International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Review and Assessment of MAs with institutional challenges and Learning Centres

International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Review and Assessment of MAs with institutional challenges and Learning Centres

Background IPPF Africa Region has used different approaches and interventions to provide desk based and field based TA and support to all MAs but with different magnitude and focus based on the size of the MAs, geographical and programmatic coverage, funding priority and size of funding etc.
Although there has been a significant progress in some of the MAs to address institutional challenges such as in governance, management, and finance through different interventions, there are still MAs with recurrent institutional challenges.
There are also a number of MAs that came out of their institutional crisis while others have not encountered basic institutional challenges.
There is a need to document the experiences and share as a pre-emptive intervention from the MAs currently with institutional challenges as well as from those stable MAs and MAs who faced crisis some years back but overcame the crisis and now working smoothly.
Towards this, the IPPFAR 95th session of the REC passed the resolution on MAs with institutional challenges which indicated to identify key issues which require further review and investigation at MA level.
The resolution reads as follows.
Resolution 3: Strengthening Governance
Noting with concern the number of MAs with institutional challenges; Taking cognizance of the key role that good governance plays in the prevention of crisis, promotion of stability and MAs progression towards resilience;
The Regional Executive Committee of IPPFAR resolves that a governance orientation and induction package and program targeting volunteers and staff both at Regional and MA levels be rolled out.
The Regional Executive Committee of IPPFAR further resolves

The Consideration of country context specific factors during the analysis and categorization of MAs in crisis

The commissioning of an external study on IPPFAR MAs with institutional challenges

The Documentation of case studies to enhance learning from MAs who may have experienced, overcome or avoided crisis;

Moreover, IPPFAR initiated Learning Centre approach to ensure that MAs support and learn from each other. Through peer to peer approach.
However, some LC MAs have not been in full compliance with the statutory requirements of IPPF and there are no clear mechanisms how the LC status can be retained.
The IPPFAR REC during its sitting of the 95th session deliberated on the matter and passed the following resolution.
Resolution 6:Review and Assessment of MAs with Learning Centers
Noting that the Learning Centers are a significant innovation that enhances learning among volunteers, staff and key partners in the promotion of SRHR at community, national, regional and international levels and;
Appreciating the outstanding contributions and role that Learning Centers play towards sustainability of IPPFAR interventions at Country and Regional levels;
IPPFAR REC resolves that a review and assessment of MAs with learning centers be undertaken to confirm that they are in full compliance of statutory requirements.
The IPPFAR REC asserts that full and timely compliance to all statutory requirements shall be a pre-requisite for MAs who wish to retain the Learning Centre Status.
Objectives
The Regional Office therefore seeks to recruit an organization or consultant:
a) To assess and document the factors that contributed to recurrent institutional challenges in the MAs and come up with appropriate interventions
b) To document the process and approaches used by MAs to emerge out of key institutional challenges as well as factors that contribute to stability of MAs
c) To assess the effectiveness of the Learning Centers and their compliance with statutory requirements and make recommendations for improvement
d) To develop a roadmap to address MAs with key institutional challenges and come up with preventive strategies.
Scope of the evaluation
This study will have three categories in order to conduct the assessment on MAs with institutional challenges.
The first category looks MAs currently with institutional challenges which are Malawi, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Tanzania, Guinea Conakry, Gabon and Angola.
The second category of the study will look MAs that came out of the institutional crisis in the last 5 years which are Kenya, DRC, Zambia and Chad.
With the objectives of learning from MAs which are stable, the 3rd category of the assessment will consider MAs which have been relatively stable overtime (in the last 5 years) and these MAs include Burkina Faso, Swaziland, Burundi and Togo.
From each category, 2 MAs will be covered for the field study using purposive sampling.
Regarding the LCs, IPPFAR has currently 9 MAs as LCs.
This learning Centres are further divided in to 2 categories.
The first category includes the 4MAs which are Uganda, Ghana, Cameroon and Mozambique which has been learning centres for the last few years while the second category includes the other 5 MAs (Ethiopia, Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, Swaziland and Togo) which was initiated last year.
The field visit study will cover 1 LC from each category.
The task for the assessment for the institutional challenges and learning centres will be carried out by an external consultant with support from ARO.
The targets for the study include MAs volunteers and staff, ARO staff and beneficiaries/stakeholders.
The time frame for the MAs with the institutional challenges will be the last 5 years.
The study will come up with a clear strategy on how to address institutional challenges and in putting pre-emptive intervention to prevent crisis.
The findings of the LCs including the institutional challenges will be disseminated and shared with all the LCs as well as other MAs in order to strengthen learning and experience sharing
Methodology
Working closely with the Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor and Senior Accreditation and Governance Advisor and any person assigned, and facilitating internal as well as external meetings and consultation processes as required, the consultant will be expected to undertake the following tasks:
a) Develop/review data collection instruments/tools for the review
b) Review relevant documents related to MAs with Institutional Crisis and the Learning Centres
c) Conduct in-depth and key informant interviews among IPPFARO staff and selected MA volunteers and staff
d) Field visit to 8 MAs
e) Write and submit reports
A detailed external assessment methodology will be provided by the consultant.
Internal literature review
A number of background documents are to be made available for the external assessment and they are:

