Digital Health System – Consultancy

Context

The Health Sector, part of the Park’s Human Development Department, is committed to the initiatives of the Gorongosa Restoration Project on improving access to quality health and sanitation services, especially for women and girls in the Buffer Zone, focusing on maternal and child health, nutrition, water and sanitation, integrating communities that have been under civil conflict and thus contributing to local peace and stability.

The GNP Health Sector currently implements four (4) main programs, namely, (1) Digital Health System, (2) Water and Environmental Sanitation, (3) APEs & Mobile Brigades, and (4) Maternal and Child Health and nutrition.

Digital Health System (mHealth)

Due to the devastation caused by the latest natural disasters, cyclones and floods, which affected Sofala Province, including Nhamatanda District, PRG in partnership with GiveDirectly (GD), supports the Nhampoca community in Nhamatanda District with an food security, since November/2021. The program aims to improve the nutrition of 5,000 households through cash transfers, associated with changing nutritional habits based on sending awareness messages about good practices.
food, especially focused on food education for pregnant women, lactating women and children from 0 to 5 years old. Whenever possible, the program encourages participating families to be represented preferably by women.

SMS Sending Campaign for Behavioral Change
Program participants receive messages from the PRG on healthy nutritional habits, particularly those focused on maternal nutrition, breastfeeding, continued feeding in children under 5 years of age, and dietary diversity. This nutrition campaign is systematic and will last for 24 months, running in parallel with monthly cash transfers made by the DG.

The nutrition campaign carried out by telephone messages through the mHealth digital platform will be bidirectional, in order to allow participants to respond to the surveys embedded in the mHealth digital platform. To enable all beneficiaries to participate effectively, a consultant will work with the PRG to assess the literacy level of project participants, create a local support mechanism for those who cannot read and write, allow participants to understand and respond to campaign messages.

Purpose of the Consultancy
Conduct an assessment of the literacy level of the project participants, and create a local support mechanism in the villages of Nhampoca-sede, Momba-sede and Mudgere, so that those who cannot read and write can understand and respond to the messages of the awareness campaign own.

Consulting phases
Phase 1: Analysis of the context
Conduct an assessment of the literacy level in the villages of Nhampoca-sede, Momba-sede and Mudgere.
Identify who can read and write for each household participating in the project, their degree of kinship, age and sex.
Identify the causes (cultural, sociodemographic, economic, etc).
Identify possible groups of trust for each village/family that can support reading and writing. And certify the availability of these groups to provide support together with families and community leaders.
Identify potential local partners that can collaborate, including: teachers, community workers, religious leaders, etc. and gather their perceptions of solving the reading and writing barriers of the project participants.

Phase 2: Establishment of the read and write support mechanism. 
Once the scale of reading and writing needs among project participants has been identified, the consultant should:

Suggest a support mechanism for participants with reading and writing difficulties, and together with the program team improve its functioning during the two (2) years of program implementation.
Propose a follow-up strategy for the proposed mechanism to ensure its functioning, mainly to prevent participants from being harmed by third parties who are providing this support.
Validate the results of the evaluation carried out and the proposed support mechanism together with a representative group of participants.

Deliverables.
The consultant must deliver the following products:

Phase 1
Submit an inception report to GRP that demonstrates the level of understanding of the consultancy’s Terms of Reference, including methodology, tools and detailed work schedule of a maximum of three (3) months.

Phase 2
Submit a preliminary results report and hold a validation workshop with relevant partners.
Submit a final report of the support mechanism for project participants with reading and writing difficulties. The final report must be presented in two languages, Portuguese and English, with a presentation of the main findings in PowerPoint.
Along with the final report, submit summaries of all major meetings, workshops, discussions and any data collection exercises undertaken during the assessment. Including photographs and other relevant documents such as stories, notes from meetings and focus groups held.
All information must be provided in an electronic, organized and well-documented format for easy use.

Institutional Agreements

The consultant will be responsible for the administrative and logistical part necessary to fulfill this task. Including all travel arrangements, appointment booking, secretarial services, report preparation, printing, photocopying and translation services. The Program will only support in extraordinary cases to remove any barriers in the process.
GRP will assist the consultant in obtaining any additional program documents and credentials to perform the assignment smoothly.
The GRP team will provide your strategic direction and guidance throughout the process, including data collection tools, structure and content of the final work.
It is expected that some GRP collaborators from different specialties will be involved in the needs assessment, context analysis and discussion of the final report.
The main point of contact for this consultancy will be the project manager.

Duration

This mission is expected to be carried out for a period of 60 days.

Qualifications

Academic qualifications
Master’s degree in a relevant field in the field of Education, Health or Development Studies.

Experience
Previous experience of research work in the education/development field is an advantage.
Experience in the creation and implementation of programs that aim to improve the level of literacy, especially in rural areas of Mozambique.
Proven experience working with governmental and non-governmental partners and other stakeholders on human development programs, especially in the area of ​​health/education.

Skills and competencies
Ability to work with minimal supervision.
High level of written and oral communication skills in English and Portuguese.
Must be results-oriented, work as a team, display high levels of enthusiasm, tact, diplomacy and integrity.
Demonstrate excellent interpersonal and professional skills in interacting with government and development partners.

Skills in facilitating meetings/workshops
Evidence of having performed similar work.
Experience in mixed approach research (qualitative and quantitative), policy development, work related to program management.

Payment Schedule

20% – Upon delivery and approval of the initial report, including methodology, tools and detailed schedule of activities. Including all phase 1 products.

20% – Upon the submission and approval of the preliminary results report and carrying out the validation workshop with partners, described in the phase 2 deliverables.

60% – Upon submission and approval of the final report, and elements described in phase 2 deliverables.

Application Process

Qualified and interested consultants are invited to submit a detailed technical and financial proposal. The proposal must clearly demonstrate a complete understanding of these terms of reference and including the following:
Proposal for the implementation of the consultancy, including data analysis and management, schedule detailing the activities/work plan.
Detailed budget, including professional fees and out-of-pocket expenses.
Detailed CV of the consultant.
Names and contact information of three references who can be contacted regarding relevant experiences.

Interested parties must submit proposals (technical and financial) by February 15, 2022, through the following email address: recruitment@gorongosa.net