Terms of Reference
                                                                                                    for 
                                  Priorities Assessment for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and 
               Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) Program in selected Rural Municipalities of Taplejung District

Introduction: 

Action for Nepal (AF Nepal) is a local non-profit organization committed to advancing development in Nepal's remote communities focusing on health, education, and local empowerment in the Solukhumbu and Bajhang districts. AF Nepal’s work is focused on enhancing access to basic health services and addressing the systemic challenges faced by communities in remote regions. For the past nine years, AF Nepal has been dedicated to improving maternal and child health, with a particular emphasis on strengthening access to services and improving the utilization of existing healthcare resources. The organization has also prioritized adolescent reproductive health and ensuring continuous care throughout the pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postnatal care for both mothers and newborns, especially in remote rural areas where healthcare access is limited.

AF Nepal seeks to engage a service provider with extensive experience in health assessments and a deep understanding of Nepal’s healthcare system. The selected provider will be responsible for conducting a comprehensive assessment across the three rural municipality (Aathrai Tribeni Rural Municipality, Maiwakhola Rural Municipality and Yangwarak Rural Municipality) of Taplejung District, gathering relevant data, analyzing and providing recommendations to Action for Nepal and AHF.

The objectives of this assessment are to:

• Assess the governance, management, and leadership strengths and capacity of local government and health authorities in addressing RMNCAH issues.
• Understand the magnitude and distribution of RMNCAH health problems across various age groups, castes/ethnicities, geographical locations and disabilities in three rural municipalities of Taplejung District.
• Identify socio-economic, cultural, and environmental determinants affecting RMNCAH outcomes in the region.
• Evaluate the availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality of RMNCAH services across health facilities, while also assessing the patient satisfaction.
• Assess the effectiveness of current date recording, reporting and monitoring systems for RMNCAH services and identify areas of improvement.
• Assess the alignment of local health policies with national and provincial policies on RMNCAH, and identify gaps in policy implementation.
• Evaluate the overall health system capacity, including infrastructure, staffing and financial resources to sustain RMNCH services
• Generate evidence-based recommendations for targeted interventions and development of a new project to improve RMNCAH outcomes in these three RMs, and review the AF Nepal’s model of work to ensure alignment with these recommendations.

Qualifications, experience, and skills 

Preference will be given to applicants who are resident in Nepal with the following:  

• A minimum of a Master's degree in Public Health is required. Alternatively, candidates with a Master's degree in Social Sciences and extensive experience in health and needs assessment will also be considered for the position of Assessment Team Lead.
• Proven experience in conducting similar assessments, including at least 5 years of working experience in carrying out assessments as a team leader. For applicants from consulting firms, the work portfolio must demonstrate a minimum of 3 years of relevant experience
• Demonstrated understanding of health sectors in Nepal and particularly national and local health policies and plan and practices;
• Sound understanding of child safeguarding and gender, disability and social equity principles and actions;
• Ability to produce well written, analytical reports in English essential;
• Familiarity with the theory of change technique;
• Both quantitative and qualitative data analysis skills; 
• Ability to speak and understand Nepali essential and local languages an advantage; 
• Ability to walk for a few hours up and down hill;
• Ability to stay in remote areas with basic facilities.

Application submissions

Proposals should be written in English and should be no longer than 10 pages, including CVs and budget. In addition, an example piece of work should be attached to the application. 

Interested consultants/consulting firms should submit the following documents with their expression of interest (EoI):

• Letter of expression of interest.
• Short overview of how the candidate meets the qualifications, experience and skills requirements (no more than one page) 
• Technical and financial proposals (in separate files).
• Firm's profile detailing past assignments (including at least one need assessment report).
• CVs of all team members highlighting their areas of work and experience in health.
• Company documents if applicable
• VAT / Pan Registration certificate (for both firms and individual consultants).

Deadline for Proposal Submission

Proposals must be submitted by 1700 hours (COB) on February 09, 2025 via email to the following address:

Action for Nepal:  [email protected]; Boudha, Kathmandu, Nepal, Phone: 01-4915979 and copy to AHF Head of Program: [email protected] and AHF MEAL Specialist [email protected]

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Only short-listed applicants will be contacted for further evaluation.