We have an exciting opportunity for a Governance Consultant to develop a new Governance Framework for the ACB.
The ACB, also known as “The Bureau”, as an operational hub and policy think tank of the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) and West and Central Africa (WCA) Global Fund constituencies, begun its formal operations during the second half of 2016. As a nascent organization, it is currently in the process of developing management systems to help it function successfully. The Governance Framework is no doubt the overarching and crucial system of the organization. While the organization has a Governance Framework which was developed and has been in operation since 2016, a number of changes and developments within the organization and in the global health environments have necessitated the need to have a new Governance Framework to ensure the right fit with these developments. The new framework is expected to be completed and launched around May 2019.
The main objective of the ACB’s next iteration of the ACB’s Governance Framework is to create a governance system that assures a Bureau with broadened mandate that facilitates cohesion of African countries in their engagements in Global Health discourses, efficiency and effectiveness, and promotes transparency and accountability to stakeholders within Africa and beyond.
Established by a resolution of African Health ministers in 2012, the Bureau was set up to be a platform to facilitate engagement and consensus building among ESA and WCA constituent countries in Global Fund policies and governance engagements. Its primary functions include ensuring effective engagement, representation and participation of Africa constituencies in Global Fund processes and also to enhance 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. The Annual Consultative Meeting (ACM), as the name suggests, is an annual event that brings together all the constituents to engage in policy discussions, share experiences, and agree on consensus over key Global Fund policy issues. Chaired by the ACB’s board chairperson, this two-day event is the supreme decision-making body of the Africa Constituencies.
The Cluster Based Learning Networks (CBLNs) is yet another platform for engaging countries over Global Fund governance issues. Under this forum, each constituency is further sub-divided into two sub-regions or “clusters” thereby ending up with four groupings, viz:
The CBLNs is a bottom-up approach giving countries opportunities for in-depth analysis of issues while at the same time bringing to the fore challenges and opportunities faced by African implementing countries that are thereafter deliberated on and filtered through to the Global Fund in a proactive manner.
The Bureau has also launched a proactive policy research platform. Under this forum, challenges and opportunities identified by countries are further explored and interrogated by independent researchers and policy think tanks to create the necessary evidence base. The research outputs are then utilized to create new policy agendas in the Global Fund governance systems and are also used as African positions in policy discourses.
Going forward, and in an effort to strengthen Africa’s voice in Global Health discourses, the Bureau intends to tap into African leaders’ insights and vision at regional and continental levels. African Health Ministers are no doubt the custodians of health, responsible for ensuring better health for their respective countries. However, their engagement and participation in Global Fund policy processes is sub-optimal and not yet at the right level strategically. While they participate and are generally engaged at Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) levels, though to varying degrees, they are nonetheless visibly absent at strategic policy levels. This gap needs to be filled without creating duplicative platforms but ride on already existing Ministers of Health fora. The Bureau therefore plans to piggy-back on a number of platforms such as Regional Economic Communities’ (REC) Ministers of Health meetings, WHO/Afro Ministers of Health meetings or the African Union (AU) platforms to tap into the leadership’s thinking and thereby ensure that WCA and ESA’s representatives at the board and in committees’ representation is in conformity with Africa’s vision. Linkage to African Ministers of Health will therefore also strengthen the Bureau’s accountability to African leaders.
Furthermore, given the work of the Bureau over the last couple of years, and the benefits that have accrued from its functioning, a number of stakeholders have expressed optimism with achievements so far. Other players in Global Health mechanisms that have African representatives on their respective board and committees have expressed interest in having the latter supported by the Bureau. While the scope of the Bureau will no doubt be broadened should this development be realized, support towards these organizations’ African representatives would not divert the organization from its core functions and mandate.
The foregoing therefore signals the need for the Bureau’s Governance Framework to be revised as this will ensure that the new developments are seamlessly linked to the governance system. It will also ensure that the organization is well positioned to play an increasing and pivotal role in Global Health discourses, thereby ensuring Africa consistently speaks with one voice in all Global Health fora, irrespective of disease components. This will ultimately therefore contribute to Africa having a stronger voice in Global Health fora. The ACB Board has therefore directed that the Governance Framework be revised to incorporate these new internal and external changes and ensure the organization is repositioned for relevance, growth and success.
