Despite commitment by governments to continue HIV prevention among key groups, transition has significantly weakened community systems and interrupted services. Available packages and quality of harm reduction services are decreasing even if services are supported. Lack of political support for harm reduction, not only as an HIV prevention measure but as a social service, is one of the main obstacles to sustainable and sufficient funding for quality programmes.[1]
Since harm reduction (HR) programs have been first introduced in the countries the package of provided services changed and varies from country to country. Georgia recently started funding the HR services from domestic resources through social-contracting and public procurement.
EHRA is looking for national consultant in Georgia to analyze the changes in the harm reduction packages and unit costs during transition from international to government funding.
Objectives of the consultancy:
- Analyze changes in unit cost per client, list/package of services since HR services were introduced in the country using secondary data (applications to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, budgets or target setting in national documents, national AIDS response strategies, standards/packages of services and/or national unit costs calculations, state procurement tenders and contracts with service providers);
- Describe the rationale behind the changes in the package and/or unit costs (interviews with 2-3 key national informants involved in decision-making process)
- Analyze the impact of occurred changes in unit costs and package of HR services on services provision, quality of provided services and client satisfaction with them (interviews with services providers and community representatives/clients from different cities of the country)
Steps of the consultancy:
- Secondary data analysis
- Development of questionnaires in consultation with EHRA and national consultants from other 3 countries (Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, North Macedonia)
- Interviews with key informants (the list of informants should be approved by EHRA)
- 2-3 with national stakeholders involved indecision-making process regarding unit costs, standards and packages of services
- 5 with harm reduction services providers from different cities of the country
- 10 with clients of opioid substitution and needle and syringe programs
- Prepare draft analytical report based on the collected data
- Finalize the report based on EHRA’s feedback
Expected results of the consultancy:
- Analytical report in Russian or English (up to 30 pages) on how the transition process affects harm reduction packages, unit costs and quality of provided services.
- Suggested recommendations for donors and governments based on the analyzed data and interviews with key informants
- Translation of the report into the national language
Proposed timeline: All tasks should be completed by June 15, 2021.
This call for proposals is organized within the “Thinking outside the box: overcoming challenges in community advocacy for sustainable and high-quality HIV services” project of the Eurasian Regional Consortium financed by the Robert Carr civil society Networks Fund (RCF).
The Eurasian Regional Consortium joins the efforts of Eurasian Coalition on Health, Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity (ECOM), Eurasian Women’s AIDS Network (EWNA) and Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) to effectively address the lack of financial sustainability in prevention, treatment, care and support programs for the key populations vulnerable in terms of their rights violation and the risk of HIV.
Selection criteria:
The submitted applications will be evaluated by the selection committee of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association. The following criteria will be used to evaluate the bids (the maximum possible number of points is 100):
- Knowledge and understanding of GF funding and national procurement procedures (25 points)
- Clear understanding of situation with harm reduction funding in the country (25 points)
- Relevant work experience (analytical reports) (20 points)
- Established connections with service providers (15 points)
- Experience in monitoring and evaluation (10 points)
- Fluent Russian or English (5 points)
EHRA will consider for the contract only applicants that scored at least 80 points out of 100.
This announcement shall not be construed as a contract or a commitment of any kind. This request for proposals in no way obligates EHRA to award a contract, nor does it commit EHRA to pay any cost incurred in the preparation and submission of the proposals.
Terms of payment and other conditions same as a final timeline will be indicated in the agreement which EHRA will sign with the winner.
How to apply
Applicants must submit the following documents to maria@harmreductioneurasia.org, the subject of the letter is “Call UC”,the deadline for submission is before 24:00 EET on April 16, 2021:
- CV
- Letter of interest with suggested consultancy fee (USD) and number of working days (8 hours/day)
- List of potential respondents from organizations providing harm reduction services
[1] https://www.hri.global/files/2020/10/26/Global_State_HRI_2020_2_2_Eurasia_FA_WEB.pdf