Request for Application

Youth Consultant to Strengthen the Capacity of Young People to Advocate for Programs that Create a Gender-Equitable Environment for Very Young Adolescents

Overview

The USAID-funded Breakthrough ACTION project of the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP) is seeking an independent youth consultant who is based in Liberia, to lead activities to strengthen the capacity of a cohort of young people to advocate for interventions that will create a more gender-equitable environment for very young adolescents (10-14 years old) (VYAs).

Any questions or requests for clarification about the Request for Application (RFA) should be sent to BA-Liberia-Admin@jhu.edu and olivia.carlson@jhu.edu by March 15, 2024, at 5:00 PM GMT. Responses to queries will be compiled and shared with all groups that have expressed interest.

The proposal must be submitted via email no later than March 30, 2024, at 5:00 PM GMT to BA-Liberia-Admin@jhu.edu and olivia.carlson@jhu.edu.

Background

Breakthrough ACTION is an eight-year cooperative agreement funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to lead their social and behavior change (SBC) programming around the world. Breakthrough ACTION is a partnership led by CCP in collaboration with Save the Children, ThinkPlace, ideas42, Camber Collective, and Viamo. The project works in partnership with governments, civil society, and communities to implement creative and sustainable SBC programming, nurture SBC champions, mainstream new techniques and technologies, and advocate for strategic and sustained investment in SBC.

The Breakthrough ACTION Core-funded sexual and reproductive health (SRH) program develops and tests new SBC tools, provides technical assistance to national, regional, and global partners, and leads work around global and regional level advocacy for SBC in SRH and fostering shared agendas of work among global partners. In the last year, Breakthrough ACTION worked alongside the Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS), a longitudinal cohort study of urban poor VYAs that examines how gender norms impact various health indicators over time, to develop tools and resources for building a gender equitable environment for young adolescents worldwide.

Technical Approach

In collaboration with the selected consultant, Breakthrough ACTION will issue an open call for applications for up to 12 youth advocates (aged 18–25) from Liberia and one or two other anglophone USAID PRH priority countries in sub-Saharan Africa to join a cohort for capacity strengthening and technical support to build youth advocacy for creating a gender equitable environment for VYAs, where members will develop an advocacy strategy to be implemented by their own organizations.

The youth cohort will be engaged through a virtual launch meeting, which will provide a space for Breakthrough ACTION Liberia and the youth consultant to share the process and objectives of the activity, answer any initial questions, and for the cohort members to get to know one another. The project will then host a series of six virtual cohort meetings (one every other week) that will include reviewing foundational advocacy processes and principles, such as SMART advocacy, as well as principles and best practices in creating a gender equitable environment for VYAs, supported by a virtual, asynchronous discussion.

These meetings will culminate in a three-day, in-person capacity strengthening workshop in Liberia. The workshop will orient the youth cohort to the VYA Message Framework created by Breakthrough ACTION, provide guidance on how to apply the framework in a process of broader program/advocacy goals, understand the decision maker they are focusing on, customize the Framework messages to their local context, and select supporting evidence for each key message, particularly using data from GEAS, where applicable. The workshop will also orient the youth cohort to the Gender Equality Today for Youth (GET4Youth) package as an example of a comprehensive program that helps create a gender equitable environment in which VYAs can thrive.

Following the workshop, the project will provide virtual technical assistance (TA) to cohort members as they apply their learnings to develop an advocacy strategy for their organizations.

Scope of Work

Breakthrough ACTION will be responsible for the overall success of the project, recruiting youth cohort members, overseeing youth cohort activities, organizing logistics and travel for the in-person workshop, and providing advocacy, gender, and youth-related TA in support of cohort capacity strengthening activities.

The selected consultant will be responsible for leading and preparing content for youth cohort activities with support from Breakthrough ACTION.

