Graduate Student Consultant at the International Rescue Committee (IRC)

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Graduate Student Consultant for the Development of EmONC Referral Research Formative Work

Requisition ID: req33356
Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Sector: Health
Employment Category: Consultant
Employment Type: Part Time

About the Consultancy Service

• IRC is leading a research study in Central African Republic (CAR) and Nigeria that aims to examine practices and experiences of care along the referral pathway from BEmONC to CEmONC facilities and identify recommendations for strengthening referrals and improving experiences of care for clients, particularly those seeking care for obstetric complications.
• One of the objectives of this study, which began in September 2022, is to assess referral structure and capacity at BEmONC and CEmONC facilities in order to understand readiness to provide adequate counseling and services to women and girls. 

The Purpose of the Assignment

• To support with undertaking formative work and ultimately writing country reports that summarize the landscape and identify key implications for the sector. This might include working with national- and local-level implementing partners to collect and analyze referral protocols, gather implementer perspectives on facilitators and barriers to referral in each site, review relevant data systems as feasible, and support with developing interview guides and tools for future data collection.

The Specific Objectives
Specifically, the formative work entails:

• A desk review: of referral protocols and standard operating procedures (SOPs) from IRC and implementing partners, and national- or sub-national level policies and protocols 
• Reviews of secondary data from health information systems: extract and analyze data from relevant health information systems at the national and sub-national levels (local DHIS or HMIS systems) to capture population size, rates of facility deliveries, birth rates and related mortality rates, and caesarian section rates.
• Key informant interviews: (approximately 10 per country) will be conducted with partner program managers and supervisors, MoH representatives, and other stakeholders to capture their perceptions of and experiences with how well referral pathways are operating, and suspected barriers and facilitators to careseeking and referral adherence.
• Health facility assessments: conducted at BEmONC level, and CEmONC level facilities when feasible, to capture facility readiness.

Duration of the Consultancy Service:

• The time and duration of this assignment will need the candidate to work for 100 hours or a maximum 3 months.
• The assignment will be involving health facilities in MMC, Jere and Gwoza , LGAs in  Borno state, and Gujba and Damaturu LGAs in Yobe state, NG. It is possible that graduate student can be based in Maiduguri and be supported by the IRC to work remotely.

Master Plan:

• The country reports that emerge from these practicums will inform the design of the research study, including facility site selection, key informant interview guides, and referral audits.
• The study will result in recommendations to strengthen the referral pathway so as to improve quality of care, access to care, timeliness of care, and health outcomes – and these recommendations will be first informed by the formative work undertaken by the students.
• Examples of work the intern could accomplish during the placement (Please give a clear sense of the type of work that a student could expect to do, recognizing that student and preceptor may re-negotiate specific details as the internship experience unfolds):
  • Desk review
  • Secondary data analysis
  • Analysis of EmONC referral pathway protocols
  • Recommendations for study design
  • Stakeholder engagement at global and national level
  • Report writing
  • Key informant interviews.

Practice Activities:

• Proposed public health practice activities that the project anticipate for the graduate student to  accomplish through the project include:
• Analyze Data (Primary or Secondary)
• Attend and Participate in Inter and/or Intra Agency Meetings
• Design Programs
• Review Literature
• Write Report
• Analyze SOPs/programs
• Develop interview guides.

Qualifications or Specialized Knowledge and / or Experience Required
Required Skills:

• A proven Nigeria Graduate student currently running Health-related program / studies in any Post-graduate school in any country but resident in Nigeria.
• A current Nigeria graduate student in health-related program/studies.
• Experience in desk research and development of technical, advocacy and/or research briefs
• MS Word & PowerPoint
• Excellent reading and writing skills in English
• Ability to work independently.

Desired skills:

• Experience in and/or knowledge of maternal and newborn health
• Experience in and/or understanding of the humanitarian contexts and key actors.
• Familiarity with qualitative data collection.

Payment

• The terms of payment shall be discussed at the initial stage prior to starting the consultation.
• The payments will be made in form of cheques/or direct bank transfer in the name of the consultant or firm named in the contract.
• IRC will deduct with-holding tax at source as per the rules of taxation governing IRC operations and it will be deposited directly to custodian of such tax.
• No other benefits shall be admissible beyond what is stipulated in the contract, nor does it guarantee a regular position in IRC.

Application Closing Date
24th October, 2022.