TERMS OF REFERENCE
Consultant: SHE SOARS Knowledge & Learning Products Documentation
Pillar 1300 – Capacity Strengthening, Advocacy Influence, and Accountability for ASRHR
1) Background and Context
1.1 What is SHE SOARS?
SHE SOARS stands for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Economic Empowerment (SHE) and Supporting Out-of-school Adolescent Girls’ Rights and Skills (SOARS). The 7 year Project funded by Global Affairs Canada, is implemented by CARE Canada, Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), Restless Development and their partners in Kenya and Zambia and focuses on improving outcomes for out-of-school adolescent girls aged 10–19 years—a population consistently left out of traditional ASRHR programming, difficult to reach, and often facing the greatest need and least access to comprehensive SRH information and services.
Ultimate Outcome of the Project:
To improve access to Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services for adolescents—particularly out-of-school adolescent girls aged 10–19 years—in Kenya and Zambia and support the realization of these rights
Implementation Sites:
- Kenya: Urban and semi-urban informal settlements (Nairobi, Siaya, Kajiado, Kisumu).
- Zambia: Rural settings (Chadiza, Kasenengwa, Mambwe)1.2 Pillar 1300 and the results focus
Under Pillar 1300, SHE SOARS aims to strengthen the ability of key stakeholders especially Women’s Rights Organizations (WROs) and Youth-Led Organizations (YLOs) to drive evidence-based, accountable, and equitable ASRHR policy and practice change.
Intermediate Outcome (Pillar 1300):
Improved effectiveness of key stakeholders particularly WROs and YLOs to advocate for evidence-based, accountable, and equitable ASRHR policies, standards, legal frameworks, and services.
Immediate Outcome 1310:
Strengthened knowledge and skills of WROs and YLOs to hold national duty-bearers accountable for adopting and/or implementing comprehensive ASRHR policies and services.
Immediate Outcome 1320:
Strengthened regional coordination of WROs and YLOs to influence ASRHR standards and share learning.
1.3 Baseline, trajectory, and why knowledge products now
At project inception, a consolidated capacity assessment was conducted for WROs to establish a baseline and inform organization-specific capacity strengthening plans across three domains:
- ASRHR Legal and Policy Research & Analysis
- ASRHR Advocacy Capacity
- Use of ASRHR Accountability Mechanisms for Advocacy
Since inception, CRR has conducted targeted capacity strengthening across these domains and supported research, evidence-based policy advocacy and engagement of accountability mechanisms at local/sub-national, national, and regional levels with some results. Notably, WRO submissions contributed to regional normative guidance, including ACERWC’s General Comment on Article 11 (Right to Education), which acknowledges contextual barriers to education access and strengthens obligations relevant to school re-entry, non-discrimination, and broader education equity, it has also contributed to the development and issuance of the ministerial return to school circular by Ministry of Education in Kenya amongst other tangible results.
SHE SOARS now seeks a consultant to systematically document knowledge and learning processes and outcomes from the beginning of the project to date and package it into a high-quality suite of usable knowledge products for internal learning, further partner capacity strengthening, donor reporting, broader dissemination and replication.
2) Country Policy Context and Priority Reform Pathways
SHE SOARS operates within distinct national policy environments that shape ASRHR outcomes and advocacy opportunities. The knowledge documentation must therefore capture not only what was done, but also the policy gaps being addressed, the duty-bearers targeted, the accountability problem, and the recommended reform pathway.
Zambia – Fragmented and contradictory ASRHR policy guidance
- Context: Lack of a dedicated Adolescent SRH Policy, resulting in fragmented and inconsistent guidance drawn from multiple policies.
- Priority reform pathway / recommendation: Ensure the Draft National Reproductive Health (RH) Policy includes robust adolescent SRH guidance and a strong implementation plan with adolescent-responsive approaches; longer-term, develop a dedicated ASRHR Policy.
Kenya – School dropout due to pregnancy despite re-entry guidelines
- Context: Persistent pregnancy-related dropout continues despite the existence of supportive School Re-entry Guidelines aligned with international and regional frameworks. Implementation is constrained by gaps in dissemination, accountability, implementation oversight, and limited resource allocation.
- Priority reform pathway / recommendation: Develop and institutionalize Accountability and Monitoring Frameworks for the School Re-entry Guideline to strengthen dissemination and implementation by the Ministry of Education, including routine reporting and follow-up mechanisms. Longer-term, GoK/MoE to revise the 1994 School Re-entry Policy.
3) Purpose of the Consultancy
To produce a coherent suite of SHE SOARS knowledge and learning products documenting:
- Baseline capacity position of WROs andYLOs at project start (as the before benchmark)
- How capacities evolved over time across the three domains and across levels (local/sub-national/national/regional)
- Credible contribution story linking baseline gaps to capacity strengthening inputs to capacity shifts and outputs/outcomes achieved to date
- Practical learning outputs that support replication, sustainability, and advocacy effectiveness across the two country contexts (Kenya/Zambia)
- Capturing the journey of WROs and YLOs, highlighting the specific engagements that have driven the policy wins, illustrating how these outcomes are impacting adolescents and other rights holders across the two countries.
4) Objectives
The consultant will:
- Internalize and synthesize baseline capacity assessment findings (partner-specific and cross-cutting).
- Map capacity strengthening interventions including technical assistance since inception against the three domains and Pillar 1300 results
- Document how WRO and YLO capacities evolved at local/sub-national, national, and regional levels (knowledge, practice, relationships, systems/tools).
