Cluster Organizations’ Profile:
The FUND TB Cluster is anchored by Policy Alert. The cluster comprises five civil society organizations advocating for increased domestic investment in TB interventions in Akwa-Ibom, Delta, Anambra, Imo, and Cross River states. The cluster is comprised of Policy Alert, founded in 2011 to transform an innate passion for social change into policy influence by articulating a strategic vision that would deliver sustainable development for citizens, especially in the Niger Delta region; Gender Perspective and Social Development Centre (GPSDC) whose major focus is on health, sexual and gender-based violence, governance, and human trafficking/migration; Centre Healthworks, Development and Research Initiative (CHEDRES) has a mission to promote family health, especially women’s health and rights, good governance, peace-building, improved environment, and community development through the empowerment of women, youth, adolescents, and children; Concern for Women and Youth Empowerment (COWOYEM) primarily exists to reduce poverty, violence, discrimination, and abuses amongst women, men, youths, and children in communities and to encourage sustainable development in all spheres of life; Initiative for Prevention and Control of Diseases (IPCD) is a non-profit making, voluntary, and social-welfare-oriented body that supports public health authorities in developing policies and innovative strategies for the prevention and control of chronic communicable and non-communicable diseases in Nigeria established in 2017.
Project background:
Nigeria Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement (SCALE) project is a USAID-funded 5-year project (Oct 08, 2020 – Oct 07, 2025), implemented by Palladium in collaboration with the local resource partners. The goal of the Nigeria SCALE project is to strengthen the financial, management and advocacy capacity of local civil society organizations (CSOs) and Business Membership Organizations (BMOs) in Nigeria to create a more accountable, transparent, peaceful, and democratic Nigeria with more effective and efficient public service delivery.
The SCALE project supports civil society organizations (CSOs) and business membership organizations (BMOs) across all of USAID/Nigeria’s programmatic sectors with a basket of managerial, business strengthening, and advocacy capacity-building interventions aimed at advancing Nigerian CSO sustainability combined with targeted grants to advance mutually agreed upon priorities.
The project is designed to enhance local civil society organizations’ ability to be positive and responsible change agents in Nigeria. This year, 2024, SCALE expanded its capacity strengthening interventions to support organizations working within the Tuberculosis (TB) sector to address reform challenges within the sector. Despite significant progress in the past few years, Nigeria continues to suffer from the negative impact of the high burden of TB. The country has the highest TB burden in Africa and ranks sixth among the eight countries that contribute more than two-thirds of global TB cases (WHO, 2021) whereas only 285,561 cases were notified (detected, diagnosed, and reported), meaning that approximately 40 percent of the new cases in the same year were not diagnosed and thus not reported or treated.
Treatment coverage for those notified in 2022 was only 59 percent, demonstrating a significant unmet need for TB services for those in dire need of those services. Budget appropriation and performance are major challenges affecting the Nigeria TB program. Inactive private sector engagement including health insurance are also identified as a major challenge for TB. This intervention aims to strengthen collaboration amongst civil society to advocate for the prioritization of issues related to the control of infectious diseases, especially TB.
The Fund TB cluster under the Palladium SCALE project supported by USAID will adopt an advocacy approach to push for accountability towards prevailing issues related to domestic resource mobilization in Tuberculosis (TB) response in Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Cross River, Delta, and Imo States. The advocacy will focus major on Enhancing TB budget performance, and leveraging private sector and community stakeholders’ investment in TB response, and institutionalizing TB coverage in state health insurance schemes through administrative review.
Purpose of Consultancy
The purpose of this consultancy is to carry out a Tuberculosis (TB) Policy Analysis to provide insights into the dynamics undermining effective policy response to improved TB services and formulating a robust advocacy response that will yield achieving equitable health outcomes in Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Cross River, Delta, and Imo states. The policy analysis will help to first establish a baseline on public financing for TB measured through budget performance on TB line items, private sector /community stakeholders’ investment in TB response and the status of TB coverage in state health insurance schemes. This will aid in understanding and documenting the diverse range of actors involved in TB control efforts, including government agencies, healthcare providers, civil society organizations, and the private sector.
