International Consultancy: Family Planning Services for Adolescents Consultancy

Purpose consultancy:

Background:

Access to safe, voluntary family planning (FP) is a fundamental human right. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is mandated to promote universal access to sexual and reproductive health services, including comprehensive family planning programs. Investing in FP yields substantial economic benefits; a UNFPA-commissioned study across 12 Arab countries demonstrated a five-fold return on every dollar invested in addressing unmet FP needs and preventing maternal deaths. Despite these benefits, significant challenges persist in meeting the family planning needs of populations in the Arab States region. Unmet need for family planning is around 15%, with an estimated 13.6 million women of reproductive age wanting to avoid or delay pregnancy but not using contraception1. The highest level of unmet need for modern contraception is among adolescents, highlighting disparities and systemic barriers for adolescents in access to essential services. The consequences include unintended pregnancies, increased unsafe abortions, and other reproductive morbidities. To assess the situation, the UNFPA Arab States Regional Office (ASRO), through its flagship UNFPA Supplies Partnership Trust Fund2, plans to analyse the barriers and enablers that influence access to family planning services for adolescents within countries in the Arab Region3 and whether the existing interventions on family planning in the UNFPA ASRO program countries adequately cater to the FP needs of adolescents. This analysis will provide evidence-based evidence for targeted interventions and informed policy recommendations to improve access to and utilization of these crucial services for adolescents. The findings and recommendations will inform country programming and enhance regional and national FP strategies, specifically focusing on adolescent needs. 

Objectives of the analysis:

This analysis aims to enhance the understanding of family planning access for adolescents within the Arab States region by providing a nuanced, evidence-based exploration of their specific challenges and opportunities, evaluating the extent to which current interventions meet their unique needs, informing the development and implementation of more effective and targeted interventions, and ultimately contributing to the formulation of inclusive and equitable family planning policies at national and regional levels that prioritize adolescent rights and needs. The study specifically aims to: 

Contextual Analysis of Family Planning for Adolescents in the Arab Region:

 The Arab region's family planning landscape is shaped by diverse and complex socio-economic, cultural, and political factors, including high population growth, a significant youth demographic, socio-economic disparities, varying socio-cultural norms, humanitarian crises, health system limitations, and diverse policy frameworks. The needs and the challenges faced by adolescents are a critical concern. 

Demographic and Socio-economic Landscape: Countries show significant diversity in demographics and socio-economics, including development levels, urbanization, and healthcare infrastructure. A large youth population in the region (around 30%) necessitates tailored adolescent FP approaches. Given this heterogeneity, effective interventions for adolescents must address each country's unique context, as approaches effective in one nation may not be in another. 

Current Status of FP Access and Utilization: Access and utilization vary by age, status, socio-economic level, location, and displacement. Contraceptive prevalence rates are below 60% in many countries, with only Morocco and Egypt meeting the SDG target of 75% demand satisfaction with modern methods.  Availability of age-wise disaggregated data is also of concern. 

Relevant Policies, Legal Frameworks, and Cultural Norms: Restrictive laws or policies based on age or marital status hinder adolescent access to SRH services. Deep-rooted cultural norms, religious beliefs, social taboos, and patriarchal structures affect girls' and women's decision-making and play a substantial role in shaping adolescent access and utilization. Understanding the interplay of formal policies and socio-cultural factors is crucial, as legal frameworks alone are insufficient. 

