Family Planning/Reproductive Health Consultant – Kenya

Background:

USAID/Kenya and East Africa (KEA), Health Population and Nutrition (HPN) office invests in population and health programs at national and county levels that aim to improve the survival, well-being, and productivity of the Kenyan population, especially in poor, marginalized, and underserved communities. This includes cross-cutting work to strengthen healthcare systems, build capacity, and support the national government to formulate key policies and guidelines while assisting counties to better plan, manage, and finance quality healthcare services to meet the local population’s needs.

As part of the FP 2030 global partnership, Kenya has committed to: 1) Increase the modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) for married women from 57% to 64% by 2030; 2) Reduce unmet need for FP for all women from 14% to 10% by 2030; 3) Ensure sustained availability of FP commodities to the last mile; 4) Enhance capacity of human resources for health (HRH) to provide FP information and services while also focusing special attention to the underserved, vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations, including populations in humanitarian/emergency situations; 5) Reduce pregnancy among adolescent girls (15 – 19 years) from 14% to 10% by 2025; 6) Transform social and gender norms to improve male engagement in family planning and eliminate socio-cultural barriers to FP service utilization; 7) Improve availability and utilization of quality FP data for decision making; and 8) Increase domestic financing for FP commodities to cover 100% of the requirements (currently at USD 30M) by 2026. USAID/KEA’s Family Planning and Reproductive Health (FP/RH) programs are geared towards supporting the country achieve these FP 2030 goals.

Activity Background:

SoCha is seeking an experienced professional to support the USAID/KEA Family Health (FH) Center of Excellence (COE) as a consultant.

Roles and Responsibilities:

The Family Planning/Reproductive Health Consultant will perform the following tasks:

Technical and Strategic Support:

• Articulate and extend USAID’s strategic partnership vision, strategies, and tactics at the national level and FH focal counties. Enhance understanding of the FH integrated strategy towards achieving national and county results for the health of women, children, adolescents, and youth.
• Facilitate the delivery of technical assistance for the development and oversight of strategic partnerships on a key national and county health strategic plans’ priority result areas through use of data and guided by current FP/RH policies and strategies.
• Provide high level technical guidance in FP/RH to priority counties including senior-level officials.
• Work in collaboration with USAID HPN staff, A/C/AORs and Activity Management Teams (AMTs) to plan and implement USAID’s FP/RMNCAH programs using an integrated approach.
• Work closely with other units within the HPN office and across the Mission, including with the County Liaison Teams (CLTs), to optimize opportunities for cross-sectoral integration and leveraging of resources across the different program components and sectors.
• Provide updated technical information on FP/RH issues in line with USAID’s program policies to partners and a wide group of public health collaborators as it becomes available. This information generally involves how to implement, monitor, and evaluate FH programs using data, and report progress to key stakeholders.
• Develop and nurture formal and informal partnerships with civil society, faith-based organizations, county-based academia, and private organizations and provide technical assistance to counties on barriers towards achieving FP/RH goals. This will involve working with broad based partners on the development and implementation of high impact interventions including modalities to develop, sustain, and expand partnerships.
• Provide technical expertise on FP/RH issues at national and county level (e.g., supply chain management, health financing, private sector engagement, AYSRH, Gender, SBC, etc.) and advise HPN on opportunities to collaborate and synergize with other donors, multilateral, and private sector organizations working in the counties.
• Provide strategic and technical leadership in the preparation of key annual and mid-term planning and reporting documents including the County Integrated Development Plans, and the Quarterly, Semi-Annual, and Annual Progress Reports, and facilitate regular programmatic reviews with national FP/RH programs, counties, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Conduct thorough literature review and proactive engagement with stakeholders, keep abreast of emerging developments in the national and global issues, and advise accordingly on how these policies, strategies, and technical guidelines can most effectively be incorporated to enable the Mission to maintain the fidelity and relevance of FH programs.
• Provide strategic advice to the FH COE on partnership development and management and methodologies to improve the performance of USAID’s health investments for improved FP/RH outcomes in thirteen (13) focus counties.

Coordination and Representation:

• Using diplomacy and technical acumen, establish strategic working relationships with senior health officials and committees at county and lower levels, donor agencies, civil society organizations, and private sector health counterparts to enhance coordination and regular and timely sharing of information on health programs at the county level, including changes in key policies, and legal and regulatory environments that could affect FP/RH in the implementation of USAID programs.
• Provide guidance to USAID on identifying and developing relationships with stakeholders at national and county levels and ensure the results and impact of FP/RH programs.
• Participate in technical consultations and meetings at national and county technical working groups and related partnership meetings with cross-sectoral teams and the private sector and share follow-up actions with USAID.
• Document and develop materials on processes and lessons learned in outcome-based programming for FP/RH programs.
• Work in close consultation with counties to provide required guidance on how best to collaborate and coordinate FP/RH programs with county governments and other stakeholders such as civil society and the private sector at the county level.

Qualifications and Skills:

Education:

• A masters’ degree or local equivalent from an accredited program in Public Health, Sexual Reproductive Health, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, International Development, Health, Social, or Behavioral Sciences.

Prior Work Experience:

• Minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible professional experience in health program management for a development organization, including managing FP/RMNCAH programs or other relevant public health programs that involve coordination with a wide variety of stakeholders in a government department, international agency, or implementing partner.

Language Proficiency:

• Excellent oral and written English and Kiswahili skills are required.

Job Knowledge:

• Expert level knowledge and understanding of voluntary family planning and reproductive health approaches and interventions. Knowledge of public health and FP/RMNCAH programs, strategies, methods, processes, and techniques used to plan, develop, implement, and evaluate FP/RMNCAH programs is required.
• Demonstrated senior-level knowledge of the overall health sector context in Kenya.
• Knowledge of key stakeholders engaged in FP/RH at national and county level in the regions of Kenya is required.
• Demonstrated knowledge of the overall health sector context and thorough public health knowledge regarding the status of the health of women, children and Adolescents and youth is required.
• Professional-level knowledge of development principles, concepts, and practices, especially as they relate to the devolution of the health sector and the increasing roles and responsibilities of the counties.
• Strong understanding of donor, multilateral, and private sector involvement in FP/RMNCAH in Kenya. The consultant must also have knowledge and understanding of the different levels of the county governments, and the role of units within each level, to enhance effective communication, and to develop consensus on program/project strategy and implementation plans.

Skills and Abilities:

• Strong skills in communication, advocacy, and networking. S/he must have strong conceptual and analytical skills to be able to quickly grasp and translate new concepts into operational plans and results. This position requires outstanding interpersonal skills and the ability to exercise flexibility in analyzing and reacting to evolving planning and implementation contexts.
• Excellent computer skills, including skills with Microsoft Office, web-based databases, and electronic filing.
• Demonstrated timely action on decisions and informed judgment in planning and carrying out tasks, using diplomacy and tact.

Period of Performance:

130 days LOE over 6 months (November 2024 – April 2025).

Location:

Nairobi, Kenya.