Qualifications

Background

Maternal and neonatal mortality continue to be a significant health burden, with an estimated 287,000 maternal deaths (2020), 2.4 million newborn deaths (2019), and an additional 1.9 million stillbirths (2021) of which almost half occurred during labour and birth.  Poor-quality care accounts for 61% of neonatal deaths and half of maternal deaths and could prevent approximately half of the stillbirths that occur each year. The WHO Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing (MCA) strives to ensure that every pregnant woman, mother, newborn, child, adolescent and older person will survive, thrive and enjoy optimal health and well-being.  WHO/MCA aims to achieve its vision through providing leadership for the global MNCAH agenda by convening partners and stakeholders, steer the translation of research and innovations into practice, lead development of evidence-based guidelines and operational guidance to optimize access, quality, coverage and equity of maternal, newborn child and adolescent health (MNCAH) care and services, and ensure robust monitoring of national policies and programs for sustainable impact at country level across the life course.  To facilitate its work towards this vision, the MCA department, with support from the USAID and other partners, has been working to strengthen leadership of midwives in six countries. There is a grant to support the work for strengthening the nursing care for small and sick new-borns in Malawi. 

WHO/Malawi is seeking the services of a suitably qualified candidate to collaborate with the World Health Organisation and the Ministry of Health through the Directorates of Nursing & Midwifery Services and Reproductive Health to develop leadership profiles for midwives and nurses engaged in the care for small and sick new-borns.  

The consultant will be expected to work within a framework that incorporates relevant stakeholders such as the Nurses’ and Midwives’ Council of Malawi, training institutions and health facilities when conducting consultations and meetings related to this work.

Deliverables

Conduct mapping of the cadres of health care workers providing care for small and sick children;

Review job descriptions and scopes of practice for various cadres of midwives and nurses providing care to small and sick newborns;

Collect and review relevant reports/documents to inform the development of the leadership profiles;

Facilitate consultative process for the development of leadership profiles for midwives and nurses involved in the care of small and sick newborns;

Facilitate inception and validation meetings together with the World Health Organisation and MOH Directorate of Nursing and Midwifery Services and Directorate of Reproductive Health; 

Prepare draft and final report capturing the following:

·         Cadres of midwives and nurses involved in care of small and sick newborns in Malawi;

·         Pre-service preparation and in-service training background for each cadre and hours covered in small and sick newborn care; and

·         Strengths and gaps identified

·         Recommendations

•               Present the report to Ministry of Health, WHO and stakeholders for validation.

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications

Essential: Master’s degree in any Nursing and/or Midwifery related field from a recognized and accredited institution. 

Desirable: Master’s Degree in child health Nursing and/or neonatal care.

Experience

Essential:  Minimum 10 years' experience in dealing with issues of Nursing and Midwifery leadership; minimum 5 years’ management level experience in the health sector or teaching in a training institution for Nursing and Midwifery; ideally in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Desirable: Minimum 10 years’ experience in developing nursing and/or midwifery curriculum; minimum 5 years management level experience in a clinical setting (maternity/neonatal care services).

Skills/Knowledge

A clear understanding of the syllabi and curricula for various cadres of nursing and midwifery;

Experience in facilitating multi-stakeholder processes towards common goals, including government, development partners, academia;

Excellent data analysis skills and interpretation. Ability to write clearly and concisely, and have sound quantitative and qualitative data (managing, analysing and interpreting data);

Strong communication and facilitation skills, and ability to work in a team and establish good working relationships with stakeholders

Expertise in working with Government, UN, development partners and academic institutions 

Ability to produce high quality work with accuracy and close attention to detail. 

Languages and level required

Advanced English both oral and written

Location

The assignment shall be undertaken in Lilongwe with possibility of traveling to the other parts of the country. Where necessary WHO will support the consultant to conduct some consultations virtually.

Travel

The consultancy may involve travel to selected districts

Additional information

         WHO has zero-tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates.

        WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.

 The selected candidates will be contacted to provide certified documents.