Job Vacancy: Job title: National Assessment of Nigeria’s Human Resources for Health Policies Consultant(s)
Job description: Overview
Nigeria Health Commissioners Forum (NHCF) in collaboration with USAID/Nigeria Health Workforce Management (HWM) Activity
National Assessment of Nigeria’s Human Resources for Health Policies Consultant(s)
Overview
BG Laurel International Nigeria LTE/GTE is a subsidiary of Banyan Global, Inc, a woman-owned small business and international development consulting firm committed to improving livelihoods through market approaches for a broad and lasting impact. The firm is headquartered in Washington, DC and has program operations and activities in over fifteen countries around the world. Banyan Global operates within six practice areas: gender, youth, finance and investment, enterprise development, health, and evaluation and learning. BG Laurel International Nigeria LTE/GTE is working in close collaboration with the Nigeria Health Commissioners Forum (NHCF), the learning, advocacy, and collaborative platform of Health Commissioners in Nigeria, to implement this initiative.
Banyan Global is the prime recipient of the Nigeria Health Workforce Management (HWM) Activity in Nigeria. The HWM Activity is a five-year task order to support the establishment of a cost-effective, well-trained, and motivated health workforce, particularly in targeted rural and remote areas of Bauchi, Ebonyi, Kebbi, and Sokoto States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). By its conclusion, HWM is expected to increase the production of new health workers competent to respond to current and future population health needs in these locations by 10,000; improve the distribution and skill mix of front-line workers to meet specific local demands; and strengthen the capacity of pre-service institutions to adopt and apply innovative education approaches. Targeted interventions will contribute to 1) improved management of maternal, child, and newborn health conditions and 2) increased responsiveness to community health needs. USAID will support the Government of Nigeria’s (GON’s) commitment to plan, recruit, train, manage, and retain its primary health care (PHC) workforce. This activity will contribute to the achievement of USAID/Nigeria’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) Development Objective 2 “a healthier, more educated population in targeted states” and Intermediate Result (IR) 2.1 “Utilization of quality health services in targeted areas and population groups increased.”
Purpose of the Consultancy
Health workers are the cornerstone of any health system, and they play a key role in increasing access to health services for all. While evidence indicates a clear nexus between staffing levels, service delivery and health outcomes, the current staffing levels in health facilities in Nigeria are well below those required to deliver both basic and essential health services. Several factors contribute to this including insufficient training capacity, health workers choosing to work in non-health occupations, poor remuneration packages, vertical and horizontal fiscal challenges between federal and state employers, outmigration, and emigration. Whilst the current wave of emigration of skilled health workers has brought the health workforce challenges to the fore, addressing the critical issues underpinning their underperformance within Nigeria’s health system requires a closer look at the critical issues of production, training, distribution, productivity, retention, and motivation.
Nigeria’s federation structure makes it equally important to understand and address the policy, governance, and regulatory issues around the health workforce. At the sub-national level, the challenges are even more stark as most states do not meet the WHO benchmark on the availability of doctors, nurses, and midwives. The shortage of nurses and midwives is particularly acute at the primary health level. The maldistribution of the health workforce is biased against rural areas which have a lower HRH density than urban areas. Health worker productivity is generally low due to high rates of absenteeism, inadequate infrastructures, and low competencies among others. Exacerbating the issues further are the fiscal constraints that are placed on the states by the wage bill structure which limit states’ ability to scale up their workforce to the required level. The states are also encumbered by the inadequacy of their capacity to determine their actual HRH needs and to hire human resources with adequate skills and the right numbers.
As Nigeria aims to achieve its goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), it must address the seemingly intractable challenges with its HRH. In pursuance of the goal of UHC, the NHCF is undertaking a comprehensive national assessment of Nigeria’s HRH policies to highlight the challenges and opportunities to reverse the status and provide far-reaching recommendations for producing, recruiting, and retaining first-grade skilled health workers that can deliver good quality care and enable the attainment of the country’s goal of UHC. The NHCF is embarking on this initiative in partnership with USAID/Nigeria through its Health Workforce Management Activity (HWM) and seeks the services of highly experienced local HRH specialists to work on consultancy bases over three months on the tasks listed herein.
