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Purpose of consultancy
Under the supervision of the Ministry of Health M&E unit and WHO country office the incumbent will lead the research through:
· Development of the protocol for the study
· Supervision of the study sites
· Analyze data collected and provide policy directives from the study findings
Background
In Zambia, overtime, nutrition data elements have been included and gradually strengthened and re-designed. The European Union (EU) supported Nutrition Information System (NIS) project provides a unique opportunity of collecting age-appropriate data at key contact points at facility level that is utilized in various ways. Nutrition assessment of children 0 to 59 months is done to provide appropriate counseling, supplementations, treatments and referrals especially within the 1000 Days window period. The assessment is aligned to other services offered including immunization.
Over the years, reporting rates have improved significantly in 2022 and 2023 with the HIA2 reporting at 99.4% and 84.7% respectively. However, quality of the data for the nutrition indicators still require improvement to ensure that data can be utilized for monitoring, reporting, quantification, planning and decision making. Despite these investment and improvement, nutrition data has received challenges with regards to the following:
· High numbers of children reporting for services (e.g total attendance to GMP) against the anticipated populations catchments areas,
· In appropriate interpretation of indicators after calculations and estimates when ratios and factors are utilized (attendance rate).
· Use of denominators with an age range (0-6months) or (6 to 23months)
· the current organization of nutrition data elements and indicators do not eliminate double counting hence difficult to monitor and measure progress and true performance of the program.
· The issue above might also contribute to inadequate provision of age specific service messages on infant feeding counseling at key contact points.
· Inadequate assessment and classification of children with severe acute malnutrition including a few notable quality issues.
It is against this background that the Ministry pf Health, through WHO seek the services of the Monitoring and Evaluation specialist to lead the study execution with retrospective data collection for 1 month and prospective data collection that will be implemented beyond 6 months.
Deliverables
The following are the expected deliverables
· Deliverable 1. Conduct workshop for development of study protocol and submit to Ethics by 14 February 2025
· Deliverable 2. Orient data collectors for the data collection sites and commence data collection by 21 February 2025
· Provide initial retrospective data findings of trial by the 14 March 2025
· Main report of findings for retrospective data and initial findings for prospective data by the 31 March 2025
· Main report findings by the 30 April 2025
Qualifications, experience, skills and languages
Educational Qualifications:
Essential: BSc in Monitoring and Evaluation
Desirable: Masters in Public Health, Demography, Epidemiology
Experience
Essential: At least 5years experience in DHS2 is essential
Desirable: Monitoring and Evaluation, Epidemiology, Data analysis
Skills/Knowledge:
Essential: Knowledge in DHSI2 and creation of instance data sets on DHSI2
Desirable: creation of electronic data collection tools
Location
Local Consultant will be based in Lusaka, Zambia.
Travel
The consultant is expected to travel outside Lusaka where protocol development workshop will be conducted. Consultant will not be expected to travel outside Lusaka during data collection. However, will be expected to visit study sites in Lusaka
Remuneration and budget (travel costs are excluded):
a. Remuneration: A monthly wage will be provided for a period of 2 months
b. Living expenses (A living expense is payable to on-site consultants who are internationally recruited)
c. Expected duration of contract is 2 months (Maximum contract duration is 1 months per calendar year):