Job title: Research and Evaluation Consultant                                           

Location:  Aahung’s Karachi office and field sites in Sindh 

 I. Organizational and Position Information

About Aahung

Aahung is a non-profit organization founded in 1994.  Aahung uses a rights-based approach to improve the quality of sexual and reproductive health services provided in Pakistan to men, women and young people. Aahung works with partner institutions with the aim of building the capacity and knowledge base of service providers comprised of doctors, nurses, government health workers, community and field workers, teachers and parents. 

Project Information

Aahung is conducting an intervention in Karachi and Khairpur district, within which 26 young women are being recruited as youth educators, who will be provided training on various sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) thematic areas. These educators will then conduct awareness activities with young girls in their local communities to increase knowledge and improve attitudes around SRHR. To assess the impact of this intervention, the knowledge and attitudes of these youth educators will be measured at the beginning and end of the 6-month long intervention.

Research and Evaluation Consultant Role

This is a short-term, contractual position. The duration of the position is 8 months, from June 2023 to January 2024. The Research Consultant will be expected to perform the tasks outlined below.

 II. Essential Functions / Key Responsibilities and Duties/Results Expected

• Review all relevant project materials in preparation for the study.

• Develop a concept paper for the research study, with a detailed description of research methods.

• Develop quantitative and qualitative research tools such as interview guides and survey questionnaires for a mixed methods research study.

• Conduct baseline and endline data collection with all 26 youth educators of the intervention in Karachi and Khairpur.

• Conduct 6 monitoring visits in Karachi and 3 in Khairpur to assess the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and work of youth educators in their local communities.

• Carry out transcriptions and translation of all raw data collected to English.

• Conduct quantitative and qualitative data analysis, including data gathered from monitoring visits.

• Produce a comprehensive research report with the results of the evaluation. The report must include detailed findings and an extensive assessment of the intervention, including the effectiveness of a youth educator model as well as the impact of the trainings provided to them.

• Format and design research report for publishing and printing.

• Communicate with the Aahung team throughout the length of the consultancy, and incorporate all feedback provided at all stages of the study.

• Manage all logistical work required for the research study, including but not limited to arranging travel and accommodation, and coordination with field staff and research participants.
  
  

Deliverables:

·        Concept paper describing the proposed research study

·        Data collection tools

·        All raw data collected, such as audio recordings of interviews, survey forms, and transcriptions

·        Comprehensive research report, ready for dissemination

Core Competencies: (What we hope person has or will have soon after joining)

·        Demonstrates commitment to SRHR and Aahung’s mission, vision and values.

·        Experience and understanding of sexual and reproductive health and sexuality issues

·        Experience and understanding of adolescent sexual and reproductive health and sexuality issues

·        Experience and understanding of human rights, reproductive rights and sexual rights

·        Familiarity with concepts such as empowerment, stigma, discrimination, non-judgmentalism, gender, and social justice

·        Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

·        Familiarity with reproductive health indicators and situation in Pakistan

·        Familiarity with relevant international documents such as the MDGs, ICPD, the Beijing Conference, etc., and Pakistan’s commitments to them

·        Demonstrable commitment to working with empowerment of sexually marginalized groups (gay, lesbian, transgender, transgender, HIV positive, etc.)

·        Respect for confidentiality and ability to adhere to confidentiality policies

III. Recruitment Qualifications 

Education:

Master’s degree in Health related and/or Social Sciences preferably with academic or professional background in research

Experience:

2 or more years of experience of conducting research activities, including fieldwork for quantitative and qualitative research, data analysis, and writing reports and publishing materials.

Experience with conducting quantitative and qualitative data analysis and with data analysis software (e.g. Stata, NVivo).

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English and Urdu (writing, reading and speaking).

Skills

1.      Knowledge of research theories and methods and creativity in their application

2.      Familiarity with designing research studies and developing data collection tools

3.      Experience with IRB review process and publishing research findings

4.      Experience conducting quantitative and qualitative data collection

5.      Strong data management and analytical background for both quantitative and qualitative data

6.      Strong documentation and record keeping skills

7.      Strong communication skills with demonstrable ability to work with a team

IV. Working Conditions

Flexibility to travel domestically in Sindh, comfort with field work.

V. How to apply

Candidates to send their profile, CV, writing samples, and proposed budget for the research study to quotations@aahung.org.