Terms of Reference (ToR)

To develop and adapt a community-based Healthy Transition Curriculum (HTC) - adolescent-focused SBC approach and materials

Background on Save the Children

Save the Children is the leading global independent organisation for children. Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Around the world, we work every day to give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. When crisis strikes, and children are most vulnerable, we are always among the first to respond and the last to leave. We ensure children’s unique needs are met and their voices are heard. We deliver lasting results for millions of children, including those hardest to reach.

We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.

Our vision: A world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation.

Our mission: To inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.

Our values

Accountability, ambition, collaboration, creativity and integrity.

We are committed to ensuring our resources are used as efficiently as possible, in order to focus them on achieving maximum impact for children.

Improving maternal, newborn, and child health, nutrition, and early childhood development remains a national priority for Nepal, given their central role in reducing preventable mortality, strengthening human capital, and advancing equitable development. Evidence consistently shows that health and development outcomes are shaped by a continuum of care spanning adolescence and preconception through pregnancy, childbirth, the postnatal period, infancy, and early childhood. Behavior, practices, and social norms at each stage influence outcomes at subsequent stages, underscoring the importance of a life-course approach.

Pregnancy, childbirth, and early childhood represent periods of heightened biological vulnerability, while adolescence serves as a critical preparatory phase within this continuum. Nutritional status, health-seeking behaviors, knowledge related to sexual and reproductive health, and gender and social norms established during adolescence strongly influence pregnancy outcomes, newborn survival, caregiving practices, and child growth and development. In Nepal, challenges such as early marriage and pregnancy, inadequate nutrition, limited access to accurate information, and unequal decision-making power persist across multiple stages of the continuum.

Gaps in birth preparedness, maternal nutrition, and timely care-seeking during pregnancy and childbirth continue to contribute to preventable maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality. Following birth, suboptimal newborn care, infant and young child feeding practices, and limited attention to responsive caregiving and early learning constrain optimal early childhood development and fulfilment of the true lifetime potential of the child. These challenges are often compounded by harmful gender norms, limited male engagement, low awareness of services, and geographic and socioeconomic inequities.

The Government of Nepal has emphasized a life-course, rights-based, and equity-focused approach through national policies addressing maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health, nutrition, and early childhood development. These frameworks recognize social and behavioral determinants as key drivers of outcomes and highlight the need for informed decision-making, supportive family and community environments, and continuity of care across life stages.

Social and Behaviour change (SBC) is therefore a critical enabler for improving outcomes across the continuum of care. Well-designed SBC materials can support individuals, families, and communities to adopt and sustain positive behaviors related to healthy timing and spacing of pregnancy, maternal and newborn care, optimal nutrition, and early childhood development. There is a need to develop comprehensive, evidence-based, and culturally appropriate SBC materials that address priority behaviors and norms across the continuum of care, with adolescence positioned as a key entry point to strengthen maternal, newborn, and child health and development outcomes in line with national priorities.

Save the Children, in line with the government policies and priorities, has been implementing various community-based interventions that include SBC components through community platforms to target improvements in knowledge, attitudes, norms, and practices along the continuum of care. The government-endorsed Healthy Transitions for Nepali Youth package engages adolescents, their families, and community stakeholders across the socioecological model and is currently implemented under different projects in Madhesh and Karnali provinces. However, these approaches are currently “project based” and target different aspects along the continuum of care with overlaps in different packages in line with the primary target groups of the different projects. Specifically, the group-based Healthy Transition Curriculum (HTC) combines content that is relevant for unmarried girls who have never been pregnant with content that is relevant to girls who have started pregnancy and childbearing. In addition, a recent program review identified opportunities to expand the content for pregnant and parenting adolescents to include support for nutrition, early childhood development, and mental health to more comprehensively support adolescents during the transition to parenthood.

The main objective of the assignment is to revise, update and digitalize selected sessions of the existing HTC to develop a comprehensive set of SBC materials that support positive health, nutrition, and caregiving behaviors across the continuum of care, aligned with national priorities and responsive to the needs of diverse population groups along the continuum.

Consultancy ToR_aMNH_HTC Revision

How to apply for this consultancy services

Proposal Submission Guideline/Required Documents

https://www.jobsnepal.com/terms-of-reference-tor-for-consultancy-to-develop-and-adapt-a-community-based-healthy-transition-curriculum-htc-adolescent-focused-sbc-approach-and-materials-143760