Monitoring & Evaluation National Consultant at UNICEF

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

To address these challenges, UNICEF Nigeria seeks to engage an individual consultant to support the three states in developing - State-specific M&E Policies and Frameworks aligned with national and global best practices, Interactive, digital dashboards for real-time monitoring and decision support, A robust evaluation of the SHIS across the three states and a harmonized policy document on SHIS to guide future reforms and implementation.

Scope of Work:

The consultant will carry out the following tasks over an 11-month period:

Inception Phase 

• Examine national M&E policy, state development plans, SHIS guidelines, and UNICEF programme documents.
• Conduct inception meetings with UNICEF, State Governments, and key development partners to confirm methodology, deliverables, and timelines.
• Develop and submit a detailed inception report outlining the work plan, methodology, data collection tools, and engagement approach.

M&E Policy and Framework Review 

1. Mapping and Gap Analysis:
   • Assess existing M&E structures, institutional arrangements, data flows, reporting tools, and coordination mechanisms in each state.
   • Identify bottlenecks, capacity gaps, and opportunities for harmonization.
2. Stakeholder Engagement:
   • Organize state-level workshops with multi-sectoral participation (Budget and Economic Planning, Health, Education, WASH, Social Protection, CSOs, and development partners).
   • Ensure alignment with Nigeria’s National M&E Policy, SDGs, and state development priorities.
3. Review M&E Policies and Frameworks:
   • Review the draft policy documents defining vision, principles, institutional arrangements, roles and responsibilities, data management, evaluation standards, and reporting processes.
   • Review the results-based M&E framework.
4. Validation:
   • Present draft M&E Policies and Frameworks for stakeholder review.
   • Finalize documents for state government approval and adoption.

Development of Interactive Dashboards 

1. Design Phase:
   • Identify priority indicators from the SDP.
   • Review data availability, sources, and existing digital tools used by state M&E units.
2. Development Phase:
   • Design and build user-friendly, interactive dashboards enabling data entry, aggregation, real-time visualization, and automated report generation.
   • Pilot dashboards in each state to test functionality.
3. Capacity Building:
   • Conduct hands-on training sessions for state M&E officers, ensuring skills transfer for dashboard operation, analysis, and maintenance.
   • Develop a user manual and sustainability plan for dashboard management.

Evaluation of Social Health Insurance Schemes 

1. Evaluation Framework:
   • Develop a framework with key evaluation questions, performance indicators, and mixed-methods approach (quantitative and qualitative).
2. Data Collection:
   • Review administrative data (enrollment records, financing data, claims data).
   • Conduct household surveys, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews with beneficiaries, health providers, and State Health Insurance Agencies.
3. Analysis:
   • Assess SHIS effectiveness, efficiency, equity, financial sustainability, and scalability.
   • Identify strengths, weaknesses, gaps, and recommendations for improvement.
4. Draft Evaluation Report:
   • Prepare a comprehensive evaluation report for each state, including evidence-based recommendations.
   • Facilitate validation workshops to present findings to government and partners for feedback.

Development of SHIS Policy Document 

1. Drafting Policy Document:
   • Based on evaluation findings, draft a comprehensive SHIS policy document aligned with national health financing strategies and global best practices.
   • Define policy objectives, guiding principles, governance arrangements, financing mechanisms, service coverage strategies, and accountability frameworks.
2. Consultation and Dialogue:
   • Conduct state-level policy dialogue sessions to refine recommendations and secure stakeholder buy-in.
   • Incorporate feedback from ministries, legislators, civil society, and development partners.
3. Finalization:
   • Produce a final SHIS policy document ready for state government approval and adoption.
   • Develop a roadmap for implementation and monitoring.

Minimum requirements:

• Advanced degree in M&E, Public Policy, Statistics, or related fields is required.
• At least 8 years of experience in developing Dashboards, M&E policies and frameworks.
• Expertise in designing interactive dashboards and data visualization tools.
• Proven   experience  in    conducting  stakeholder engagement and facilitating workshops.
• Strong knowledge of Nigeria’s governance and development context, particularly Zamfara State.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and report- writing skills.
• Experiences in working for UNICEF or UN agencies.