INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT RECRUITMENT FOR THE EVALUATION OF NATIONAL ENTOMOLOGICAL CAPACITY IN CAMEROON

Abt Associates, a leading American government research, technical assistance, and consulting company, oversees the USAID-funded VectorLink project supported by the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative (PMI). Since 2011, Abt has been managing PMI indoor spraying activities, while performing high quality spraying programs and collecting entomological vector monitoring data around the world. As part of this contract, Abt expanded entomological surveillance to guide programs focused on insecticide-treated bed nets and spraying and will continue to help PMI reduce malaria burden through spraying and capacity building in 27 countries where malaria is endemic.

Abt has been working in Cameroon since 2018 under the VectorLink project to support the country’s National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) through quality entomological data collection to inform vector control decision making. With the goal of supporting the NMCP in self-sustainable entomological data collection and analysis, VectorLink will assess the capacities of the country’s research institutes (namely, CRID and OCEAC) and academic institutions (BTC-Yaounde 1, University of Buea, and University of Dschang) to perform standard and high-quality entomological activities. Abt is therefore searching for an international consultant to support this need assessment in early 2023, working together with a local consultant.

The consultant should have a strong knowledge in public health and a good understanding of organizational and management challenges of research public health research institutions. Preference will be given to an individual with a proven experience in entomology.

Statement of Work:

The consultant shall specifically perform the following tasks:

1. Evaluate the organizational structure of each of the national entomological institutions in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) standards of operations and guidelines for vector control activities and in coherence with the vision set forth for vector control by the government of Cameroon and the mission assigned to each of the institutions (expected outputs: organigram, assessment of strengths and weaknesses).
2. Evaluate the human capacity of each institution to adequately conduct entomological monitoring activities nationwide and report data to the NMCP and the Ministry of Public Health for timely decision making (expected outputs: description of roles and responsibilities of each person, other commitments outside of malaria work, educational levels, outside collaborations, ongoing projects).
3. Evaluate the availability of relevant technical equipment and materials necessary to adequately perform the entomological monitoring activities, including those related to the information system used to compile data, conduct analysis, and report to stakeholders.
4. Provide a detailed list of equipment and status (including materials like WHO tube test kits, cones, mosquito cages, etc.). Describe data storage and backup system and methods for data entry, etc. It is expected there may be multiple systems in place within a single institution (for example, some people using Access for data entry, others using Excel).
5. Identify the challenges the institutions are facing in fulfilling their mission as well as opportunities that may help them better achieve assigned objectives.
6. Evaluate the NMCP’s capacity at the national level to plan, coordinate and provide oversight for entomological activities and use data for operational and policy decision-making; (in terms of personnel, relationships with institutions, funders, etc.).
7. Evaluate the technical collaboration between research institutions and Universities with regard to their consultative and advisory role to the NMCP. Does their current organization and process facilitate decision making by NMCP for potential policy improvements in vector control?
8. Specifically address how NMCP (central level) articulates and receives responses for important vector control decisions and planning for entomological monitoring. Also, how it remains up to date with a rapidly changing vector control arena.

Based on the findings, the consultant will:

9. Recommend any necessary actions to the government of Cameroon (GOCA) and partners such as PMI to strengthen the institutions to enable them to perform their responsibilities and fulfill their mission as assigned by the GOCA.
10. Suggest specific actions to improve the performance of the entomological institutions in regard to vector control challenges in the context of surveillance and control and the long-term goal of elimination of malaria in Cameroon. The recommendations should also target improvement of institutional relationships between all institutions involved in vector control and entomological monitoring to ensure quality data collection, analysis, reporting and sharing for decision making.
11. Assist with developing a multi-year work plan to strengthen the national entomological capacity.

The lead consultant will be assisted by a locally-recruited consultant with strong knowledge in public health and a good understanding of organizational and management challenges of research public health research institutions. Preference will be given to a local consultant with a proven experience in entomology.

Qualifications:

• Masters Degree (minimum), Doctorate degree (desirable), in Entomology, Public Health, Environmental Health, Entomology or other relevant field.
• At least 10 years of relevant professional work experience with significant amounts of direct experience in vector control
• Experience in conducting organizational or institutional assessment in the Francophone West African region
• Demonstrated ability to work both as a member of a team and as a team leader, with the ability to accept the inputs of other team members.
• Excellent organizational, interpersonal communication and computer skills.

• Experience with USAID and donor projects is highly desirable.
• Fluency in French and English.
• Immediate availability; willingness to travel to Cameroon.

Deliverables:

The consultant shall submit an evaluation report in both English and French versions highlighting key findings of the evaluation to the USAID/Cameroon PMI Team at the end of the evaluation. The proposed evaluation team should present the highlights of the report to USAID/Cameroon PMI Team, the evaluated institutions, the NMCP, and its malaria support partners before ending the consultancy.

Timeline of the evaluation:

The evaluation should be completed by the end of February 2023 and a final report submitted for approval by 15th of March 2023, including:

1. Research institute/university visits and survey: 1st – 22nd February 2023
2. Presentation of the findings to the partners for comments and report orientation: February 27th, 2023
3. Final report submission: March 15th, 2023
4. Final report approval by VectorLink: March 25th, 2023

All interested and qualified applicants should send their application to Etienne_Fondjo@pmivectorlink.com while including the title of the position they are applying for in the subject line of the email by January 27th, 2023.

The documents to be attached must include: a letter of motivation providing the details of the specific qualifications of the candidate for the position concerned, a Curriculum Vitae (CV). Applications that do not respect these instructions or that do not meet the minimum qualification requirements specified will not be selected.

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