Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Asia and the Pacific

APA is looking for a consultant to conduct research on unmet needs and resource flows on SRHR from donors to the Asia and Pacific Region in order to improve accessiblity and transparency of data.

(1 March 2012 – 30 April 2012)

Deadline for submission: Sunday, 19 February 2012

Introduction and Background

The Asia Pacific Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (APA), under the umbrella of the Planned Parenthood Association of Thailand (PPAT), brings together NGOs, donors and other stakeholders with common goals to build a strong network to ensure everyone’s right to health is fully achieved through the promotion and inclusion of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). This research is being commissioned in line with the key objectives of APA: to increase and diversify funding for SRHR and to improve bilateral and multilaterals donor policies and priorities on SRHR in this region.

The Asia Pacific is a unique and diverse region on the globe.  By far the most populous and with vast areas developing rapidly, the region includes fragile states, middle-income countries, least developed countries and small island states. In many countries there is a significant unmet need for family planning services and supplies; some have low rates of contraceptive prevalence, and others record high numbers of maternal deaths. For example, in Cambodia, one in four women is not using any method of contraception, and Lao PDR has the highest unmet need for family planning in all of the Asia Pacific - at 40%.[1] In the Pacific Island countries, advocacy and service delivery faces enormous challenges, with small and culturally distinct communities in remote localities.  This highlights the necessity of ensuring that sexual and reproductive health in Asia and the Pacific is well resourced and needs are met. Data collection on progress indicators is poor, which increases the challenge of ‘making the case’ for the Pacific and other countries in the region. As the global milestones of achieving the MDGs by 2015 and the ICPD PoA by 2014 are looming, Asia Pacific is still far from achieving universal access to reproductive health.

This unmet need drives an ongoing demand for resources, including donor assistance. The Asia Pacific region contains a number of different targets for SRHR advocacy efforts, including both established and emerging donors. This combination presents strategic opportunities for advocacy towards SRHR resource mobilisation, and is especially urgent when considering the prevailing trends of economic downturn. With a number of emerging development players - the Republic of Korea, Thailand, China and India - the region of Asia Pacific is well placed for initiatives involving the triangulation of donor, emerging and recipient countries and south to south cooperation.[2]

In 2010, APA commissioned a research on unmet need and resource flows of bilateral and emerging donors in Asia and the Pacific region. Findings revealed an expected donor gap in SRHR funding of over 7 billion USD in the Asia Pacific region in 2010 alone.  This gap is expected to rise to 8.33 billion by 2015.  This means that donor funding in the region should have been increased by 8 times to meet the estimated 7.7 billion shortfall in 2010 alone[3]. Traditional bilateral donors in this region still allocate a much lower percentage of their ODA towards population assistance than the global average.  However, it is encouraging that Australia[4], in its first independent review of ODA in 15 years, announced it will increase total aid from 0.3% of gross national income (GNI) in 2009–10, to 0.5% of GNI by 2015-16. As well, New Zealand is committed to raising the level of ODA up to USD 416 million by 2012/13.

Increasing the accessibility and transparency of data on the resource flows for SRHR is recognized as crucial for advocacy work. With the 2010 report, APA established a clear baseline. The outcomes of the funding gap have been highlighted at national and international conferences and shared with donors to show the need for increased resources in the region. The 2012 Report will build on this by continuing to monitor and measure the unmet need and provision of SRHR focused aid by and to the region. Through these efforts, APA will contribute to the aid effectiveness agenda by increasing aid transparency.

For APA and its members, obtaining a clear picture of financial resource flows for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) is crucial. It ensures that APA members are up to date and fully informed about current resource flows and unmet need gaps, improvements and challenges and informs all aspects of the their advocacy work[5]. Furthermore, it is critical to build on APA’s previous resource flow research and help to track trends in resource flow overtime. Identification of new trends in resource flows, eg south to south collaboration, is important to gain a stronger understanding of SRHR activities in the region.

Scope of consultancy

While categories and descriptions of activities vary from country to country and donor to donor, for the purpose of this research SRHR funding and programs will include activities to support and provide family planning; STI control; HIV prevention, treatment, care and support; women’s empowerment.

