Call of Proposals: National consultant for mapping of HIV and STI services for key populations and organizing local meetings with stakeholders in Albania 

ECOM –Eurasian Coalition on Health, Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity is a regional non-governmental association registered in Tallinn, Estonia, and working on the response to HIV epidemics among gay men and other MSM, and transgender people in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

ECOM is one of the pre-qualified providers of the Global Fund’s CRG program and is now providing technical assistance to communities and key populations of Albania for conducting BUDGET ADVOCACY AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY ANALYSES of HIV and STI services for key populations in Albania.

The 2020-2022 Global Fund transition grant to Albania of US$ 1.6 million focuses on preparing the country to transition from Global Fund funding towards domestic funding. The grant will support national and public institutions in developing strategies to strengthen structures that will ensure continued and sustainable national HIV and TB programs. The grant will prioritize interventions to address the TB and HIV burden in the country, to ensure that key populations are being reached.

Civil Society Organizations and community-based organizations in Albania implementing HIV prevention programmes targeting KPs face challenges accessing domestic funding. There is no full visibility on the funding opportunities, and ability of community-based organizations to access such funding. The national commitment to support a dedicated budget line for KP HIV services has not yet materialized and the breakdown of the current budget of the primary health care system does not provide the necessary clarity as to whether it includes only administrative staff costs or community-based interventions. There is no apparent role for CSOs in the TB sector.

Given the efforts that CSOs have previously made in providing services to key populations in Albania, it is important for them to be actively engaged in the process of transition that the country is undergoing. Assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of community-led interventions will allow them to advocate for budgetary allocations for community-led service delivery activities and to strengthen their collaboration with public institutions through the finalization of a social contracting process.

This technical assistance will support the analysis of efficiency and effectiveness of services provided to key populations by CSOs and establish the baseline for CSOs to advocate for a transition plan including social contracting to ensure the sustainability of the national response to HIV and TB among key populations.

The objectives of the technical assistance are to conduct an analysis of the efficiency and effectiveness of services provided to key populations by civil society organizations in Albania and to assess the service package costs required for civil society organizations to implement HIV and tuberculosis interventions with a goal of achieving 90-90-90 global targets as part of the social contracting mechanism.

1. Conduct desk review of relevant documents to map out services provided by civil society organizations to key population groups including risks, benefits, roles and responsibilities of different CSOs.
2. The national consultant identifies the participants for the two 1 day working meetings and prepares the logistics of meetings.
3. National consultant prepare the logistics of the meeting with stakeholders from civil society, international organizations and ministries.
4. Working together with a consultant of cost-effectiveness and budget advocacy consultant
5. Together with a consultant of cost-effectiveness and budget advocacy consultant,  prepare a case study for the CRG-SI  (Consultant report – 3-5 pages).
6. Become a contact person in Albania with ECOM to prepare meetings and work of international consultants. 

10.11.2020 – 25.12.2020

A contract for the provision of services will be signed between the consultant and ECOM, according to which ECOM will not be responsible for any taxes paid by the consultant. All taxes and any other payments required by the law of the country of residence of the consultant are paid by the consultant independently. 

The period for completing the work should not exceed 10 working days (including in-person meetings). 

– Work experience in the field of HIV and TB services

– Experience in mapping services 

– Experience in conducting activities for communities and key populations 

– Experience in organizing meetings with civil society and decision-makers

– Working knowledge of Albanian and English    

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications by e-mail to: contact@ecom.ngo with the subject “NA_Albania”. 

For any additional questions, please contact Alexander Poluyan, ECOM’s Communications Coordinator, at: alexandr@ecom.ngo

Application deadline: November 5, 2020, 23:59 (GMT +3) 

– Information about the company or a resume for individuals (resume of each team member for group applications), with confirmation of the required experience. 

– Brief financial proposal in Euros (no more than 10 working days); 

– Previously developed documents – reviews, studies, etc. (link or attached documents).