COVID-19 Advocacy and Accountability Officer - Zamfara State

Options Consultancy Services Ltd Zamfara Nigeria Technical Department
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Company Description

Options Consultancy Services Limited is a leading global health consultancy established in 1992 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Marie Stopes International. We manage health programmes that ensure vulnerable women and children can access the high quality health services they need. We work with partners to co-create and implement locally informed solutions to complex health problems. This includes governments, development partners, NGOs, civil society and health workers. Our programming is flexible, evidence-based and politically informed. This means we adapt to changing contexts, use data to inform our decisions and ensure our approach is appropriate. Our focus is always on building local skills and systems that last.

Options is a core partner of the consortium delivering the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Support for Health in Nigeria - Lafiya contract, led by Palladium. Lafiya is delivered at federal level, and with a focus on targeted states (Borno, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano and Yobe) and additional 3 States of Kastina, Lagos and Zamfara for the COVID-19 response and support. The programme will run for an initial term of up to 7 years from February 2020 to finish by January 2027 (subject to availability of funding and approvals).

The objective of Lafiya is to improve health outcomes for the poorest and most vulnerable in Nigeria through the following interlinked outcomes: (1) increased resources invested in health, and prioritisation of health by the Government of Nigeria (through civil society advocacy on human capital, community accountability for health; and use of data to inform government prioritisation of health); (2) improving effectiveness and efficiency of public and private basic health services (through health system strengthening, and working with the private sector to improve delivery of affordable health services for the poorest populations); and (3) increasing the modern contraceptive prevalence rate (through addressing social norms, demographic impact analysis, and support to family planning demand creation and delivery of services).

FCDO has recently approved a 6-months’ emergency C-19 support through the Lafiya programme to run from October 2020 to March 2021. This support, which follows on from a previous phase of support, aligns with the objectives of the UK government to supporting Nigeria’s COVID-19 response.

Position

The summary purpose and objective of the role is to:

  • Deliver guidance and innovative approaches towards COVID-19 community preparedness and response to strengthen health systems resilience.
  • Engage directly with high-level political actors at federal and state levels to encourage increased public health spending as means to tackle Covid-19 and kick-start UHC reforms
  • Provide strategic guidance to CSO coalitions at the state level and other CSOs for effective and efficient performance on accountability relating to COVID-19

Requirements

To succeed in this role, you will have:

  • Technical background in health security, community health systems and accountability of health results
  • Strong understanding of the Nigerian health system
  • Good connections with state and non-state actors in the health sector in the state
  • Experience of working with the media to communicate advocacy messages.
  • Proven skills in capacity building and analysing data and packaging it for targeted advocacy

Other information

  • Options is an equal opportunities employer
  • Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and post holders to share this commitment.
  • We seek people who are pro-choice, energetic and enthusiastic about Options’ vision.