Consultancy Services for Global Mobile Project by Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA)
Global Mobile:
An Access to Health Information Project
By Planned Parenthood Global
Terms of Reference for Creating a Baseline to Determine the Sexual and Reproductive Health Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Youths and Teens and their Use of Technology/Digital Habits in the Search for Information and Services on Sexual and Reproductive Health in Nigeria
(1) Background
The “Global Mobile” initiative is a project created by Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) with the goal of increasing access to information and services for Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) for adolescents and youth in developing countries via a technology (web, mobile, based platform. Planned Parenthood Global (PP Global), PPFA’s international division, is working in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to develop this pilot project in Ecuador and Nigeria. The project will be implemented in collaboration with local partnerships in two distinct phases and will last for 3 years.
The first phase will adapt the extensive SRH information available on PPFA’s website to create factually accurate and age appropriate content for adolescents and young adults in both pilot countries. This content will be available on a platform optimized for mobile phones, so that anyone with a cell phone with internet access can easily obtain information on human rights-based SRH. Additionally, referral to local health clinics that are of high quality and adolescent and youth friendly will be available.
The second phase will explore the possibility to include a short message service (SMS) whereby PP Global, UNFPA, and other project partners distribute, via SMS, SRH information, including information on adolescent-friendly providers/clinics that are located close to the user. The second phase may also include adjustments to small applications (widgets) which have previously been developed for successful use in the United States.
Planned Parenthood Global and UNFPA expect this project to reach adolescents and youth in Ecuador and Nigeria. Facilitating and increasing access to information and services will have a positive impact on their SRH and in the future development of their community and country. Adolescents who have access to information and health services will continue their education for longer, find better paying jobs and develop skills necessary to make responsible decisions and maintain positive SRH throughout their life.
(2) Justification of the Consultancy
PP Global and UNFPA require the services of an expert company or organization in the analysis of knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of adolescents and young users of information and services on SRH and their digital habits and practices in Nigeria to support the establishment of a baseline that will inform project content and roll-out.
To develop the technology platform and offer SRH information and services for adolescents and youth, it is necessary to collect timely, reliable and comprehensive information (current and in the future) related to internet use undertaken by adolescents and the SRH information that is of greatest need and interest to adolescents, and what kinds of SRH services they require.
It is expected that through the results of all consultancies, PP Global will establish evidence-based recommendations in order to inform the technology/information architecture, SRH content and additional resources needed for successful implementation of the project.
(3) Objectives of the Consultancy
(1) Document a baseline so that PP Global may develop recommendations based on evidence to implement the next phase of the project, which will be to develop the content and services that adolescents will be able to access through the technology platform.
(2) Document the KAP of adolescents accessing sexual and reproductive health information, including how they access this information, through different technologies in Nigeria. This will include both an assessment of SRH needs as well as an assessment of digital habits and practices of adolescents.
(3) Document the KAP of adolescents regarding their access of SRH services in Nigeria.
(4) Document the general technology and digital habits of Nigerian adolescents and youth, especially as the habits affect and influence their sexual and reproductive health information and service seeking behavior.
(4) Products to be created by the Consultant
(1) Research methodology, including questionnaires and any other quantitative or qualitative tools that are used in the consultancy to determine KAP and digital habits of adolescents and youths.
(2) Report with analysis, conclusions and recommendations on the KAP of adolescents and youth on SRH information and services. For reference, the research must address the following questions (please note this is not an exhaustive list of the potential questions to be asked and answered);
- What are the most important SRH issues/topics adolescents need information about?
- What common questions do young people ask about sex & relationships?
- Where do adolescents currently obtain information on SRH? (Friends? Adults? Teachers? Online resources? SMS?
- What is the information that adolescents need to make healthy SRH decisions?
- In cases of SRH emergencies (unprotected sex, rape, unplanned pregnancy), how do they obtain information on what to do – what are the sources?
- What are the common myths about sexual and reproductive health of adolescents?
- How do adolescents find out where to seek services/help?
