National Consultant to assess the implementation of primary health care contacts for children and adolescents

BACKGROUND

Mozambique, a low-income country with 33 million people in 2024—16% under 18—faces high child and neonatal mortality rates. The health system is challenged by a triple disease burden, rapid population growth, inequities in access, urbanization, climate change, fragmented programs, human resource gaps, and inadequate funding. These issues demand constant adaptation and resilience, directly affecting maternal, child, and adolescent health services.

Mozambique has made notable progress in maternal and child health over recent decades, including expanding health infrastructure, increasing the workforce, and improving service coverage and key health indicators. These achievements support progress toward the SDGs and Universal Health Coverage, though further efforts are needed.

The Ministry of Health has been updating essential primary care interventions for children and adolescents, but implementation remains fragmented and disease-focused, with limited evaluation of impact and quality. Regular healthcare visits represent a critical opportunity to promote healthy development, prevent disease and strengthen links between health services and families.

WHO recently published standards to improve health care for children and adolescents at the health facility level and outlined the recommended contacts through which these target groups should receive age-appropriate essential interventions.

For this reason, the Mozambican Ministry of Health (MISAU) is conducting a situational analysis to explore structural improvements in primary care contacts for these age groups.

DELIVERABLES

The overall objective is to assess the implementation of contacts for children and adolescents aged 0-19 in primary health care in Mozambique, and map the availability, quality, and delivery of scheduled well-child and adolescent health services to inform decision-making and institutional reforms to improve interventions during the continuum of care for the development and well-being of children and adolescents.

Specific Objectives are:

• To review existing policies, guidelines, and service packages.

• To outline existing health and well-being programmes and services for children and adolescents

• To assess service delivery mechanisms, referral pathways, and integration across programs.

• To identify the constraints and barriers in the implementation of the packages offered

• To evaluate the quality of the services offered to children and adolescents (including HR, supplies, infrastructure, data).

• To evaluate the link between health facilities and communities.

• To provide actionable recommendations for strengthening scheduled contacts.

Scope of Work / Key Tasks

The consultant will be responsible for the following:

1.Analyse national and subnational policies, guidelines, strategic plans, and program documents related to child and adolescent health.

2.Conduct interviews with relevant stakeholders at national, provincial, and district levels, including Ministry of Health officials, health facility staff, Implementing Partners, United Nations Agencies, Donors, professional associations, and adolescent and Youth Association.

3.Adapt the mapping tool and conduct the service mapping, which is documenting the structure, frequency, and content of scheduled visits, including referral pathways and integration with other health programs.

4.Adapt and apply the assessment tools for interviews, and field visits

5.Evaluate human resources, infrastructure, supplies, and data systems supporting service delivery.

6.Conduct field visits to selected health facilities and communities to assess the connection between health services and community-based platforms.

7.Compile findings and provide actionable recommendations for strengthening scheduled well-child and adolescent visits.

Deliverables

1.Inception Report Due: Day 2

2.Summary of Document Review Due: Day 7 (Provide a concise analysis of national and subnational policies, guidelines, and strategic documents related to child and adolescent health services.)

3.Completed Data Collection Tools Due: Day 11 (Submit finalized the mapping and other tool / instruments for interviews, facility assessments, and other data collection activities.)

4.Stakeholder Interview Summary including Field visit summary reports" Due: Day 21 (Present a synthesis of key insights from interviews conducted at national, provincial, and district levels.)

5.Service Mapping Report Due: Day 29 (with Detailed overview of scheduled well-child and adolescent visits, including service content, delivery mechanisms, referral pathways, and integration.)

6.Draft assessment report with key findings and recommendations Due: Day 35 (Identification of key gaps, challenges, and opportunities for strengthening service delivery, aligned with WHO standards).

Final Comprehensive Report (incorporating stakeholder feedback) validated Due: Day 42 (Comprehensive report including methodology, findings, analysis, and actionable recommendations, with a summary table of key insights.)

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

·Advanced education (at least master’s level) in Public Health (Essential)

• Advanced degree in Public Health, Pediatrics, Adolescent Health Systems, or related field (is an asset)

EXPERIENCE

• At least 7 years of relevant experience in Public Health, preferably in RMNCAH (Essential)

• Proven experience in health service mapping, program evaluation, or policy analysis (Essential)

• At least 5 years of experience in monitoring and evaluating development programmes and projects.

• Have worked in the provinces in the areas of maternal, child and adolescent health for at least three years. (is an asset)

• Strong understanding of child and adolescent health systems (is an asset)

SKILS/ KNOWLEDGE

• Excellent analytical, facilitation, and report writing, and communication skills(Essential)

• Demonstrated experience in conducting evaluations and/or analyses of programmatic interventions or Action Plans.

• Knowledge of the National Health System on various levels of health care, especially the primary level, in the areas of neonatal, child and adolescent health specifically (is an advantage)

• Excellent coordination skills, with ability to work with various stakeholders

• Excellent written and oral communication skills

• Ability to work under pressure

• Confidentiality and integrity must always be maintained

• Proficiency in Word, PP and Excel (design sheets and graphic)

LANGUAGES

• Fluency in reading, writing and communication in Portuguese and English

Technical Supervision

The consultant will work under the supervision of the contracting agency and in close coordination with the Ministry of Health/DNSP – Family Health Department, the National Technical Team and the partners involved, with whom they will regularly share updates. The assignment is scheduled to last 42 working days. Once the products have been finalized, they should be presented to the DNSP (the Child Health Technical Working Group) to obtain consensus and validation in line with the objectives of the Minister of Health.

LOCATION

The consultant will be based in Maputo and work under the overall authority of the Minister of Health/DNSP-Department of Family Health, under the supervision of the WCO (UHC/LC) cluster – CAH NPO, to whom he/she will provide bi-weekly updates, and to the technical working group coordinator.

TRAVEL

Travel expenses will be covered by the WHO.

REMUNERATION AND BUDGET

Rate: NOB step 1/ Currency: USD