International Consultant/Expert Operational Research

TERMS OF REFERENCE Support to GAVI HSS grant implementation

Level: International Consultant / Expert Operational Research Reports to: Country Program Advisor Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) , WHO Somalia Liason Office
Location: Somaliland, Puntland, Mogadishu
Contract Type: STC Duration: 6 months Start: 15 February 2016

1. Background Immunization coverage in Somalia is among the lowest in the world. Fully functional national health and immunization structures are lacking, especially at regional and district level. The access to immunization services is poor and paired with little awareness among communities. Outreach immunization activities are limited to campaigns and immunization district micro plans are not developed. Reliable data on immunization are lacking. The latest survey capturing immunization data was the MICS conducted in 2006 and 2009 respectively. Only recently the Population Estimate Survey for Somalia was published and data could now be utilized to determine district population and facility catchment population to determine coverage denominators.
   The 5-years GAVI grant on strengthening the Somali Health System is in its last year of implementation. It aimed to increase the access to essential health and especially immunization services through the deployment of a new cadre of Lady Health Workers (LHWs) at community level, the support to selected Health Posts and Maternal Child Health (MCH) Clinics and capacity building of Ministry of Health staff in programme management, monitoring and supervision as well as data analysis and operational research. In June 2015, a joint mission appraisal by the GAVI secretariat, WHO, UNICEF and the Somali Health Authorities assessed that activities planned under this programme have not yet overcome bottlenecks for improving routine immunization. One of the key challenges for informed decision making and planning processes is the lack of quality immunization data. Furthermore, operational research activities to examine existing service delivery model including the impact of LHWs and to explore, based on findings, innovative strategies to increase service access, have not been carried out. Therefore, one of the key recommendations of the mission was to utilize the remaining project time to support the health information delivery team at the Ministries’ of Health in implementing relevant operational research studies and support improving data quality and analysis. To this effect MOHs and partners would like to engage the service of a consultant to plan and undertake operational research studies relevant to the programme and a comprehensive data Quality Self Assessment( DQS) to determine the accuracy and quality of the immunization monitoring systems and come up with recommendations.
2. Purpose and scope of work The consultant will work in support to the Ministries’ Health Information Delivery Team i.e. Health Systems Analysis Team, HMIS, Research officers and M&E advisors/officers in Puntland, Somaliland and Puntland, under the guidance of the programme manager to plan, implement and disseminate findings of operational research relevant to the project. In addition, this assignment aims on reviewing the quality of immunization data and to produce relevant data that can support the production of immunization coverage data in light of an immediate plan to conduct a national coverage survey.
3. The specific tasks for this consultancy are the following: • Provide technical assistance to Somali Health Authorities’ team in conducting and disseminating operational research studies relevant to the programme;
   • Finalize a concept note to conduct data quality self assessment(DQS) • Adapt the generic DQS tools to be used in Somali DQS • Lead and support the review and validation of existing HMIS data on immunization using DQS methodology and tool in the three zones. • Verify the immunization coverage data sent by health units • Assess the quality of immunization monitoring systems at various levels of the health system • Present and disseminate the findings of the DQS to health authorities and partners at zonal and national levels.
4. Deliverables • Inception report one week after selection • Finalized concept note, budget and adapted tools for conducting DQS for Somali health sector • DQS planned, implemented and fesults presented to MoHs and partners • DQS report with recommendations
5. Requirements 1) Education • University Degree in Medicine, Public Health or Epidemiology • Masters Degree in Public Health is an asset; 2) Work experience • Minimum 8 years of relevant working experience in developing countries; • Previous experience in planning and implementing DQS in similar context • Previous work in EPI program 3) Key Competencies • Working experience in research methodology (quantitative and qualitative) and data analysis; • Experience in working successfully with a variety of health sector stakeholders, particularly governments and development partners, but also the private sector; • Solid oral communication skills targeting high-level policy audiences; 4) Assets • Strong knowledge building and sharing skills; openness in sharing information and keeping people informed • Ability to build and cultivate strong productive relationships with internal and external client • Ability to interpret, analyze and resolve problems • Ability to conduct capacity assessments and support capacity-strengthening initiatives • Proven facilitation and training skills
   5) General conditions • Remuneration depending on education and experience

HOW TO APPLY:

Interested experts / expert groups should send their expression of interest, together with respective resumes and budget to Dr. Katja Schemionek, HSS programme advisor at WHO Somalia:schemionekka@who.int by February 5, 2015.