Transition and Handover Consultant at Jhpiego - John Hopkins University

Position Reports to: TIPTOP Project Director
Duration of Consultancy: 2nd October to December 31st, 2021

Overview

• Intermittent preventive treatment of malaria during pregnancy (IPTp) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine is one of the key interventions recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) for preventing malaria among pregnant women living in high malaria transmission countries including Nigeria.
• Despite the availability of this affordable intervention and medicines, a high proportion of pregnant women do not have access to them. Unitaid is funding Jhpiego – an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University and her partners to implement a five-year project – “Transforming Intermittent preventive treatment of malaria for optimal pregnancy” (TIPTOP) in four African countries - Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); Madagascar; Mozambique and Nigeria.
• The project, operating from 2017 to 2022 is in 2 Phases. In Nigeria, the project began in 2017 in Ohaukwu local government area (LGA) of Ebonyi State and supports all 50-health facilities (47 public, 3 private) in the LGA providing antenatal care and delivery services and, in 2019 Phase 2 began with expansion of operations to Akure South LGA in Ondo State and Bosso LGA in Niger State

The TIPTOP Goal (Impact) is to contribute to reduced maternal and neonatal mortality in project areas by expanding access to QA SP for IPTp:

• Outcome 1: Over 5 years, increased IPTp-SP3 uptake to a minimum of 50% in project areas
• Outcome 2: Over 5 years, new available evidence on C-IPTp-SP delivery used by MOHs in targeted countries

Background

• Nigeria contributed approximately 27% of global malaria cases, and 23% of malaria global deaths in 2019 ;. In 2018, only 17% of pregnant women in Nigeria received three or more doses of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine for intermittent preventive treatment of malaria during pregnancy (SP-IPTp3+) . In Nigeria, about 14.9 million women become pregnant each year while 11% of maternal deaths is due to malaria complications in pregnancy.
• According to the 2018 National Demographic Health Survey, 67% received antenatal care from a skilled birth attendant, 57% had four or more ANC contacts while only 18% attended ANC during the first three months of pregnancy. It is clear therefore, that gaps in both ANC and IPTp coverage exist. Community delivery of IPTp (C-IPTp) through the Unitaid supported TIPTOP project has shown to be a promising approach to complement facility-based comprehensive ANC service delivery as part of country efforts to achieve full coverage of IPTp uptake among eligible pregnant women and global efforts to meet the targets of the sustainable development goals (SDG) by 2030.
• The project has been working closely with key stakeholders through the MAL RMNCAH TWG platform. In Nigeria, donors are members of the platform, this is also the situation in the various states. The TWGs’ platform was leveraged to engage the various government ministries, departments, and agencies to ensure strong coordination, collaboration, and synergy.
• NMEP and RH unit of the Federal MOH through the MAL RMNCAH TWG. planned that report of the TIPTOP project will be used to make national decisions. The results will feed into the national plan to complement comprehensive ANC services while awaiting decision from WHO. NMEP has also included CIPTp in the National Malaria Strategic Plan (NMSP) 2021- 2025.
• Over the last three years, stakeholders in the Malaria in Pregnancy Technical Working Group (MIPTWG) have monitored the country’s sustainability readiness using an assessment matrix developed for that purpose. The matrix covered policy, service integration, commodities, quality assurance, capacity building, community-based malaria-in-pregnancy program, financing, and monitoring and evaluation. The results of the baseline and four follow-up assessments have shown some improvement in national readiness to sustain the C-IPTp approach at the end of Unitaid funding for TIPTOP project.
• As a first step towards handover to Government, TIPTOP plans to constitute a transition and handover plan writing committee to write the transition/ handover plan. Jhpiego is looking to recruit a consultant to support this committee to write the transition/ handover plan.

Scope of Work - Key Tasks

• Support drafting of Terms of Reference (ToR) and the duration of assignment for the Committee
• Describe clear roles for the handover recipients in the ministry, departments and agencies (MDAs) taking on the new IPTp approach e.g. who will take on the responsibility for organizing needed training and other activities
• Complete the Transition and Handover Plan templates
• Schedule meetings of the THPWC committee to review and approve draft documents
• Develop tools for key informant interviews of critical stakeholders (if needed)
• Develop a handover note and communication plan for the transition/handover
• Identify change management issues and determine how they will be handled
• Document potential risks and have a clear risk management plan
• Develop an appropriate training plan for key players included in the transition/handover plan
• Obtain signatures from relevant levels of government to the handover notes on or before 31st December 2021

Required Qualifications

• Nigerian graduates with post-graduate degree
• 10 -15 years experience on project transition and close-out
• National key player with strong negotiation ability and skills
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to interface with high level government personnel, development partners and implementation agencies
• Strong organizing, planning, and prioritizing skills
• Flexibility and able to travel round by air and road to Nigerian states
• Ability to analyze and interpret data, and write reports.