Local Short-term Consultant

LOCAL SHORT- TERM CONSULTANT OPPORTUNITY
Global Financing Facility in Support of Every Woman Every Child

Name of assignment: Local Short -Term Consultant- Partner Coordination and Project Support in Vietnam

I – Background and context

The Global Financing Facility in Support of Every Woman Every Child (GFF) is a country driven partnership that aims to accelerate efforts to end preventable maternal, newborn, child and adolescent deaths and improve the health and quality of life of women, adolescents and children. The GFF seeks to support countries with an integrated health system approach that looks for the best solutions for better Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health care (RMNCAH) outcomes. The GFF pioneers a model that shifts away from focusing solely on official development assistance to an approach that combines external support, domestic financing and the private sector in a synergistic way. The GFF supports countries in developing a prioritized plan (the “investment case”) for the health sector that matches the resources available in the short term and supports countries in strengthening their health financing systems to achieve more sustainable domestic financing.

In Viet Nam, the GFF has had a close collaboration and support in the past few years in many areas. The GFF has supported the country (i) to mobilize domestic resources for RMNCAH, and primary care services delivery more generally; (ii) to advance health financing reforms, especially in primary care; (iii) to strengthening CRVS, particularly death registration and cause of death reporting; (iv) to help government to create enabling environment for, and implement, PPPs at the grassroots services; and importantly (v) to finance IBRD interest rate buy down for the new lending operation, namely Investing and Innovating for Grassroot Health Service Delivery Project (HSD). This is a 5- year project (2020 – 2024) with US$ 80 million loan, US$ 8 million grant for technical support, and US$ 17 million from GFF to buy down the interest rates. The Project Development Objectives is to improve the quality and utilization of grassroot health services with a focus on the commune level in 13 project provinces including Ha Giang, Bac Kan, Son La, Yen Bai, Hoa Binh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Quang Ngai, Ninh Thuan, Tra Vinh, Hau Giang, Long An, and Bac Lieu. The Project will be implemented by these 13 Provinces and the Ministry of Health (MOH).

The GFF in collaboration with the World Bank is seeking to retain the services of a Vietnam nationality individual to work as a short term consultant to support the Government of Viet Nam to implement the GFF approach for the country through strengthening the current stakeholder Country Platform and Development Partner Coordination (the Health Partnership Group, and relevant Technical Working Groups) for RMNCAH in the country, and to support the implementation of the new investment project.

II – Objectives and Responsibilities

The consultant is responsible for the following activities related to partner coordination and project implementation support:

1. Supporting the Government in convening the GFF Country Platform and Development Partner Coordination meetings (including making sure their participation from the full range of stakeholders), participating in other donor coordination platforms and Development Partner Coordination on behalf of the GFF and the pooled fund partners, and reporting back to the GFF Secretariat focal point for Viet Nam, and other pooling partners on such meetings.
2. Supporting the Washington DC based GFF Focal point and the World Bank Viet Nam Health team in developing relevant implementation plan for the RMNCAH activities and tracking the implementation the plan.
3. Supporting and monitoring the implementation of the HSD project at a daily basis.
4. Organizing, facilitating and participating in meetings with partners as needed, to ensure alignment
5. Supporting in other operational aspects of the GFF support in Vietnam.

As this is the early stage of the HSD project approval, the TOR will be revised and updated after 6 months for any necessary adjustment.

III - Deliverables

The consultant will submit all monthly deliverables to the GFF Focal point, Viet Nam Task team, and the MOH Project Management Team, including:

• Monthly reports as per format provided by the GFF Focal Point
• Minutes of GFF Platform and other partner meetings joined
• Reports from any bilateral meetings with partners
• Mission aide memoires, travel reports
• Other operational activities supported

IV - Timeline and costs

The assignment will cover the period from August 2019 to July 2020, covering 150 working days.

V - Qualifications

The Consultant should meet the following minimum qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in a field revenant to the work (e.g., Public Health, Public Administration, Economics, Health Economics or any other relevant field);
• At least 5 years of work experience in health systems strengthening or other areas that requires strong results-focus and coordination of stakeholders;
• Ability to work effectively in supporting the coordination of high-level government, donor, civil society and private sector representatives;
• Proven strong leadership skills, including ability to “lead from behind”;
• Attention to detail and strong ability to track work programs and ensure follow-up as needed;
• Basic ability to analyze data in order to identify outliers, develop data-driven plans of action, etc.;
• Knowledge of MCH, Nutrition and GFF-related systems in the country (e.g., health, social protection, education, etc.);
• Strong communication skills, written and verbal in English;
• Experience working in reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health would be an asset;
• Knowledge of IT programs used for data collection, analysis and visualization would be an asset.

VI - Task management

The consultant will report to GFF Secretariat and Focal Point for Viet Nam and will work closely with the World Bank Task Team in Vietnam, and the MOH Project Team. The consultant will work at the MOH Project office.

VII. Application procedure and deadline:

Application includes (i) letter of interest clearly stating relevant experience and qualifications against required qualifications of section V above and (ii) signed Curriculum vitae with contact details of maximum 03 clients for whom you have rendered, preferably similar services.

Completed applications should be sent to email address: [email protected].

Deadline of submission: 5.00 PM, August 15, 2019

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interview.