Monitoring Evaluation and Learning Consultancy at Crown Agents Ltd

 Job Description

Reports to: MEL Advisor ASCEND Kenya/MoH

Duration: Maximum Ten days from 1st October to 31st December 2020

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 and utilised for decision making and for advocacy to ensure that WASH-related interventions are provided in NTD endemic areas, hence the purpose of this Technical Assistance.

Scope of Work

The technical assistance (TA) offered by the MEL consultant will be focussed on reviewing existing databases and/or reporting tools, collating and enhancing data quality assurance to ensure compatibility and develop relational linkages to the databases. The TA will facilitate identification of WASH indicators to be reported within NTD databases and most importantly, to provide information that will be used to advocate for additional investments towards WASH interventions in NTD endemic areas.The specific roles of the MEL consultant will include;

• Lead the development of a high-level Theory of Change (jointly with key stakeholders) that details how integrated WASH/NTD interventions contribute to positive health outcomes.
• Facilitate the identification of relevant indicators (jointly with key stakeholders) for integrated WASH and NTD interventions.
• Develop an Indicator Reference Sheet for the selected set of WASH/NTD indicators clearly stipulating the indicator definition, the purpose, frequency of collection, source of data and means of verification.
• Work closely with the Data Manager to customise WASH indicators in the Country Integrated NTD database to accommodate other NTDs other than the F&E strategy for Trachoma.
• Together with the Data Manager, analyse NTD/WASH data and generate strategic insights that can be used for purposes of advocacy and sensitisation.

Key Requirements.

Knowledge (Education & Related Experience):

• Masters degree in a Public Health, Monitoring and Evaluation,
• More than 5 years experience working with the Ministry of Health and international development organisation.
• More than 5years of experience in establishing MEL systems in health systems strengthening interventions.
• Knowledge and experience working with the Kenya Health Management Information System (KHMIS)
• Working experience with NTD programs is an added advantage.

Skills (Special Training or Competence):

• Ability to work with very tight timelines
• Strong writing skills.
• Proficiency in MS-Access, Excel
• Advance level of programming will be an added advantage
• Strong Analytical skills