TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR) FOR CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATION (CSO) IMPLEMENTING PARTNER FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND DELIVERY OF PERSON-CENTRED INTEGRATED COMMUNITY-BASED HIV, GBV AND SRHR SERVICES AND COMMODITIES
1. Background
The UNAIDS Country Office in Lesotho has received funding from the Government of the People’s Republic of China through the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) to implement a 24-month project titled “Eliminating the Triple Threat in Girls and Young Women in Lesotho.”
The project seeks to address three interlinked challenges affecting adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in Mokhotlong District — new HIV infections, gender-based violence (GBV), and early and unintended pregnancies (EUP) — all of which contribute significantly to high maternal morbidity and mortality.
The project will employ three main strategies:
- Health systems strengthening through capacity building and infrastructure improvement;
- Community-led responses via engagement and delivery of person-centred, integrated community-based HIV and SRHR services; and
- Provision of commodities and equipment to improve access to essential health and protection services for vulnerable AGYW.
To operationalize the community engagement component, UNAIDS in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, seeks to engage a qualified Civil Society Organization (CSO) to lead community-based interventions aimed at empowering AGYW, enhancing demand creation for HIV/SRHR/GBV and maternal health services, promoting social behaviour change, and addressing harmful gender and social norms that perpetuate vulnerability of AGYW.
Purpose of the Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to engage a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) to implement community engagement and delivery of person-centered, integrated community-based HIV, GBV and SRHR and maternal health services and commodities in Mokhotlong District.
The CSO will mobilise, coordinate, and empower communities, particularly AGYW, their families, community leaders, and service providers—to increase access to and uptake of integrated health and protection services, while strengthening linkages with health facilities and social protection mechanisms.
Specific Objectives
The CSO will:
- Strengthen community engagement mechanisms to address harmful social norms and practices that hamper AGYW to exercise bodily autonomy in relation to uptake of HIV, GBV, SRHR and maternal health services.
- Enhance AGYW access to Integrated Services including through strengthened referrals and linkages
- Strengthen data collection, reporting, and documentation of community-level results, lessons learned, and success stories.
Scope of Work and Key Tasks
Under the overall guidance of UNAIDS, MOH, Mokhotlong DHMT and in collaboration with UNFPA, and Riders for Health, the CSO will be responsible for the following key tasks:
Community Engagement and Mobilisation
- Conduct regular CSE sessions and dialogues with AGYW to create demand for uptake of services by addressing low knowledge of HIV prevention, prevention of pregnancy, child marriage and GBV, low uptake of family planning, late booking at ANC and delay in seeking help in case of obstetric emergencies.
- Support capacity building of peer educators and local champions.
- Facilitate the establishment and/or strengthening of Community Action Groups to support the elimination of the triple threat.
- Conduct community dialogues and awareness campaigns to influence norms change in relation to HIV prevention, GBV, SRHR, EUP., child marriage and maternal health for AGYW.
- Engage men, boys, traditional leaders and mothers-in-law to promote gender equality, positive masculinities and act as as champions of protection for SRHR of AGYW and maternal health.
Enhance AGYW access to Integrated Services including through strengthened referrals and linkages
- Provide community-based HIV testing, counselling, and linkage to care and prevention services (including PrEP and condom distribution).
- Facilitate access to family planning commodities and information, including referrals for long-term methods through community-based distribution (CBD).
- Support GBV prevention, case identification, psychosocial support, and referral to appropriate services.
- Collaborate with the DHMT and UNFPA to ensure continuous supply and distribution of SRHR and HIV commodities.
- Support Village Health Workers, schools and communities to identify AGYW that need HIV prevention, family planning and maternal health services and refer them to facilities.
- Collaborate with schools, local health centres and clinics to track referral uptake and address access challenges.
- Facilitate dialogues between communities and health workers to address trust and service quality
Monitoring, Documentation, and Reporting
- Collect, analyse, and report on community-level data using agreed indicators and tools.
- Document lessons learned, best practices, and human-interest stories for knowledge sharing and advocacy.
- Participate in coordination and review meetings with UNAIDS, DHMT, and partners.
Institutional Arrangements
- The CSO will work under the overall supervision of UNAIDS Lesotho Country Office, in close coordination with the MoH/DHMT Mokhotlong.
- The CSO will submit quarterly reports to UNAIDS, copied to MoH and relevant district structures.
Project Timeline:
1 November 2025-31 October 2027
Required Competencies and Experience
The CSO must demonstrate:
- Registered CSO/NGO in Lesotho with experience in community mobilisation and health rights-based approaches.
- Minimum 5 years’ experience in implementing community-based health or social protection programmes in Lesotho.
- Proven knowledge of and experience in HIV, GBV, SRHR and maternal health programming, particularly targeting adolescents and young women in rural Lesotho.
- Experience working with district health systems, community structures, and traditional leadership.
- Sound financial and administrative management systems.
- Demonstrated capacity in facilitating community dialogues or participatory learning processes and community training.
- Proven capacity in documentation, participatory monitoring and reporting.
- Fluent in Sesotho and familiar with local cultural norms and practices.
Application Process
Interested CSOs should submit their expressions of interest, that will comprise the following documents to: [email protected] on or before close of business on 30 October 2025 :
- Technical proposal outlining approach, methodology, and implementation plan; (Template to be obtained from UNAIDS)
- Organisational profile and evidence of similar past assignments;
- CVs of key personnel;
- Detailed costed budget; (Template to be obtained from UNAIDS)
- Copies of registration and relevant compliance documents.