Job Vacancy @ World Health Organization (WHO) – National Consultant, Safe Motherhood Reproductive Health Bill

Contractual Arrangement

External consultant

Contract Duration (Years, Months, Days)

3 months

Job Posting

Jun 29, 2022, 2:56:40 PM

Closing Date

Jul 15, 2022, 4:59:00 PM

Primary Location

Sierra Leone-Freetown

Organization

AF_SLE Sierra Leone

Schedule

Full-time

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Purpose

Sierra Leone has made remarkable progress on RMNCAH indicators. some of the gains in this process indicators are largely attributed to the extensive primary health care network infrastructure expansions to the grassroot level in the last few decades. In Sierra Leone, more than 1,230 health facilities exist. Of these, 51 are hospitals and the remaining 1,213 are primary care facilities. Almost all (1095) of the health care facilities are public facilities (SARA, 2017). The primary health care units, the larger provider of health care services embrace a Community Health Worker (CHW), Maternal and Child Health Posts (MCHP), Community Health Posts (CHP) and Community Health Centre’s (CHC).

Primary health care units are established with an aim of providing basic health services that include preventive, promotive, curative, palliative, and rehabilitative health care. The Community Health Centre serve as a referral center to the lower-level facilities besides providing Basic Emergency Obstetric Care, Laboratory Services, and Emergencies, among others. Secondary care facilities which are based in every district capital, except in new two districts, serve as primary hospital to the district populations. They are also expected to provide Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric Care (CeMONC), advanced lab, and imaging, among others. Regional Hospitals which are situated at the of the regional capital ideally serve as second level referral centre from the secondary care facilities (District Hospital). Tertiary Hospital is the central referral facilities that are expected to deliver specialized care to the population.

The entire health care delivery system is led and administered through a three-layer structure that includes the National Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS), District Health Management Team (DHMT) and Chiefdom Supervisors.

Though the country has made comparably good progress on the area of maternal and child health indicators, the country has also been seriously affected by the recent past Ebola outbreak that disrupted the health system, the economic activity, development in general. Initiatives to rebuild and restore the health system were underway in the last couple of years paving the way to establish a resilient and responsive health system.

To change the narrative and improve outcome on mothers, children and adolescents, MOHS developed a five-year RMNCAH strategy that rolled over since 2017. Sierra Leone have also developed a QOC policy and strategic roadmap that guides implementation of plans affecting quality health services to the population in general and mother, children and adolescents in particular. A number of other policy documents also exist, and some are under development that guides frameworks for the successful realization of resilient health system for improved health outcome in Sierra Leone.

Appropriate legal framework is critical in advancing UHC for SRHR and MOHS initiated the development process in 2018 with support of partners and other stakeholders. In 2022, important milestone was achieved in this endeavours and MOHS managed to draft and secure approval of the cabinet paper from the Cabinet on 25 May 2022. It is with this goal that WHO would like

• Support consultative process in the development of Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Bill
• Draft the Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Bill in close collaboration with a local consultant, MOHS, and Attorney General Office

Objectives of the Consultancy

Based on the above documents, Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health bill developed in close consultation with MOHS and Attorney General Office and other stakeholders. The Consultant will be responsible to develop and finalize the detailed bill for submission to the Parliament.

Description Of The Duties

Work in close collaboration with the international consultant and national bill Drafting Committee to:

• Ensure that the legal content, meets local need, standard and recommendations including country contexts
• Provide legal advice relating to the drafting of the national Safe Motherhood and reproductive Health Bill and ensuring that the legal terminologies are well articulated according to the Sierra Leone standard/context.
• Review other laws and legislation for ensuring interface/harmony except with the one that this bill is going to be replacing
• Ensure timelines are adhered to and first draft of the bill is made available for review
• Serve as a link between the drafting team and the National Committee by feeding in their views and communicating progress in a timely manner
• Support stakeholder consultations by clearly explaining the content of the national legislation and legal implications
• Seek guidance from AG and Parliament on the procedures involved for presentation of the draft regulation to parliament

Deliverables

Deliverable 1: Draft national legislation for the attention of Parliament

Deliverable 2: Final version/ gazette version of the national legislation on the Safe Motherhood and reproductive health Bill

Deliverable 3: Monthly status /progress report

Deliverable 4: Written end of contract report

Education

Essential: University degree in Law

Desirable

• A Legal background, Specialization in drafting/development of policies/Bills.
• A Master’s degree in Law is an added advantage

WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an accredited institution. The list can be accessed through this link: http://www.whed.net/

Experience

Essential: At least 5 years of experience in working on legal documents that require concurrence by Parliament

Desirable: At least 5 years’ experience in development or drafting of legislations and or regulations

Demonstrated experience in the design and content of Legal documents

Skills

Essential: Excellent coordination skills with counterparts and partners / Report writing skills

Desirable: Capacity building of stakeholders on the content of the regulation

Competencies

• Teamwork
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
• Communication
• Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond
• Moving forward in a changing environment

Other Skills

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office.

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