Context

　　The Local Health System Sustainability Project (LHSS) is USAID’s flagship initiative in health systems strengthening. Its goal is to help low- and middle-income countries achieve strong, sustainable health systems to support access to universal health coverage. In 2021, LHSS developed two learning exchanges that documented examples of (i) successful ministry of health efforts to increase health budget execution and (ii) processes for institutionalizing priority setting process, in collaboration with the Joint Learning Network. A subset of the participating countries from the learning exchanges received technical support to adapt and apply these efforts to their contexts. During the learning exchanges, country participants reported ​​the lack of inclusion of national priorities in health budgets as a key challenge that, in turn, prevents ministries of health from achieving good health budget execution because spending is not aligned with priorities. LHSS is now building on this work to support two countries to help strengthen the link between priority setting processes and health budget execution to ensure that health priorities are reflected in government health budgets and that these budgets are executed in alignment with the priorities.

　　Objectives

　　The LHSS activity team is looking for a local/regional consultant to provide technical assistance to strengthen the link between priority setting and government budget execution for health in Namibia. Namibia is in the process of developing an essential health services package (EHSP) to clearly define the health services and interventions that will be available at different levels of health facilities across the country. To facilitate the implementation of the package, it will be important for the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) to allocate resources in line with this package and the priorities identified in terms of service provision and the country’s health needs with a specific focus on vulnerable populations.

　　The consultant will work with the LHSS Namibia country team and the Namibia MoHSS, program managers, and regional directorates to provide technical support to strengthen the capacity of regional directorates to allocate their budget in alignment with priorities and programs defined in the government’s program-based budget. This will be achieved through in-person coaching, mentoring and other capacity building techniques.

　　Roles and responsibilities

　　Support the regional directorates to strengthen their process to use priorities defined in multi-year programs and program-based budgets to define annual budget allocations.

　　Support the development of a clear and objective process for allocating annual budgets to health priorities.

　　Conduct a rapid assessment to 1) understand the programs at the regional level and how resources are allocated, and 2) examine the planning and budgeting challenges at the regional level, including the level of autonomy they have in the budget cycle.

　　Provide technical support to address one of the challenges identified in the rapid review, in collaboration with the MoHSS.

　　Travel to selected regions (TBD) in Namibia to build the capacity of regional directorates to Support the development of a clear and objective process for allocating annual budgets to health priorities.

　　Participate in regular check-ins with LHSS team in Abt home office.

　　Deliverables

　　Documented process to apply priorities defined in multi-year programs to define annual budget allocations.

　　Capacity building materials used to provide technical support.

　　LHSS consultant report that includes a summary of the capacity building that the consultant provided, including key observations, successes, and challenges (report template to be provided by LHSS).

　　Qualifications

　　Undergraduate degree in public financial management, health finance, health economics, public administration, local development, or similar fields

　　At least 10 years’ experience in public financial management (PFM)

　　Experience working in Namibia and/or the health sector preferable.

　　Demonstrated experience working with sub-national level stakeholders who execute government funds. Experience with sub-national level health stakeholders, such as ministry of health, sub-national health offices, national health insurance agencies is preferred.

　　Strong interpersonal communication skills.

　　Fluency in English language, including report writing.

　　Duration

　　The consultancy will take place between January and June 2024 for approximately 30 days.