Consultant - Conduct Gender Analysis and Resources Mapping for the Comprehensive and Inclusive Women's Health Project at Bingham University Teaching Hospital (Gombe & Taraba)

Bingham University located in Karu, 25 kilometers from the Federal Capital city of Nigeria Abuja, was established in 2005 by the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) as a Conventional University. It is one of the six private universities in the north and the only one established by a Christian organization.

The main purpose of ECWA was to meet the daring need for high-quality Secular Education which recognizes and integrates the moral and spiritual values on which the Christian faith is founded as well as focuses on entrepreneurial studies in order to promote self-reliance among graduates of the University.

Applications are invited for:

Job Title: Terms of Reference (ToR) to Conduct Gender Analysis and Resources Mapping for the Comprehensive and Inclusive Women's Health Project in Gombe and Taraba States, Nigeria

Location: Gombe and Taraba
Employment Type: Contract
Key Dates: 1st - 30th Augus, 2024
Issuing Office: The Procurement Committee
Organization: Bingham University Teaching Hospital
Project Title: Comprehensive and Inclusive Women's Health Nigeria

Terms of Reference (ToR)
Background Information:

• The National Strategic Framework for the Elimination of Obstetric Fistula in Nigeria (2019-2023) of the Federal Ministry of Health states that Nigeria accounts for 40% of the worldwide fistula prevalence with approximately 150,000 to 200,000 cases and 12,000 new cases yearly in Nigeria, which makes a disproportionate 7.5% of the global burden of obstetric fistula.
• The prevalence is further heightened by several factors including poverty, early child marriage, inadequate infrastructure at government owned and mission facilities, low literacy levels, socio-cultural and religious sentiments, low political will to drive the health agenda across states in Nigeria. Moreover, survivors of fistula have limited access to economic empowerment opportunities, they are poor and are more susceptible to abuse, harassment and discrimination due to reliance majorly on their spouses, family and or care givers for support.
• They have limited access to quality and affordable health care services, as there is inadequate equipment, unskilled and or inadequate health care workers, to improve their health outcomes of those affected by fistula. In some communities, women and girls with fistula cases are ostracized and kept at the mercy of others due to socio-cultural undertones associated with the scourge of fistula.Worst hit by the incidence of fistula are the clusters of women and girls with disabilities who have poorer health outcomes due to stigmatization, discrimination, inaccessible and non-inclusive health facilities that promote their sexual and reproductive health rights.
• Gombe and Taraba states lie in the North-Eastern States of Nigeria where the Boko Haram insurgency has been ongoing over the last thirteen years. The two states (Gombe and Taraba) together have a population of over (8,000,000) people according to the World Atlas 2022. The Governments of Gombe and Taraba States are aware of the scourge of obstetric fistula and appear to be positively inclined to supporting the development of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation interventions for clients with fistula.
• To address these issues, Bingham University Teaching Hospital (BHUTH) - formerly ECWA Evangel Hospital through its Evangel Vesico-vaginal Fistula Centre has been involved in implementing interventions to reduce the prevalence and incidence of obstetric fistula in Gombe and Taraba, and in Nigeria as a whole. One of such interventions is the Comprehensive and Inclusive Women’s Health Project in Nigeria (CIWHIN+) that they have being implementing in Gombe and Taraba States since 2020 till date.

Project Description

• The Comprehensive and Inclusive Women’s Health Project in Nigeria CIWHIN+) is a project supported by CBM Global with the aim of improving access to affordable, quality, and sustainable Sexual and Reproductive Health for all women and girls including those with disabilities in Gombe and Taraba States, Nigeria.
• The overall objective of the project is to “Contribute to improved quality of life of every woman and girl of reproductive age” while the specific objective is that “Every woman has improved rights; health services and livelihood support in Gombe and Taraba states”. The table below is a clear detail of activities targeted at achieving the project objectives.

Overall Objective

• Contribute to improved quality of life of every woman and girl of reproductive age

Specific Objective(s)

• Every woman has improved rights; health services and livelihood support in Gombe and Taraba states

Expected Results

• Result Area 1: Women and girls lead advocacy for accessible and inclusive reproductive health services.
• Result Area 2: Partner mission hospitals and government health facilities in target states have improved capacity to deliver screening, prevention, and treatment of obstetric fistula.
• Result Area 3: Women and girls are empowered to undertake income-generating activities
• Result Area 4: Bingham University Teaching Hospital (BhUTH) has improved project management and implementation strategies.

The project activities include:

• Advocacy to Government and relevant Stakeholders;
• Capacity developments;
• Enlightenment and Sensitization in Communities, Churches and Mosque through Health Workers and Selected Community Advocacy and Response Team (CARTs);
• Review Meetings with Stakeholders;
• Village Saving and Loan Association (VSLA) for vulnerable women and girls;
• Free Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF) / Recto Vaginal Fistula (RVF) Medical/Surgical outreaches for women and girls leaking urine and or stool, 3rd Degree perineal tear, cystocele and uterine prolapse; and,
• Catheter treatment for women and girls leaking urine.
• The project is being implemented in Gombe and Taraba States covering the whole LGAs.

