Organisation: Humanity & Inclusion (Handicap International)
Project Name: INSPIRE Beneficiary Significant change story
Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Development of a Pictorial Counselling Tool (Pictorial Bank) for SRHR and Education Service Providers to Enable Production of Information and Education Material that is Accessible for all Including Persons with Disabilities
Humanity & Inclusion
Project: “PROTECT SRHR”
Introduction
- About Humanity & Inclusion
Humanity & Inclusion – HI (formerly Handicap International) is an international non-governmental Organization founded in 1982 and currently located in more than 60 countries worldwide. HI is an independent and impartial aid organization working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. The organization works alongside people with disabilities and vulnerable populations, taking action and bearing witness in order to respond to their essential needs, improve their living conditions and promote respect for their dignity and fundamental rights.
- About the PROTECT SRHR Project
The PROTECT SRHR Consortium brings together six recognized leading organizations in their field to deliver a Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and Education project in Uganda with the overarching objectives to reduce teen pregnancies and increase teenage girls retention in schools.
PROTECT SRHR’s operational model – the one Team Approach – is a comprehensive, integrated approach to delivering the Education, SRHR, protection and livelihood activities to ensure equitable access to family planning and SRHR, prioritizing the most underserved women and girls, particularly youth under the age of 20, the poorest and most marginalized populations (including people with disabilities, people displaced or affected by humanitarian crisis, and people living in hard-to-reach areas).
Under the PROTECT SRHR Project, HI is implementing activities in six Districts of West Nile (Koboko, Maracha, Terego, Koboko, Nebbi, Pakwach). The mandate of HI is to support partners in rendering SRHR, education, protection and economic empowerment services more inclusive for all and in particular for all groups of persons with disabilities. HI’s role under the project is also to provide general technical assistance to all consortium partner of the PROTECT SRHR project through providing technical goods such as technical documents, guidelines, social behavior change communication (SBCC) materials and tools, etc. that promotes disability inclusion.
- Context of the Assignment
2.1 Presentation of the project
| Project Title | PROTECT SRHR |
| Implementation dates | 1st November 2025 to 31st October 2029 |
| Location/Areas of intervention | 6 Districts in West Nile, Uganda: Nebbi, Pakwach, Terego, Maracha, Yumbe and Koboko. |
| Consortium Partners | 1. International Rescue Committee (IRC) is the lead consortium partner and is providing family planning and sexual and reproductive health services (SRH), targeting mostly youth as well as protection and economic empowerment activities.
2. World Vision International (WVI) is in charge of education activities including MHM and Comprehensive Sexual Education.
3. Reach A Hand Uganda (RAHU) is in charge of community engagement.
4. Humanity and Inclusion (HI) is providing technical support to all the consortium partners to ensure that SRH services are inclusive of persons with disabilities and promote and respect their fundamental rights. |
| Target Groups | Women, men and young people, persons living in extreme poverty, persons with disabilities and other marginalized groups |
2.2. Background and Justification of the Assignment
Persons with disabilities have the same rights to the highest attainable standard of healthcare and SRH and in making their own choices about sexuality and sexual health.
This right to healthcare is enshrined in international laws through human rights treaties, and in domestic legal frameworks including national constitutions. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the international human rights treaty on disability, adopted or ratified by 184 countries since 2006, affirms that “States Parties recognize that persons with disabilities have the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health without discrimination on the basis of disability”.
But in reality all groups of persons with disabilities and in particular persons with mental and intellectual disabilities are often excluded from SRHR information and services. Discrimination, stigma and misconceptions about disabilities and in particular about mental and intellectual disabilities and restrictive gender and social norms prevent persons with disabilities to enjoy their rights and to get access to information and services.
Community activities and social and behavior change communication (SBCC) Programmes in the field of SRHR do not include persons with disabilities and service providers lack capacity to address their needs when proving services to persons with disabilities.
Information, education and communication (IEC) materials often do not consider persons with disabilities and often persons with disabilities do not feel addressed, cannot understand or misunderstand the messages of the provided SRHR information. This results in other persons such as family members or services providers taking decision on behalf of the persons with disabilities, and this often deprives persons with disabilities from their human rights and can lead to harm (e.g. Persons with disabilities are less likely to use short-term contraceptives and more likely to be sterilized – rendering them unable to bear children).
