New-born Country Case study at UNICEF RWANDA

New-born Country Case study at UNICEF RWANDA, Kigali –
DEADLINE: 29/06/2014

Title of the consultancy: New-born Country Case study

Location: UNICEF RWANDA – KIGALI

Period: 3Months

Closing date: 29th June 2014

1. Background and Purpose.

There have been dramatic improvements in Rwanda in the
last decade as far as maternal and child health is concerned. Progress made can
be attributed to a combination of factors th

at contributed to strengthen the
Rwanda health system and to make quality of services accessible to the
population. However, like most Sub-Saharan African countries, Rwanda still
bears a heavy burden of high neonatal mortality (27/1000 live births) and child
mortality (U5 mortality, 54/1000; Infant mortality, 50/1000 live births), and
Maternal mortality, 478/100000 live births.

With interventions currently available and for which
there is sufficient evidence for effect in prevention and treatment, it has
been estimated that with 99% of coverage(Jones et at, 2003), it would be
possible to prevent 65% of deaths due to pneumonia, 55% of death due to
neonatal complication and 91 % of deaths due to malaria; As shown by data from
HMIS 2011, 90 percent of childhood mortality in Rwanda is attributed mainly to
Neonatal causes (preterm birth, asphyxia, infection, diarrhea, congenital
abnormalities), Pneumonia, Malaria and Diarrhea. Malnutrition is the major
underlying condition that increases the risks of each of the above conditions
and according to DHS results, 44% of under-five children are stunted; Stunting
is most common among children age 18-23 months (55 percent).

Despite major advances in the evidence base for
new-born survival, neonatal mortality is reducing at half the speed of maternal
mortality and one third slower than child deaths after the first month of life.
Globally Neonatal deaths now account for 43% of under-five deaths. In Rwanda,
neonatal mortality contributes to over 50% child mortality

A short consultancy is therefore necessary to conduct
more in-depth desk review of available documents and data from the field to
determine the accelerators and facilitating factors for change and
develop Rwanda New-born Country case study guided by Rwanda Every
New-born Core Team.

Objecfive of the consultancy

The overall aim of Rwanda country case study exercise
is to examine country progress in new-born health within the larger context of
progress in child and maternal health, with a specific focus on analyzing the
enabling factors that contributed to change and “how” progress was
achieved over the past two decades.

The exercise will involve assessment of changes in
maternal and child survival between 1990 and 2013, by critically examining the
historical development of contextual factors, relevant inputs (policies,
strategies, and resources) and outputs (infrastructure, training, commodities)
that may have contributed to the change. In addition, the case study will
highlight the outcomes (coverage and practices) to impact (decrease in neonatal
mortality rate) over time, focusing on association analyses, complemented by
explanatory analyses. This will allow the country to explore and explain the
causes of mortality changes more thoroughly and highlight lessons learnt during
implementation. Whenever possible, all analyses will be disaggregated at
subnational level.

The scope of the country case studies will be an
in-depth analysis, at country and subnational level. Focusing on factors that
may explain how progress (or lack of it) on how neonatal mortality has been
achieved in Rwanda.

Major Tasks and Responsibilities

Below are the list of key tasks and responsibilities
of the new-born case study consultant:

1. Ensure clear consensus on evidence, strategies and
actions by a broad community of partners focusing specific attention on
new-born health and identifying actions for improving their survival, health
and development.

Prepare for the country case study exercise

Convene a MOH-led, multi-stakeholder steering
group to oversee the case-study and to review findings

2. Compile all documents related to overall political
and socio-economic development, in general, and to maternal, new-born and child
health assessments, surveys, plans, reviews and databases, with active
collaboration of different involved sectors

Collaborate with the international consultant to
conduct comprehensive desk review of available general documents and
databases with data on maternal and New-born health in Rwanda and produce
the preliminary report

3. Collaborate with the international consultant to
finalize report for dissemination

Organize a stakeholders’ meeting to review the
preliminary report and finalize

Work with the L3 consultant to finalize the
Rwanda country case study report ready for submission to the global Core
Group.

Deliverables

A compilation of all documents including minutes,
reports with a bibliography indicating source and period of every document
classified by area and year provided as annexes to be attached to the
final report of the Rwanda New-born Country case study

Specific assignments and tasks as given by the L3
Consultant

Profile of the New-born Case Study Consultant

Education: Master’s
degree or equivalent in public health (MPH-CES), skilled in public health and
academic writing and tell the story that Rwanda needs to tell formal training
in at least two of the following disciplines: maternal, child and new-born
health.

Prior Work Experience:

A minimum of five years of progressively
responsible experience managing regional and/or national level health programs
in maternal and child health

At least four years of experience designing,
managing and documenting decentralized public sector programs at
national/or international level

Language Proficiency:

Fluency in written and spoken English is highly
recommended Fluency in speaking/reading/writing in French or Kinyarwanda
is required.

Knowledge:

Comprehensive knowledge of Maternal and New-born
issues, and interventions, including behavior change communication for
effective implementation of Maternal and New-born services

An in-depth understanding of Maternal, New-born
and Child Health programs, policies, regulations and precedents applicable
to development and administration of national/international public health
programs

Detailed knowledge of the international health
care systems and structures, including familiarity with MOH policies,
program priorities and regulations

Working knowledge of techniques to plan, organize
and direct multidisciplinary project teams and activities

Demonstrated understanding of overall
administrative requirements, budgeting and fiscal management of
contracts/cooperative agreements/grants

Skills and Abilities:

Demonstrated managerial, administrative,
analytical and decision-making abilities

Ability to readily analyze, understand, and
discuss new program design, management, and implementation approaches

Demonstrated ability to identify priority
actions, generate and complete work plans within short time frames

Strong oral and written skills and ability to
clearly communicate new program and technical concepts to technical and
non-technical counterparts

Strong interpersonal communication and
negotiation skills in achieving results with a wide range of program
partners

Strong computer literacy and aptitude to rapidly
acquire and apply additional skills

Ability to rapidly create text, spread sheets and
other types of documents to meet specific program and reporting needs

General Conditions:

The consultant will be located in UNICEF Rwanda
and work with the national consultant to write Rwanda Newborn Country case
study document and presentation

Supervisor and frequency of performance reviews:
The Health Specialist will provide supervision at regular intervals in
consultation with the Chief of Child Survival and Development

The consultant is expected to spend at least 40%
of her/his time on field travel

Payment Plan: Monthly payment based on outputs
and deliverables, certified upon monthly review and report with supervisor

UNICEF recourse in case of unsatisfactory
performance: Payment will only be made for work satisfactorily completed
and accepted by UNICEF

The consultant will be given a 2 months contract

NB: The Rwanda
New-born Case study documentation shall be implemented by the Government of
Rwanda in close collaboration with UNICEF and other partners and very good
interpersonal relationship with partners is very essential in the satisfactory
assessment of successful performance of the consultant.

How to apply: