UoN UNITID Fellowship Program Feasibility of Projects Assessment Expression of Interest

Expression of Interest (EOI)

The University of Nairobi in collaboration with the University of Washington has been supporting the Kenyan National HIV response through the UNITID FELLOWSHIP training program; the program is funded by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

The University of Nairobi wishes to invite expression of interest for consultants to conduct external review of the UNITID fellowship program and give recommendations on the following:

1. The feasibility of Fellows projects and relevance to the needs of host institutions

The Consultants should

Be independent with no prior involvement in the program,Have proven experience in conducting evaluations of public Health programs,Be familiar with capacity building needs in public health especially in HIV/AIDS,Have experience in conducting and evaluating adult training programsHave good communication, analytical and report writing skillsThe eligible firms should satisfy the following minimum conditions:Certification of IncorporationTrading licenseCompany Profile and qualification of key managers, consultants and directors.Previous Consultancy work with comparable institutions.Audited accounts for the last 3 years.Three major Clients in the last 3 years.VAT complianceCompany brochures.The Expression of Interest (EOI) documents in plain sealed envelopes marked “Expression of Interest for External Outcome Evaluation of the UNITID Fellowship Program’ should be hand delivered to:

The Principal Investigator – Prof. James Kiarie
UNITID  Fellowship Program
c/o University of Nairobi Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases
KNH grounds
P O Box 30197-00100 

Nairobi.

The expression of interest (EOI) Documents Must be hand delivered  on or before March 22nd  2013

The UNITID Fellowship Program reserves the right to reject EOI in whole or in part. 

Canvassing will lead to automatic disqualificationExternal Review for UNITID Fellowship Training Program

Terms of Reference

Background
 

The University of Nairobi (UoN) in collaboration with the University of Washington (UW) has been supporting the Kenyan National HIV response by strengthening program capacity through a fellowship training program. The UoN in collaboration with UW through the Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases (UNITID) established the UNITID FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM in 2008 funded by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The training focuses in three tracks:
1) HIV Science, Epidemiology and Program Management
3) Health Economics

There are 2 main forms of the training offered by the program

a. Short courses: Health care providers of various cadres are trained in courses which run for five to ten days. The courses provide trainees with specific skills that they can apply in day to day management of HIV care and prevention programs.

b. Fellowship training: This is a two year full time skills based training that equips trainees with broad skills required to manage large HIV programs. The training has several components

a. Didactic in class training: For 2 months in the first year all fellows receive classroom training on core courses in the University of Nairobi Campus. This training is by

UNITID faculty and invited resource persons. For 4 months spread through the first and second year fellows receive classroom training on specific tracks in small groups of 3-5 fellows specializing in the same track. The training involves group discussions, site visits to selected implementation sites and assignments. This provides basic theoretical grounding of all fellows in the 3 track areas and advanced theoretical knowledge for fellows in their track of specialization.

b. Didactic web cast training: For 2 hours every week for 30 weeks fellows receive webcast lectures from the University of Washington faculty. This training involves extensive pre class reading and assignments. This enhances the basic theoretical rounding of all fellows in the 3 track areas

c. Attachment in host institutions: Fellows are posted to selected host institutions where they participate in activities of the host institution. While at the Host institution they are given mentors who mentor to help them learn from the host institution and a University supervisor to ensure that the hosting facilitates learning.

d. Project: In the 2nd year of training fellows carry out a funded project to build capacity of the host institution, gain experience in project implementation and apply concepts that they have been trained in. The project is developed by the fellow in consultation with their supervisor in UNITID and their mentor at the host institution.

Purpose of the Review

The purpose of the outcome evaluation is to perform an evaluation of the overall fellowship program in terms of its inputs, processes, outputs, impact and efficiency.

Specifically the external review will evaluate whether:

1. Fellows projects feasible and relevant to needs of host institution

Key Questions to be answered

At the end of the evaluation the consultants will be expected to give direction for the fellowship program in the following areas:

a) What are the areas of weakness and strength in the program?

b) What are the priority strategic next steps in development of the program?
c) What should our “metrics” of success be?
d) In what ways can the program address the capacity building needs for HIV Programs?
e) What sustainability measures can be put in place?

Methodology

The consultant will be expected to gather information throughReview of documentsInterviews and discussions with trainees, trainers, managers and other stakeholdersSite visits.At the end of the review the consultant will present the findings to meeting of stakeholders then submit a report of approximately 5,000 words structured as follows:

(I) Executive Summary

(III) Background of the Program

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