CONSULTANT - Disabilities Assessment and Toolkit Development, WCARO, Dakar, Senegal

Purpose

The primary purpose of this post is to twofold:

1. Conduct a needs assessment to identify the barriers preventing women and adolescent girls with disabilities in West and Central Africa (WCA) region from accessing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response information and services

2. Develop a disability inclusion resource package.

Scope of work

The first task of the consultant will be to conduct a needs assessment to identify the barriers preventing women and adolescent girls with disabilities in the West and Central Africa region from accessing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response information and services.

This needs assessment will focus on three priority issues impacting human rights for women and girls with disabilities, focusing on their right to bodily autonomy. The three issues are at the intersection of gender and disability: Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH), legal capacity, and Gender-Based Violence (GBV).

The methodology for conducting the assessment will include:

1.       Desk research, reviewing laws, policies and accountability frameworks available in the WCA region and available reports published by United Nations (UN) agencies, human rights monitoring bodies, and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs);

2.       Interviews with key stakeholders, including State officials, national and regional organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), organisations providing sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and gender-based violence (GBV) services, and UN agencies working in the countries; and other stakeholders.

3.       Focus group discussions and interviews with women and girls with disabilities in different countries in the WCA region.

The second assignment will be to develop a disability inclusion package for the UNFPA country offices in WCA.

The Disability Inclusion Resource Package will be crafted through a comprehensive and participatory methodology. It will leverage several key phases:

1. Consultative process: The consultant will conduct consultations with UNFPA country office staff, and other relevant stakeholders to ensure the package reflects their needs and priorities.

2. Package Development: Based on the results of the assessment, the package will be structured to provide practical tools and resources for UNFPA country offices. This includes an overview document on the situation of disability inclusion in the region (including in PPT format), training resources (in English and French, Portuguese and Spanish desirable) and assessment tools, and a list of all resources available from UNFPA and other relevant stakeholders  (in English and French, Portuguese and Spanish desirable) all tailored to the WCA context and adapted to meet the specific needs of diverse disability groups.

3. Pilot Testing and Refinement: The initial package will be piloted in selected UNFPA country offices. User feedback and lessons learned from this pilot will be incorporated into the final iteration of the package, ensuring its practical effectiveness and adaptability across the WCA region.

4. Knowledge Dissemination and Capacity Building: Finally, the finalized package will be disseminated through a webinar for the WCARO and country office staff. This will ensure the package's sustainable use and maximize its impact on improving access to essential services for women and girls with disabilities.

The Disability Inclusion Resource Package will include:

• An overview document of the situation of disability inclusion in the region

• An assessment tool to assess the accessibility and inclusiveness of SRHR and GBV services to the needs of women and girls with disabilities, and

• A resource list of available training and materials for capacity building.

Work schedule and Duration

45 days between April 1st and July 15, 2024.

Services delivery place

Preferably in a country in West or Central Africa with the possibility of remote work.

Delivery date and modality

• Inception report with a plan of the methodology and timeline for both the needs assessment and disability resource package -(5 days,  by April 15)

• First draft of the needs assessment report (25 days, by May 30)

• First draft of the disability resource package (10 days, by June 30)

• Finalised needs assessment report and disability resource package,  including all comments received and recommendations for the continuation of the work. (5 days, by July 15)

All deliverables will be provided electronically.

Monitoring and progress control (reporting requirements, periodicity format and deadline)

• Bi-weekly calls with Disabilities focal point to monitor the progress of the consultancy.

• Ad hoc meetings when necessary to address challenges and bottlenecks.

Supervisory arrangements

The consultant will report to the UNFPA WCA Disabilities Focal Point, and work in close collaboration with the country offices disability focal points. 

Travel: any travel is expected

Required expertise, qualifications and competencies, including language requirements

• Master’s in public health, social work, political science, gender studies, human rights and international law or other related degree.

• At least 5 years of mid-level programme management experience working on disability inclusion, Gender Equality, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.

• Understanding of the UNFPA Disability Inclusion Strategy and the We Decide programme.

• Previous experience conducting assessments and evaluations of related topics.

• Experience developing and facilitating interviews, focus groups and workshops.

• Demonstrated organisational skills: the ability to work independently and productively, with multiple stakeholders in a fast-paced environment.

• Previous experience with UNFPA or other UN agencies will be an asset.

• Flexible work attitude: the ability to work productively in a team environment and independently.

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills: the ability to successfully and effectively liaise with people in a wide range of functions.

  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 under represented 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.

  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. 

  Interested candidates are invited to send their application and a short letter of motivation with “Disabilities assessment” on the subject line and email the documents to senekane@unfpa.org, by 3rd April 2024