Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Consultant at Heartland Alliance

Req ID: 5419
Locations: Lagos and Benue
FT/PT: Full time
Employment Type: Temporary
Reports to: Deputy Chief of Party
Start Date: 29th of October, 2018
Duration: 4 weeks

Organizational Background

• Heartland Alliance International (HAI) is the global arm of Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights, a family of organizations that has been leading anti-poverty and social justice work in Chicago for more than 125 years. HAI’s offices in nearly a dozen countries implement programs on a range of global human rights issues, as well as the Chicago-based Marjorie Kovler Center for the Treatment of Survivors of Torture, which serves individuals from more than 50 countries.
• HAI has significant expertise in the fields of trauma-informed mental health care and access to justice for survivors of rights abuses. It is also an industry leader in access to high-quality and stigma-free health care. Across all of its programs, HAI promotes progressive, innovative approaches to human rights protections and gender equality.

About the Project

• With support from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Nigeria, HAI is implementing the Sexual and Reproductive Rights for All (SARRA) project.
• The two-year project aims to reach 8,000 marginalized women and girls in Lagos and Benue, build the capacity of local civil society organizations (CSOs), and ultimately target national and global policymakers and service providers.
• This project builds on HAI’s extensive experience providing HIV prevention, treatment and care services for marginalized populations in seven states in Nigeria.
• SARRA will pilot and document promising practices to advance the rights of these marginalized communities, developing the foundation for locally driven advocacy, and launching models that could be scaled up in the future.
• This project is therefore is in need of a consultant for a rapid assessment as detailed below.

Scope of Work

• Meet and liaise with local, state and national government agencies, civil society organizations engaging in sexual and reproductive health services for women and girls in Lagos and Benue states, and nationally.
• Develop a comprehensive list of sexual and reproductive health service providers and women and girls’ rights advocates in the area and assess the relevance of services to the greatest extent possible.
• Carry out a rapid capacity assessment of collectives (including target group gatekeepers)  and organizations that best represent women and girls most in need of sexual and reproductive health services and at risk of neglect, in the two locations. The assessment will also provide critical information on SRHR needs, gaps and resources in services, as well as key target groups and their locations, and key actors to target with advocacy
• Tailor a comprehensive curriculum on SRHR (including previous GBV modules, family planning methods and techniques, basics of childcare, sexual and reproductive rights, etc. in simple articulated modules).
• Develop presentation slides based on the above curriculum and train staff, project collectives and partners on the basics of SRHR.

Qualifications and Experience

• Trained social services, legal or mental health professional with a minimum of seven years of demonstrated experience working with marginalized populations on sexual and reproductive health services and rights, gender and women’s empowerment.
• Experience working with female sex workers, injecting drug users and other key and vulnerable populations is an added advantage.
• Experience working with local, state, and national government and civil society
• Familiarity with concepts around SRHR, Gender and GBV.
• Comfortable traveling and working in a low-resource and potentially insecure environment.
• Good knowledge of the political and geographical environments of Lagos and Benue states.
• Expertise in research and evaluation
• Experience in gender based violence management
• Strong English language writing skills are required
• Strong commitment to human rights and gender equity, with cross-cultural experience and cultural sensitivity required
• Experienced in core gender transformational activities specifically for the target population and have passion in working with women and girls.