Malaria Consortium invites interested and experienced consultant(s) to express interest by submitting tender documents for the following works:
Malaria Consortium is an international organisation working primarily in Africa and Asia on communicable disease control. Working closely with Ministries of Health (MoH), academic institutions and a range of partners, Malaria Consortium is involved in all aspects of malaria control from policy and strategy development to implementation, monitoring and evaluation and operational research.
Malaria Consortium also works on the control and elimination of other communicable diseases, including pneumonia, diarrhoea and neglected tropical diseases. Malaria Consortium International’s office is in London, UK, Africa Regional Office is in Kampala, Uganda and Asia Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand.
Applications are invited for:
Title: Invitation to Tender – Technical Consultancy on “Addressing key Drivers of Malnutrition Within the Communities in which Malaria Consortium Serves in Sub-Saharan Africa”
PreambleIn 2019 over 80 per cent of global under-five deaths occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia, regions which when combined only account for 52 per cent of the total under-five population. Worldwide the leading causes of death in young children include preterm birth complications, birth asphyxia/trauma, congenital anomalies and infectious diseases including malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea. Malnutrition is an important contributor to child mortality with the World Health Organisation estimating that nutrition-related factors could underlie 45% of deaths in children under-5 years of age. To this end Malaria Consortium are committed to integrating nutritional interventions into its programmes and working with health systems to strengthen response to inadequate nutrition.
Malaria Consortium recognises that as nutrition is multidimensional so too are its solutions. Our existing programmes seek to reduce the burden of malnutrition through the provision of quality health services, including severe acute malnutrition screening and treatment. These services are delivered through communities to at risk populations using techniques trialled in previous projects and further developed by our participation in the Simplified Approaches Working Group led by UNICEF in which we are partners. Malaria Consortium seeks to address the contributors to nutritional vulnerability by undertaking operational and implementation research to demonstrate feasibility, acceptability and cost effectiveness of innovations which could be sustainably scaled to benefit populations at risk of malnutrition. Working closely with governments we aim to integrate evidence-based nutritional interventions into existing health systems and structures.
Primary RoleTo provide expert technical consultation to the organisation on how it can best achieve its aim of “Addressing key drivers of malnutrition within the communities in which Malaria Consortium serves in Sub-Saharan Africa”. This aim is to be met through the development of country-level case studies which profile nutritionally at-risk populations, amplifiers of malnutrition and produce guidance on how the organisation can better target at-risk groups with impactful nutritional interventions which can be included in primary or community-based health care interventions.
Malaria Consortium partner countries chosen for case study include Nigeria, South Sudan and Chad.
Specific Activities
- Conduct a remote desk review of available national evidence (including unpublished) in order to identify a) nutritionally at-risk populations as evident by nutritional indices in Malaria Consortium countries b) factors contributing to nutrition vulnerability c) appropriate nutrition sensitive and specific interventions that could be implemented within Malaria Consortium programmes.
- Sources of documents to review to include but not limited to externally: Peer-reviewed literature, National nutrition or SMART surveys, Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and National Strategy with respect to nutrition.
- Sources of documents to review internally: Malaria Consortium Strategic Objectives, Country National Strategy (where available) and relevant project briefs.
- Carry out stakeholder mapping to identify relevant partners who Malaria Consortium would work alongside in order to be able to integrate nutritional activities into programmes and health systems. Conduct interviews with Malaria Consortium country teams and the child health focal points within Ministries of Health to inform recommendations.
- Finalise recommendations on appropriate nutritional interventions for the organisation to pursue taking into consideration Malaria Consortium’s new strategy and the context of the country:predominant drivers of malnutrition, relevant country strategies or policies and the local stakeholder landscape.
- Develop a conceptual framework on how such interventions could be implemented and integrated within Malaria Consortium programmes.
Qualification RequirementsEssential Requirements:
- Substantial experience of literature reviewing
- Previous experience providing technical assistance to clients working in the global health or international development sectors
- Experience of working in LMICs in a nutrition intervention setting (particularly CMAM facility or equivalent)
- Excellent knowledge of the nutrition causal pathway and a deep understanding of the complex relationship between malnutrition and disease.
- Qualified nutritionist, nurse or medical doctor with postgraduate degree OR public health consultant OR senior researcher with equivalent level of experience (5-10 years equivalent)
- Strong organisational skills, with a proven ability to work independently and produce high quality outputs under time constraints
- Available to commence consultancy from May 2022.
Desirable Requirements:
- Knowledge and/or experience in health economics or financing
- Knowledge and/or experience in malaria control and elimination programmes.
Application Closing Date17:00 (GMT), 14th April, 2022.
Submission of DocumentsComplete applications should be sent via email to: [email protected]
Please submit the following:
- Cover letter that states a) how you meet the requirements outlined above including your availability for 12 working days (max 400 words) and b) a short proposal outlining the recommended approach and proposed fee in GBP (inclusive of any tax) (max 200 words).
- Updated CV
Note
- Short-listed candidates will be contacted for a short interview from the 18/4/2022.
- The successful applicant is required to provide proof of professional indemnity insurance prior tocontracting.
Click Here (MS WORD) for a detailed description of the ITT.