National Consultant: Family Planning Costed Implementation Plan (FP CIP) Evaluation & Strategy

Background and Project Objectives

South Sudan is preparing to review the FP CIP 2021–2026 and develop the FP CIP 2027–2031 in a context of low modern contraceptive use, high fertility and adolescent childbearing, recurrent humanitarian shocks and severe fiscal constraints. The process will combine a rigorous look-back with a prioritised successor strategy and a Financial Sustainability/DRM Plan that positions voluntary, rights-based family planning as an investment in health, human capital, economic resilience, gender equality and social stability.

The project has three objectives:

• Objective 1 – Retrospective review and learning. By the end of Week 6, complete and validate a retrospective performance, financing and bottleneck review of the FP CIP 2021–2026 that assesses progress against planned results and quantifies, to the extent data permit, variances between costed requirements, commitments, funds received/disbursed and activities implemented; identifies fragility-related causes of resource and execution gaps; and draws lessons from government, off-budget donor and humanitarian financing modalities.
• Objective 2 – Development of the FP CIP 2027–2031. By the end of Week 10, develop a prioritised, results-based and fully costed draft FP CIP 2027–2031 that responds to the review findings and repositions voluntary, rights-based family planning as a high-value multisectoral investment in maternal and adolescent health, human capital, the demographic dividend, household and macroeconomic resilience, gender equality, social stability and peacebuilding.
• Objective 3 – Financial sustainability, DRM and investment case. By the end of Week 15, deliver a validated Financial Sustainability and Domestic Resource Mobilisation Plan and an executive FP Investment Case that define a phased and realistic pathway for increased national and state financing, improved use of humanitarian and development resources, efficiency gains and integration, innovative/transitional financing, and targeted advocacy to mobilise and protect resources for implementation of the FP CIP 2027–2031.

Purpose of the National Consultancy

To provide sustained in-country technical, analytical and coordination capacity across the full assignment; ensure that the review and successor CIP reflect South Sudanese institutional, fiscal, humanitarian and sub-national realities; and support transfer of planning, costing, financing and monitoring capacity to MoH and the FP TWG.

Objectives of the Assignment

• Provide sustained, in-country support to the review of the FP CIP 2021–2026 and the development of the FP CIP 2027–2031, ensuring continuity between the international consultant’s missions.
• Support data collection, stakeholder engagement, and coordination at national and sub-national levels, including in hard-to-reach and humanitarian settings.
• Contribute contextual, cultural, and institutional knowledge of South Sudan’s health system, administrative structures, and family planning programming environment.
• Support the international consultant in the organization and facilitation of consultations, workshops, and validation meetings.
• Contribute to building the capacity of the Ministry of Health and Technical Working Group in strategic and financial planning for family planning, ensuring national ownership and knowledge retention.

The national consultant will work under the day-to-day technical supervision of the RHCS Programme Specialist, and in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health’s Directorate of Reproductive Health. The national consultant will support engagement with the national FP Technical Working Group, state and county health authorities, development partners, civil society, and community/youth representatives, with particular responsibility for sub-national coordination and field-level data collection across all technical domains of the FP CIP.

Scope of Work and Detailed Tasks

Inception and evidence mobilisation

1. Compile and organise national policy, programme, HMIS/DHIS2, LMIS/commodity, budget, expenditure, partner and humanitarian documents/data required for the assignment.
2. Support stakeholder mapping, State/county sampling, scheduling and development/testing of data-collection tools.
3. Develop and maintain a live data-source and data-gap register and follow up agreed data requests with MoH, Finance, States and partners.
4. Contribute substantive South Sudan contextual analysis to the inception report and risk/feasibility assessment.

Retrospective review and resource tracking

1. Lead or support national and sub-national data collection, including key informant interviews, focus groups, facility/site visits and structured partner resource-tracking requests.
2. Compile and reconcile available information on planned activities, commitments, disbursements/expenditure and implementation, with particular attention to national/State financing and off-budget partner resources.
3. Document fragility-related implementation and cost drivers—including conflict, access, flooding, inflation/exchange-rate effects, security, transport, workforce and supply-chain constraints—and provide evidence for root-cause analysis.
4. Support analysis of humanitarian financing and service continuity and engagement with Health Cluster/humanitarian stakeholders.
5. Draft sub-national, institutional and financing sections of the review report to publication standard.

Development, costing and sustainability planning

1. Support facilitation of strategic planning and prioritisation workshops and ensure State, county, community, youth and other underserved perspectives are represented.
2. Compile and validate local unit-cost, service-delivery, logistics, workforce and geographic-cost data needed for the contextualised costing model, including evidence on fragility premiums.
3. Support Ministry of Finance and Planning, parliamentary and State-level engagement for DRM, budget-cycle mapping and financing advocacy.
4. Contribute to the resource map, financing-gap analysis, DRM pathway, efficiency/integration assessment and feasibility review of transitional/innovative financing options.
5. Contribute to drafting the FP CIP, results/MEAL framework, implementation roadmap, Financial Sustainability & DRM Plan, Investment Case and targeted policy briefs.

Validation and capacity transfer

1. Coordinate local logistics and substantive preparation for TWG, multisectoral and validation meetings.
2. Maintain consultation records, participant/stakeholder logs and action trackers and support consolidation of comments.
3. Support hands-on capacity transfer to MoH/TWG staff on resource tracking, costing assumptions, financing monitoring and results/MEAL tools.
4. Maintain continuity and follow-up with Government and State counterparts between international consultant missions and during finalisation.

Methodology and Working Principles

The national consultant will work as a substantive member of the technical team, not solely as a logistics focal point. The role combines quantitative and qualitative data work, resource tracking, contextual analysis, stakeholder engagement, drafting and capacity transfer. All analysis must distinguish verified data from estimates, document source quality and preserve rights-based, voluntary and non-discriminatory family planning principles.

Deliverables, Schedule and Payment 

The consultant will be based in Juba, South Sudan, for the duration of in-country missions, with home-based work permitted for desk review, analysis, and drafting phases. Travel to selected states/counties, including at least one humanitarian/conflict-affected setting, will be required for consultations and field visits, subject to UN security clearance. All in-country travel will be arranged and funded in accordance with UNFPA travel policies.

The selected consultant must have the following basic educational and professional experience:

Qualifications and Experience:

Education

• Master’s degree in Public Health, Health Economics, Population Studies, Statistics, Economics, Health Policy, Social Sciences or related field; a strong Bachelor’s degree with exceptional directly relevant experience may be considered where procurement rules permit.

Experience

• Minimum 5–8 years of relevant national or regional experience in family planning/reproductive health programming, health systems strengthening, or health policy and planning.
• Demonstrated experience supporting national health strategy, costed plan, or survey processes in South Sudan, including engagement with the Ministry of Health, state health authorities, and development partners.
• Experience in qualitative and quantitative data collection, field coordination, and stakeholder engagement, including in rural, remote, or humanitarian settings within South Sudan.
• Familiarity with South Sudan’s health information systems (HMIS/DHIS2) and national planning and budget processes is an advantage.
• Prior experience supporting or working alongside international consultants or technical advisors is desirable.

Skills and Competencies

• Strong written and spoken English; working proficiency in Arabic and/or relevant local languages is highly desirable.
• Strong organizational, logistical, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work independently and manage sub-national fieldwork.
• Sound understanding of the South Sudanese administrative, cultural, and institutional context, with the ability to build trust with government and community stakeholders.
• High level of professionalism, integrity, and cultural sensitivity, with a demonstrated commitment to gender equality and human rights-based programming.

The consultant will be provided an office space at the ministry of health and work with RHCs team and UNFPA will provide support services including transport, office space, and telephone airtime for the consultant.

The assignment will be funded under the UNFPA Supplies Programme. A detailed budget will be finalized based on the approved work plan and survey scope. This will cover professional fees, field costs, data collection tools, logistics, and dissemination activities.

Other relevant information or special conditions

Payments will be made in installments linked to the achievement and formal acceptance of each deliverable listed in Section 5, in accordance with UNFPA financial rules and regulations, and upon written confirmation of satisfactory completion by the UNFPA Reproductive Health Programme and the Ministry of Health.

The national consultant will work in close coordination with the national FP Technical Working Group and relevant state-level health authorities. All outputs will be submitted in English, in electronic format, and will require review and clearance by the international consultant, UNFPA, and the Ministry of Health prior to acceptance.