sessions of focal persons and district council faith actors and liaise for the Central Council members sent to conduct these orientations sessions.
- For the activity-set involving journalists, the consultant will coordinate the training sessions of master trainers and district journalists and liaise for the training lead sent to conduct these training sessions.
- For both activity-sets, the consultant will gather and analyse key monitoring data required for measuring the baselines/endlines of the activities undertaken. This will include media monitoring and content analysis of the journalist activity-set that will aim to measure the effect of the health journalism trainings on the news-making around MNCH by the journalists.
Schedule of Deliverables
The activities will be completed as per timeframe agreed with SBCC Specialist at HCC, subsequent to the day of the signing of the contract between the consultant(s) and the organisation. Notwithstanding this, the following monthly deliverables and allocated days expected to be completed during the course of the consultancy. Where applicable, the allocated days include participation in the activities for which the resulting deliverable is identified.
|
Month
|
Deliverable
|
Estimated Days
|
|
January 2017
|
1 event report for focal person orientation in Karachi
1 event report for health journalism ToTs in Karachi
Updated (on weekly basis) media monitoring database, in excel
1 monthly media monitoring report
|
13
|
|
February 2017
|
2 event reports for district orientations
2 event reports for journalist trainings
Updated (on weekly basis) media monitoring database, in excel
1 monthly media monitoring report
|
13
|
|
March 2017
|
3 event reports for district orientations
3 event reports for journalist trainings
Updated (on weekly basis) media monitoring database, in excel
1 monthly media monitoring report
|
13
|
|
April 2017
|
1 event report central council meeting
3 event reports for district orientations
3 event reports for journalist trainings
Updated (on weekly basis) media monitoring database, in excel
1 monthly media monitoring report
|
13
|
|
May 2017
|
1 event report for district orientations
2 event reports for journalist trainings
Updated (on weekly basis) media monitoring database, in excel
1 monthly media monitoring report
|
12
|
|
June 2017
|
1 baseline media report, based on media monitoring data
Updated (on weekly basis) media monitoring database, in excel
1 monthly media monitoring report
|
13
|
|
July 2017
|
Success stories content for faith actors and health journalism (1 story for each activity-set)
Updated (on weekly basis) media monitoring database, in excel
1 monthly media monitoring report
|
10
|
|
August 2017
|
1 event report central council meeting
Updated (on weekly basis) media monitoring database, in excel
1 monthly media monitoring report
|
8
|
|
September 2017
|
Updated (on weekly basis) media monitoring database, in excel
1 monthly media monitoring report
1 endline media report, based on media monitoring data
|
13
|
|
Total Allocated Days
|
108
|
Locations
Islamabad and Karachi, and 10 program districts of Mirpurkhas, Matiari, Sanghar, Sukkur, Umerkot, Ghotki, Jacobabad, Larkana, Naushahro-Feroz, and Shikarpur in Sindh province. Any further locations to be determined as per the requirements of the scope of work.
Reporting and Management
The consultants will work closely with and report to SBCC Specialist at HCC (CCPP Islamabad office). HCC’s larger programme team will also be included for technical and operational support.
Payments will be made in arrears on satisfactory delivery of the assignment and the submission of a valid invoice (with supporting evidence).
Consultant Capacities
The consultant should have the following capacities:
- Demonstrable expertise on faith actors or journalist trainings, particularly within the context of MNCH.
- Demonstrable experience in undertaking media monitoring, preferably within the context of MNCH.
- Familiarity with the development and/or MNCH context of Pakistan.
Instructions for Responding
The Submission Process
Applications can be in hard copy with the subject line: ‘Consultancy for Coordinating and Liaising for Faith Actors and Health Journalism Activities’ by 04:00 PM PST (CoB) January 13, 2017 to the Centre for Communication Programs Pakistan (CCPP) mailing address: Plot 23, Street 39, Sector G-10/4, Islamabad. The application should consist of the below, and highlighting and availability to undertake this work (including travel in Pakistan, as required).
- A CV and cover letter introducing the consultant, and how their capacities and expertise stated above are met with concrete examples.
- An indicative budget (based on daily rate) for the proposed deliverables.
Where hard copies are not submitted, interested candidates may apply online via BrightSpyre native application process.
Clarification Questions
Any questions should be submitted via email, no later than January 10, 2017 to Faisal Khalil at:
[email protected]