Consultant, Family Planning Integration, PROPEL Health, Nigeria

at  Palladium Group Inc

CONSULTANT, FAMILY PLANNING INTEGRATION, PROPEL HEALTH, NIGERIA

Project Overview and Role:
PROPEL Health, a USAID-funded five-year $100 million project awarded to Palladium, aims to improve the enabling environment for equitable and sustainable health services, supplies, and delivery systems through policy development and implementation; adequate, predictable, and sustainable health financing; enhanced government stewardship, transparency, and accountability; and use of evidence-based advocacy approaches at global, national, and subnational levels to promote best practices.
In Nigeria, PROPEL Health, working closely with USAID/Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Health, and the National Health insurance Agency, has conducted a comprehensive situational analysis of the status, challenges, and opportunities to integrate family planning into health insurance essential benefits packages and primary healthcare services. Subsequently, PROPEL Health provided technical support to the Federal Ministry of Health to develop a set of recommendations on the integration of family planning, which outline: defining and costing the minimum package of family planning services; identifying providers for delivery of integrated family planning services and choosing an optimal provider payment mechanism; empanelment and contracting of providers for provision of services; identifying roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders; and coordination and ensuring quality and effectiveness.
Dependent on the availability of funding, PROPEL Health now aims to work at a sub-national level and offer technical assistance to domesticate the above recommendations and support the development of a state-specific guideline for integration of family planning into its health insurance program. Working closely with a state ministry of health, the health insurance agency, and the primary health care development agency, PROPEL Health will facilitate expansion of service coverage for family planning and offer a pathway for sustainable and increased domestic financing for the program.
Palladium is seeking qualified candidates for the position of a Consultant who would collaborate with a Senior Consultant to develop state-specific policy documents to support the integration of family planning into the state health insurance scheme. The Consultant will report to the Director, Health Systems and Regional, and is expected to conduct quantitative and qualitative research and analyses to support the development of the policy documents. Additional technical support will be available through a Senior Consultant and from PROPEL Health global technical experts.

REQUIREMENTS:

Education and Experience:
Master’s degree in public health, health financing, international development, health policy and planning, or equivalent.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

• 5 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in the area of family planning, national public health insurance, and/or health financing in Nigeria (preferred) or regionally.
• Proven experience of conducting qualitative and quantitative research, particularly desk reviews and costing studies for health programs and policies.
• Demonstrated experience in authoring technical reports in health.
• Understanding of areas relevant to PROPEL Health’s mandate such as policy, health financing, governance, and advocacy.
• Strong track record of producing demonstrable results.

1. Technical Report (approx. 30-40 pages, not including annexes): Roadmap to integrate family planning services in state health insurance benefit package.
   Due: April 30, 202 (7 months from expected start date)

The Consultant is expected to support the Senior Consultant in development of this technical report, while co-leading some of the activities. Some potential activities will include:

• Conducting a rapid landscape analysis of the state family planning program, including its financing challenges, and stakeholder convenings and discourse.
• Conducting costing studies to estimate the financial requirements and funding gaps for family planning integration.
• Supporting the Senior Consultant to identify and map the key stakeholders and analyze the existing policy environment for family planning integration.
• Writing the technical report with guidance from the Senior Consultant, including addressing all technical comments and concerns and finalizing.

1. Working with the Director, Health Systems and Regional, the Consultant is expected to engage with and support:

• the state health insurance agency, ministry of health and parastatals, health providers and other family planning actors in advancing important engagements and processes for successful integration.
• multisectoral platforms like the Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health Technical Working Group (RMNCAH TWG) and Civil Society Organization coalitions that will drive the implementation and monitoring of the Guideline.

1. Organize a dissemination event with national and state-level stakeholders to showcase the successful domestication of the recommendations.