TERMS OF REFERENCE
The Development of Manuals, Training Materials and Training Guides for Hiv Peer Education for Both SW And MSM in the Caribbean

The Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) has been approved as the Principal Recipient of the PANCAP R9 Round Global Fund Grant in the amount of $35 million US dollars. Both the Centre for Integrated Training and Research (COIN) and the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC) have been instrumental in elaborating the Most at Risk Populations component of the PANCAP Global Fund proposal. COIN has been nominated as the Sub-Recipient for this component of the grant representing approximately a third of the total funds (excluding those used by the PR).

The vulnerable groups component of the GF grant sets out to develop model outreach programs to reach key vulnerable groups, targeting MSM, local and migrant SW, prison inmates, drug users, and marginalized youth through four population-based projects.

Each of these projects has a Peer Education Programme as a core activity. This provides a region-wide behaviour change programme tailored to the specific needs of different vulnerable groups.

Although peer educators play an important role in HIV interventions carried out with Vulnerable Groups in the Caribbean, their role has often been limited to activities such as distributing condom and providing HIV prevention information. Reviewing the different systems in place, COIN and CVC have observed a number of challenges facing existing systems:

• Different countries are using different manuals, materials and methodology during the training;
• There is different understanding of PE in the different countries;
• There is no clear strategy for the effective support and supervision of trained PEs;
• Linked to this is that there is an unclear plan on the continuous education and skills enhancement of PEs;
• There is difficulty in discussing sensitive issues especially in the context of sexual diversity and sex work;
• Empowerment and rights based content is often lacking in the training curricula;
• Reporting on activities may not be accurate and is lacking in quality;
• There is some replication of individual peer educators’ work.
• There is often no consistent follow-up or client management aspect build into the PE system
• Lack of psychosocial support structures for Peer Educators hinder their ability to deepen their intervention work over time.
• Peer educators are working for different intervention programs which are either funded by international agencies or government budget. Their responsibilities and quality are varied because of different requirements and training program of each project.

In order to improve quality of PE activities in the region and ensure greater consistency in peer educators’ work, the Vulnerabilised Groups Project will develop sup-population tailored PE systems, using a standard training curriculum and methodology.

To achieve this a consultant will be hired to examine the range of national peer education programmes that exist in the region (e.g. MSM programme in Guyana) as well as the some limited regional experiences (COIN, PANCAP Sex Worker Project etc) to devise a methodology and programme that draws on the strengths and experiences gained throughout the region.

The Peer Education Programmes developed through this consultancy, unlike some of the existing ones will not be subject to ownership restrictions and will be made available to all countries including the smaller Islands for which it is not cost-effective to devise their own system.    The will set up a basic training curriculum available in all of the countries participating in the regional project as well as in countries where the project has made agreements to offer the training through other funding sources.

COIN/CVC is looking for an external consultant or Institution backed by a multi-disciplinary team of professionals to submit an expression of interest and interpretation of the Terms of Reference for undertaking the development of two separate Peer Education (PE) approaches, one for Men that have Sex with Men (MSM), and another for Sex workers.

The purpose of the consultancy is to develop two training manuals, training materials and training guide for the HIV and health peer education for these two high risk and train a core team of trainers on the use of the same. The manual will be used to train the remaining targeted PEs and retrain those already trained and still active in the program.

The main objectives and scope of the task are to:

• Enhance the capacity of COIN/CVC and its partners in delivering effective HIV and health PE interventions separately targeting both Sex workers and MSM;
• Facilitate COIN/CVC’s understanding of what the specific sub-population related issues are with regards to HIV prevention and health of the different populations and sub-populations;
• Enhance COIN/CVC’s understanding of the most effective methods of message delivery with different sub-populations of Sex Workers and MSM in the Caribbean;
• Provide technical support to COIN/CVC and its partners to review the current materials in place and develop relevant and technically sound HIV and health materials in the form of a simple, user friendly PE manual and training guide for both the MSM and Sex Worker Peer Education Programmes;
• Support COIN/CVC and its partners to improve the quality of PE programmes through training on the developed manuals and training guides.

The consultant will undertake the following activities:

• Work with the portfolio team (including trainers from the four countries) to review the current materials and training processes in place;
• Work with the team, relevant stakeholders and older people to identify the needs of older people in the context of HIV and health;
• Compile a draft PE training manual and guide;
• Work with the team to develop draft training materials for the trainers at regional level – facilitators manual & participants manual;
• Train TOTs on the use of the manual and training guide;
• Carry out pilot training in two of the countries;
• Make revisions on the training package based on the pilot and finalize all products.

• 2 Peer Education training manuals (one for training MSM and one for training Sex Workers) approved by COIN/CVC and its partners
• Educational materials in both electronic and print media
• Training guides for MSM and Sex Workers
• Training slides for MSM and Sex Workers.

• The consultant(s) is/are expected to be an expert in HIV PE and its relation to the wider health sector issues with proven experience in developing training curricular for vulnerable groups. Previous consultancy experience of this nature is mandatory as well as experience in the Caribbean region;
• A comprehensive understanding of MSM and Sex Workers and their unique needs in relation to health and access to services;
• The consultant(s) should have a clear understanding of and be able to articulate community based health care approaches;
• The consultant(s) are expected to have a minimum qualification of a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline and not less than eight years relevant professional experience.
• The consultant(s) must be ready to spend adequate time on the assignment.
• An appreciation of the contexts within the different countries is an advantage.

The Consultancy will be managed by the technical team of the vulnerabilised groups project comprising the project manager, MSM and Sex Worker project coordinators and the M&E officer. The consultancy is expected to begin by September 2011 and be finalized on or before November 2011.

All interested consultants/firms are requested to write an expression of interest by providing a brief technical proposal. They must include in their application the following:

• Their competences to meet the requirements of the assignment including the relevant experience related to the assignment;
• A brief explanation on the methodology to be used in carrying out the assignment;
• A brief technical bio data of core team members;
• Indicate when the consultant(s) would be ready to undertake the assignment;
• Providing evidence of similar work undertaken in the recent past (not more than 3 years) and contacts of at least 3 organizations previously worked for.

Deadline for application: 15th September, 2011:

Please send your application by email to: Email: coin.cvc.human.resources@gmail.com.

COIN/CVC will evaluate candidates and award the contract based on the technical and financial feasibility. COIN/CVC reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal received without offering an explanation and is not bound to accept the lowest or the highest bidder.