International Consultant: Integrating SRHR/FP/GBV in GC8 Grant Writing, Freetown, Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone continues to prioritize the reduction of its high maternal mortality ratio through targeted health systems strengthening. As the country prepares its Global Fund Grant Cycle 8 (GC8) funding request, aligning disease-specific interventions (HIV, Tuberculosis, and Malaria) with broader Maternal Health and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) services is critical. Sierra Leone’s GC8 allocation is up to US$109.8 million across HIV, TB and Malaria (inclusive of RSSH). The 3.5-year implementation period runs 1 July 2027–31 December 2030. Review windows fall at end-July and end-August 2026, with submission targeted for 30 September (deadline 5 October 2026). 

The Global Fund's GC8 strategy explicitly champions integrated primary healthcare (PHC) to drive efficiencies, maximize resource impact, and build Resilient and Sustainable Systems for Health (RSSH). Effective integration ensures that pregnant women, adolescent girls, and young women accessing maternal or SRHR services concurrently receive integrated prevention, screening, and treatment for HIV, TB, and malaria.

GC8 also advances the transition towards a single Principal Recipient model centred on the Ministry of Health, with a stronger emphasis on building government systems. The technical assistance will accordingly position UNFPA-supported SRHR/MNH/FP priorities within MoH-led implementation, while safeguarding the roles of civil society and community actors. 

UNFPA Sierra Leone, as a lead technical agency for reproductive health, seeks a highly qualified consultant to provide comprehensive technical assistance to the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM). The consultant will ensure that SRHR/MNH/FP priorities are strongly articulated, costed, and integrated into the GC8 national funding proposal.

The consultant’s technical input will contribute to institutionalization of a person-centered, integrated service delivery model that aligns the national RMNCAH strategy and the EWENE Acceleration Plan with Global Fund priorities. By embedding HIV, eMTCT, and STI screening within Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) entry points, the technical assistance ensures a "one-stop-shop" approach that maximizes resource efficiency and improves health outcomes. With mother-to-child HIV transmission estimated at ~12%, embedding HIV testing, counselling and ART within maternal-health entry points is central to the national elimination (zero-transmission) goal. 

This strategic integration will bridge existing gaps between community-level interventions and primary healthcare, ensuring that life-saving maternal and neonatal interventions are inextricably linked to the broader HIV, TB, and Malaria response. 

The primary objective is to lead the strategic, evidence-based integration of Maternal Health, midwifery, SRHR and family planning interventions into Sierra Leone’s Global Fund Cycle 8 funding request.

Specific Objectives:

1. Identify high-impact entry points within the GC8 Modular Framework for integrating SRHR, maternal health, including family planning interventions.
2. Conduct data-driven gap analyses of current integrated services at the Primary Healthcare (PHC) and community levels.
3. Build on the existing GC7 integration of RH/FP commodities into the GF-supported last-mile distribution system, positioning GC8 to consolidate, sustain and scale it within the RSSH and service-delivery modules (aligned to the National Health Supply Chain Strategy) 
4. Ensure priorities in SRHR/MNH, including midwifery model of care are embedded within RSSH components - health information/data systems, community health systems and supply chain - given there is no separate RSSH allocation in GC8
5. Facilitate multi-stakeholder consultations to secure national consensus on integrated priorities. 
6. Draft, refine, and cost specific interventions within the final GC8 application package.

Scope of the review,

Description of services, activities or outputs:

The consultant will work under the overall guidance of the UNFPA Deputy Representative and in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the GC8 writing teams. 

The scope of work is divided into four distinct phases:

Phase I: Desk Review and Inception

1. Review Sierra Leone’s National Strategic Plans for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH), other relevant national policies and strategies, current Global Fund performance data, and the latest GC8 allocation guidelines.
2. Map current integration gaps within existing health service delivery points (e.g., missed opportunities for EMTCT, malaria-in-pregnancy tracking, cervical cancer screening, GBV screening in antenatal clinic, family planning, etc.)
3. Document the existing GC7 integration of RH/FP commodities into the GF-supported last-mile distribution system (and the warehouse expansion underway), and identify what should be sustained, scaled or optimized under GC8 - including strengthening system-wide stock visibility through the Open mSupply roll-out and broader eLMIS governance, to reduce last-mile stock-out risks. 
4. Develop an Inception Report and an accelerated roadmap detailing the consultation and writing methodology.

Phase II: Country Dialogue and Stakeholder Consultation

1. Facilitate national and sub-national country dialogues with key stakeholders, including the MoH, CCM, civil society organizations, networks of women living with HIV, adolescent groups, and development partners.
2. Gather qualitative and quantitative inputs regarding structural, financial, and operational bottlenecks preventing fully integrated maternal health and SRHR/HIV/Malaria care.
3. Build technical consensus on prioritized, cost-effective integrated interventions suitable for GC8 backing.

Phase III: Drafting Integrated Interventions and Modules

1. Support the conceptualization and narrative drafting of the selected integrated maternal health/SRHR/FP/commodity security interventions within the GC8 Funding Request Form.
2. Incorporate strong human rights, gender-transformative, and community-led health system components into the narrative, targeting adolescent girls and vulnerable young women.   
3. Formulate and incorporate community health systems and community-led monitoring interventions (CHW platforms, community-based SRH/FP delivery, demand generation, accountability mechanisms) to leverage the Integrated Community & Health Services for Women & Children matching fund window
4. Identify and position SRHR/MNH interventions to leverage relevant GC8 catalytic matching-fund windows - in particular Integrated Community & Health Services for Women & Children, and Human Rights & Gender Barriers to HTM services - including the country-allocation co-financing each window requires. 
5. Collaborate directly with the GC8 costing and health economics experts to ensure all proposed SRHR/Maternal Health and midwifery activities are accurately reflected in the modular framework budget and performance indicators.

Phase IV: Validation and Finalization

1. Present the draft integrated sections at national validation workshops organized by the CCM and MoH.
2. Address and incorporate all feedback from national stakeholders and pre-submission technical review panels.
3. Provide a final assignment report documenting lessons learned, structural bottlenecks identified, and clear recommendations for the grant implementation phase.

This assignment will be undertaken over a period of 30 working days according to the following timeline:

Payments are strictly output-based and will be disbursed upon satisfactory  completion and approval of deliverables.

• Advanced university degree (master’s or higher) in Public Health, Medicine, Epidemiology, Global Health Policy, or a closely related social science field. 
• Minimum of 7 years of progressive professional experience in managing or advising public health programs, specifically focusing on Maternal Health or SRHR. 
• Demonstrated experience in drafting successful Global Fund Funding Requests or managing Global Fund-supported programming.
• Experience in working with the UN, Ministry of Health, NGOs and/or development partner institutions.
• Deep familiarity with the Global Fund's architectural frameworks, specifically the Cycle 7 / Cycle 8 Modular Frameworks. 
• Prior experience working within sub-Saharan Africa, with specific experience in Sierra Leone’s healthcare landscape considered a distinct advantage.
• Proven capacity to facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogues under compressed timelines.  Strong analytical skills with a track record of translating epidemiological and financial data into strategic national programmatic text.
• Fluency in written and spoken English is mandatory.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work in a team.

The consultant is expected to deliver this assignment using his/her own equipment and workspace.

Consultant must undertake mandatory courses by UNFPA / or demonstrate certification of the same – eg. PSEA, BSAFE, etc.