Research shows that “Women with intellectual disabilities face important barriers to care, including lack of provider training and experience, hesitancy to broach the topic of sexual health, a lack of sexual knowledge and limited opportunities for sex education, disability-related barriers, higher prevalence of sexual abuse and assault, often underreported, lack of dialogue around this population’s human right to consensual sexual expression, under treatment of menstrual disorders, and legal and systemic barriers”.
The PROTECT SRHR project is implemented on several levels and focuses on different approaches:
- Community level: focusing on social behavior change and demand creation towards SRHR of all persons and in particular women and youth with and without disabilities, people from extremely poor economic backgrounds and marginalized groups including refugees and persons displaced. The PROTECT SRHR partners use mass media and produce educational materials to raise awareness about SRH Rights and access to services in communities / intervention locations. All of these activities should consider and include persons with disabilities who face various barriers in communication and infrastructure, which affects their ability to access services. Therefore, all interventions and all materials produced have to be done in accessible formats and in cooperation with organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs).
- Service level: The different international, local and public SRHR service provider partners of the PROTECT SRHR project are providing services in health facilities, school, safe spaces, vocation training centers, etc. including through outreach and mobile clinics, during home visits and community engagement. HI supports partners to provide disability-inclusive services by building their capacity and providing technical support in this domain. Service providers use different IEC materials to counsel persons in inclusive Education, SRHR and in particular in MHMH, family planning and gender-based violence. Persons with disabilities are often not considered during production of materials and accessibility criteria of the materials in particular for persons with intellectual disabilities, including easy to understand language, clear and concise information, easy to understand pictorials, etc. are often neglected and do not address their needs.
- National level: The PROTECT SRHR project aims to create national ownership of inclusive packages of services in Health, Education and Protection. HI in cooperation with national and local OPD partners provides technical advice and promotes OPD cooperation in the production of public health messages and materials where possible. Many actors have understood that braille and sign language are relevant formats when it comes to public health education, but often the group of persons with intellectual disabilities and their accessible communication needs, such as the use of images to support communication, are not considered in public risk and health communication.
- Assignment and Mode of Work
3.1. Objectives and Expected Deliverables
| Objectives of the assignment | Design and produce culturally appropriate pictorial materials with specific consideration of persons with intellectual and/or mental difficulties for use as communication aids during the provision of SRHR counselling, Family Planning (FP) and Gender-based violence (GBV) services, school-based activities (School clubs, life-skills curriculum, individual counseling) |
| Requirements | Requirement 1: The consultant must produce 12 virtual boxes/packages of pictorial images that can be shared with SRHR/Education/Protection practitioners as a resource when compiling accessible IEC material. These 12 boxes will focus on 12 topics/areas related to PROTECT SRHR project such as: 1) Puberty & Menstrual Health Management (MHM) 2) Protection from Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) 3) Peaceful Coexistence & Positive Peer Relations 4) Positive Parenting & Intergenerational Dialogue 5) Gender Equality & Engaging Men and Boys, 6) Inclusive Education & Return to School 7) Inclusive, Youth-Friendly Health Services 8) Economic Empowerment & Livelihoods (AVECs, Skills) 9) Community Engagement & Social Mobilization 10) Project Impact & System Strengthening 11) Bodily Autonomy Each box much contain between 10 to 20 pictorials displaying divers cultural groups and taking into consideration cultural sensitivity with regards to dress codes, skin colors, presenting different body parts, etc.. The images should be gender and disability-friendly and address youth as well. The pictorials should represent persons with disabilities in line with the human rights model of disability. Requirement 2: All pictorials are to be produced in close cooperation with HI, project partners, service providers and OPDs and must be pre-tested with persons with different forms of disabilities. Feedback from consultation meetings with HI, project partners, OPDs and service provides must be incorporated in the design. Requirement 3: All pictorials must be produced in digital formats that can be easily used and adapted according to the needs of the users. Text in different languages should be easy to incorporate or changed without any difficulties. All pictorials must consider accessibility standards in terms of size, color contrast, visibility friendly fonts etc. |
| Scope of work/ Expected Deliverables | Activities: 1. Preparatory phase
2. Production phase
3. Final Phase
|
3.2. Expected Deliverables Schedule
All deliverables shall follow HI’s, the PROTECT SRHR Consortium and the donor’s visibility requirements and visibility rules/guidelines, and must be submitted for approval to a steering committee consisting of Humanity & Inclusion technical experts and operational and administrative teams.