IPPFAR Strategic framework 2010-2015

ARO and MAs APBs

ARO and MAs annual reports

Filed mission reports

MAs with institutional challenges reports

Learning Centre documents Key Deliverables
The consultants will be required to submit to IPPFARO the following:

Inception Report which should be delivered not later than 5 days from the date of signing contract

Draft review reports (draft reports will be required for comment by the project team prior to finalization)

Oral presentation (based on power point slides) to the IPPFARO SMT when required;

Master copies of the final reports suitable for reproduction

Presentation of the final report, including recommendations

Soft copies of the final reviewed reports Time Frame
The approximate time frame shall be forty five (45) working days between the months of January - March, 2015.
Working Conditions

IPPFARO will provide the Consultant with the needed logistics including transport for the assignment

IPPFARO will arrange for logistics including incidentals, hotel, and per diem for possible visits to selected Member Associations.

The Consultant will be paid as per terms of payment as outlined under terms of payment and the contract. Required Competencies of Consultant
The consultants should have the following knowledge and skills:

Minimum of 5 years experience in SRH&R programme design and management

Demonstrable efficiency in organizational development

Good knowledge of Local and national organizations working in the area of SRH

Sound knowledge/experience in governance and management

Proven experience in similar assignments

Demonstrated effective interpersonal skills

Committed to the core values of IPPF

Fluency in English (working knowledge in French is an advantage) Proposed Timeline

No Activity Time Frame Point Person(s) 1 Advertise Consultancy Work 3rd Week of November 2014 HR Officer 2 Selection and recruitment of Consultant 1st Week of December 2014 Procurement Committee

HR Officer 3 Discussions on remunerations, contracts and logistics 1st Week of December 2014 Performance Manager,

Operations Department 4 Preparation of instruments 2nd Week of December, 2014

Consultant with support from IPPFARO Team 5 Field Work (Document reviews, interviews, etc.) January and February 2015 Consultant with support from IPPFARO

Team 6 Data Analysis February 2015 Consultant 7 Report writing February 2015

Consultant 8 Submission of draft report March 2015 Consultant 9 Review of draft report March 2015 IPPFARO Team 10 Finalise and submit reviewed report March 2015 Consultant Terms of Payment This will be a fixed term contract.
Funds will be disbursed according to the following payment schedule:

25% of the total award will be paid upon signing of contracts

35% will be paid upon completion of all field work and submission of field reports

20% will be paid upon submission of complete and clean data sets.

20% will be paid upon receipt by IPPFARO of final agreed report on the study by the Consultant How to Apply:
Interested applicants should email; hroffice@ippfaro.org by 29th Nov 2014.