Midterm Evaluation Consultancy – Sexual and Reproductive Health and Economic Empowerment – Supporting Out of School Adolescent Girls’ Rights and Skills (She Soars) Program

MIDTERM EVALUATION CONSULTANCY

Sexual and Reproductive Health and Economic Empowerment-Supporting Out of School Adolescent Girls’ Rights and Skills (SHE SOARS) Program

RFP DOCUMENT # ZMB03 -2610

Introduction

CARE International is a global network of independent national organizations working together across more than 100 countries to save lives, end poverty and fight social injustice. CARE is a humanitarian and development non-governmental organization committed to working with people of all genders, especially women and girls, communities, and institutions to have a significant impact on the underlying causes of poverty. CARE seeks to contribute to economic and social transformation, unleashing the power of the most vulnerable women and girls.

SHE SOARS Project

The project aims to increase the enjoyment of health-related rights on the part of extremely vulnerable and marginalized women and girls, particularly out-of-school adolescent girls between 10 and 19 years of age in Chadiza, Kasenengwa and Mambwe districts of Eastern Province in Zambia. The project has provided training and support for educators and health care providers to ensure that adolescents have access to comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) and provided CSE directly through skills and training packages for youth groups in all three project countries. The project is working with local groups, health care providers, and government ministries to build capacity and improve access to high-quality, evidence-based comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services for out-of-school adolescents in an inclusive and adolescent-friendly environment. The project was informed by consultation with out-of-school and at-risk adolescents in the project countries and continue to work with local organizations and governments to advocate for sustainable transformations in the social, economic, and legal environments so that adolescents, particularly adolescent girls, can more easily access sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and exercise their sexual and reproductive health rights.

Working in partnership with Restless Development, the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, the Center for Reproductive Rights and through partnerships with local Women’s Rights, and Youth-Led Organizations, the project puts out of school adolescent girls’ needs and rights at the center of activities and is anticipated to directly support 27,586 (75%) out of school adolescent girls and 7,356 (20%) out of school boys (10-19 years) across the target communities in Zambia.

The project will increase the enjoyment of health-related human rights on the part of extremely vulnerable and marginalized women and girls, particularly out of school adolescent girls aged between 10 and 19 years old in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia through three interconnected pillars: (1) increased equitable use of SRHR health services by diverse groups of women, adolescent girls, and children’s rights holders, particularly out-of-school adolescent girls; (2) improved provision of gender-and adolescent-responsive, inclusive and accountable health services by health care providers for diverse groups of women, adolescent girls, and children’s rights holders, particularly out-of-school adolescent girls; and, (3) improved effectiveness of key stakeholders, particularly women’s and girls’ rights organizations to advocate for evidence-based, accountable and equitable adolescent SRHR policies, legal frameworks and services.

Project activities include: 1) providing training and support for educators and health care providers to ensure that adolescents have access to comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), and providing CSE directly through skills and training packages for youth groups in all three project countries; 2) working with local groups, health providers, and government ministries to build capacity and improve access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services for out-of-school adolescents; 3) financial and capacity support to Women’s Rights Organizations and Youth-Led Rights Organizations to conduct advocacy on SRHR to influence legal and policy change; 4) deep community engagement and accompaniment to transform social and gender norms that are barriers to adolescent girls’ and boys’ rights, including the right to bodily autonomy.

In Year one of the project, a baseline study was conducted with the purpose to:

• Establish baseline values for all indicators for the SHE SOARS project as set out in the Performance Measurement Framework (PMF)
• Examine the knowledge, attitudes and practices related to sexual reproductive health and gender equality among adolescents, particularly out-of-school adolescents, to inform project implementation.
• Contribute to the evidence base surrounding Gender Equality and Sexual and Reproductive Health outcomes for adolescents.
• Identify programmatic priorities and approaches through key informant interviews with stakeholders such as government staff, community leaders, health care providers and staff from other sexual and reproductive health rights projects.

The project has been running for the past three years since 2021. It is against this background that a Mid-Term Evaluation (MTE) will be conducted in the fourth year of the project.

MTE Scope

The proposed scope of the mid-term evaluation will involve undertaking a cross-sectional mixed methods approach:

1. A coverage survey at household level that targets households with at least one female adolescent member (15-19 years old), uses a structured questionnaire about sexual and reproductive health and gender equality and allows for sex, age and in-school/out of school disaggregated quantitative data.
2. A qualitative gender and power analysis study that provides contextual information about beliefs and behaviors related to sexual and reproductive health and gender equality among adolescents, particularly out-of-school adolescents, their families, and networks. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) will also address how different interventions (peers groups, Youth Savings and Loans Associations (YSLAs), Community Score Card (CSC), Social Analysis and Action (SAA) contributed to other project outcomes such as women’s empowerment and access to health services.
3. Key Informant Interviews with intermediaries and key stakeholders to document successes, challenges, and lessons learned, in particular regarding:
   1. Youth engagement
   2. Utilization of knowledge by Youth Led Organizations (YLOs) and Women Rights Organizations (WROs)
   3. Partnership and consortium management
   4. Safeguarding

To download the full terms of reference please click on the following link: CARE CALL FOR PROPOSAL SHE SOARS