Responsibilities
Tasks
The preferred candidate(s) will work closely with the Chairperson of the Nigerian Health Commissioners Forum (NHCF), the Country Director, USAID/Nigeria HWM, and other stakeholders to carry out these tasks and produce the specific deliverables listed in the expected deliverables section.
Tasks
1. Review of existing national and sub-national HRH policies in Nigeria highlighting the implementation challenges and opportunities for improvements.
2. Determine the effects of government wage bill policies on the health workforce levels in the public sector.
3. Determine if current human resource management policies and practices lead to the strategic use of health wage bill resources in the public sector.
4. Conduct an analytic review of the health labour market based on flows in the public and private sectors and the dynamics of education, employment, migration, fiscal space, regulation, and gender.
5. Evaluate the challenges with the quantity, distribution, & effectiveness of HRH both at the national and sub-national level
6. Determine the challenges and opportunities within the private sector to scale up HRH production and up-skill its health workforce to increase competencies and eliminate quackery.
7. Identify and propose innovative solutions, including the use of technology, to address existing HRH production, distribution, training, motivation, and retention challenges.
8. Develop a comprehensive report that will inform the sub-national strategic approaches to address the findings from 2,3,4 and 5 above.
9. Develop a draft memo (highlighting key areas of reform) for the NHCF for consideration and possible presentation at the National Council on Health
Expected Deliverables
The consultant will submit the following deliverables within the period of performance: * Report of existing HRH policies in Nigeria highlighting the implementation challenges and opportunities for improvements – September 2023
- Comprehensive report containing sub-national strategic approaches to address the challenges and opportunities from 1 above – September 2023
- Key documents for the HRH-themed PHC forum organized by the NHCF – September 2023
- A draft memo highlighting key areas of reform, to be presented by the NHCF at the National Council on Health – November 2023
Reporting Line and Approach
The National Assessment of Nigeria’s Human Resources for Health Policies Consultant(s) will receive technical guidance from the Chairperson, NHCF, and day-to-day and administrative guidance from the HWM Country Director. The consultant is also expected to consult with relevant key stakeholders throughout the process of the consultancy assignment. The consultant is also expected to share relevant information with the key stakeholders, work through consensus building and apply principles that will facilitate ownership of the processes and products. The consultant will also present the key deliverables to the NHCF leadership and as deemed necessary, the Development Partners Group-Health (DPG-H) for its review and endorsement at predefined stages of the process. This is in addition to providing feedback promptly and submitting monthly progress reports to both the NHCF and the HWM Activity.
The consultant will be expected to travel to yet-to-be-determined states to perform the expected duties as described above. The consultant is also expected to work closely with the HWM project team to determine when travel is necessary. HWM will make all travel arrangements and cover appropriate costs of approved travel only.
Qualifications
Qualification and Experience:
The ideal candidate(s) is expected to have the following qualifications and technical competencies. * Minimum of a master’s level qualification from a recognized University in Health Economics, Public Health, Human Resource Management, Social Sciences, or other related fields
- At least 10 years of experience working in a related function in a Health Organization or the development space preferably in a Nigerian context.
- Strong leadership competencies and coordination of stakeholders at the Federal and State level
- Proven cultural, social, and political sensitivity to working in Nigeria at different levels of government.
Technical competencies: * At least 7 years of experience providing technical guidance in HRH planning and development in Nigeria.
- Experience in supporting PHC strengthening reforms related to Human Resources for Health situational analysis, policy, and strategic plans.
- Understanding of the Nigerian health system, National and State-level policies, and guidelines related to HRH, and the PHC system, including the challenges and barriers facing the country around HRH planning and implementation.
- Understanding of the nature and functioning of public-sector organizations, especially in the health sector
- Knowledgeable in HR information and database management systems and processes
- Ability to make effective decisions using complex data, policy documents, and similar information on HRH issues.
- Experience in writing and presenting reports, policy briefs, and documents.
- Ability to build and foster collaborative relationships with relevant stakeholders to inform programs and policy.
- Strong analytical and verbal communication skills
- Excellent interpersonal skills as well as working with high-level stakeholders.
Timing and Level of Effort
The expected period of performance for this assignment is 60 days between July and November 2023. The expected number of travel days will not exceed 26 days.
This requisition closes on July 19, 2023 at 5:30pm local time.
Location: Abuja, FCT
Job date: Thu, 06 Jul 2023 22:16:54 GMT
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