Terms of Reference (ToR) For Need Assessment-Taplejung



Terms of Reference (ToR)

For

Priorities Assessment for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) Program in selected Rural Municipalities of Taplejung District

Introduction:

Action for Nepal (AF Nepal) is a local non-profit organization committed to advancing development in Nepal's remote communities focusing on health, education, and local empowerment in the Solukhumbu and Bajhang districts. AF Nepal’s work is focused on enhancing access to basic health services and addressing the systemic challenges faced by communities in remote regions. For the past nine years, AF Nepal has been dedicated to improving maternal and child health, with a particular emphasis on strengthening access to services and improving the utilization of existing healthcare resources. The organization has also prioritized adolescent reproductive health and ensuring continuous care throughout the pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postnatal care for both mothers and newborns, especially in remote rural areas where healthcare access is limited.

AF Nepal has been supported by the Australian Himalayan Foundation (AHF) to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3, which aims to "ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages." Both organisations have worked on  improving access to sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning, education, and information, with the aim to reduce maternal and child mortality rates. Over the course of our partnership, we have developed and refined a model of intervention in health that is currently under evaluation to assess its effectiveness and impact on the communities we serve. As we continue this evaluation, we are now planning to expand our efforts to a new district. The priorities for improved RMNCAH services in the new district have not yet been confirmed, and therefore, we are conducting this assessment to both evaluate the priorities identified by the communities and government stakeholders in the district and analyze whether our existing model can be effectively adapted to respond to them. This assessment will help us determine whether the model could be successfully implemented in this new area, in line with our goals of improving health outcomes and contributing to the SDGs.

The objectives of this assessment are to:

• Assess the governance, management, and leadership strengths and capacity of local government and health authorities in addressing RMNCAH issues.
• Understand the magnitude and distribution of RMNCAH health problems across various age groups, castes/ethnicities, geographical locations and disabilities in three rural municipalities of Taplejung District.
• Identify socio-economic, cultural, and environmental determinants affecting RMNCAH outcomes in the region.
• Evaluate the availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality of RMNCAH services across health facilities, while also assessing the patient satisfaction.
• Assess the effectiveness of current date recording, reporting and monitoring systems for RMNCAH services and identify areas of improvement.
• Assess the alignment of local health policies with national and provincial policies on RMNCAH, and identify gaps in policy implementation.
• Evaluate the overall health system capacity, including infrastructure, staffing and financial resources to sustain RMNCH services
• Generate evidence-based recommendations for targeted interventions and development of a new project to improve RMNCAH outcomes in these three RMs, and review the AF Nepal’s model of work to ensure alignment with these recommendations.

Qualifications, experience and skills 

• Preference will be given to applicants who are resident in Nepal with the following:  
• A minimum of a Master's degree in Public Health is required. Alternatively, candidates with a Master's degree in Social Sciences and extensive experience in health and needs assessment will also be considered for the position of Assessment Team Lead.
• Proven experience in conducting similar assessments, including at least 5 years of working experience in carrying out assessments as a team leader. For applicants from consulting firms, the work portfolio must demonstrate a minimum of 3 years of relevant experience
• Demonstrated understanding of health sectors in Nepal and particularly national and local health policies and plan and practices;
• Sound understanding of child safeguarding and gender, disability and social equity principles and actions;
• Ability to produce well written, analytical reports in English essential;
• Familiarity with the theory of change technique;
• Both quantitative and qualitative data analysis skills; 
• Ability to speak and understand Nepali essential and local languages an advantage; 
• Ability to walk for a few hours up and down hill;
• Ability to stay in remote areas with basic facilities.

Click on the link below for detailed TOR:

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=16jb97ZcD1MG2gYtzF1wGKoWBanSGsHP5

Application submissions

Proposals should be written in English and should be no longer than 10 pages, including CVs and budget. In addition, an example piece of work should be attached to the application.

Interested consultants/consulting firms should submit the following documents with their expression of interest (EoI):

• Letter of expression of interest.
• Short overview of how the candidate meets the qualifications, experience and skills requirements (no more than one page) 
• Technical and financial proposals (in separate files).
• Firm's profile detailing past assignments (including at least one need assessment report).
• CVs of all team members highlighting their areas of work and experience in health.
• Company documents if applicable
• VAT / Pan Registration certificate (for both firms and individual consultants).

Deadline for Proposal Submission

Proposals must be submitted by 17:00 hours (COB) on 14th February 2025 via email to the following address:

Action for Nepal: actionfnepal@gmail.com; Boudha, Kathmandu, Nepal, Phone: 01-4915979 and copy to AHF Head of Program: corinne@ahf.org.au and AHF MEAL Specialist shusil@ahf.org.au

Only short-listed applicants will be contacted for further evaluation.