GBLCAREERS

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Consultant For The Desk Review Of Baseline Assessment In Nine(9) Northern States( Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto,Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara States)

Background:

Nigeria is continuing its journey to achieving the globally agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), against the country’s poor health and nutrition indices caused by food shortages, poverty and ongoing insurgency and draught in some States. The impact of these are more intensively reflected on the women and children who are more vulnerable members of the society. Northern Nigeria bears a larger proportion of this burden, particularly in the North West and North East. The current trend of insecurity and insurgence in the North East has worsened the situation in the face of an already poorly functional primary health care system. In order to significantly and sustainably improve the nutritional and health situation of children and women, a multi-pronged approach that will strengthen primary health care systems, build community resilience and strong governance is needed. Integration of interventions in health and nutrition including HIV/AIDS, complemented with water, sanitation, social protection initiatives, and strong governance structures are bound to be more effective and efficient than single or vertical initiatives.

Rationale:

Given the weak civic registration and national health information systems in some states in Nigeria, most estimates on maternal, neonatal and child morbidity and mortality remain guess work, especially at the LGA levels with a few national surveys providing data for the state. Thus, conducting a rapid baseline assessment in select states that contribute to mortality and morbidity is imperative as an urgent initiative to monitor maternal, newborn and child morbidity and mortality and to further provide reliable information for planning and implementation of programs across the continuum of care for women and children.

The rapid baseline assessment is proposed to be a mix of desk review, collation of data from different sources and consultations with stakeholders. It is further proposed to use a mix of key indicators and proxy indicators to understand the status of children in the select states across health, nutrition, protection and water and sanitation programs.

In view of the above, it is hereby proposed that, to validate the indicators in components of the framework without data or suitable proxy available as identified in the foregoing, there is need to immediately conduct a desk review of and consultation with key stakeholders on Maternal, Newborn and Child, Nutrition, HIV/AIDS and WASH indicators across the nine northern states.

The purpose of the baseline desk review and stakeholder consultation is two-fold:

• To serve as a benchmark to guide the design and implementation of the program focusing on results for children, and providing a basis to set up monitoring systems and evaluate the impact of the interventions for results for children
• To gain a better understand and support the Government and key stakeholders at national, as well as state and local government authorities, particularly with reference to the MNCH interventions and key intersectoral and health system strengthening linkages.
• Specific Objectives:

The Consultant will work with the nine State Governments and UNICEF to:

• Provide up-to-date information on the situation of women and children in the 9 states
• Use current data/results from recent national and regional surveys to update the Results Framework covering indicators for Maternal, Newborn, Child Health, Nutrition, HIV/AIDS, WASH, Social Policy, Child Protection, Communication and Community Mobilization and establish a baseline status
• Determine the status of functionality (Infrastructure, Water/Sanitation, Electricity, HR, Supplies and Commodities) of the supported health facilities in the nine states with the available data
• in the EU/MNCH M&E Framework at Federal and State levels for nine states
• Provide reliable information for planning, and monitoring maternal, new-born and child health morbidity and mortality
• Assess the gender responsiveness of MNCHN services and gender inclusion of WDCs in the nine States
• Determine the level of state and local government support to health issues in the nine states
• Major Tasks to be accomplished:

The baseline information to be put together through desk review and consultation shall be conducted over a period of 4 months starting in January 2018 and ending in April 2018 with the submission of the final baseline desk review and stakeholder consultation report to the UNICEF Chief of Health. ÂFinalization of the detailed timelines will be mutually agreed by the MNCH team, M&E team, the respective field office teams in states to be covered.

The Consultant, working with the UNICEF M&E for the baseline desk review and consultation, will develop a detailed work plan in a Gantt chart format that shows each activity to be embarked upon and dates for important milestones

End Product:

By the end of the assignment the following outputs will be expected:

The Consultant shall be responsible for the production and submission of the final baseline desk review and consultation report and all other deliverables expected in the course of the baseline assessment process. UNICEF will not proceed to pay the consultant until:

• – Final report is submitted and approved by UNICEF providing quantitative and qualitative analysis of the pre-project implementation status in the implementing states as well as evidence-based clear recommendations
• – The overall deliverables have been certified by the UNICEF M&E and Health team

Other deliverables will include:

• – A Power Point presentation containing the main findings, conclusions, recommendations and lessons learned of the baseline desk review and consultation for dissemination and debriefing purposes
• – Comprehensive Final baseline desk review and consultation Report

Electronic version of data collected and data sets analysed.

Qualifications or specialized knowledge/experience required

A reputable consultant with:

• University degree in Social Sciences, Public Health, Monitoring and Evaluation and/or related technical field.
• Proven track record and a minimum of 5 years’ experience in research field.
• Evidence of having conducted and reported on research/survey projects within the last 10-15 years. The documented evidence of these projects conducted by the research firm must be provided.
• The Consultant firm must have valid and documented tax clearance and insurance policy.
• Lead consultant must have good computer and report writing skills.
• The consultant must be flexible to provide answers to specific questions on the progress of work as and when required to do so.
• Evidence of previous experience working with other development and or donor organizations in a similar work area is an advantage.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.