- How do adolescents feel about the clinics where they seek these services? Are they adolescent friendly What do adolescents prioritize when they consider going to a clinic (fees, friendly providers, separate entrances for youth, privacy, confidentiality etc)
- How do adolescents view the SRH services that are available to them? Are they happy with the services that they have been provided at health clinics? Are they not happy? What services do they want the most? What services do they want but are not offered?
(3) Report with analysis, conclusions and recommendations on the technology and digital habits of adolescents and youths. Sample interest questions shall include (but not limited to) the following:
- Phone- what types of phones do adolescents have (basic phones, feature phones, smart phones, mode & make)?, do they share that phone with other family members? If so with whom do they share their phones? What do they do on their phone (social networks, email, SMS, web browsing, making calls), How much do they spend per month for the phone (how much this is to call & text, how much for data & web browsing)
- Internet use/web browsing habits (on phones) i.e. use of Google/other search engines, what do they search for and which browser do they use?
- Social Networks- Facebook: what do they do on Facebook on their phones (chatting with friends, Newsfeed, searching for new pages, publishing posts, photos, videos? How much time do they spend on Facebook? ditto for WhatsApp, 2go, Twitter, Palmchat, YouTube, Instagram, others.
- Apps- which apps are downloaded o their phones (besides apps that come pre-loaded on phones e.g. games, bibles/quran, dictionaries etc)? Why were those apps downloaded (what do they like about them)? If no apps downloaded, why not?
- Offline habits- what do young people do on their phone that doesn’t require Internet? Are there apps that are used offline? If so, which ones do they use?
- Internet use not on phones) – what do adolescents do when they are connected to the internet (Wifi)? Where do you use the Internet (school, cafes, at home)? What do you search for on the Internet (what do you use Google and other search engines for?) Social networks (same questions as the ones for the mobile section) How much time do you spend on the Internet and when do you go on it?
- SRH- do adolescents search for SRH information on the Internet? What have they searched for? What (if anything) has been helpful that they have found online? If they have not looked for this information online, why not?
- Emergency information- How do young women and men search for information or be informed during emergency situations i.e. emergency contraception, sexual violence such as rape, incest etc, post-exposure prophylaxis, bleeding (or other side effects) from unsafe abortion etc. What do they wish they had access to but do not?
Requirements for Submission of Proposals:
- Duration of the consultancy: 4 months from contract signature
- Scope of the study: National, at least one state selected from each geopolitical zone and the FCT
- The information generated should target teens and young adults by sex, state, area of residence (urban and rural) and by age (10-14; 15-19; 20-24).
- The consultant will deliver at the project’ end a transcript of all interviews and focus groups discussions that were conducted
- Profile of an ideal consulting company:
(1) Demonstrated experience in developing methodologies for demographic research, including research on adolescent sexual and reductive health in Nigeria.
(2) Knowledge of the workings of the Federal Ministry of health and her agencies will be an added advantage.
Selection Process
- Date of announcement: November 17
- Date of submission of technical and financial proposal: December 8
- Date of reviewing and selection of proposals: 9 to 19 December
- Preparation and signing of the contract: 5 January 2015
- Preparation and feedback (negotiation with PP Global) of data collection instruments: until January 12th 2015
- Application of research, fieldwork: 13 January to 10 February 2015
- Submission of preliminary report from 16 March 2015
- Review of draft report: 23 March 2015
- Submission of final report: 10April 2015
During the proposal review, PP Global and UNFPA may ask questions and clarify the contents of the proposal.
(5) Eligibility of the Consultancy
Companies or organizations interested must submit and defend in person, where applicable, the following documents:
(A) Letter of interest 10 points
(B) Resumes/CVs of the persons who will perform the consultation, 25 points
(C) Technical Proposal the theoretical approach of the research, methodology used, & expected timetable. 40 points
(D) Budget Proposal: detailed estimate of the cost of the consultancy 25 points
Please note that for this assignment, PPFA will not fund budget proposals exceeding $30,000
Submission details:– Please send all proposals and budgets, CVs to global.mobile@ppfa.org on/before December 8th 2014 with the subject “Proposal on digital ASRH behaviour in Nigeria.
