SRHR Consultant

A- FRF is partnering with OXFAM in a project about Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights: Youth Leadership and Advocacy 

B- Context

Youth in Lebanon are likely to face a range of health and social challenges. For instance, initiation of sexual activity while they lack adequate knowledge and skills for protection, places adolescents at a higher risk of unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion and sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS, especially with the absence of laws and/or policies that regulate these issues. In Lebanon, topics like “sex” and “sexual and reproductive health” outside the institution of marriage are stigmatized and are considered a taboo, even for adults, whereas the stigma is even more severe when it comes to adolescents who are exploring their bodies. For many adolescents who need sexual and reproductive health services, such as appropriate information, contraception, and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), these are either not available or are provided in a way that makes youth feel embarrassed, and all of this is due to the absence of an educational system that covers this topic in schools and universities, in addition to a scarcity in safe spaces that ensure anonymity while providing services. Adolescents and youth face significant barriers that undermine their sexual and reproductive health and rights—including lack of access to comprehensive sexuality education and to essential sexual and reproductive health services. The extent to how much youth are involved in issues related to their well-being has a staggering effect on their psychological and social development, in addition to increasing their ability to make decisions.

Scope of Work:

Family Rights Forum will seek to engage youth not only in the production of a policy paper that will be promoted to be endorsed by key stakeholders, namely universities, schools whether public or private, and local and international organizations, but also in the advocacy plan, where the youth will use the policy paper as a tool to campaign and advocate for the rights of youth in their communities, and to disseminate knowledge and information on SRHR in universities, schools, and hospitals. Youth will be among the main participants in producing the paper along with academics, organizations’ representatives, and frontline health providers.

The policy paper will provide recommendations on how to enhance the knowledge on youth SRHR, remove barriers hindering its advancement, and will be a tool for the youth to advocate for an inclusive SRH system that is be endorsed by key stakeholders like the Ministry of Education and Higher Education-MEHE and the Ministry of Public Health-MoPH, and consequently schools, universities, and hospitals, in addition to youth-led organizations and organizations that target youth in their programmes. Moreover, we will establish local partnerships with a number of organizations to reach out to the targeted youth who will be trained to become advocates in their communities and to support in promoting the findings of the paper. The main activities of the project will be focused on reach out, community mobilization, partnerships, and knowledge dissemination in three rural areas: Chouf, Bekaa, and South Lebanon. 

Deliverables: FRF is looking for a consultant to carry out a consultancy with the following deliverables:

1.Desk Review: The consultant is entitled to conduct a desk review on all related studies from the policies, strategies, international treaties about SRHR, and youth to advocate for an inclusive SRHR system that is be endorsed by key stakeholders

2.The consultant should conduct KII

3.Under the supervision of FRF to conduct field consultations and data collection:

a.  conduct one focus group with NGOs (youth-led and WROs, and organizations that target youth and tackle SRHR in their activities) on the other hand, will share their suggestions to improve access to SRH information and services, in addition to providing input on previous resources and insights on the best practices in engaging youth in SRHR advocacy. 

b- conduct one focus group with Educators (university and school teachers) will provide information on the best approaches to engage youth in different contexts, and previous experiences, if any, on tackling this topic in their communities.

c- conduct one focus group with Healthcare providers to share their experiences with youth they encounter on duty and the questions and concerns raised by them, in addition to the available sexual and reproductive health services for young people and if they accessing these services is easy or legal.

1. Scoping Paper : The consultant is expected to produce a policy paper that provides a set of recommendations and data on youth SRHR. The policy paper will be a knowledge dissemination and awareness raising tool for the youth in their advocacy efforts.  

Timeframes:4 months

Ø  March 2024: Desk Review

Ø  March 2024 till May 2024: Conduct Field consultations

Ø  June 2024: First Draft of scoping Paper and final paper.

The consultant is expected to send their CV, Financial quotation, and workplan on [email protected]

Experience and expertise

The consultant should have:

● Experience in conducting primary qualitative research.

● Experience in facilitating multi-stakeholder dialogues and policy engagement initiatives.

● Knowledge of Lebanon’s SRHR sector and laws

● Knowledge and extensive experience within Lebanon’s non-governmental and civil society sectors.

● Excellent communication and facilitation skills.

● Excellent written and spoken knowledge of English and Arabic