Area of Expertise

• Consultant - Gender and Health Analyst

Purpose of the Consultancy

• The gender analysis and resource mapping are intended to examine the relationships and role differences between women and men, including those with disabilities as a first step to analyzing the power imbalances and intersectionality that influence their expression of their sexual and reproductive health rights and their access to quality and accessible obstetric care services and livelihood options, and the consequences of these inequalities on their lives, their health and well-being.
• The Gender Analysis needs to pay attention to the ways in which gender inequality intersects with other inequalities on the grounds of age, disability status, ethnicity, belief, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc., as relevant to the sector. Likewise, it is critical to explore gender differences between rural and urban situations, the impact of geographical and environmental conflict, and the position of minority and marginalized communities.
• The consultant may use available technical resources and adopt/adapt a gender and power analysis tool, use this tool to analyze the potential for equity impact of policies and programs, and create a monitoring plan for following up on the recommendations associated with the gender and power analysis.

Specifically, the Objectives of the Assignment include:

• Examine and seek to provide understanding of the gender power relations and norms and their implications in health systems in the project implementation sites, including the nature of female’s and male’s lives, how their needs and experiences differ within the health system, the causes, and consequences of these differences, and how ‘programme, services and policies might be better organized to ameliorate, accommodate or redress the differences among them’.
• Identify gender gaps within the project implementation sites, particularly, though not exclusively, for female headed households and people with disabilities, in terms of livelihood needs, constraints, opportunities, access to micro-credits and savings groups, access to business development services, enterprise development, language and other relevant training, access to health services, including family planning, level of indebtedness, access to management positions in cooperatives and producer groups, as well as the relevance and adequacy of the existing project strategy in addressing these gaps.
• Map resources (health service providers, livelihood options, civil society organizations, community-based organizations, etc.) within the project areas that are accessible to females and males, especially people with disabilities that can serve as linkages for services and opportunities, and enablers to rights protection and wellbeing of females and males.

Methodology

• The Gender Analysis of CIWHIN is intended as an analytical and operational process. The assignment is expected to involve desk research, review and analysis of key documents including programme documents, and consultation/interview with relevant national and local gender machineries and other relevant stakeholders including government, civil society and communities/beneficiaries of project.

Planned Timelines (Subject to Confirmation)

• Start date: 01/08/2024
• End date: 30/08/2024

Work to be Performed
The assignment should be carried out in close collaboration with BHUTH staff and will entail:

• Desk research
• Interviews with key stakeholders
• Consultations, where appropriate, with other relevant stakeholders (e.g., donors and international organizations engaged in health sector support).
• “Non-traditional” qualitative research methods: such as life stories, personal histories, etc. that include the voices of the research participants.

The key deliverables of this assignment include:

• An Inception report
• Detailed work plan and tools for data collection
• A final gender analysis report.
• Resource map for the surveyed areas.
• Data sets for all collected data (quantitative and qualitative)
• All data collection tools that have been used together with a summarized analysis of the data
• Submission of signed consent forms where applicable.
• Separate list of persons interviewed, or group discussions conducted, ensuring personal data is processed safely.
• Actual survey schedule/agenda indicating actual working time covered.
• A PowerPoint presentation or similar, summarizing the key findings from the gender analysis and resource mapping for presentation in a debrief meeting with BHUTH and CBM Global.
• Depending on the defined needs of target audiences, an accessible and easy-to-understand presentation of the findings and recommendations for the project stakeholders.
• Monitoring plan for following up on the recommendations associated with the gender and power analysis
• Develop a gender action plan to guide and advise gender mainstreaming in the project. The gender action plan should draw upon results from the gender analysis and provide recommendations to the project to overcome barriers (gender gaps) identified during the gender analysis. The gender action plan should not only focus on external outcomes but also provide guidance to the internal management and organization of the project (e.g. staff communication, reporting, monitoring and evaluation, etc.). The monitoring and evaluation systems should show how project activities contribute to reducing gender gaps in sectors related to the project.

Areas of Coverage:
Gombe State (LGAs)

• Akko
• Balanga
• Biliri
• Dukku
• Funakaye
• Gombe
• Kaltungo
• Kwami
• Shongom
• Nafada
• Yelmatu Deba

Taraba State (LGAs)

• Ardo-Kola
• Bali
• Donga
• Gashaka
• Gassol
• Ibi
• Jalingo
• Karim Lamido
• Kurmi
• Lau
• Sardauna
• Takum
• Ussa
• Wukari
• Yorro
• Zing

Specific Requirements

• First University Degree, with relevant experience in gender equality work, and social and economic development.

Experience required:

• A minimum of 2 years of experience in gender analysis and social development;
• Specific experience and expertise in gender analysis, gender mainstreaming, and women’s rights work;
• Specific experience and expertise in the health sector;
• Experience working in the development sector, especially health
• Knowledge of working with persons with disabilities
• Skills / Technical skills and knowledge:
• Strong analytical, writing and research skills.

Language requirements:

• English and Hausa fluent speaker

Place of Assignment:

• The duty stations for this assignment are Gombe and Taraba States.

Application Closing Date
27th July, 2024.

Method of Application
Interested and potential Consultants (individuals and firms) should submit the following application documents in their bid to: [email protected] and copy [email protected] using “Expression of Interest to undertake Gender Analysis and Resource Mapping for the Comprehensive and Inclusive Women’s Health Project in Gombe and Taraba States” as the subjec of the email

Application Documents

• A Technical proposal clearly showing how he/she understood the assignment, proposed methodology, and detailed schedule.
• A Financial proposal with detailed budget for undertaking the assignment.
• Attached key personnel resumes demonstrating their relevant experience in undertaking similar assignments.
• A copy of at least one similar assignment completed within Nigeria.
• Certificate of Incorporation with the Corporate Affairs Commission (if submitting as an organization).