Call for tenders: civil society workshops on unintended early pregnancy in South Africa

The Embassy of France in South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi is inviting bids for the organisation of workshops with civil society organisations (CSO) working on the drivers of early pregnancy in South Africa.

These workshops are planned under the Embassy of France’s cooperation programme ‘Strengthening the prevention of unintended early pregnancy in Malawi and South Africa’, which aims at supporting the strengthening of the prevention of unintended early pregnancy in these two countries, by adding value and complementing existing interventions by governments, civil society and other development partners. The programme consists of three work streams:

• research & exchange of expertise;
• multi-stakeholder engagements and youth participation on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR); and
• capacity-strengthening of practitioners, including CSOs working to advance adolescent SRHR.

Purpose of the workshops:

1. foster practical knowledge sharing amongst practitioners on the prevention of unintended early pregnancy;
2. strengthen the design of interventions directly or indirectly contributing to the prevention of unintended early pregnancy.

The workshops will build on lessons learned by participating CSOs from their own interventions, as well as evidence gathered through research and multi-stakeholders engagements supported under the French Embassy’s programme. The workshops will focus on interventions in the following sectors:

• Personal development of adolescents, including management of their sexuality / sexual and childbearing behaviours (incl. CSE);
• Interventions addressing the economic drivers of early pregnancy;
• Early-warning & support systems (at household, school, community levels);
• other areas / issues that may emerge from engagements with partners and from the findings of the research commissioned by the French Embassy.

Participants:

At least 15 CSOs operating in South Africa, with interventions that directly or indirectly (intentionally or not intentionally) contribute to preventing unintended early pregnancy, in the broader context of improving adolescent SRHR.

Services required from the successful bidder:

• Assist the French Embassy with the identification of CSOs working to advance adolescent SRHR in South Africa
• Conduct a survey to determine the expectations and needs of CSOs in the sector, which will inform the programme of the workshops.
• Organise and run the workshops in South Africa (minimum 2), including:
  • Development of the workshops’ programmes;
  • Identification of facilitators and experts as needed;
  • Invitation and selection of participants to each workshop (minimum 2);
  • Logistics and payments to service providers and participants as needed (bookings, transport allowances, etc);
  • Facilitation of the workshops.
• Report – narrative and financial – to the French Embassy on the workshops’ proceedings and outcomes (assessment and feedback from participants, lessons learned, emerging trends, etc).

The workshops must be completed by the end of November 2023.

Download the Terms of Reference (ToR) spelling out the purpose of these workshops and the services required.