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Consultancy services required for Leave No One Behind initiative, ASCEND West and Central Africa

Employer
Sightsavers
Location
UK, Flexible
Salary
Payment schedule to be arranged between Sightsavers and Consultant/s
Closing date
14 Feb 2021

Job Details

Location: Flexible within the UK
Timeframe: Expected timeline for this work is approximately 27 weeks

Sightsavers is looking for external evaluators to undertake a short-term project over six to seven to assess programming needs concerning Leave No One behind (LNOB) initiatives across Ascend West and Central Africa to put in place systems, processes, and technical guidance that support their operationalisation and implementation across country partners.

At the beginning of the consultancy period, the consultant will coordinate with the Team Lead, Programme Optimisation Unit; Senior Global Technical Lead: Social Inclusion, Policy & Programme Strategy; and the chair of the LNOB working group to develop a detailed workplan for the consultancy period.


Context

The FCDO -funded Ascend West and Central Africa programme is a high profile, high value, multi-partner programme, making significant contributions to the control and elimination of five neglected tropical diseases across 12 countries. Sightsavers is the lead supplier, working with relevant government Ministries and departments within a consortium of partners.

The Ascend West programme promotes a Leave No-one Behind (LNOB) approach across all interventions. The consultant/s  will review and, where the evidence supports, operationalise Ascend West  Leave No One Behind (LNOB) strategy through the consortium and MOH structures.

Objective

  • Undertake a consultation with consortium partners and national programmes to review and update on LNOB initiatives identified in a recent scoping review of programmes’ activities for Year 1. This consultation will need to identify and review any planning or M&E tools, if any, used as well as document examples of good practice.
  • Review consolidated (programme-level) LNOB strategies structured by Ascend’s LNOB working group in terms of feasibility and suitability, providing recommendations on how to adapt proposals into existing programming structures, and consult with consortium partners and national programmes to agree on their implementation during Year 3 of Ascend.
  • Work with country programmes, in coordination with the Integrated Systems and Programme Optimisation Units as well as the LNOB working group, to develop country-level LNOB workplans for Year 3 based on outputs from activities 1 and 2.
  • Work with Integrated Systems Unit and Programme Optimisation Unit to find entry points for monitoring and evaluating LNOB activities. This may require adapting existing tools (e.g., coverage evaluation surveys, health facility assessment tools, etc) or may involve designing, introducing, and implementing new approaches.
  • Coordinate with recently appointed beneficiary feedback consultants to ensure that produced recommendations and solutions to embedded beneficiary feedback into existing M&E tools or standalone beneficiary feedback sessions are guided by social inclusion criteria relevant to the programme’s LNOB agenda and workplans.
  • Work in coordination with Sightsaver’s disability inclusion programme and Global Technical lead on Social Inclusion to identify and adapt existing participatory planning tools and resources to guide the organisation of inclusive planning events for MDAs and MMDPs, in alignment with the programme’s LNOB agenda.
  • Work in coordination with Sightsavers’ disability inclusion as well as patient care and social inclusion programmes to identify and adapt existing tools and approaches for LNOB training purposes to the specific needs of programme staff, such as surgeons, CDDs and case finders.
  • Provide overall guidance for the development of information materials to be distributed among staff alongside LNOB training events.
  • Review lessons learnt from Ascend’s Covid-flexing communication campaigns as well as existing resources on inclusive communication strategies to provide overall guidance to national programmes about how to widen the reach of programme’s sensitisation campaigns among key LNOB categories, with a particular emphasis on participatory approaches.
  • Work in coordination with Sightsavers’ disability inclusion programme to identify and adapt existing policy analyses and advocacy tools / resources to inform relevant LNOB initiatives for health systems strengthening among national partners.
  • Identify safeguarding issues that may arise in relation to the adoption of social inclusion strategies for the implementation of NTD control activities and coordinate with the Team Lead Operations’ Safeguarding unit to ensure proper guidance is provided to national partners.
  • Link up with Ascend’s WASH team to coordinate the documentation and reporting of social inclusion considerations adopted during decision-making processes and beneficiary feedback data on accessibility issues, if available.
  • Work with Knowledge Innovation and Learning unit to develop a learning brief which examines the operational and contextual challenges in LNOB for NTD programmes, sharing evidence and approaches from Ascend.


Deliverables

  • Activity 1: Report containing consolidated findings from programme-level consultation on ongoing LNOB initiatives, outlining key lessons from past initiatives as well as recommendations on how to improve existing tools and approaches to planning and M&E for LNOB.
  • Activity 2: Brief technical document containing reviewed programme-level LNOB strategies, outlining proposals for their implementation through existing programming structures and procedures.
  • Activity 3: Detailed country LNOB workplans.
  • Activities 4 and 5: Design and development of tools or templates to be introduced into routine programme delivery to document and evaluate LNOB initiatives. This may include adapting existing survey forms or introducing new approaches.
  • Activities 6 – 10: Develop a LNOB toolkit that can support programme managers in delivering quality programming, including step-by-step guidance slide deck to be shared with CPs explaining use and implementation of developed tools. The toolkit’s will be structured around the programming tools, resources, and approaches identified for key programming components: planning, training, sensitisation, monitoring and evaluation as well as health systems’ strengthening.
  • Activity 11: Develop guidelines and protocols for sensitive areas of work to ensure “leave no one behind” initiatives adhere to Sightsavers safeguarding policy.
  • Activity 12: Technical brief, documenting findings from consultation on social inclusion considerations used during WASH programming activities.
  • Activity 13: Learning brief documenting lessons learnt on how to promote inclusive approaches in integrated NTD programming.


