LGA Field Assistant at Malaria Consortium

Purpose of the assignment

• The purpose of these Terms of Reference (ToR) is to engage LGA Field Assistants to support training, Mass Drug Administration (MDA) of Azithromycin (AZM), reverse logistics, reporting, and personnel management in Gombe (6), and Adamawa (11) states.

Objective

• The role of the LGA Field Assistants is to ensure proper planning, execution, and monitoring of the Mass Drug Administration (MDA) of Azithromycin and reverse logistics at the LGA level in the state.
• They are expected to collaborate with LGA teams, health facility supervisors, traditional leaders, and Officers in Charge (OICs) of all AZM-implementing facilities. These stakeholders are required to adhere to established AZM administration protocols and implementation strategies. 
• The TAs will also engage with the State Ministry of Health, the NTD team, and LGA management teams, where applicable, to keep them informed about programme progress and to ensure high-quality implementation of activities across the Local Government Areas in the States.

Methodology
Engagement and Onboarding:

• The consultants would be engaged as short-term personnel via MC’s standard HR recruitment protocols.
• The Consultants would be introduced to program teams and oriented on campaign tools, digital systems (Kobo, Digit HCM), data workflows, and validation processes.

Embedded Support Model:

• Consultants would be embedded with MC’s state team and support all LGAs through direct visits or remotely as needed.
• He/She will coordinate with MC’s State Programme Manager, Program Officers, and Field Assistants.

Support and Supervision:

• The consultants will report to their respective Program Officers, with technical guidance from the M&E/Supply chain TAs.
• They would conduct coordination meetings and reviews.

Reporting:

• Submit reports and summaries and support M&E reports.
• Documents lessons learned and contributed to knowledge products.

Key Responsibilities

• The LGA FA supports the implementation of activities at LGA, health facilities and household level.
• He/she is responsible for planning, implementation, reporting and coordination with local government representatives and community level stakeholders.
• The role of LGA FA assist the quality implementation of delivery of AZM services at the community level by HFW/supervisors and CDDs through the timely delivery of AZM commodities and supplies and documentation of program activities.
• He/she interacts with the LGA management team, keeps them updated on the program progress and ensures high-quality AZM implementation.
• The LGA FA takes instructions from the Program Officer (PO) on the implementation of AZM activities.
• S/he gives feedback to the PO in form of basic documentations and to the M&E Officer in form of data entry for administrative coverage and supply chain management.
• S/he will also support the Finance Officer in getting account details of distribution personnel for payment.
• Ensure the conduct of Mass Drug Administration (MDA) of Azithromycin (AZM) across implementing health facilities (HFs) in the assigned LGA.
• Support last-mile distribution of commodities from the State Central Medical Store (CMS) to the health facilities.
• Support the rollout of robust SBC interventions in the assigned LGA
• Support the conduct of refresher training for Health Facility Workers (HFWs) and Community Drug Distributors (CDDs) to ensure effective program delivery.
• Monitor and report any issues related to digital HCM and non-compliance with AZM administration protocols to the Command-and-control center and HCM team
• Manage the delivery of all AZM-related activities as assigned by the supervisor.

Deliverables

• Participate in AZM MDA state training of trainers
• Coordinate and supervise health facility workers
• Monitor and supervise round 2 AZM MDA to target beneficiaries in communities
• Coordinate and supervise CDDs training and TA orientation
• Coordinate round 2 end processes
• Facilitate reverse logistics of AZM POS bottles from health facilities to LGA stores and the state central medical store
• Provide activity and end-of-contract reports

Required Specification for Consultant

• Science, Social Science, or Public Health-related qualification with at least two years’ field experience in the related field.
• Fluency in English, Hausa/Fulani and/or other local languages is required.
• Experience working in drug/commodity supply management, M&E and logistics.
• Ability to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences, including LGA staff, HFW, and community leaders.
• Must be familiar with the use of Kobo Collect, SurveyCTO, and the Microsoft Office suite.
• Experience in conducting quality supportive supervision and data use.