Sierra Leone has a young population – 33.5 per cent is within 10- 24 years and 39.4 per cent is between the ages of 15 – 35 years.   The country faces a host of development challenges. Pregnancy rates are high among adolescents; according to the Sierra Leone Demographic and Health Survey approximately 28 per cent of adolescents aged 15 -19 years old have begun childbearing, this is higher in rural areas than urban areas (34 per cent versus 19 per cent). An estimated 30 per cent of currently married or in union adolescents aged 15-19 years have unmet need for family planning.  Furthermore, among all sexually active females aged 15-19, nearly 80 percent are not using any form of contraction.

UNFPA plans support the Government of Sierra Leone, with DFID funding, to develop and roll out a national mobile health (mHealth) application to connect young people in Sierra Leone with interactive family planning information as one component of broader efforts to reduce unmet need for family planning. The proposed intervention is intended to be implemented primarily through mobile phones and will target young people in urban and rural areas of Sierra Leone.

Aim – An international individual consultant is required to support the development and implementation of an mHealth solution to equip young people with the information they need to make informed choices about family planning in Sierra Leone. 

Specifically, the consultant will be responsible for the following:

1.  Conduct formative research with members of the target audience to establish needs and barriers to family planning uptake

Support country office to undertake formative research by setting up individual and group interviews with possible users to inform decisions on defining audiences, the architecture of the solution, and which features to prioritize.

2.  Oversee the development of an mHealth solution for family planning targeted at young people

Work with country office and product designers to develop a software solution that meets the needs identified. Pilot a prototype with young people from the target audience to gain further insights and iterate the design and content based on their feedback.

3.  Launch a marketing and promotion campaign for the mhealth solution

Support country office to develop a marketing and promotion campaign that will ensure that young people are made aware of the mhealth solution and are motivated to use it.  

4.  Set up and implement monitoring and evaluation mechanisms

Collaborate with country office to design monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to ensure real time data is available to inform the ongoing improvements in the application.

Delivery dates and how work will be delivered:

Activities under this Independent Subcontractor Agreement are to be completed in the period between                

•  15 June  - 15 December 2019 within Sierra Leone as below; 
• Report on formative research – 15 July 2019
• Monitoring and evaluation plan – 15 August 2019
• Report on prototype testing – 15 September 2019
• Marketing and promotion campaign plan for mHealth solution – 15 October 2019
• Final report on consultant’s inputs to intervention – 15 December 2019

Deliverables are to be submitted via email and hard copy.

Qualifications and Experience

• Advanced university degree in social sciences, public/community health, gender, or other directly related to the adolescent and youth field and/or sexual and reproductive health
• At least 5 years of increasingly responsible relevant professional experience;
• Knowledge of sexual reproductive health / family planning in development, particularly as relevant to adolescents, including adolescent pregnancy and child marriage;
• Demonstrated experience in implementing mHealth, technology or innovations projects;
• Experience with field research / community engagement;
• Ability to plan, organize and multi-task;
• Proven ability to work in a multi-cultural environment;
• Computer literacy including high level of comfort using Microsoft Office programmes and Internet based research; ability to participate effectively in a team-based, information sharing environment.
• Fluency in English, verbal and written.

Other Desirable Criteria:

• Previous experience working in Sierra Leone;
• Experience creating compelling products and user-centered design solutions desired;
• Demonstrated experience in mobile/web development and/or data science;
• Experience with traditional and digital marketing campaigns;
• Demonstrated ability to work in a diverse, multi-cultural and multi-national environment;
• Knowledge of programming languages incl. JavaScript, Python, SQL;
• Previous experience working on mHealth projects for UNFPA.

 How to Apply:

• All applications (CV and cover letter) including their technical proposal, with "Consultant:  National Mobile Health Solution" in the subject, should be sent to the email address registry-sl@unfpa.org at latest by 10 June 2019.