Poor hygiene practice is a major contributor to several endemic and epidemic diseases in Southern Africa. Handwashing with soap and water has been proven to be the single most cost-effective intervention to prevent top causes of under-5 mortality including acute respiratory diseases such as Covid-19. Investment in hygiene is essential to managing the current challenges presented in this time of Covid-19 and is expected to be essential in the long-term management of future pandemics. As experience demonstrates, however, these quick gains can be short-lived if the enabling environment is not nurtured. Handwashing with soap is the single most effective prevention against many diseases including acute respiratory diseases like Covid-19. The focus on hygiene is essential for the achievement of the Nutrition Action Framework that the SADC Secretariat has been mandated to implement.
SADC and its development partners are keen to not only respond to this emergency in the short term but strengthen national systems that would make much more resilient WASH services where government programmes create consumer demand and a robust private sector that can respond to these needs across all markets. SADC will build on the opportunities that Covid-19 brings and use its current partnerships to support member state initiatives.
Overall objectives of the Consultancy
The purpose of this consultancy is to develop the framework to accelerate regional progress aimed at:
- Enhancing public health through sustained hygiene behaviour change
- Making hand-washing practices central and support the push for the necessary changes to WASH policies and infrastructures for sanitation, food hygiene and hygiene in health care settings (i.e. hand hygiene and health care waste management)
- Enabling adequate support is mobilised for the achievement of the SADC Action Framework on Nutrition
- Supporting better financing, coordination, leadership and monitoring of hygiene promotion policies by all SADC member states.
Expected outputs/deliverables from the consultancy
The key deliverables of this consultancy will be:
- A final detailed inception report outlining the consultants understanding of the assignment and the approach to be employed. The inception report will be discussed before the commencement of the assignment in an inception meeting
- Draft SADC Regional Hygiene Strategy which will be subjected to a validation process to be organised by the SADC Secretariat. The Consultants will be responsible for facilitating and reporting the validation engagements.
- A final SADC Regional Hygiene Strategy Document detailing, among others, level and extent of hygiene priority, investment and outcomes required; national policy enabling framework, strategies, and plans required; other key recommendations/strategies for implementation success at regional and national levels.
- The final Regional Hygiene Strategy document will be accompanied by a summary popular version of no more than 6 pages and a PPT of the key strategy contents.
Please click on apply to see the details of the Terms of reference (ToR)
Required Qualifications and Skills
The consultant/s should have a post-graduate degree in Public Health, Social Policy or any equivalent Social Science degree.
- At least 10 years’ of traceable experience of working and/or conducting research, policy development and review in the field of public health, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) behaviour change or social policy at national, regional or international levels.
- Good analytical skills and practical exposure developing policy or strategy documents in national and/or regional context and how they impact on development and poverty alleviation.
- Strong understanding of the concept of regional integration as a strategy for promoting accelerated sustainable development and poverty eradication.
- Good knowledge of WASH, hygiene as a concept, regional strategy as a tool and its linkages to regional integration as a strategy for promoting universal health coverage, accelerated sustainable development and poverty eradication.
- Familiarity and experience with national development planning processes.
Bidders are requested to submit a written proposal, detailing their interpretation of the Terms of Reference, a recommended methodological approach, including a financial proposal and consultancy team’s experience relevant to this assignment.
Submissions must be sent to southe[email protected] no later than 09 July 2020.
Please be sure to indicate – SADC Regional Hygiene strategy in the subject line.
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