The expected start date of the assignment after signing the contract is 17th November 2025 (this date may be modified by HI). See the table below with the estimated deadlines for each delivery (dates may be modified by HI).
| Phase | Deliverables | Activities | Estimated Duration | Delivery Deadline |
| Preparatory | Kick-off meeting | Kick-off meeting between the Consultant/s and the HI team. Agenda on consultations with HI teams and partners, purpose and agree on the format of the final compilation of the pictorial counselling tool. Agree on how to conduct pre-testing with persons with disabilities in the field. | 3-5 hours | 17/11/2025 |
| Deliverable 1: Kick off meeting + Approved Action plan | 17/11/2022 | |||
| Deliverable 2: Overview and PowerPoint presentation of relevant existing materials and recommendations | Consultations with HI PROTECT SRHR country teams and partners to enrich existing best practices and develop others if needed, compilation of all the documentation into an overview and PowerPoint Presentation. Map and identify (online and through other organizations) existing pictorial material and recommendations | 1 week | 24/11/2025 | |
| Production | Deliverable 3: First Draft of all pictorial materials
| First draft compilation of the 1 virtual box/package of pictorials (e.g. MHM) to be shared with HI and partners, with a narrative description of each image and a sample/draft of pictorial style for approval, and that should be field-tested. | 1 week | 28/11/2025 |
| Deliverable 4 : Documentation and summary report of feedback from first round of consultations and findings from field-testing with OPDs.
| Conduct first round of consultations with HI (and partners) on the first draft, and pre-testing of the first draft with OPDs and with persons with intellectual disabilities in the field. Submit documentation of feedback, and submit a summary report of the findings from the consultations with HI and partners and pre- testing done with OPDs and persons with intellectual disabilities in the field. | 10 weeks | 05/12/2025 | |
| Deliverable 5: Second draft of all pictorial materials
| Submission of all pictorial materials with feedback and findings from the consultations and pre-testing incorporated to materials, submitted to HI for second round of review from HI, SRHR partners and selected OPD representatives. | 10 days | 15/12/2025 | |
| Deliverable 6: Documentation and summary report of second round of feedback | Conduct a second round of consultations with HI to collect feedback from HI, SRHR partners and OPDs. Submit documentation and a summary report of the second round of feedback. | 3 days | 18/12/2025 | |
| Finalization | Deliverable 7: Final pictorial counselling tool with supporting documents | Finalize and submit the final product/pictorial counselling tool to HI for approval. This final product must include the pictorial materials, introduction and user-friendly manual, with all feedback from all rounds of reviews incorporated to these. | 7 days | 26/12/2025 |
3.3. Location of work
The assignment can be done entirely remotely, or via a mix of remote and in-person fieldwork. Consultants can therefore choose to provide their service for one of the two options below:
- Production of the pictorial counselling tool alone (remote work)
Under this option, field-testing (pre-testing of the materials produced) will be done by HI and/or partner teams in one or more PROTECT SRHR District. The Consultant/s will consult with HI, SRHR partners and OPDs remotely/online, via online platform (Microsoft Teams Zoom).
- Production of the pictorial counselling tool (remote work) and field-testing in at least one location in Uganda (potentially Kampala)
- Eligibility & Selection
3.1 Expertise required
Qualifications and experience required
The composition of the team or individual is expected to be as follows:
- Ability to produce high quality, dignified, localized and inclusive pictorial images
- Experience in drafting and producing accessible pictorial IEC materials
- Advanced knowledge of disability inclusion and communication barriers and enablers of persons with disabilities including persons with intellectual disabilities
- Experience in Human Centered Design
- Basic knowledge and understanding in the fields of SRHR is an asset
- Cultural sensitivity (experience working in a variety of contexts in Uganda would be an asset)
- Good communication and coordination and excellent English language skills
- Ability to write clear, concise reports and presentations in English
- Provide copies of previous concepts and productions of pictorials and information and education material, share sample copies of the work that are similar or related to this assignment.
The Consultant(s) of the technical proposal should indicate how she/he/ they intend to carry out the assignment in addition to the propositions from HI.