Consultant Requirements

The members of the Consultancy Team should possess the following qualifications:

  • Proven experience and expertise in the field of Social Exclusion and Gender Analysis
  • Experienced international development practitioner with a extensive direct field experience.
  • Excellent communication skills in English and French (Portuguese is also desirable).
  • Strong coordination skills and experience liaising with multiple partners/stakeholders.
  • Project management skills and a proven ability to work as part of a team
  • Confident working with quantitative and qualitative data.
  • Systematic approach to work, ability to introduce new systems and processes to systemically and transparently capture programme information.
  • Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment and prioritise tasks appropriately.
  • Strong understanding of donor expectations in relation to inclusive programming and its importance for programme delivery.
  • Sound knowledge of Microsoft Office products. Experience using other qualitative and quantitative statistical packages such as Power BI is an asset.
  • Experience of using online or mobile survey and data collection tools will be advantageous.

 

Please see the attached Terms of Reference for more details on the programme and the consultancy opportunity.

Payment Schedule 

 Sightsavers prefers to make a minimum of four payments for the completion of all deliverables, Activity no’s.1 – 13 throughout the consultancy’s duration.

Please break down your expected payments against either groups of deliverables or individual deliverables within the budget spreadsheet, being as specific as possible. Sightsavers anticipates the cost to be + or – 5% of £23,750. Submissions will be judged on the interaction between the technical and financial proposals.

How to express your interest:

To express your interest to undertake this assignment, please complete the following, with reference to: LNOB Consultancy, Ascend West and Central Africa programme. Please download the relevant documents using the below links. You will be asked to upload these as you progress through the application, which can be found via the Apply Here link.

  • Expression of Interest form link
  • Budget Template link
  • A detailed CV (Maximum 2 pages)
  • Details of previous experience working on inclusive programming in international development context-related projects/initiatives, with experience working on large-scale. DFID-funded programmes being desired.
  • Examples of written reports to show proficiency in English.

 

Closing DateMidnight (UK time), Sunday 14 February 2021.

We anticipate that interviews will be held in mid-March 2021.

 

Expressions of interest will be reviewed as received and therefore potential candidates are encouraged to apply as early as possible.

Company

Sightsavers Head Office

35 Perrymount Road,
Haywards Heath,
West Sussex RH16 3BW

Postal Address

Bumpers Way,
Bumpers Farm,
Chippenham SN14 6NG

Sightsavers is an international charity that works in more than 30 countries around the world to eliminate avoidable blindness and support people with visual impairments to live independently. Sightsavers is headquartered in the UK and has over 400 employees. It also has branches in Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Italy, India, the United States and the United Arab Emirates.

Sightsavers works with partners in order to provide a comprehensive range of eye care services. In 2013, Sightsavers' projects provided eye health examinations for nearly 14 million people, performed 300,000 eye operations, and treated over 100 million people for neglected tropical diseases.

People are also referred for treatment to prevent blindness or restore sight. Through community volunteers in developing countries, Sightsavers distributes medication to prevent blinding diseases. The charity also trains eye care workers and surgeons and funds operations.

Of the 30 countries Sightsavers works in, 23 are in Africa. These include Mozambique, Mali, Liberia and Kenya. Sightsavers is also present in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Caribbean.

In addition to its medical work, Sightsavers works with partners in order to train specialist teaching staff and supply glasses, Braille kits and other learning tools. The charity aims to educate communities and reduce stigma around visual impairment and blindness. Through its work, people with visual impairments and other disabilities are supported to live independently, get an education and earn an income.

Sightsavers is also a campaigning organisation, working with national governments to tackle the root causes of avoidable blindness, such as lack of access to clean water and sanitation facilities. The charity’s ‘Put us in the Picture campaign calls on the international community to make global development inclusive of the world’s 800m people with disabilities. The campaign’s vision is for all people to have equal access to employment, education, healthcare and participation in society.

Backing up Sightsavers’ work around the world is a strong research capability. Research and policy work revolves around three priorities – health, education and social inclusion. Gathering and disseminating sound research evidence helps to ensure the charity’s programmes meet the needs of the people they are designed to serve. Research evidence is also a strong tool when advocating for policy changes with governments.

Sightsavers has many partners that assist with its aim of eliminating avoidable blindness and may also provide funding. Partners include the UK government’s Department for International Development, the European Union and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Read our latest article on Third Sector: Sightsavers: Work for an award-winning charity tackling blindness worldwide

Company info
Website
Telephone
01444 446600
Location
35 Perrymount Road,
Haywards Heath,
West Sussex
RH16 3BW
GB

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