Background

The Ministry of Health together with its partners including UNFPA collaborated to undertake a three- phase proof of concept (pilot) project in which medical products including blood products, drugs and commodities are transported through the use of remotely piloted aircrafts (drones) as an innovation to improve health care delivery in general. The phased intervention aims to revolutionise the supply chain to improve accessibility and availability of drugs and life saving commodities, including blood and blood products for hard-to-reach communities, while also saving costs, reducing lead delivery times and inefficiencies by using drone technology. This is consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda which identifies innovation as critical to accelerating progress towards the global development aspirations. Phase I of the pilot project which entailed co-creation, prototyping, community engagement and experimentation was successfully completed in 2021. In a bid to harness innovation to leapfrog progress towards achievement of SDG Goal 3 - Good Health and Wellbeing, and following the outcomes and lessons learnt from phase I, the MoH took a decision to progress the project to phase II.

This phase will explore delivery of live products (including drugs, blood and blood products) within the Okavango and Ngami Health District. As a key partner in this project, UNFPA has committed to supporting the Ministry towards strengthening the generation and use of strategic information, including monitoring and evaluation of implementation of the project among others. To date, support in this thematic area has focused on; a) development of a business model to inform stakeholder investment into the project; b) development of a costed work plan for the project; c) development of a preliminary monitoring and evaluation plan for the project. Through the Strategic Investment Facility, the UNFPA Country has received funding to expand the scope of support to the Ministry of Health in implementation of the Drones for Health Project, noting that the project has the potential to influence two of UNFPA’s transformative results. By leveraging on the current momentum for the drones for health project, and investing on development of a resource mobilisation and partnership strategy is catalytic as implementation of the strategy is expected to increase financial resources towards reducing MMR and unmet need for FP via the project. Beyond strengthening capacities for M&E in the Okavango and Ngami districts and therefore generating evidence to inform the future possibilities for the project, investments made into M&E have a multiplier effect through improving availability and accessibility of data for the design of high impact programmes in the district, which is a priority area of UNFPA. Currently, there are anecdotes that Okavango district is among the leading regions with a high number of child marriages, early and unintended pregnancies, and gender based violence driven by negative cultural and gender norms. Yet, data remains unavailable to enable implementation of high impact interventions.

Additionally, and consistent with the principle of evidence based decision making, as the global community reaches the halfway mark since adoption of the sustainable development agenda the demand for data to monitor implementation progress, including UNFPA’s 17 prioritised indicators has been heightened. Therefore, there is recognition of the need to augment monitoring and evaluation capacities within the country programme context. It is against this background that UNFPA Botswana CO is seeking to engage a local individual consultant to provide technical support to the Ministry of Health and the UNFPA country office focusing on monitoring, evaluation and learning.

Scope of Work

Specifically, the consultant will focus on the following objectives;

1. Provide tailored and targeted technical support to the Drones For Health Project, focused on the two implementation districts namely Ngami and Okavango.
2. Lead the monitoring and evaluation aspects of the Government of Botswana / UNFPA 7th Country Programme 2022 - 2026.
3. Collaborate with the Ministry to ensure effective management of all project knowledge generated through implementation of the same.

Activities to be carried out by the consultant are as follows;
a) Collaborate with the Drones for Health Project Technical Working Group, and the UNFPA Drones Coordinator to update and monitor implementation of the costed annual work plans for the project.
b) Revise and expand the existing M&E plan to incorporate critical indicators including but not limited to those related to maternal health, and establishment of baselines for the same.
c) Support and coordinate effective management of all knowledge generated through implementation of the project.
d) Provide logistical support for implementation of other UNFPA led Drones for Health activities including planning and preparations for workshops.
e) Support monitoring of implementation of all activities implemented through SIF resources.
f) Lead the development of the periodic SIF reports in close collaboration with the UNFPA BCO Strategic Information Specialist.
g) In close collaboration with the UNFPA SI Specialist, lead all aspects of the country programme monitoring and evaluation in alignment with the approved CP M&E Plan, including convening monthly, bi-annual and annual programme review meetings.
h) Lead the development of a meta-data / indicator dictionary for the CP Results and Resources Framework.
i) Support quarterly and annual reporting of the country office annual work plan on SIS as per stipulated time frames.

Methodology and approach
1. The consultancy will be kick-started with an inception meeting with the UNFPA team to discuss the scope of work, and administration of contract including payment terms.
2. The assignment is expected to use a mixed methods approach including an extensive review of strategic drones project and CP documents and secondary data analysis as applicable.
3. The consultant is expected to engage regularly with the MoH and UNFPA counterparts including participating in programme, one-on-one and TWG meetings.

Deliverables (including duration and schedule)
The assignment will be completed between February 12, 2024 and December 31, 2043. The total number of working days shall not exceed 90 days as per the maximum number of days allocated per deliverable below. Therefore payment will only be towards the working days stipulated.

Required Qualifications and experience

Education: Advanced degree in Social Sciences, Economics, Statistics, Research Methodology, Project Management or a related field.

Knowledge and Experience: 

• A minimum of three years of Programme Monitoring and Evaluation experience.
• Good information management skills
• Good Project Management skills (essential);
• Capacity to produce high-quality briefs and reports in English (Essential);
• Good level of proficiency in computer-based M&E systems, SPSS, Windows Excel and quantitative and qualitative analysis;
• Proven ability to design M&E systems, tools, surveys, surveillance systems, randomized field experiments and evaluations;
• Demonstrated experience in applying both qualitative and quantitative techniques to develop evidence-based publications, strategies, guidelines, policy briefs and reports;
• National experience working with government counterparts within the country context and all relevant stakeholders, including the UN system, CSOs, private sector, academia, etc. will be mandatory;
• Excellent interpersonal and strong communication skills, in both written and verbal English.

Competencies

• Values diversity and demonstrating inclusive behaviour towards all colleagues and stakeholders, successfully developing cross cultural relationships;
• Actively promotes gender equity in all program activities as well as in office management.
• Good interpersonal skills
• Demonstrated ability to train and build capacity of others;
• Result Orientated

Management of the consultancy

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the UNFPA Strategic Information Specialist, while also expected to work in close collaboration with UNFPA Botswana Drones Project Coordinator. Regional level advisory and technical support will also be availed to the consultant as required.

See the attached Terms of Reference for more details.

How to apply: Interested applicants should send a letter of motivation and detailed CV with the subject clearly stated "Consultancy - Monitioring and Evaluation Support to  recruitment.bw@unfpa.org by 20 February, 2024.