Company Profile
The Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), is an NGO and a member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). PPAG, a leading provider of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) education, information and services in Ghana,in close collaboration with OXFAM, hereby invites result-oriented and committed persons to apply for the following vacant position to be filled in the Association.
Job Description
ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS EDUCATION ON YOUNG PEOPLE IN GHANA
TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR)
Background
Ghana has for decades had a young demographic base, ranking highly across the Africa region1. This favourable demographic dividend is however defied with significant challenges in health, education, and socio-economic factors. In health particularly, according to the most recent Maternal Health Survey in Ghana (2017), teenage pregnancy accounts for 11.2% of all pregnancies, and unsafe abortion is most common among young people aged 20 and under (29.9%). Contraceptives use among sexually active women is lowest among young people (9.8%); teenage pregnancy represents 11.2% of all pregnancies. Additionally, there has been a sharp rise in the prevalence of HIV among young individuals. According to the Ghana AIDS Commission's 2020 National and Sub-National HIV and AIDS Report, out of the 13,982 new HIV infections that occurred, 5,211 affected people aged 15 to 24. Of those, 4,348 (or 83%) were women. Similarly, females accounted for approximately 92% of new infections among the 10-19 age bracket. Furthermore, issues of sexual and gender-based violence remain prevalent among young people2.
The disproportionate burden of SRH issues that young people suffer is often aggravated by limited access to quality sexual and reproductive health and rights information. Ghana has made significant progress in advocating for reproductive health education for young people. However, there have been challenges with coverage, inadequate capacity of facilitators/teachers, and an overall lack of policy space and acceptance for the delivery of CSE/RHE. Irrespective, a number of entities in Ghana, led by the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) have made significant strides in improving access to quality SRHR information to young people across the country, through various innovative interventions and mediums. PPAG has continued to work to ensure that every young person in Ghana is empowered to make quality reproductive health decisions.
Despite the extensive work being done within the space, there is the need to actively generate comprehensive, context specific evidence on the impact of reproductive health education in the lives of beneficiaries. There is an urgent need for local evidence, which would have significant implications for national health, education, and population management policies, as well as adolescent health intervention development and practice.
It is against this background that the West Africa Health Organization (WAHO) is supporting PPAG to undertake a national research exercise to generate critical local evidence on the impact of reproductive health education in the lives of young people. The research will serve as a foundational resource in local and global advocacy for reproductive health education.
2) Objectives
The study’s specific objectives are as follows:
a) Establish the contribution of reproductive health education in overal personal and social development of young people; with a prime focus on self-efficacy, self-esteem, negotiation of power, communication skills, and primary health knowledge.
b) Determine the effectiveness of the various channels of delivery of reproductive health education
c) Identify the contextual barriers and enablers of reproductive health education in Ghana
3) Scope
This will be a national evaluation, with implementation across PPAG’s reproductive health education programs across the country. Pre-selected sites include Accra, Cape Coast, Kumasi, Tamale, Sogakope, Sunyani and Techiman. The team will discuss the possibility of engaging external reproductive health education programs from other partners, including the Ghana Education Service. A tentative sample size of at least 300 participants are expected to be engaged.The eventual scope of the execise will also be influenced by the methodology and sample size. PPAG has not yet settled on the final research design. However, the consultant (s) in their application should propose a feasible methodology, including tentative sample size. This will be discussed in detail during the inception phase.
4) Schedule
The evaluation is scheduled to commence in June 2023 and end October 2023.
5) Deliverables
The consultant will be expected to produce/develop/lead the following as part of the engagement:
i. Facilitate ethical clearance processes
ii. Inception report – finalized research design and study plan based on consultations with PPAG.
iii. Coordinate data collection
iv. Compile evaluation report
v. Develop manuscript for publication
vi. Develop policy brief
6) Management & Supervision
The evaluator will be overseen directly by the Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit of PPAG. The Monitoring and Evaluation Manager of PPAG will be the focal person at PPAG for the evaluator.