Goal: This consultancy is intended to replicate and build on the Resource Flows Project 2010 and to strengthen the case for advocacy in Asia and the Pacific. It will achieve this by 1) collating available data on resource flows from donors funding SRH programs in Asia and the Pacific, 2) collecting additional data on triangular and south to south activities; 3) documenting the unmet needs in developing countries of Asia and the Pacific to show the need to increased ODA for SRHR.

Research will acknowledge and analyse limitations where they exist.

Objectives:

• To analyse existing data on resource flows for SRHR from official donors listed on the OECD DAC list: Japan, Australia and New Zealand, (where possible) identify high-priority information and identify gaps where essential information is not available
  
  
• To gather and analyse available data on resource flows for SRHR from new and emerging donors in Asia and the Pacific: Thailand, South Korea, India and China, and identify gaps where essential information is not available
  
  
• To examine trends in South-South and Triangular cooperation in the region (including in kind flows, technical assistance or infrastructure wherever possible) and identify any opportunities for SRHR within these;
  
  
• To analyse available data on resource flows from other donors funding SRH programs in Asia and the Pacific. This may include funding from the World Bank; Asian Development Bank, UNFPA (as important supplier to the Pacific), multilateral organisations such as the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, philanthropic organisations as well as bilateral donors based in Europe or North America.
  
  
• To analyse data on the unmet need for sexual and reproductive health, using indicators from 2010 research on resource flows, in selected developing countries of Asia and Pacific (listed in Annex to this TOR), and referring to sub regional location of the Pacific, South East Asia, South Asia, and East Asia
  
  
• To analyze if the current resource flows that target SRHR are fulfilling the commitments made by donors in the region and which countries have the biggest gaps and most urgent needs for SRHR assistance?
  
  

APA will commission a consultant with appropriate policy, resource tracking or budgeting experience to undertake the research consultancy. The consultant will undertake  a follow up assessment of resource flows for sexual and reproductive health from major donors and emerging donors to countries in Asia and the Pacific, and examine trends and opportunities in South-South and triangular cooperation in the region. The consultancy will also look at data on reproductive health indicators (such as unmet need for family planning, maternal mortality ratios and contraceptive prevalence) in developing countries of the region to identify countries with urgent need for assistance.

Qualifications of the consultant:

• Extensive experience  in international development, gender equality and reproductive health
  
  
• An understanding of health and development issues for countries of Asia and the Pacific
  
  
• Experience researching international development aid, particularly resource flows and financing (including with OECD DAC data).
  
  
• The ability to conduct bibliographic search, critically analyse findings in research articles and reports.
  
  
• Strong writing skills with ability to present findings in a style that is accessible to non-technical readers.
  
  

Remuneration

The contract offers competitive market rates used in the non-profit sector.

Time frame and Outputs

• A complete first draft report (by 31 March 2012)
  
  
• A second draft (by 30 April 2012) with revisions following consultations with staff in the Secretariat, and a review by experts from within APA’s membership.

Consideration will also be given to jointly publishing, a research article in a peer-reviewed journal, with the successful applicant.

The report should be presented in a way that will be useful for advocacy by APA and its members.

Support from APA Secretariat

Feedback will be provided to the consultant on challenges encountered with utilizing the previous research and how it can be improved. The consultant will be provided with a briefing pack of documents (or links to documents and databases) that contains additional resources.

Application process and deadline

The application should include a CV with two recent referees, a cover letter including a methodology / draft structure, and a recent writing sample. The application should be sent to Ms Alexandra Johns, APA Advocacy and Communications Officer, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . This e-mail can also be used for any further questions regarding the research project. The deadline for submission is Sunday 19 February 2012.

[1] See ‘Making Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Count, Asia and Pacific Resource Flows Project 2010.’  Asia Pacific Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (APA), p12.

[2] As supported by the Asian Development Bank, for instance

[3] ‘Making Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Count, Asia and Pacific Resource Flows Project 2010.’  Asia Pacific Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (APA), p29.

[4] http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2011/jul/12/australia-aid-programme-2011-review;

[5] To complement the data from this research project, APA will explore offering APA Member Grants in the 2012-2014 round to better understand the impact and outcomes of development aid for SRHR in low income countries.