Job Description:
A stable and prosperous Pakistan is a top priority in international development efforts of the UK Government. Empowerment and voice of women, girls and marginalized social groups is vital for these efforts to succeed. Therefore, enabling them to articulate their needs and influence policies, legislation, and practices which affect them is at the heart of the UK’s development assistance. Better access to reproductive, maternal, new-born and child health and nutrition is an important entry point to achieve this objective.
Pakistan has missed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 & 5. DFID Pakistan (DFIDP) therefore is focusing on reproductive, maternal, new-born and child health (RMNCH) including nutrition to support and enhance effective implementation of health sector strategies that will lead to achievement of the health MDGs. DFIDP has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Government of Pakistan on a/the Provincial Health and Nutrition Programme (PHNP) to achieve RMNCH and nutrition results in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces over four years (2013 to 2017). Empowerment, Voice and Accountability for Better Health and Nutrition (EVA-BHN) is a four year project, primarily focused on the ‘demand side’ of RMNCH services and will complement the ‘supply side’ activities under the broader PHNP framework through:
- Enhancing Communities’ understanding of their health rights, entitlements and engagement in monitoring the planning and delivery of services
- Organising communities at all levels to catalyse the precipitation of desired policy changes at the local, provincial and national level
The details given below relates to the extension in the scope of work of the consultant who has developed District Health Vision for Swabi District of KP.
Rationale
The KP Local Government Act 2103 has resulted into the formation of District Governments in KP. With the transfer to budgetary authorities especially in development sector, the District Governments are gradually turning up as important stakeholders in addressing the issues of health services delivery in the districts. Having 30% of the budget earmarked to be spent specifically through LG on health services improvement provides an immense opportunity for improving the health services delivery in the districts. Cutting of unnecessary delays in decision making, local monitoring, local solutions for local issues, availability of citizens’ feedback are some of the factors that if exploited carefully can make LG instrumental in improving the health services delivery and thus health of communities in an effective manner. This has been specifically observed in EVA efforts to improve the health services delivery at district level. On several occasions, the issues and demands raised by citizens at EVA facilitated forums such as at Community Groups (CGs) and District Advocacy Forums (DAFs) have been addressed by the District Government authorities. This includes issues pertaining to repair and maintenance, operationalization of BHUs etc.
Whereas, the EVA experience has brought forward the realization of huge potential of District Government to address the health issues of the population, it has also highlighted the need for district governments to prioritize their district health needs and have such instruments in place that guide the district government in addressing those priorities and implementation of their actions. This has also been highlighted in the KP Local Government Act 2013, whereby, of the various functions of the highest office bearer i.e. Nazim, District Council is to provide vision, leadership and direction for district development, develop strategies and timeframe for accomplishment of goals approved by district council. During the pre-DAF meetings with the Nazims of District Councils of Swabi, the need for developing a consolidated and consensus based document that outlines the health vision of the district and delineates the strategy to achieve that vision along with the a monitoring plan was highlighted and discussed. EVA has supported the District Governments in Swabi to develop District Health Vision that will include the goals, strategy, implementation and monitoring plans.
Purpose and Objectives
The purpose of this extended work is to create buy in of district stakeholders for the District Health Vision and support its adoption by District Health Committee of the LG. This will be achieved through rigorous consultations and meetings with the different district stakeholders and firming it up in line with the district stakeholders’ recommendations in target setting.
Key Task and Deliverables
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No
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Task
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Deliverable
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Person Days
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1
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Developing a brief easy to understand presentation of the Health Vision
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Situation Analysis report
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0.5
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2
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Conducting 3 consultations with the district stakeholders groups with DoH reps, LG reps/District Health Committee, DAF members
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Situation Analysis report
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3
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3
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Address the feedback and share the final revised version with District Health Committee
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Presentation delivery and soliciting feedback
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1.5
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TOTAL
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5
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Key Qualifications of Consultant
- Health Systems Expert/District health planning expert - with Masters in Public Health/Policy/Planning or other relevant social sciences and 5 years of demonstrated experience in preparing and executing district health plans.