1. Background:
With support from IPPF, AFGA is preparing an adolescent girls programme based on the IRC Girl Shine approach. The programme will support girls affected by humanitarian and economic pressures in selected locations of Afghanistan. AFGA seeks a consultant to identify the subjects most relevant to girls’ daily lives and recommend a safe, practical and culturally appropriate programme design.
The consultant will use the IRC Girl Shine Practitioner Guidance, particularly the programme design and adaptation process, while ensuring that recommendations reflect girls’ priorities, local languages, literacy levels, available services and current operating conditions in Afghanistan.
2. Purpose:
The consultancy will identify which topics, sequence and delivery methods best respond to girls’ needs in four connected areas: safety, well-being, health, and personal hygiene. It will also recommend safe participation arrangements, facilitator requirements, caregiver and community engagement, referrals and simple monitoring tools. The programme will also strengthen youth facilitator preparedness and capacity of selected young women from AFGA’s youth networks to safely facilitate the adapted curriculum and work effectively with adolescent girls.
3. Scope of Work:
The consultant will complete the following tasks:
Review and inception:
Review Girl Shine guidance, AFGA and IPPF documents, available assessments and relevant services. Submit a short inception note with the workplan, consultation methods, locations, participant groups and safeguarding measures.
Consultation and needs assessment:
Use age-appropriate participatory methods to consult diverse adolescent girls, with separate consultations with caregivers, female service providers and relevant community representatives where appropriate. Identify girls’ priorities, protective practices, barriers to participation and preferred ways of learning. Do not ask girls to disclose personal experiences of violence.
Identify and adapt priority topics:
Recommend topics according to girls’ expressed needs and age. Areas to explore include personal safety and seeking support; confidence, communication, friendships and managing stress; puberty and body changes; age-appropriate health information; menstrual health and hygiene; personal hygiene, nutrition and self-care; and how to reach trusted, confidential services. The assessment should determine the final topics rather than treating all topics as compulsory.
Programme design and implementation readiness:
Recommend age groups, group size, session sequence, frequency, safe meeting arrangements, female facilitator profile, caregiver engagement and community acceptance measures. Include facilitator training needs, verified referral arrangements, simple monitoring and girls’ feedback tools, and practical options if travel, permissions, female staffing or girls’ mobility changes. Develop a capacity-building and preparedness recommendations for selected young women from AFGA’s youth networks, covering curriculum delivery, adolescent-friendly facilitation, safeguarding, confidentiality, managing disclosures, safe referral, inclusion and facilitator self-care. The consultant should also recommend selection criteria, supervision, mentoring and ongoing technical support arrangements.
4. Key Deliverables:
The consultant will produce:
1. Inception note with methodology, workplan and safeguarding arrangements.
2. Short assessment report presenting girls’ priority needs and recommended topics by age group and, where relevant, marital status, disability and displacement situation.
3. Contextualized programme package with selected topics, session sequence, adaptation notes, delivery arrangements, and caregiver and community engagement approach.
4. Implementation-readiness package with facilitator competencies and training plan, referral arrangements, monitoring and feedback tools, risk and contingency measures, and a final presentation to AFGA and IPPF.
5. Youth facilitator preparedness package, including selection criteria, training plan and needs, competency assessment, supervision and mentoring arrangements, and readiness criteria for delivering the curriculum with adolescent girls.
5. Approach and Safeguarding:
The consultant will use a desk review, key informant interviews, age-appropriate consultations with adolescent girls, female youth volunteers, separate consultations with caregivers and relevant service providers, and a validation discussion with AFGA and IPPF.
· All engagement with girls must be voluntary, confidential, age-appropriate and approved by AFGA. Consultations must be conducted by trained female personnel in safe and private settings and follow AFGA safeguarding, PSEA, consent and assent, code of conduct and data-protection requirements.
· Before fieldwork, AFGA must confirm a clear response procedure and available referrals if a girl requests help or shares a concern. No names, identifiable stories or unnecessary sensitive information may appear in notes or reports.
8. Management and Coordination: The consultant will report to the designated AFGA project manager and coordinate with relevant AFGA and IPPF focal points. Payment will be linked to AFGA’s acceptance of agreed deliverables.
9. Remuneration and Payment:
Payment will be made according to an agreed schedule linked to AFGA’s written acceptance of deliverables. The contract or vacancy notice should state payment percentages and whether approved travel costs are reimbursed.