- Identify and document key achievements/outcomes to date and develop a well-evidenced contribution analysis, including regional norm-setting pathways
- Produce a set of specific, high-quality knowledge and learning products that are publication-ready and practically usable by SHE SOARS teams, WROs/YLOs, leadership, and donors.
- Ensure country learning products explicitly reflect the policy context and reform pathways in Kenya (re-entry accountability frameworks), and Zambia (ASRHR policy coherence).
- Produce a 2–3 minute documentary in each of the two countries that highlights the project’s impact and tells a compelling story of change from the perspective of rights holders and project implementers.
Learning Agenda (Pillar 1300)
Overarching learning question
What are the processes, outcomes, and lessons from strengthening WRO and YLO capacity to lead accountability and advocacy for evidence-based, accountable, and equitable ASRHR commitments and reforms in Kenya, Zambia and at the region?
Outcomes (wins) and contribution
What measurable accountability/advocacy outcomes have been achieved at local/sub-national, national, and regional levels and what is SHE SOARS’ plausible contribution vs other influences?
Mechanisms of change and pathways
Through what pathways did capacity strengthening translate into influence (evidence to coalition action to engagement to policy/implementation shift), and which pathways worked best by country?
Capacity strengthening design and quality
Which modalities were used (training, mentoring, accompaniment, convenings, tools), how were they sequenced, and what quality factors (relevance, practicality, follow-up) mattered most?
Capacity shifts and institutionalization
What changed in knowledge/skills, practices, relationships/positioning, and systems/tools and which gains are institutionalized vs dependent on individuals?
Inclusion, power, and participation (gender-transformative lens)
Who participated/benefited (including marginalized groups), what enabled meaningful youth leadership, and how did power dynamics affect outcomes?
Feasibility, acceptability, and safety of social accountability
To what extent is WRO/YLO-led accountability feasible/acceptable across contexts, what risks/backlash emerged, and what mitigation/safeguarding practices were used or needed?
Evidence use and credibility
What types of evidence were most persuasive with duty-bearers (legal/policy analysis, service data, budgets, lived experience, regional standards), and how was it packaged and used?
Duty-bearer responsiveness and accountability functioning
How did duty-bearers respond (commitments, implementation actions, coordination, resources), and what accountability mechanisms worked best for follow-through?
Country reform pathways and policy translation
What were the key leverage points, blockers, and progress along the priority pathways: Kenya (re-entry accountability frameworks/circular) and Zambia (RH policy adolescent SRH guidance to longer-term coherence)?
Regional norm-setting and diffusion of standards
How did regional mechanisms (e.g., ACERWC) create advocacy leverage, and how were standards translated into national policy asks and practical tools?
5) Scope of Work and Key Tasks
Task 1: Inception, Learning Questions, and Evidence Map
- Desk review of documents
- Agree on learning agenda aligned to Pillar 1300 and country reform pathways
- Develop evidence map: baseline gaps to actions to capacity shifts then outputs/outcomes
- Inception report with workplan and product outlines
Task 2: Baseline-to-Date Capacity Evolution Analysis
- Extract baseline findings per WRO and domain (scores/ratings and narrative)
- Comparative analysis: baseline vs current
- Characterize capacity evolution by level (community/sub-national/national/regional)
- Document change in knowledge/skills, practices, relationships/positioning, and systems/tools
Task 3: Achievement/Outcome Documentation and Contribution Analysis
- Identify outcomes achieved to date (regional and national/sub-national) and map out key stakeholders to interview for the documentaries
- Develop contribution pathways showing how capacity strengthening enabled outcomes
- Integrate normative standards where relevant (e.g., ACERWC education standards)
- Clearly document how work contributes to country pathways:
- Kenya: dissemination/implementation/accountability for re-entry guideline
- Zambia: integrating adolescent SRH guidance into RH policy and longer-term ASRHR policy coherence
Task 4: Knowledge & Learning Products Development and Packaging
- Produce products listed in Deliverables (Section 6)
- Ensure products are evidence-traceable, aligned to Pillar 1300 terminology, and usable as tools
Task 5: Validation and Finalization
- Validation session(s) with selected CRR staff,selected WRO/YLO reps and other SHE SOARS consortium staff.
- Final, publication-ready products
6) Deliverables
A. Core Documentation Products
- Baseline-to-Date Knowledge Synthesis Report (25–35 pages)
- WRO Capacity Evolution Scorecards (6)
- Cross-Partner Comparative Capacity Evolution Matrix
- 2-3 min documentaries from each of the 3 countries of focus
B. Thematic Learning Products
5. Three Learning Briefs (Legal/Policy research; Advocacy; Accountability)
6. Regional Accountability & Norm-Setting Case Study (ACERWC Pathway)
C. Country/Policy Translation Products (Practical Tools)
7. Zambia removal of parental consent to adolescent access to ASRHR services through the Health Services Bil e Brief and Advocacy Pack
D. Communication-Ready Products
8. Executive Summary (2 pages)
9. Slide Deck (12–18 slides)
10. One-page infographic / visual summary
E. Evidence and Quality Assurance
11. Evidence Register
How to apply
7) Application Process
Interested candidates should submit the following:
- A brief technical proposal (max 3 pages)
- A detailed CV highlighting relevant experience.
- At least two samples of previous similar work.
- A financial proposal indicating consultancy fees.
- Profile of the organization/firm (if applicable)
- Please send your expression of interest to africaoperations@reprorights.org and cc rwanzala@reprorights.org by 31 May, 2026