Advocacy and Influence Consultant at Crown Agents Ltd

Reports to: MEL Advisor ASCEND Kenya/MoH

Duration: Maximum 15 days from 1st October to 31st March 2021

Introduction

Accelerating the Su­stainable Control and Elimination of NTDs (ASCEND) is a £200 million invest­ment from the UK government’s Department for International Development (DFID), to advance the impact and su­stainability of national programmes tackling neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). ASCEND comprises of two lots - one focusing on South Asia, East­ and Southern Africa (lot 1) and the other on West­ and Central Africa (lot 2). ASCEND Lot 1’s approach is a close collaboration with National Governments and other implementing partners, to enhance national approaches to NTD control and elimination. ASCEND’s goal is to contribute to the global goal of reducing the burden of targeted NTDs so that they are no longer a public health problem.

In Kenya, ASCEND will focus on three NTDs – Schistosomiasis, Lymphatic Filariasis and Visceral Leishmaniasis anchored on the following broad areas of intervention:

(i) *Treatment and prevention of disability, including mass drug administration (MDA), diagnosis and treatment, surgeries, morbidity management.*

(ii) *Increasing the integration of aspects of NTD programmes within the health systems.***

(iii) *Strengthening national health systems, integrating efforts to strengthen the relevant building blocks of the health system.*

(iv) *Data for targeting and monitoring, including impact assessment and alignment of NTDs with national and international MEL systems and processes.*

(v) *Cross-sectoral collaboration, in particular within the health and WASH/BCC sectors. *

DFID has contracted Crown Agents together with its consortium partners to act as Fund Manager for ASCEND in Kenya. In Kenya, ASCEND supports the Ministry of Health and specifically, the Kenya NTD programme which is within the Division of Vector-Borne and Neglected Tropical Diseases (DVB&NTD) and is responsible for coordinating all the NTD control activities in the Country. In Kenya, both the PC – NTDs and the IDM (CM)- NTDs are endemic and thus requires various approaches for coordination and activities to achieve the overall goal of control and elimination of these diseases.

The Ministry of Health with support from Sight Savers conducted a landscape analysis for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) WASH and Behaviour change. The landscape analysis provided insights into the situation of the WASH in NTD endemic areas and identified the gaps and challenges that affect the implementation of WASH and NTD activities. One of the main findings was the existence of different stand-alone databases/reporting tools in varying formats for collection of WASH and NTD data, which are not linked and this has resulted to poor coordination, a barrier in joint planning of the activities and ineffective decision making. Furthermore, it was not possible to utilise this stand-alone data to demonstrate the contribution of WASH interventions towards achieving the targets in the Breaking Transmission Strategy. The Kenya National Breaking Transmission Strategy (BTS) has three pillars recommended for achieving the main objective - breaking the transmission. They include; WASH, BCC and MDAs.

In order to achieve the objective of expanding the NTDs related WASH interventions, it is imperative that the existing data and datasets are linked, analysed, insights generated and utilised for decision making and for advocacy to ensure that WASH-related interventions are provided in NTD endemic areas. If the strategic insights demonstrate that NTD targets have not been achieved in an implementation unit and WASH interventions/infrastructure is inadequate, then there is need to advocate and influence key actors to mobilise additional investments in WASH, hence the purpose of this Technical Assistance (TA).

Scope of Work

The Advocacy and Influence consultant role will provide Technical Assistance (TA) to the MoH and build their capacity to utilise strategic insights form WASH/NTD data analysis for advocacy. The consultant will develop influence and advocacy plan targeting different stakeholders and investors in both WASH and NTD sectors.

The consultant will have a close working relationship with the Division of Vector-Borne and Neglected Tropical Diseases, Data Analyst Consultant, WASH Manager and NTD Focal Program Officers. The specific roles for this position are as below;

•     Lead the development of an advocacy and influence plan for the NTD/WASH integrated interventions.
•     Build the capacity of the division to implement the advocacy and influence plan.
•     Work with the Data Analyst to generate data-driven insights that drive the influence and advocacy agenda.
•     Support the MoH in the timely development of position papers, policy briefings, presentations and other advocacy materials targeting different audiences.
•     Identify opportunities to secure resources from partners towards new investments in WASH interventions.

Key Requirements.

Knowledge (Education & Related Experience) and Skills (Special Training or Competence):

• Master level qualification in a relevant field (e.g. communications, humanities, environment);
• At least 5 years working experience in policy analysis, lobby and advocacy, working with national, regional and global dimensions;
• Demonstrable experience and achievements working in and advocating towards multi-stakeholder platforms and processes;
• Track record in policy analysis, writing and editing articles, website content, reports and press releases;
• Ability to quickly understand and absorb new topics, issues and disciplines and distil relevant advocacy strategies from them;
• Ability to deliver oral presentations to various audiences;
• Excellent communication and project management skills; team player and facilitator;
• Excellent command of written and spoken English