Design of a Social Action Fund in Nigeria (National Consultant)

Objectives

The overarching objective of the proposed work is to support the design of a Social Action Fund (SAF) for Nigeria – a type of Community Driven Development (CDD) approach. The specific objectives are to:

• Provide technical leadership of the approach to designing the Social Action Fund, in partnership with the international expert consultant. This will include:
  • Identifying the key design elements;
  • Providing evidence-based options appraisals for each element;
  • Iterating the design based on feedback from the Minister, Permanent Secretary, and wider stakeholders;
  • Engaging with research partners to design a monitoring, evaluation and learning component to support scale-up following an initial pilot phase.
• Provide technical leadership of the SAF Task Team, in partnership with the international expert consultant. This will include:
  • Allocating clear roles and responsibilities across the team in line with the different design elements.
  • Providing technical inputs to shape workstreams and ensure coherence.
  • Building the capacity of the SAF Task Team in preparation for the implementation phase.
• Work closely with external experts to maximise the quality of the approach and minimise risks. This includes engagement with:
  • The development partner technical working group (TWG) for the SAF, drawing on in- country public health, education, social protection, social development, governance, political, and economic expertise.
  • The international expert reference group for the SAF.

Background

The President of Nigeria, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has approved the creation of a Social Action Fund (SAF). This will be overseen by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, His Excellency Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate.

SAFs can accelerate poverty reduction through providing communities with funding and support to make prioritised investments in community assets. They are a ‘Community Driven Development’ (CDD) approach, with communities themselves identifying local priorities for development, across:

1. Human development, through improvements in health, education and water and sanitation (e.g. boreholes, latrines);
2. Economic development, through improving access to capital inputs and economic infrastructure (e.g. grain storage, access roads, electrification); and
3. Broader community priorities within the agreed scope of the SAF.

SAFs can improve health and education outcomes and economic welfare at the village and household level. They can also improve participation, agency, and voice in community development – contributing to a stronger social contract and improving citizens’ confidence in the government.

However, to achieve these goals SAFs have to be carefully designed, building on the global evidence base and experience of implementing SAFs across different contexts, and the specific political, legal, economic, social, and cultural context of Nigeria. Both aspects are key to developing a tailored approach that will maximise benefits and include appropriate checks and balances to mitigate risks.

Deliverables

Your key deliverables will be:

1. A well-designed Social Action Fund, tailored to the Nigerian context, with all the elements in place to start providing funding and support to communities to invest in community assets;
2. A SAF Task Team (or other permanent Government of Nigeria actor) is capacitated to oversee implementation and scale-up.
3. A well-designed monitoring, evaluation and learning component able to inform decisions on scale-up following an initial pilot phase.

The precise supporting products required to enable SAF implementation (e.g. guidelines, handbooks, assessment tools, fiduciary risk management tools) will be determined by you and the international consultant, in consultation with the Minister and Permanent Secretary, with the support of the development partner TWG and international reference group.

Duration

We anticipate an initial period of 80 working days over four months, with an option to extend to up to 120 working days over six months.

We welcome clear proposals for the personnel required to complete the objectives of this consultancy, which will run in parallel with a ToR for an international consultant.

1. Skills Qualifications

You will have at least three years of experience designing and implementing Social Action Funds or similar Community-driven Development approaches in Nigeria. You will also have a strong professional background in social development, public health, development economics or a related field of development, including a master’s degree in one of these areas.

You will have a proven track record in working with government systems in Nigeria, including state-level experience in at least three geo-political zones. You will be a strong team player, with experience building capacity of team members in technical areas of work.

You will have excellent verbal and written English, strong communication and influencing skills, and a command of relevant Office tools, including Word and PowerPoint.

Location, reporting arrangements, and duty of care

You will work directly to the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Affairs, His Excellency Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, Ms Daju Kachollon.

You will be working closely with an expert international consultant, and with a SAF Task Team of civil servants in the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Affairs.

You will be based in the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Affairs in Abuja, and you will have a desk there. You may need to travel within Nigeria to visit state and local government officials – the location, number, and duration of this travel is not yet defined, but you should expect at least 90% of your time to be in Abuja.

Within the set of objectives and deliverables listed above and any others agreed you will develop a rolling workplan, with updates to be discussed and agreed upon with your key focal point in the Federal Ministry, and with your FCDO Nigeria focal point.

Additional language on the duty of care to be inserted by FCDO TA facility lead.

Conflict of interest

Language on conflict of interest to be inserted by FCDO TA facility lead.

NB: If FCDO procures this through our ‘Ending Preventable Deaths of Mothers, Newborns and Children’ technical assistance mechanism, we would need to make explicit reference to this goal in the ToR. This would not substantively change the nature of the ToR, but it would more clearly outline the theory of change between Social Action Funds / community-driven development approaches and health outcomes.

How to apply

Kindly send your CV to @Michael Ojo and copy @Kathy Adeyeye using the role as the subject of the email, the deadline for submission is the 4th of June 2024.