Background

The Marie Stopes Papua New Guinea (MSPNG) mission is to ensure individuals’ fundamental right to have children by choice, not chance. MSPNG works to support the Ministry of Health (MoH) of PNG to implement national SRH strategies and achieve national maternal health goals through the delivery of a broad range of high-quality family planning (FP) and SRH services and health systems strengthening approaches. MSPNG is part of the MSI global partnership, which works to improve the health and quality of life of communities in 37 countries world-wide.

Since 2017, MSPNG has received funding by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), managed by PNG-Australia Transition to Health (PATH), to implement the Partnering for Stronger Families project. The overarching goal of the project is to contribute to the reduction of maternal, infant, neonatal, and under-five mortality in PNG through the increased coverage and uptake of high-quality FP and SRH services. PSF focuses on reaching women, men, adolescents, people with disabilities, and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) across PNG. PSF supports service delivery, training and quality assurance through various service delivery mechanisms, including National Family Planning and Training Program (NFPTP) providers, MSPNG hospital embedded providers, outreach teams, and MSPNG’s contact centre. This initiative also seeks to enhance partnerships, collaboration, and capacity at national and sub-national levels with government and other stakeholders.

Purpose and objectives

The PSF project is due to end in December 2024, and MSPNG wishes to conduct an assessment of the extent to which GEDSI considerations and approaches have been embedded and actioned within the project from inception in 2017 to date. Findings and recommendations will be used internally to inform proposal development for any further phases of the project, as well as broader programming, and will also be shared with project stakeholders including PATH.

Scope of work

The consultant will be responsible for:

– Developing the protocol and research tools for the assessment as guided by MSPNG
– Conducting the research and analysing the results
– Presenting initial results and conclusions to MSPNG team members through a sense-making workshop
– Integrating feedback from the workshop into a final evaluation report.

Skills and experience 

The consultant/s will need the following minimum qualifications, skills and experience:

– A post-graduate degree in relevant subject (Gender, Public Health, International Development, Evaluation etc.)  
– Experience working in the field of gender equality and social inclusion programming, preferably with expiring in the areas of health, research and/or conducting GEDSI analyses.
– A good understanding of sexual and reproductive health, including family planning
– Demonstrated experience using both quantitative and qualitative methods, including design of GEDSI analyses or similar experience. Experience evaluating DFAT/PATH-funded projects is desirable.
– A good understanding of PNG’s health system, including current strengths and challenges
– A sound understanding of gender, equity, disability and social inclusion best-practice in health programming 
– Fluency in written and spoken English. Tok Pisin desirable.
– Experience delivering presentations and facilitating group discussions
– Experience working in development projects in PNG or Pacific Island Countries
– A pro-choice supporter of sexual and reproductive health rights for all
– Highest level of integrity and ethics including a commitment to protecting the confidentiality of individuals and organisations and to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.

Submission of proposals and selection process 

Interested individuals / agencies should apply no later than COB 3rd November 2023. Applicants are encouraged to apply early, as interviews may begin before the application deadline. Applications should include: 

– Curriculum vitae for all lead consultants, including references
– At least two samples of a report from a similar evaluation or piece of research conducted by the consultant/s
– Short proposal addressing the above terms of reference, outlining sufficient detail about the methodology to assess whether this will allow for the research questions to be answered
– Budget, broken down by each activity, including travel costs and additional expenses incurred.