Objectives of the Consultancy
▪ Ascertain status of TB financing vis a vis budget appropriation and releases, health insurance coverage, and private sector engagement to the TB response.
▪ Understand the diverse range of actors involved in national TB control efforts, including government agencies, healthcare providers, civil society organizations, and donors
▪ Evaluate the policy landscape related to TB control, including existing policies, strategies, and programs, to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis).
▪ Identify political, economic, and social barriers and enablers for effective TB control, including policy constraints, resource gaps, institutional capacity, and community engagement.
▪ Provide evidence and analysis to support advocacy efforts for increased political commitment, and domestic resource mobilization to address TB as a public health priority.
The analysis forms part of a broader effort to advance Thinking and Working Politically (TWP) and adaptive programming and will influence the implementation of current and future advocacy to increase domestic resources for TB response across the Fund TB cluster target states.
Main Tasks
1. Develop/adapt the Applied PA methodology, implementation approach, and questionnaire/ tools for conducting the PA.
2. Identify and review existing secondary data of relevance to the objectives of the PA.
3. Collect data and establish a baseline on the allocation of resources, analyze patterns of resource allocation and utilization, including public funding, international aid, and private sector investments.
4. Collect qualitative and quantitative data through literature reviews, interviews, surveys, and secondary data sources.
5. Identify and map key stakeholders involved in TB control efforts at the focal states.
6. Review existing TB control policies, strategies, and programs to understand the policy environment including the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis) of current policies and strategies.
7. Identify political barriers and enablers for effective TB control, such as competing policy agendas, bureaucratic inertia, and electoral cycles.
8. Submit a draft report of the study and make a presentation of the draft report.
9. Following feedback received, prepare a revised report documenting the findings of the PA, including key insights, recommendations, and policy implications. Document the PA process, including overall design, methodology, data collection tools, analysis, limitations, technical references, and any other additional information that will be relevant to inform the findings of the analysis.
Contract Type and Deliverables
This consultancy will be a deliverable-based contract. Acceptance of the deliverables will be determined by the SCALE Advocacy and Engagement Advisor. The consultant will submit the following deliverables to Fund TB cluster anchor organization- Policy Alert on the agreed schedule as follows:
1.PA Inception Report
This is a detailed description of the PA, including the overall design, sampling framework, data collection tools, data sources, data analysis plan, quality assurance criteria, limitations, and a work plan for the implementation of the analysis.
2.PA Report First Draft
This is a report to document all the aspects of the PA, including its design, analysis, findings, limitations, references, data collection tools, and any other information to inform and support the findings. The report should be no more than 30 pages long, excluding annexes.
3.PA Report Final Version
This is a final report of the PEA that should include all the components of the first draft and addressing all comments, edits, and observations from the review of the first draft. The report should be no more than 40 pages in length, excluding annexures.
4.A policy brief, an abridged report focusing on findings and recommendations on policy reform areas for advocacy engagement.
Anticipated Period of Performance and Level of Effort (LOE)
Period of Performance: From contract inception to presentation of drafts shall not exceed two weeks.
Level of Effort: The LOE for the consultants should not exceed 15 days.
Skills and Expertise Required
The consultants should have the following:
1. Post-graduate degree in Political Science, Law, Public Policy Studies, Economics, Development Studies, or other related fields
2. Experience working in policy development, civil society, government, the private sector, Tuberculosis.
3. Demonstrable experience in carrying out Political Economy Analysis or similar forms of contextual analysis, and how they are used to advance advocacy.
4. Strong evaluation report writing and documentation skills. Demonstrated analytical (statistical and data analysis) skills.
5. Experience working with State and Non-State actors in Nigeria.
6. Ability to work on own initiative and to meet deadlines.
7. Good interpersonal skills including the ability to conduct discussion with diverse individuals ranging from senior government officials to ordinary citizens.
8. Fluency in English and at least one local language required.
9. Good computer skill
Application requirements:
Interested and qualified candidates should send their resumes and a sample of a previously conducted Political Economy Analysis or similar research work.
How to Apply:
Kindly submit application on or before July 5th 2024 via [email protected]
Signed:
Koko Udo
Program Director
