Save the Children
Period of Engagement: November 10 – December 1, 2022 (14 days total)
Work Location: Remote
BACKGROUND
As one of the world’s newest democracies, Timor-Leste has made impressive strides in rebuilding its infrastructure, institutional frameworks, democratic processes, and core human resources. However, health system challenges have impeded progress on key health indicators, as evidenced by the high levels of malnutrition and child morbidity and mortality, and relatively low levels of family planning and regular handwashing. The government of Timor-Leste (GOTL) faces challenges that restrict its ability to effectively, transparently, and sustainably govern, finance, and deliver quality, affordable, and essential health services. These challenges include limited institutional capacity for evidence-based decision-making; challenges with training, recruiting, maintaining, and evaluating human resources for health (HRH); underutilization of social and behavior change (SBC) activities that target healthy behaviors; and low levels of advocacy and participatory governance.
The LHSS Timor-Leste Activity is known in-country as the USAID Health System Sustainability Activity. The USAID Health System Sustainability Activity aims to create a more resilient, self-reliant, efficient, responsive, and adaptable health system through the following objectives:
- Strengthening health sector governance;
- Strengthening health sector workforce management;
- Improving healthy behaviors; and
- Improving civic engagement and advocacy for health systems strengthening.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSIGNMENT
Project Objective
Save the Children US seeks an advocacy training specialist for a short-term remote consultancy to design and adapt existing advocacy training materials including facilitators and participants manuals for civil society organizations (CSOs) in Timor-Leste from November 10 to November 25, 2022. The training specialist will be managed by Save the Children’s Senior Advisors for Health and Advocacy and expected to collaborate with in-country activity focal points for the civic engagement and advocacy. The training materials and manuals are to be adapted from existing Save the Children’s “Advocacy Matters” facilitator and participant manuals and also drawing upon relevant elements of other INGO advocacy training resources as applicable. These training manuals will be the key resources/tools for the Forum Organizasaun Naun Govermentál Timor-Leste (FONGTIL)/ Rede Ba Saude Timor-Leste (REBAS-TL) capacity strengthening with the goal of helping CSOs understand the advocacy cycle. The key resource persons of selected CSOs will be trained as master trainers, who will in-turn cascade the training to other 43 REBAS-TL members for effectively engaging in advocacy for improving human resources for health (HRH) and health services delivery that integrates nutrition and WASH effectively.
Tasks and responsibilities
The consultant will work with the SC’s senior advisors for health and advocacy including a small in-country team to create and adapt contents for an advocacy toolkit to support the activity objective 4.
The consultant will ensure that the advocacy toolkit under concept will be comprised of training programme that can be completed remotely or in person, and include supporting materials that underpin successful delivery of the concepts of advocacy cycle.
The consultant will review available training resources for effective advocacy particularly SC’s ‘Advocacy Matters’ facilitators and participants manuals or that of other NGOs with similar advocacy goal.
The consultant will conduct literature review of advocacy case studies for health system strengthening, focusing on Human Resource for Health (HRH) and service delivery that improves coverage and quality of Nutrition and Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH).
In completing the review of training resources and case studies for advocacy focusing health system strengthening, the consultant will adopt a training programme for the advocacy toolkit, to enable participants having a clear understanding of multiple steps involved in systematic advocacy and approaches that support delivery of wider health system goals.
The consultant will work with SC’s senior health and advocacy advisors, plus one or two national advocacy focal points of the LHSS activity to field test/pilot and finalize the training manuals of the toolkit. The consultant will finalize the training manuals after the review of SC’s health and advocacy advisors and in-country focal for activity objective 4 following pilot.
The consultant will likely need to work with digital application developer and/or a graphic designer to ensure the training manuals are visually attractive, engaging and user-friendly.
REQUESTED SERVICES AND DELIVERABLES
The consultant will provide the following services and products remotely during the consultancy for 14 days of work between 10 November and 04 December, 2022. The start date may vary depending when the consultant passes the required background check and when their 1420 Biodata is approved by the prime. The consultant will receive payment at the end of the consultant agreement once Save the Children accepts all completed services and deliverables following the workplan here.
CONSULTANT PROFILE
The advocacy training specialist should possess the following educational and professional qualifications for the execution of this scope of work:
- Advanced degree in social sciences or a related field
- 10 (Ten) years of experience in health and nutrition advocacy and research
- Demonstrated experience in conducting advocacy related training, developing training tools and contents related to RMNCAH+N
- Excellent oral and written communication skills in English
- Strong interpersonal and teamwork skills
How to apply
Interested applicants should send the following: cover letter including your proposed daily rate, resume, and one example of a work product demonstrating the skillset we are looking for no later than 5pm EDT on 31 October, 2022 to Daniel Sweeney at [email protected]. Please submit these items as one PDF document.