3.2 Documents to be submitted
Applicants shall provide as minimum requirements:
- Curriculum vitae
- Copy of Any diploma (Master’s degree)
- Copy of identity document (National ID/passport)
- Proper registration of the activity and any documents certifying the regularity of the activity
- A cover letter
- A technical proposal (maximum 10 pages), including the proposed methodologies and proposed schedule/ clear timelines
- Samples (at least 10 pictorials etc.) of previous work done in similar fields.
- Documents proving registration and any other administrative documents certifying to the regularity of the Company or his/her activity
- 1 pictorial specifically design for this call. The pictorial should illustrate that description: “Every Teenager Belongs in School”. We are only requiring 1 inclusive design that depict a scene clearly located in West Nile, Uganda. That picture will not be used and can include watermarks to ensure designer rights protection.
- A financial proposal (see section 4.3)
3.3 Financial Proposal
The Consultant shall submit a detailed financial proposal clearly outlining professional fees of the consultant(s) per deliverable for one of the two options below:
- Production of the pictorial counselling tool alone (remote work)
- Production of the pictorial counselling tool (remote work) and field-testing in Uganda
The financial proposal shall be submitted using the attached template in Annex 7.2.
Prices shall be expressed inclusive of withholding tax and inclusive of VAT.
The consultant/s will cover all assignment-related costs (internet, software, stationary, etc.).
3.4 Ethical measures
HI is committed to upholding certain ethical measures. It is imperative that these measures are considered in the technical offer.
| Ethical Risks | Mitigation Measures |
| Protection of respondents, partners and teams, and other stakeholders. | Confidentiality of all subjects, respondents, persons interviewed for the assignment should be safeguarded. |
| Ensure the protection of personal and sensitive data at all stages of the activity | All data from respondents is collected in such a way that the respondents will not be harmed. |
3.5 Selection
3.5.1 Shortlisting
Applicants who fulfil the mandatory requirements above will be assessed on the following:
| Criteria | Score |
| General Profile | 20% |
| Experience in producing similar products | 20% |
| Relevance of the proposed inception report including consultation and pre testing | 20% |
| Quality of Previous Reports/ Assignments | 40% |
Applicants with the best scores will be selected to proceed to the interview stage.
The selection committee will include HI technical, operational and logistic department staff.
3.5.2 Interviews
The shortlisted applicants will be interviewed and assessed on the following:
| Criteria | Score |
| General Profile | 10% |
| Experience and knowledge in producing IEC materials and capacity to consider accessibility criteria for person with disabilities, including intellectual disabilities | 35% |
| Relevance of the proposed inception report (consultation and testing) | 20% |
| Means and planning | 5% |
| Quality of previous reports/assignments | 20% |
| Soft skills (oral and written skills, level of English, communicating/working with partners and in consortia) | 10% |
Selection committee: HI technical and operational staff at the mission and HQ levels.
- Submission of Applications
Persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
Application must be submitted in English to [email protected] by latest 13th of November 2025, 23:59 East African Time zone, clearly mentioning in the subject of the email: “Development of Pictorial Counselling tool for PROTECT SRHR”.
In case of any questions or need for clarification regarding technical aspects of the TOR or proceedings of the assignment, please write to [email protected] with [email protected] in copy (cc.).
Applications must include all documents listed in 4.2 and 4.3, including a technical proposal and financial proposal, samples of previous similar work, etc. Refer to sections 4.2 and 4.3.
Applications may include any additional documents deemed relevant.
Applicants shall commit to comply with all HI policies listed in the appendixes of this TOR, including HI protection policies, Code of Conduct, Good Business Practices, General Purchasing Conditions, etc.
Selection committees will be held between 14th and 15th November 2025 (these dates may be modified by HI).
- Award & Payment
A contract will be signed between Humanity & inclusion and the awarded applicant/consultant/firm and shall start on the 17th November 2025 (this date may be modified by HI). The payments will be released based on the submission of deliverables (see 3.3.2), as follows:
- 20% after the submission of deliverable 1-2
- 30% after the submission of deliverable 3- 4
- 50% after submission and validation of deliverable of deliverables 5-7.
All payments will be submitted for prior validation of the PROTECT SRHR PM and SRHR Specialist regarding the expected quality of deliverables.
During and after the contract period, the Consultant/s undertakes not to publish, distribute or make public, without the prior written permission of HI, the results of their activities under this contract, or the documents or information provided, produced and received. Such results, documents and information shall remain the property of HI.