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Consultancy Title: Terms 0f Reference for consultancy to conduct an accessibility audit training in the districts of Yumbe, Arua and Mbale

 Organisation: Humanity & Inclusion (Handicap International Federation)

Duty Station:  Yumbe, Arua and Mbale, Uganda

Download TOR

 

About US:

Handicap International! (under the operational name of Humanity & Inclusion in Uganda) is an independent and impartial aid and development organization working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. We work alongside persons with disabilities and vulnerable people to help meet their essential needs, improve their living conditions and promote respect for their dignity and fundamental rights. HI is outraged by the injustice faced by people with disabilities and vulnerable populations, we inspire to a world of solidarity and inclusion, enriched by our differences, where everyone can live in dignity. We assist vulnerable populations from both host and refugee communities by providing physical rehabilitation, mental health and psychosocial support, inclusive education, health and livelihoods.

 

Project background:

In Uganda, HI under the pillar of health is implementing a 3 year project titled “Women Integrated Sexual Reproductive Health project”(WISH2ACTION) with an anticipated outcome that women can safely plan pregnancies and improve their sexual reproductive health rights. HI is implementing activities that promote inclusion of persons with disabilities in all strategies designed to increase/improve access to SRHR services in the districts of Mbale Arua, Yumbe together with her partners  including:- Reproductive Health Uganda, International Rescue Committee, Marie Stopes Uganda, Development Media International and Options. Some of the activities HI has undertaken in this project include; trainings of health workers and VHTS to provide inclusive SRHR services, supported trainings in sign language , collected data that identified barriers and facilitators for persons to access SRHR services and also conducted community sensitization on disability and SRHR issues to promote demand creation for services. The HI intervention sites are in subcounties/zones and specifically at health center III levels that include Okubani, Yayari and  Luzira HC3 in Yumbe district, Vurra, Ombidriondrea, Ajia HC3 in Arua  district and Busano, Wanale, Bumadanda HCIII in Mbale district.

 

As part of her continued efforts to promote inclusive services, HI has planned for a training in  accessibility audit standards  for selected district officials, health facility representativies and consortium partner staff to improve their knowledge and skills in accessibility issues that are paramount for persons with disability to enjoy the right to access health services with minimal difficulty and more independence. The training has been planned to take a total of 4 days including both class room training and the external practice.

 

Justification for the Accessibility audit training

Accessibility can be defined as the ability of an individual to reach a service point, move within that service point and receive the service with some level of independence. In the year 2020 September, HI conducted a research on  the barriers and facilitators for persons with disability to access SRHR service and learnt that 41% and 26% of persons with disability face difficulties in moving around the health facilities and accessing SRH information respectively in the cacthment areas of Okubani, Yayari, Luzira HC3 in Yumbe, Ajia, Vurra, Ombidriondrea HC3  in Arua and Busano, Wanale, Bumadanda HC3 in Mbale district.  They expressed challenges resulting from lack of or substandard ramps,  entrance service rooms inaccessible examination and delivery beds, unfriendly hygiene facilities that expose them to infections among other things. This inaccessibility to health services limits their rights to health services and may limit their quality of life especially of persons with disability who may missout on services including information due to such barriers.

 

Uganda has the Accessibility Standards annexed to the Building Control Act of 2013 but the current state of many health facilities/public buildings indicated as limited awareness of its existence yet it’s a good tool to guide and promote accessible standard structures.

 

Building plans  for public health facilities are designed from the Central/district level  for government structures while private health facilities usually contract external expertise for structural design and  construction. This means that they control the technology , manpower and resources for construction activities and unfortunately in both situations there is lack of/limited knowledge on accessibility  standards of structures right from the architects, engineers, procurement staff with regards to use a disability lense to critically select suppliers of such services that include accessibility structures in the submitted bills of quantities hence a cycle of inaccessible structures.

 

This training is intended to address the knowledge gap on the accessibility issues and provide practical Knowledge and skills to conduct health facility accessibility audits to establish gaps and formulate realistic actions to improve them by the respective leaders.

 

This training will contribute to the process of realization of Article 9 of the UNCRPD which mandates all state signatories to enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life by ensuring that persons with disabilities gain access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and

in rural areas.

 

At a project level, this activity contributes to the achievement of Milestone    M3.6 – Local stakeholders (including local authorities, involved municipalities, urban planners, architects etc) trained on disability inclusive SRHR).

 

Objective for the accessibility audit training

• To create awareness among district leaders/participants on the importance and need for immediate action on accessibility at the health facility and generally public spaces for persons with disability
• To create awareness and strengthen knowledge on the existence and use of Accessibility standards that are annexed to the building control Act 2013/2018
• To strengthen knowledge and practical skills of District leaders/Participants to conduct accessibility audit for health facilities and generally public building structures using the accessibility standards.

 

Scope of work

The accessibility audit trainings should take place in 3 districts of Yumbe, Arua and Mbale. The training targets district officials, health facility representatives from HI intervention sites, consortium partners and persons with disability representatives as summarised in the table 1 below. These will be trained at a central location in each of the mentioned districts. For the practical exercise, HI will identify near-by health facilities to the training venue to support the practice of skills gained by the participants.

The training is for 4 days and should follow the schedule in the work plan as proposed in table 2.

 

Table 1: Target population, Download TOR

 

Proposed method of training

• Conduct a class room training Using of lecture skills, group work
• Sharing of experiences
• Use of videos
• Conduct a practical ession of external accessibility audit of selected  nearby health facilities with the participants to test gained knowledge and skills

 

Consultancy deliverables

• Submit a practical workplan, methodology and budget for implementation 3 districts of Yumbe, Arua and Mbale
• Develop and submit for review the content for the training on Accessibility Audit
• Propose relevant training materials (e.g tape measures, accessibility audit tools etc)
• Propose training plan for the 4 days of training in each district
• Prepare pre-post tests to assess participants knowledge gain
• Train the participants selected by HI to understand accessibility, use of accessibility standards and practice in accessibility auditing with a focus on health facilities
• Write and submit to HI a training activity report with the knowledge assessment.
• Develop a power point and make a presentation to HI

 

Proposed Consultancy duration and work planDownload TOR

 

Role of HI in this activity

• Facilitate the consultant to conduct the training successfully(Financially and logistically)
• Identify the participants to be trained and ensure attendance
• Make a short presentation on HI and the project as introduction to the training
• Provide the necessary logistical support to participants to enable them participate in the training(hall hire, meals, transport reimbursement, stationary)

 

Consultant qualifications and experiences

• Demonstrate skills in conducting Accessibility Audit training and disability related issues
• Experience conducting trainings for high level stakeholders (government leaders, Mangers) and approaches/ techniques for adult learning
• Experience conducting Accessibility audit including developing assessment tools for such audits
• Demonstrable oral and written communication skills

 

How to Apply:

NB: Only organisations working with persons with disability should apply.

 

If you meet the criteria above and are interested in this opportunity, please email recruitment@uganda.hi.org  and rl.namugerwa@hi.org  copy k.florence@hi.org  with the subject “Consultancy for Accessibility Audit Training”. Attach an application letter and the proposal including a proposed budget to facilitate the trainers.

 

NB: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.  Depending on the quality of the offers received, HI reserves itself the right to proceed to a pre-selection process and to request additional information from pre-selected candidates.

 

Deadline: 10^th August 2022 by 4:00pm Ugandan Time

 

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