Consultant at Save the Children Nigeria

Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in over 120 countries. We save children’s lives. We fight for their rights. We help them fulfill their potential. Save the Children is working in Nigeria because one in five children in Nigeria dies before their fifth birthday. About 40% of children miss out on school and have to work to survive while nearly 2 million children have lost one or both parents to an AIDS-related disease.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Consultant – Proof Reading, Editing/Formatting and Costing of National Integrated Pneumonia Control Strategy and Implementation Plan

Job ID: 200002OY
Location: Abuja
Employee Status: Fixed Term

Introduction and Background
Despite the remarkable progress made globally, in reducing child deaths over the past 15 years, more than six million children under the age of five continue to die each year according to United Nations Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) 2019. Nearly one-third of these deaths are attributable to just three causes: pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria.  Pneumonia control is critical to reducing child mortality and achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3 globally. Nearly one million child deaths are due to pneumonia, which is the leading infectious cause of death for children under five, accounting for 39% of all deaths related to infectious causes.  Furthermore, 99% of these deaths from pneumonia occur in low- and middle-income countries.  In order to reduce child mortality, controlling pneumonia is a critical component to any integrated child health strategy.

Pneumonia accounts for approximately 18% of all under-five mortality cases with 57,500 to 127,500 deaths annually thereby making pneumonia the leading killer of Nigerian children under five. In order to achieve SDG 3.2, Nigeria needs to prevent the deaths of approximately 70,000 additional children by 2030, (WHO 2016) and improve pneumonia outcomes as part of Nigeria’s broader child health strategy. Many of the tools to protect, prevent, diagnose, and treat pneumonia exist; but, doing so requires greater attention to scaling these tools and the use of integrated child health, a multi-sectoral approach.

The Federal Ministry of Health is committed to addressing pneumonia and led the development of the first National Integrated Pneumonia Control Strategy and Implementation Plan in 2019.  The strategy was recently launched by the Hon Minister of Health in Nigeria and was also taken to a global forum in Barcelona to showcase to the world the efforts by the Nigerian government to compact the deadliest childhood killer diseases.  The strategy was developed in collaboration with partners and stakeholders with widespread consultation at the national and sub-national levels. There was engagement with professionals, regulatory bodies, professional associations, civil society organizations, development partners, and the private sector.

Rationale/Justification

• The reason for this consultancy is to get an expert that will proofread, edit, and format as well as come up with how much it will cost the government at all levels to fully implement the national integrated pneumonia control strategy and implementation plan. The proofreading is to eliminate possible grammatical and typographical errors that may have occurred in the cause of collating ideas from different stakeholders. Formatting the strategy to align the tables/figures and number them properly as well as ensure that statistics used and other references follow standard/recommended referencing styles.
• The Strategy promotes an integrated approach to pneumonia control through multisectoral actions. It aligns and builds on exiting strategies namely, the revised national health policy, the national child health policy, the integrated reproductive maternal, new-born, child, and adolescent health plus nutrition strategy. The integrated management of childhood illness strategy (IMCI), the national strategic plan of action for nutrition, and the integrated community case management (ICCM) of childhood illness among others.
• Since pneumonia control is central to achieving universal health coverage (UHC) and meeting sustainable developments goals (SDGs) in Nigeria, it is therefore imperative for government and partners to efficiently implement the packages of evidence-based interventions articulated within this strategy and plan for protecting and preventing diseases in children with a focus on underserved, marginalized and vulnerable communities.
• The costed implementation plan will be used for advocacy by the civil society organizations to get government, development partners, private sector, professional associations, and others to fully commit to implementing this strategy with a view to improving the lives of under-five children and reducing mortality resulting from pneumonia and other infectious diseases. Advocacy efforts will also be taken to other line ministries eg ministry of environment, agriculture, education, women affairs, etc.

The objective of the Consultancy

• To proofread, edit/format of the strategy following standard/recommended referencing styles.
• Articulate how much it will cost the government, private sector, development partners, and other relevant stakeholders to fully implement the national integrated pneumonia control strategy both at national and state levels.
• Using the economics of scale, identify priority areas of focus within the strategy for government, professional associations, private sector, development partners, and community structures towards full implementation of the strategy at all levels of governments.
• Develop an advocacy brief containing all the cost components in the strategy and recommend funding opportunities for the implementation of the strategy.
• It is expected that SCI and consultant(s) will work collaboratively with all stakeholders so that there is buy-in, right from the start which will encourage everybody’s full participation in the process and ensure endorsement of the final product.

Deliverables
The following key deliverables are anticipated:

• The report is submitted at the end of the assignment detailing the methodology and approaches used.
• Properly edited/formatted/costed implementation plan of the National Integrated pneumonia control strategy.
• An advocacy brief to be used by CSOs to engage the government at different levels.

Key Activities:

• Develop tools including approaches and techniques to be employed for cost of the strategy.
• Desk review of the strategy and other available literature.
• Proofreading, editing/formatting of the strategy.
• Hold debriefing meeting with SCI and Federal Ministry of Health Child Health Division.

Timeline Start Date:

• Inception report: within 1-2 weeks of commencement
• Final report: June 2020
• Total workdays: 14 days.

Required Skill and Experience

• Experience in developing and costing policies, plans, and strategies for development.
• Experience in proofreading, editing/formatting documents.
• Experience working in health and nutrition programs and projects.
• Proven ability to work in a collaborative manner with experience working in Nigeria and an excellent understanding of the federal ministry of health.
• Strong writing and communication skills – to be authenticated by work already done. The references for the individual should be from the people who commissioned a piece of work that would be shared with us as proof.
• University Degree (Masters preferred) in any of the following fields; International Relations, Development Studies, Public Health, Health Economics & Health Financing.

Application Specifications
Candidates interested in this assignment should attach a detailed proposal along with a detailed CV to their applications.  This should include but not limited to the following:

• Details on understanding the Terms of Reference (TOR) scope of work, a draft methodology to be used.
• Understanding of pneumonia and the recent developments in child health in Nigeria
• Timeline, with specific dates from commencement to final submission of deliverables.
• Detailed budget breakdown with work plan based on expected daily rates
• Cover letter
• Names, Organisations, and Contact details of three referees whom we may contact
• Evidence of at least 2 similar jobs done in the past by the Consultant.

Deadline: 4th June, 2020.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• We need to keep children safe so our selection process reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.
• Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply
• Applicants are advised that Save the Children International does not require any payment or expense during the entire recruitment process. Any request in this direction should be immediately reported as contrary to the values and practices of our organization.