TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR WRITERS/COLUMNISTS

Required services: write feature articles on topics related to the to fight against HIV, TB and malaria

Language: English or French

Application Deadline: 15^th October 2021

Location: The Consultant will work remotely in his/her country of residence

BACKGROUND

Established by a resolution of African Health ministers in 2012, the African Constituencies Bureau for the Global Fund (ACB) was set up to be a platform for facilitating engagement, participation and consensus building among East and Southern Africa (ESA) and West and Central Africa (WCA) constituent countries in Global Fund policies and governance engagements. Also known as “The Bureau”, the organization is an operational hub and policy think tank of the WCA and ESA Global Fund constituencies and begun its formal operations in March 2017. The purpose of the Bureau is to ensure effective engagement, representation and participation of the Africa constituencies in Global Fund processes as well as enhancing the capacity of the Africa constituencies to shape Global Fund policies and processes.

Over the last couple of years since its establishment, the Bureau has established platforms for constituent engagement, participation and consensus building and strengthened partnerships with key stakeholders. The supreme decision-making body of the Africa Constituencies is the Annual Consultative Meeting chaired by the ACB’s board chairperson, and brings together all the constituencies to engage in policy discussions, share experiences, and agree on consensus over key Global Fund policy issues.

OBJECTIVES OF THE CALL

The main objective of this opportunity is to recruit a pool of columnists who will write feature articles on topics related to the to fight against HIV, TB and malaria in general, and to highlight developments made towards the three epidemics in terms of programming, opportunities, innovations and challenges among others, and on the Global Fund’s work in particular. The ACB will provide general themes for which columnists will choose an area of their interest and then develop an article. The resulting articles will be published on the ACB’s website, social media platforms and on the newsletter.

The specific objectives are to:

• Inform and educate the general public on progress being made in the fight against HIV, TB and malaria;
• Contribute to debates on what Africa needs to focus on to achieve Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals and Universal Health Coverage for all by 2030;
• Engage in discussions and Highlight innovations and opportunities available to Africa to ensure greater impact, while detailing challenges needed to be scaled by the continent; and
• Share lessons learned and case studies of successful interventions to promote South-to-South learning.

TASK OF THE WRITER

Under this assignment, the columnists are expected to :

1. Write topical, analytical and professional articles on global health with a special emphasis on African matters, with a focus on HIV, TB and malaria that, where necessary, acknowledge the sources of information based on research in order to align with contemporary global health issues

2. The articles should not be more than 3 pages. The font size should be of 12pt, Times New Roman; space 1.15, normal margin.

3. The columnist is expected to write two articles per month

REPORTING

The columnists will liaise, coordinate their work with the ACB through the Communications Specialist, and occasionally work with the Policy Analysts and the Strategic and Information specialists.

TOPICS

Columnists are encouraged to write compelling articles on topics as per the themes provided, and may include but will not be limited to;

• Health financing, including innovative and domestic resource mobilization
• Country ownership in the operationalization of Global Fund grants and other available resources
• Sustainability of funding and interventions
• Embedment of gender, human rights and equity  across the three diseases
• Resilient and Sustainable Systems for Health
• Pandemic preparedness and Response Challenging Operating Environments and Additional safeguarding policies
• Global Funds’ grants implementing entities as principal and sub-principal recipients
• Upcoming big events such as: partnership forum, the board meetings, replenishment sessions, etc.

TIME FRAME:
October to December 2021

LANGUAGES:

The articles should be written in English or in French.

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

• University degree in communications, social sciences, public health, health economics, governance medical school or global health delivery, etc. A master degree or extensive experience in health sector policy related work or health strategic information would be an added advantage.
• Good understanding of the Global Fund ecosystem and knowing ESA/WCA constituencies would be an advantage
• At least 5 years of progressive relevant work experience in a related field
• Previous results-based articles writing experience
• High level proficiency in standard computer software, in particular, Microsoft Word and Publisher
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English or French
• Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and/or to avail him/herself within a minimum time

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

• Application letter with a topic(s) in mind detailing why you are interested to write on such a specific topic
• A financial offer per article in USD
• Curriculum vitae with contact details for three (3) professional referees
• Samples of writing or links to previous published articles

Email submissions with a subject “Columnist” should be emailed to awel.mezgebe@africabureau.org and anyobe@africabureau.org.

Do not hesitate to reach us for clarifications.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTING THE BEST OFFER

Selection of the successful firm will be based on quality-cost considerations and proposals will be evaluated as follows:

• Technical Proposal:70%
• Financial proposal: 30%

Evaluation of technical proposal

	Evaluation Criteria	Score
	Samples of writing or links to previous published articles	50%
	Qualifications	20%
	Experience in writing articles	30%
	Total	100%

EVALUATION OF FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

• The financial offer must be expressed in US DOLLARS (US$) and should be inclusive of all taxes, fees and expenses

Others

• ACB will not provide software or laptop/computer;