USAID INTEGRATED HEALTH PROGRAM (IHP)
PALLADIUM
CONSULTANCY TO PROVIDE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO THE FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARIAT (FCT-HHSS) ON ADVOCACY TO INCREASE FINANCING FOR HEALTH TOWARDS THE ATTAINMENT OF UNIVERSAL.

Program Activity: Consultancy to provide Technical Assistance to the Federal Capital Territory Health and Human Services Secretariat (FCT-HHSS) on Advocacy to increase Financing for Health towards the attainment of Universal Health Coverage.

The Integrated Health Program is a USAID funded 5-year project with the goal to contribute to state-level reductions in child and maternal morbidity/mortality and to increase the capacity of health systems (public and Private) to sustainable Support quality PHC services.

FCT has a growing population which has its attendant effects on social and environmental exposures that can have adverse effects on the health system. Similar to other states in the country, the FCT’s health sector is faced with challenges that have contributed to sub-optimal health outcomes for its residents. While key health indicators are above national average, they still fall below global targets. Budgetary allocations to the sector by the central and area council administration has been below the 15% Abuja Declaration and releases of appropriated budgets have been inconsistent.

An adequately resourced health system is critical to enabling the provision of affordable, equitable and quality health care services to FCT residents. Achieving this however requires sufficient financing for the implementation of current health reforms and high-impact interventions that enable improvement in population health outcomes. IHP is providing technical assistance to the FCT-HHSS to implement interventions aimed at increasing availability of resources for health and improving coverage of vulnerable populations under the FHIS.

IHP seeks a consultant to support the FCT-HHSS in driving evidence-based advocacy activities aimed at improving funding for health through increased investments by the government and private sector in priority PHC interventions and financial risk protection. These should by effect, contribute to an improved health system for the delivery of affordable, equitable and quality healthcare services to residents.

Roles and Responsibilities
The specific responsibilities of the consultant include:
In collaboration with the FCT-HHSS and with reporting responsibility to USAID-IHP, the consultant will undertake the following activities.
• Identify, collate and review documents that are relevant to this assignment including the existing advocacy plans, briefs and political economy analysis (PEA).
• Conduct stakeholder mapping and engagements with relevant stakeholders including the members of the health financing technical working group (HF-TWG), heads of relevant government agencies, key area council stakeholders, health and non-health private sector stakeholders and the legislators to identify factors that influence health financing in the FCT to inform recommendations for improving the current financing landscape.
• Based on outcome of reviews and engagements, develop a revised/updated advocacy plan, action plan and advocacy briefs to support advocacy activities. The plan is expected to articulate approaches for addressing key issues/factors including: delayed release of appropriated BHCPF counterpart funds to the implementing gateways, low coverage of vulnerable populations in the FCT health insurance scheme, inadequate budgetary allocations and releases for primary health care in Central and Area Council budgets, and inadequate contributions by the private sector to the health sector.
• Develop a monitoring plan to measure progress and outcomes of advocacy activities and facilitate at least two sessions with HF-TWG to present progress report.
• Collaborate with the FCT-HHSS, HF-TWG and existing civil society organization (CSO) networks to implement the advocacy plan. Activities may include but not limited to one on one engagements and conduct of workshops with relevant stakeholder.
• To facilitate sustainability of advocacy endeavors, strengthen the capacity of the HF-TWG on advocacy through the development of relevant framework and tools and training TWG members on the use of the frameworks.
Eligibility Requirements
The consultant should possess the following qualifications and experiences:
• A good post graduate qualification in Public health, Health Management, Health Economics, Behavioral Sciences, Social Works or other Social Sciences related fields
• At least 3-5 years of experience in health sector advocacy, health financing, or policy analysis, with a demonstrated track record of successful engagements in similar projects.
• Strong understanding of the Nigerian health system as well as the budgeting cycle and current health financing reforms especially the subnational level, including familiarity with the FCT health sector landscape.
• Demonstrated capacity in the development of strategy documents related to health and experience in the implementation of advocacy initiatives in the health sector with verifiable reference reports (at least 2)
• Demonstrate ability to use innovative approaches to achieving advocacy objectives.

Please Note: Payments are made based on delivery of approved deliverables. All deliverables must be of high quality and submitted in Microsoft Word and in a PDF format. The deliverable will not be considered final until approved by the Chief of Party (COP).

Period of performance of the consultancy: 1 September 2023 – 31st January, 2023.

For more details concerning this consultancy and other associated application tools, please visit the link below: https://bit.ly/3OLZN2X

Submission information
Please follow the instructions as contained in the Request for Application (RFA) and submit to: fct.consultany@ihp-nigeria.com
This consultancy application closes on August 29, 2023 5:00pm (WAT). No late application will be received after the deadline.