Barriers to Accessing Family Planning Services for Adolescents: Both demand-side and supply-side barriers interplay to restrict adolescent access to services. Adolescents face distinct legal barriers (age and parental consent), social barriers (stigma, family pressures, confidentiality issues), economic constraints, and informational barriers (lack of accurate information and comprehensive sexuality education) when seeking FP services, with healthcare provider bias exacerbating these limitations. These interconnected obstacles necessitate tailored interventions. Ongoing humanitarian crises and instability, as seen in Palestine, Sudan, Yemen, and Syria, disrupt health systems by interrupting supply chains, destroying infrastructure, and displacing personnel. Adolescents make up a significant portion of Refugees and Internally Displaced Populations (IDPs) who encounter disrupted health systems. These crises increase vulnerability to gender-based violence. Adolescents from marginalized communities face compounded barriers. For instance, rural adolescents face limited access due to distance, poor infrastructure, and provider shortages, while those with disabilities struggle with inaccessible facilities, a lack of adapted services, and stigma. Sex workers and people living with HIV in the region experience severe stigma, discrimination, and potential criminalization. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the number of people acquiring HIV saw a concerning 54% increase between 2010 and 2022, and new infections in children and adolescents (0–19 years) rose by 13%, one of the fastest rates of growth in the world4. Additionally, the prevalence of disabilities among children (0–17 years) in MENA is 13%, significantly higher than the global average of 10%5. 

Facilitators for Improving Access to Family Planning Services for Adolescents: Available information indicates some positive initiatives to improve adolescent family planning access in the Arab Region. These include supportive legal frameworks and national strategies for adolescents in countries like Algeria and Tunisia, deploying mobile sexual and reproductive health (SRH) clinics in Somalia and Sudan to reach internally displaced persons (IDPs) and underserved populations, and engaging religious leaders to address harmful practices (such as child marriage, adolescent pregnacies etc.) in Djibouti. Recent government financial commitments to family planning in Yemen and Djibouti signify important progress. To further improve adolescent access, strengthening youth-friendly services (ensuring privacy, confidentiality, and non-judgmental care), expanding comprehensive sexuality education, utilizing digital platforms, and training healthcare workers on adolescent needs are crucial interventions. However, the extent and availability of these interventions across the region require further investigation. 

Proposed Methodology:

 This analysis will employ a mixed-methods approach to investigate adolescent family planning access across 14 countries of the UNFPA Arab States region6. An external consultant will lead the study, overseen by an in-house Task Committee within the SRH Unit. The consultant will propose a detailed methodology and questionnaire, combining quantitative and qualitative data collection. This will encompass a desk review and secondary data analysis of existing national surveys (MICS, DHS, etc.) and relevant reports from UNFPA and other UN agencies. This initial phase aims to establish the current landscape of adolescent access and map ongoing interventions, covering all 14 UNFPA countries with varying levels of analysis based on country context. Following the secondary data analysis, the consultant will collect primary qualitative data through key informant interviews. These interviews will target UNFPA staff (regional and country offices), other UN agencies (WHO, UNICEF), government representatives (Ministries of Health), selected national and international NGOs, and organizations working with adolescent populations. The goal is to understand barriers and facilitators to adolescent access, as well as the relevance and effectiveness of current interventions. Quantitative data will undergo statistical analysis to identify trends and disparities, while qualitative data will undergo thematic analysis for deeper contextual understanding. The integrated findings from both data streams will form the basis for evidence-based recommendations. The detailed methodology, including specific data collection instruments and sampling strategies, will be further refined after consultations with country offices and the Task Committee.

The consultant will be working directly with the SRH Unit and under the supervision of the SRH Advisor.

The consultancy shall be conducted remotely. 

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.

Scope of work:

Key Tasks to be performed by the consultant and timeline: 

In line with the key tasks and activities listed above, the following is the time frame set for the consultant to undertake various activities to meet the deliverables. 

Expected Deliverables 

Qualifications and Experience: 

Education: An advanced degree (preferably a PhD) in public health, reproductive health, social sciences, or a closely related field. 

Knowledge and Experience: 

Languages: Fluency in English, knowledge of Arabic and/or French is an asset.

Required Competencies: 

Values:

Core Competencies: 

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.

Disclaimer:

Selection and appointment may be subject to background and reference checks, medical clearance, visa issuance and other administrative requirements. 

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. 

Applicants for positions in the international Professional and higher categories, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.