Public Financial Management (PFM) Consultant (Abt Associates)

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Public Financial Management (PFM) Consultant

1. BACKGROUND

The Local Health Systems Sustainability (LHSS) project is USAID's flagship initiative in strengthening integrated health systems, with the goal of helping low- and middle-income countries move to sustainable, self-funded health systems to support universal health coverage. Led by Abt Associates, this five-year, $209 million project works with partner countries and local stakeholders to reduce financial barriers to care and treatment, ensure equitable access to essential health services for all, and improve the quality of health services.

In Vietnam, LHSS works with the Government of Vietnam (GVN) to advance greater local ownership of HIV and TB prevention and control. Led by Abt Associates, the activity supports Vietnam in increasing its domestic financing for HIV and TB services in the context of declining donor funding, using government resources more efficiently, and assuming local ownership of HIV and TB prevention and control activities. Specific objectives are:

1. Support the GVN to strengthen its public financial management systems for public sector health and find greater efficiencies in social health insurance (SHI),
2. Increase and improve the efficiency of domestic financing of HIV prevention and treatment services;
3. Strengthen the capacity of Vietnam's supply chain management system; and
4. Transition of TB services into SHI.

This activity is in support of objective number one.

In 2022, LHSS completed a series of reports that (1) reviewed the evidence of best practices and lessons learned on implementing pro-health excise taxes from countries at a similar level of development to Vietnam, (2) developed scenarios to analyze the revenue impact of increasing rates and changing tax structures for existing pro-health excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco and introducing a new tax on sugar-sweetened beverages to expand the tax base and (3) reviewed the health budgeting process to document and identify opportunities to adjust misalignments between the budget allocation process and health sector priorities. The analysis included a series of recommendations to the Ministry of Finance on potential strategies for using pro-health excise taxes to raise revenues for the State budget and on improving the health budgeting process.

The PFM consultant will work closely with the LHSS Vietnam team to disseminate the findings with Government of Vietnam stakeholders, identify priority recommendations, and advocate for improved public financial management.

The PFM consultant will have the following duties and responsibilities:

• Lead the development of a technical brief summarizing opportunities and recommendations to avail funds at the central level for MOH to fill emergency funding gaps for HIV and TB programs during the transition to Social Health Insurance
• Lead and coordinate in the preparation for the dissemination of results from three LHSS studies relating to pro-health excise taxes and health budgeting process to the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vietnam Social Security and other stakeholders to advocate for the implementation of recommendations, foster consensus on priorities, and develop dialogue around next steps to increase budgetary space for health.
• Work in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and Vietnam Social Security to advocate for policy change and identify and begin implementing specific actions towards policy change to:
  • Improve health budget processes (e.g. allocating health budget for facilities and provinces based on clear criteria and in a way that incentivizes quality of care and efficient use of resources)
  • Reform pro-health excise tax policies to create budgetary space for health
  • Explore the opportunity to reserve funding allocations for HIV and TB programs to fill in the gaps during the transition.

• Technical brief summarizing opportunities and recommendations to avail funds at the central level for MOH to fill emergency funding gaps for HIV and TB programs during the transition to Social Health Insurance.
• Dissemination materials relating to the results and recommendations of three LHSS-led studies relating to budget processes and pro-health excise taxes

Assumptions: This contract is dependent on the ability of government and development partner stakeholders to engage with the Activity, given any COVID-19-related restrictions and the ability of USAID to obtain concurrence from the MoH to work with the Activity.

Reporting: The consultant will report to the Chief of Party for LHSS Vietnam, and is expected to lead this work described above and be responsible for final deliverables.

Location: The consultancy will be based in Hanoi.

Period of Performance: The consultant’s period of performance begins on March 1, 2023, and ends on June 30, 2023, for a total LOE of up to 30 days.

6.      REQUIREMENTS

• Master's Degree (minimum) in Finance, Business Administration, Economics, Public Financial Management, or another relevant field.
• At least 15 years of relevant professional experience in managing progressively complex public financial management programs, preferably in the health sector and preferably in improving government budget processes.
• At least 10 years in helping the government, either at the central or provincial level, to increase resources available for the health sector is desired
• Experience in working with USAID programs is preferred (but not required).
• Recognized expertise in domestic resource mobilization and public financial management, preferably in the health sector and in Vietnam.
• Proven track record of working effectively with government counterparts at various levels in Vietnam.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with USAID, ministry officials, and other development partners and a proven track record of interacting with other projects, high-level host country governments, and international agencies.

To apply, please send your CV and an application letter to e-mail: LHSS_Vietnam_Procurement@abtassoc.com

Deadline: March 2, 2023

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