Individual Consultant for Capacity Building for CSOS at The National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA)

Ref. No.: NACA/1467/AGYWP/1

Background

• Adolescents and Young People (AYP) aged 10-24 years account for one-third of Nigeria’s total population. In 2019, over 66 million AYP were estimated to be in Nigeria – one of the largest in the world. Adolescents have peculiar needs and characteristics as regards HIV and AIDS. Appropriately responding to those issues and needs will yield triple benefits – for the present, for the future adult lives of AYP, and for the next generation who will be children of current AYP.
• The 2018 Nigeria AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS)i estimated that approximately 180,000 AYP live with HIV in Nigeria with HIV prevalence especially high among females 20-24 years at 1.3% (95%CI: 1.1-1.5). The survey further showed very low that the level of awareness of positive HIV status was lowest among AYP; (only 29.4% among 20-24 years old and 35.5% among 15-19 years old compared to 47% among older adults). This reflects the low rates of HIV testing.
• Health outcomes for adolescents living with HIV in Nigeria are poor, with much lower viral suppression rates than older women. There are several factors that increase HIV vulnerability among young people including, lack of inadequate knowledge and limited access to sexual reproductive health services. Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) have particular vulnerabilities to HIV in Nigeria that are strongly linked with gender inequalities and harmful practices.
• AGYW have low levels of comprehensive knowledge of HIV, low HIV risk perception, and access to appropriate sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services.  AGYW Adolescent girls and young women are also more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviours compared to older females/women. As such, AGYW are at comparably higher risks of HIV and appropriate interventions need to be targeted at them. Targeted HIV programmes are required to curb HIV transmission among AYP in high prevalence setting.
• The National Strategic Framework for Nigeria (2017-2021) targets providing access to HIV prevention interventions, HTS and HIV treatment to 90%, 60% and 95% oif AYP respectively. Rapid scale-up is required to achieve country targets and reduce new HIV infections among AYP. The goal of this project is to strengthen the implementation of targeted HIV and SRH interventions for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) to reduce new HIV infections.

Overall Scope
The consultant will lead and manage the process specifically to achieve the following objectives:

• To develop parts (two to four) of the programming guide- See the first guide developed
• To develop a curriculum and training tools (to include training slides, manual and simple implementer’s how-to-guide(s)/programming guide) targeted at civil society organizations on how to design evidence-informed and effective responses for AGYW; deliver programmes for AGYW; and measure and sustain impacts for AGYW.

Scope of Work and Deliverables

• Review available resources in-country and online to inform the design of a framework for the curriculum and training tools.
• In close consultation with NACA and the core team, finalise the framework and participate in at least three core team meetings to harness inputs, review and finalise the curriculum and training tools.
• Deliver one three-day training of trainer’s (ToT) workshop to build the capacity of an identified pool of trainers.
• Facilitate a three-day virtual training for CSOs at state level.

Period:

• The consultancy shall run for a period of 22 working days. NACA will provide overall leadership and be responsible for coordinating activities.

Deliverables
The expected deliverables from this activity are:

• Developed programming guide for parts (two to four) – See the first guide developed
• Draft and finalized curriculum and tools for the training of civil society organizations on the implementation of AGYW-focused community-based HIV interventions
• A pool of trainers trained to conduct capacity-building workshops for CSOs on the implementation of AGYW-focused community-based HIV interventions
• At least 20 CSO organizations trained on the implementation of AGYW-focused community-based HIV interventions and provided with implementation tools

Qualifications and experience
This assignment requires the services of a consultant that can demonstrate extensive HIV programming skills at the community level. The following qualifications and experiences are required:

• Advanced-level qualification in Public Health, Social Sciences, especially Public Policy, Gender Studies
• Minimum of 5 years experience in adolescents and young people programming, project management within relevant sectors (Health, Education, Social protection)
• Direct experience in curriculum development and development of training tools
• Prior experience in facilitating training workshops
• Experience that demonstrates sensitivity to and understanding of technical issues, as well as Nigeria HIV and health data ecosystems, preferred.
• Excellent organization and project management skills
• Excellent writing, presentation and communication skills
• Fluency in written and spoken English and good drafting skills
• Demonstrated ability to simplify and present complex concepts to a varied audience.
• Knowledge and experience in HIV programming for AYP in Nigeria would be an asset.