Consultant - Providing Technical Assistance for the Development of 2021 Malaria Annual Operational Plan (AOP) at Management Sciences For Health - MSH

Location: Abuja, Osun or Ogun
Contract Type: Short-term consultancy
Duration: 7 days  

Background
Management Sciences For Health (MSH), an international non-governmental organization, was awarded the role of sub-recipient to Catholic Relief Services (CRS) on the Global Fund Malaria grant (2018-2020) in Nigeria to implement and to support malaria control activities in 13 states. The scope of the grant includes: vector control, case management, monitoring and evaluation, procurement and supply chain management, and health systems strengthening. As part of health systems strengthening, MSH will be  supporting the 2021 Malaria Annual Operational Plan (AOP) development in two states; Ogun and Osun.

Rationale

• In order to ensure efficient programme outcome, AOP development remains an essential planning tool for budgeting and tracking of malaria activities in the state. Standardized AOP development ensures that the achievement of targets is periodically and systematically evaluated and ultimately realized.
• This is to reduce wastage associated with poor or inadequate planning and would help to create enabling environment for sustainability and ownership as the state is encouraged to carry the process forward with minimal partners’ support following project’s exit.
• It is expected that the draft AOP document is ready by the state annual budget call circular so as to influence the planning for malaria activities in 2021 by each state’s ministry of health.

Purpose of Assignment:

• The purpose of the assignment is to provide Technical Assistance (TA) to the SMEP through the SMoH and other relevant ministries and agencies such as Ministry of local government and chieftaincy affairs, Hospital Management Board and so on; to strengthen mechanisms for evidence-based planning and development of the 2020 AOP for the states.  

Specific Tasks for the Consultants:

• The consultants will be involved in the development of the 2021 AOP for Malaria activities in supported States.
• They will familiarize themselves with the previous State AOP and other relevant documents to be made available by the SMEP and SMoH DPRS.
• They will work with the state Malaria Technical Working Group (TWG) comprising of stakeholders drawn from the SMEP, SMoH and other relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), as well as partners and implementing agencies to undertake various aspects of the technical support.
• They will also ensure that the RMNCH+N-Malaria integration concept is integrated into the AOP to improve maternal and child health outcomes.

Deliverable:

• A draft copy of the costed 2021 AOP
• A report on the technical support process using acceptable report writing template submitted on time to the SMoH.

Duration of the Consultancy:

• The consultancy is for seven days including process report writing, four days development workshop October/November 2020, one-day planning meeting and one-day validation meeting including draft AOP document. Final report is expected 1 week after the assignment.
• The selection of the service providers will be in accordance with MSH’s procedures and policies as stated in eligibility criteria/instructions below.
• Interested persons must include copies of their CVs and summary of their work experience.
• The interested persons must provide information indicating that they have the capacity and capability in the proposed area of service

Consultants Required

• A team of two consultants will be assigned the responsibilities per state. One health systems expert and One finance/costing management Consultant.
• The health systems expert will be the team leader at the assigned state. MSH field will ensure logistic support for the entire process and ensure that the process is concluded appropriately.

The National Health Systems Expert/Assignment Team Leader should:   

• Be available to undertake the assignment in the 3rd week of October to 4th week of October 2020 when the AOP would be developed.
• Provide evidence of previous experience in supporting processes of building individual & team capabilities, institutional and systems strengthening
• Be a team player with strong participatory, facilitation, and organizational skills  
• Be able to combine excellent analytical and succinct technical report writing skills
• Have previous experience of working in/with Federal, State, LGA and health facility levels and sufficient knowledge of the structure and organizational set up of Nigeria’s health system (public, private, for-profit, not-for-profit) and familiarity with the issues around linkages between the tiers
• Be familiar with the dynamics and power relations among key players, ‘gatekeepers’ and ‘spoilers’ in the health sector including parastatals and related agencies
• Be computer literate; own a laptop with compatibility features (MS Word, USB, antivirus, etc.) and associated tools of trade.