As stated above, the Bureau has an existing Governance Framework which however needs strengthening and streamlining in order to ensure fitness with the current environment the organization is operating in. As such, the main task for the consultant is to deliver a new Governance Framework that notes and fixes the weaknesses and gaps identified in the current and incorporates new developments and opportunities in the internal and external environment.
The primary purpose of developing a new governance framework is to ensure the Bureau has a broadened scope, builds African cohesion and ownership, is efficient and effective and assures transparency and accountability to internal and external stakeholders.
The following elements should therefore be considered and incorporated as improvements and/or additions to the current framework:
The consultant is expected to employ a mixture of methodologies and consultative processes that ensures key stakeholders are consulted and their inputs are incorporated. Key stakeholders in this vein therefore include: the ACB Board, the constituents (who can be consulted through CBLN structures), relevant technical partners (e.g. UNAIDS, WHO, etc.), funders (including Global Fund through OBA, etc.), other constituencies of the Global Fund, GAVI & UNITAID and their African representatives, the African Union, etc.
Prospective consultants will utilize a variety of consultative processes including in-person, virtual and tele-conference interviews with stakeholders. Note that consultants are expected to block off the period between March 10 – 20 for in-person consultations with ACB board members, CFPs and CBLN clusters in Addis Ababa (11-12 March), Johannesburg (14-15 March) and Dakar (18-19 March).
In addition to incorporating inputs from various stakeholders, the consultant is also expected to draw on best practices from corporate governance in general and within Global Health sector in particular.
The development of the Bureau’s Governance Framework is expected to be completed by the end of April 2019.
Below are the key deliverables under this assignment:
| Deliverable | Timeframe | |
| 1 | Inception report | Within one week of signing contract |
| 2 | Draft Governance Framework | April 15, 2019 |
| 3 | Final Governance Framework | April 30, 2019 |
| 4 | Approval by the ACB Board | May 12, 2019 |
The consultant is expected to share an electronic word version of an inception report, a draft Governance Framework and final Governance Framework on the above stipulated dates. The Secretariat will share each version of the Governance Framework with relevant stakeholders to ensure consensus on key issues. The final document will be approved by the Board in May 2019 and ratified by the General Assembly in October 2019.
The consultant will report to the Acting Executive Director.
The Bureau invites individuals who meet the following qualifications:
Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English; and
Working knowledge of French will be an added advantage.
The following criteria will apply for selection of the successful consultant. Note that the Bureau reserves the right to make its own informed determination in the selection process.
The successful consultant will be selected based on quality-cost considerations and proposals will be evaluated as follows:
| Rating Factor | Weight | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Education: – Degrees obtained – Areas of specialization – Language | 10% |
| 2 | Length of experience working in Governance field | 10% |
| 3 | Experience in undertaking similar assignments | 20% |
| 4 | Technical soundness of proposal | 60% |
| TOTAL | 100% |
The formula below shall be observed:
Rating Point = (Lowest Financial Proposal/Financial Proposal) x100 x 20%
The ACB will disburse payments to consultants in three instalments as follows:
Interested individuals who meeting the above stated requirements are invited to submit a brief technical proposal in MS Word:
You are also expected to share a financial proposal in MS Excel detailing the expected professional remuneration and other related costs. Please note that the Bureau will facilitate all logistic arrangements including travel as appropriate.
The technical and financial proposals including the capability statement or CVs should be addressed to: The Acting Executive Director and sent to: jkakoma@africabureau.org with a copy to awel.mezgebe@africabureau.org not later than January 31, 2019 with the subject “Governance Framework Consultant”.
[1] Abidjan was initially chosen given the insecurities in the central Africa region. Currently, however, the WCA leadership has elected to operate as one cluster with meetings in Dakar.
[2] As part of the inception report, the consultant will provide a detailed work plan, methodology, key information sources to be used, institutions / organizations to be consulted in undertaking the task and tools to be used for consultative processes.
[3] The ACB will provide feedback and comments to the draft Governance Framework within 10 calendar days of receipt of the draft document.