Specific responsibilities include:

• Provide input on the RFA for youth cohort members and review cohort applications (Breakthrough ACTION will lead development of the RFA and the selection process.)
• Attend regular planning meetings with the Breakthrough ACTION team.
• Lead, organize, and facilitate six youth cohort meetings and a three-day, in-person workshop in Liberia for cohort members in consultation with Breakthrough ACTION staff. This includes developing and delivering activities that will provide cohort members with foundational skills in advocacy processes and principles, such as SMART advocacy, as well as principles and best practices for creating a gender-equitable environment for VYAs.
• Provide ongoing support and technical assistance to youth cohort members while they are developing their advocacy strategies.
• Facilitate asynchronous discussions with youth cohort members.

Timeline

• March-May 2024: Release cohort application and select cohort members
• May-July 2024: Hold six virtual cohort meetings (one every other week); cohort members begin developing advocacy strategies
• August-September 2024: Hold a 3-day, in-person capacity strengthening workshop in Liberia; provide virtual technical assistance to youth cohort members while they finish their advocacy strategies

All deliverables, reports and materials produced by the consultant will require review and final approval by Breakthrough ACTION Liberia Team for payment. Payments to consultants are subject to a 10 percent tax under the Consultancy Tax Law. This 10 percent tax will be deducted from all payments made to the consultant and paid to the Liberia Revenue Authority.

Evaluation Criteria and Selection Process

Applicants will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Technical expertise in youth advocacy, ideally SMART advocacy strategies
• Experience leading and organizing capacity building workshops or trainings
• Experience advocating for gender or health-related policies and programs to improve the wellbeing of young people (preferred)
• Experience building the advocacy capacity of young people aged 18-25 (preferred)
• Experience working with adolescents aged 10-19 (preferred)
• Technical expertise in gender and/or VYAs (preferred)

Application Submission Requirements

• • Cover letter: A one-page cover that explains why the applicant is interested in this opportunity and includes the applicant’s full name, phone number, and email (max. 1 page; font: calibri, size 11, single spaced).
  • Capability description: Please respond to the following prompts (max. 2.5 pages; font: calibri, size 11; single spaced).
    • Describe your technical expertise in youth advocacy.
    • Describe your experience advocating for gender or health-related policies and programs to improve the wellbeing of young people.
    • Describe your experience building the advocacy capacity of young people aged 18-25.
    • Describe any additional experience you have working with young people aged 18-25.
    • Describe your experience leading and organizing capacity-strengthening workshops or training. capacity-strengthening technical expertise you have related to gender and VYAs, if applicable.

• Curriculum Vitae or Resume

• • Budget and budget notes: Applicants are requested to submit a detailed budget with budget notes using the attached template in Microsoft Excel. For cost comparison purposes, applicants are requested to submit realistic and competitive cost estimates for all activities as outlined above. The applicant must restate the total bid amount in USD. The contract for the winning application shall be denominated in USD, and all payments thereafter shall be executed in that currency.

• References: A list of two former or current clients for whom similar work has been done. For each reference, please provide a 100–250-word description of the work performed together with dates of service and the contact person’s job title/position, institution, email address, and telephone/mobile phone number.

Selection Process

A selection committee will review all submissions, judging responsiveness and technical merits using the criteria as listed above. The applicant must be based in and have the ability to work in Liberia. Selected applicants will then be invited to interview with the Breakthrough ACTION team.

The committee will make a final determination based on the evaluation criteria above and a value-for-money assessment.

Breakthrough ACTION reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals, to withdraw or amend this RFA at any time, to initiate negotiations with one or more proposers, to modify or amend with consent of the Proposer any proposal prior to acceptance, to waive any informality and to affect any agreement otherwise, all as Breakthrough ACTION in its sole judgment may deem to be in its best interest.

Bidders will be notified of the outcome. At no time, and under no circumstances, will proprietary information regarding a competing agency’s proposal be divulged to competitors.

After the selection process is completed, the winning organization will meet with Breakthrough ACTION technical and financial staff to finalize the scope of work, timeline, and budget.