Request for Proposals: [Exemplars in Global Health] Sierra Leone Sub-national Research Project

******Please send application materials (listed below) to the Manager, People Operations, Katelyn Reinert, at katelyn@lastmilehealth.org, no later than 5:00pm EST on April 29th, 2021. No proposals should be submitted via this portal.******

Background

Exemplars in Global Health (EGH) is a partnership of funders, independent researchers, academics, and in-country experts committed to harnessing rigorous data and evidence to better understand and replicate large-scale health successes around the world. Exemplars aims to identify and learn from “exemplar” contexts that have achieved public health success at scale. In partnership with Last Mile Health, EGH has published findings on Community Health Worker programs in four Exemplar countries – Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, and Liberia. The research provides a rich and detailed understanding of the scaling and implementation of these community health worker programs.  

There is now a potential opportunity for the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) to build upon this existing base with an analysis of drivers of community health system performance in Sierra Leone. The new National Community Health Policy roll-out offers an opportunity to measure and track community health performance and implementation fidelity across the country. By identifying and seeking to explain sub-national variation in implementation fidelity, the MoHS and other stakeholders can better target investments to optimize Sierra Leone’s community health system.

Large-scale national community health systems commonly exhibit variation across different geographies linked to differences in management, resources, and personnel capacity, which provides opportunities to understand what factors contribute to higher and lower performance. For instance, variations in supervision frequency, supply chain functioning, timeliness of frontline community health worker incentive payments and other key aspects of program implementation may have stronger or weaker effects on performance. Identifying the most important sub-national drivers of performance variation can help MoHS prioritize investments where most needed and best used while collecting data to inform future refinements.

Last Mile Health is collaborating with EGH and the MoHS to co-design a research project examining the factors driving district-level community health system performance variation. This research intends to generate actionable learnings that can inform policy, implementation and/or resource allocation in Sierra Leone. At present, the research is in the design and preparation phase, with a goal of defining the scope and research questions that will produce findings of greatest value to future decision-making.

Purpose of Consultancy

As the Last Mile Health and EGH team is in the preparation phase of the Exemplars Sub-national Research Project, we are looking for an individual with exceptional skills in growing government and partner relationships, negotiating to build consensus among diverse partners, and identifying opportunities for research to contribute to decision-making.

Timeline and Final Deliverables Schedule

The consultancy will begin in early May 2021 and we anticipate the work to be completed by the end of July 2021. This is a contract for $13,500 and the deliverables can be found below. The consultant will be paid the full amount of the contract upon successful completion of both final deliverables.

• Professional experience in public health and/or international development.
• Strong skills in government engagement, partner management, negotiation and consensus-building.
• Experience in the development and design of research projects. 
• Excellent writing and editing skills
• Strong skills in and knowledge of: Microsoft Word and Office
• Strong communication skills and attention to detail

Scope of Work

• Map out key stakeholders in community health in Sierra Leone, including government offices, partners, and donors.
• Conduct a series of meetings with critical stakeholders to build consensus on a research scope, raise awareness and buy-in from different levels and sectors of government, and identify concrete opportunities for the research findings to inform decision-making.
• Conduct meetings with donors and partners, with support from Last Mile Health colleagues, to identify opportunities for the research project to support investment decisions and mobilize potential co-funding.
• Identify and vet potential in-country research partners for data collection.
• Develop a contract with the selected in-country research partner.
• Collaborate with relevant partners and stakeholders to develop a research proposal ready for IRB submission.

Final Deliverables

• Detailed research scope of work signed by MoHS, Last Mile Health and EGH.
• Contract signed between in-country research partner, Last Mile Health and EGH.

Please submit your application with the following materials to Katelyn Reinert (katelyn@lastmilehealth.org) using the subject line “EGH Sierra Leone Project Application.” Incomplete applications will not be considered. 

• CV or resume
• Cover letter describing your experience or skills that qualifies you to do this work, as well as timeline availability
• One professional work sample that demonstrates your experience related to this scope of work
• Three professional references who can speak to your relevant experience

About Last Mile Health

Last Mile Health (LMH) saves lives in the world's most remote communities by partnering with governments to bring critical primary care services to the doorsteps of people living in the last mile. LMH is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and currently works in Liberia, Malawi, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Sierra Leone with US offices in Boston and New York. For more information, visit www.lastmilehealth.org

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at LMH. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.