Background

Ethiopia has been progressing in reducing maternal and child mortality over the last few years. Although the national under-five child mortality rate declined from 67 deaths per 1000 live births in the 2016 EDHS to 55 deaths per 1000 live births in the 2019 (mini-EDHS), it still it remains high. Childhood diarrhea is among the leading causes of under-five deaths in the country.

Nutrition International (NI) has been supporting the government of Ethiopia in its efforts to address maternal and child health problems in the country. NI’ support focuses on improving the quality and quantity of routine and outreach health services delivery in primary health care units. NI has been providing technical and financial support to implement high impact and cost-effective interventions proven to improve the health outcomes of mothers and children. These include: Iron Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation, vitamin A supplementation, zinc supplementation for the treatment of diarrhea, promotion of optimal breastfeeding, complementary feeding, growth monitoring promotion, oil/flour fortification, and salt iodization.

Despite the efforts of the government in improving maternal and child health outcomes with the support of NI, the global COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected maternal and child health services in primary health care units in 2020. Furthermore, COVID-19 worsened the supply stock-out of zinc and ORS in health facilities[1] and adversely impacted the government’s capacity to procure and restock health facilities with zinc and ORS. This situation has been aggravated by increased commodity price, limited financial resources, and a shift of government resources to respond the COVID-19 emergency. Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the health seeking behavior of caregivers of under-five children with diarrhea due to fear of acquiring COVID-19 at health facilities and limited access due to movement restrictions among other factors.

To reduce the adverse effect and burden of COVID-19 on maternal and child health services, NI has designed a COVID-19 emergency response project that will: 1) Improve zinc and Lo-ORS availability; 2) Improve access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE); 3) Improve coordination of logistics management; and 4) Support schoolgirls’ participation in health/nutrition promotion.

NI will hire a Technical Assistant (TA) who will support the planning, implementation, monitoring, and reporting of the project. The overall function and specific responsibilities of the TA are described in the following section.

Technical Assistant Overall Function

The TA will provide technical assistance, coordinate, and ensure effective and efficient implementation of the project’s interventions. The TA will develop the project’s implementation work plan and budget, conduct continuous monitoring of activities, prepare periodic progress reports, represent NI and work closely with implementing stakeholders at national, regional, zonal and Woreda level, maintaining successful relationships. The TA will be responsible to oversee the execution of the project’s budget and ensure that the project is on track. The TA will work closely with NI country/regional offices and comply with the organization policies and procedures.

Technical Assistant Responsibilities 

 Improving Coordination for Improved Zn & ORS Supply and Logistics Management

• Conduct HF supervision to collect & analyze logistics information on Zn & ORS
• Ensure quality logistics data during supervision
• Organize coordination meeting between MoH & EPSA to review logistics, inform and develop joint action plan
• Involve in the national annual child health supply quantification & forecasting
• Support FMoH in resource mobilization for Zn & ORS procurement and related activities

Support the Management of Emergency Response Project in Ethiopia.

• Support the development of procurement plan preparation (Zn& ORS, PPE kits), quantification, and distribution
• Organize QA visit to EPHARM to facilitate approval from EFDA & FMoH
• Support the development of implementation and spending plans
• Provide TA to MoH &EPSA on quantification of the project’s commodities (zinc and LO-ORS co-pack, PPE, BCI materials/job aids) – consult to the FMoH and NI’s TA seconded to the FMoH
• Support the child health & nutrition Senior Program Officer (SPO) to:
  • In collaboration with the FMoH/RHBs/ZHDs/target Woredas and ZPCs, ensure the distribution of the project commodities (zinc and LO-ORS, PPE, and water bottles printed with promotional health/nutrition messages) and services of printing/production of BCI materials (job aids) and training curricula to intended users (target Woredas)
  • Coordinate the implementation of the project’s work plan as per the set timeline and schedule, seek corrective actions and recommendations when challenges are faced, and address those challenges accordingly.
• Take part in the develop training curricula and job aids to train motivated schoolgirls.
• Coordinate with ZPC & organize training of trainers to Woreda and school adolescent health and nutrition focal persons (for 9 zones and 18 target Woreda – 2 target Woredas per zone)
• Ensure the provision of cascading training to motivated schoolgirls’ leaders and school Adolescent Health Nutrition (AHN) focal persons at project site level
• Track the project’s budget utilization and spending and alert the country office for corrective actions when there are variations against approved budget
• In consultation with the Senior Finance Officer (SFO), ensure the project’s contracts are implemented according to the agreed terms and conditions.
• Conduct work plan and budget revision and make realignment (replanning) when needed.

you can get the full detail of the ToR from the link below

Advert ToR TA Recruitment for Emergency Response Project.docx

• BSc degree in public health, nutrition, and nursing or master’s degree in public health, MSc in nursing, and nutrition
• Minimum work experience – 6 years for master’s degree and 8 years for BSc degree
• Experience in networking among stakeholders and implementing partners at all levels (national, regional, zonal, Woreda, and community)
• Coordination and partnership building skills with strong interpersonal communication skills
• NGO experience, specially, working for emergency health projects is preferable
• Well organized, self-motivated, and excellent verbal and written communication
• Good understanding of the Ethiopian government healthcare system and programs.