Health Research Consultant

Background:

There are more displaced people today than at any other point in human history. Displaced communities, including refugee and internally displaced people (IDPs), experience difficulty accessing health services across many contexts. The International Rescue Committee works to ensure that displaced people- especially those living in fragile and conflict-affected settings- can access essential health services. The IRC has health programs in over 30 countries, including those with some of the most challenging operating environments. This project will synthesize findings from three case study countries, summarizing best practices and lessons learned for integrating care for displaced populations into national health systems, and expanding access to care for displaced communities.

Project Review:

The IRC seeks to hire a consultant to deliver a research and policy paper that examines best practices for integrating refugees and displaced people into national health systems in order to make care more accessible. More specifically, the paper will draw on findings from IRC health programs in Jordan and two other case study countries to highlight best practices and recommendations (including policy, programmatic, and financial) for scaling up access to health services for refugees and internally displaced people.

The paper will examine best practices and lessons learned for expanding access to health services for displaced communities with the explicit aim of producing recommendations for improving displaced peoples’ access to Covid-19 tools, including therapeutics and vaccines.Displaced people, who frequently lack access to health services and may lack state protections, may be missed in the global effort to expand access to Covid-19 diagnostics, therapeutic drugs, and other tools. This paper will draw out best practices for integrating these populations into national health systems’ planning, policy, and architecture, to draw timely recommendations for the Covid-19 pandemic.

The final product will be disseminated to government officials as part of targeted advocacy; to donors (including private sector partners) to encourage flexible, long term financing to strengthen health systems in these contexts; and to peer civil society organizations.

Outcome/Deliverables:

The consultant will be expected to deliver research notes, data analysis, a 2 page executive summary, and a 20 page (max) research and policy paper, written in English and translated into Arabic.

The paper will include but is not limited to the following elements:

• Briefly explain and highlight the context and reality of providing sustainable health services to Syrian refugees, displaced populations, and vulnerable host communities.
• Briefly outline the existing national health policies in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey including barriers to integrating community health into national health systems.
• Present a case study from IRC’s Jordan health work including analysis of the data and summary of KII to showcase key stakeholder perspectives.
• Present best practices from the IRC Jordan health programs.
• Outline recommendations (programmatic, policy, and financial) for how host countries can more effectively meet the growing health needs by integrating community health service delivery into public health systems.

Job Description:

The IRC is looking for a Consultant to complete the following tasks:

• Conduct an analysis of national health systems and policies with a focus on inclusion of displaced people in Jordan, and two other case country studies (to be determined).
• Compile, analyze, and interpret data from the IRC health projects focused on health systems strengthening and community health service delivery, to highlight how these projects have expanded access for displaced populations
• Conduct Key Informant Interviews (KII) with Ministry of Health officials in Jordan and two other case study countries, health providers, civil society, and potentially IRC beneficiaries to better understand perspective on the needs and effectiveness of access to health services across contexts.
• Identify and interpret best practices from the Jordan and additional case studies and KII’s
• Distill these into a research/policy paper, including identifying policy and financial recommendations