Consultancy Role at the Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH)

Contract Type: Short-term consultancy for the Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH) - Global Fund Malaria Project
Detailed Consultancy days: a maximum of 24 days inclusive of report writing days.

Background

• As part of its efforts to promote and advance knowledge in health care delivery and health/community systems strengthening, ARFH shall provide technical and funding support to two (2) of its supported states - Kebbi and Osun - to carry out an operations research in line with the national malaria research priorities.
• While both studies would be Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) studies on prevention of malaria, which in Kebbi State is solely based on KAP in the community with that in Osun State being in both the communities as well as in public Health Facilities offering Ante-Natal Care services (Malaria in Pregnancy).

General Objective

• To strengthen operation research guidelines in malaria prevention with an improvement of links to the state-malaria elimination programme in Kebbi and Osun states.

Suggested Methodology
The OR will be executed in both the public health facilities as well as in the communities. The protocol on the OR to be conducted will be finalized with eligible consultant. In both states, this OR process will occur in the following phases:

• Before the field work where meetings will be held as the steering committee meets, stakeholders meet, survey tools are piloted and fine-tuned and training of the field data collectors (research assistants) conducted.
• The field work proper.
• After the field work, where data collation, entry and analysis will be undertaken, as well as the report writing and dissemination of results.
• This assignment will be undertaken by one (1) external consultant in each state supported by the ARFH Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer (SMEO) and the ARFH field officers - and coordinated by the Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator and Program Manager.
• The external consultants will be primarily responsible for the technical reports.

Tasks for the Consultants

• Preparation and facilitation of all the meetings of the steering committee where the survey tools are developed and protocol finalized; the stakeholders’ meetings where the stakeholders will be informed of the survey; and the dissemination meetings where survey results and key recommendations will be shared with stakeholders.
• Oversight of the pilot study to test the survey tools.
• Oversight of the data collection in the field work; the data collation, data entry and data cleaning after the field work and the data analysis done by the biostatistician.
• Report writing.

Experts Profiles
The external consultants must have the following skills and qualifications:

• Evidence of previous experience in leading the conduct of operation research in Nigeria, with emphasis in the state being applied for.
• Knowledge and experience of the Nigerian health system, the malaria elimination program and the individual state contexts.
• Good people management skills.
• Strong and proven coordination skills
• Excellent facilitation skills.
• Excellent writing skills with evidence.

Start Date
15th November 2016.

Application Closing Date
12:00am Midnight; 10th November, 2016.