Sierra Leone has a young population – 33.5 per cent is within 10- 24 years and 39.4 per cent is between the ages of 15 – 35 years. The country faces a host of development challenges. Pregnancy rates are high among adolescents; according to the Sierra Leone Demographic and Health Survey approximately 28 per cent of adolescents aged 15 -19 years old have begun childbearing, this is higher in rural areas than urban areas (34 per cent versus 19 per cent). An estimated 30 per cent of currently married or in union adolescents aged 15-19 years have unmet need for family planning. Furthermore, among all sexually active females aged 15-19, nearly 80 percent are not using any form of contraction.

UNFPA plans support the Government of Sierra Leone, with DFID funding, to develop and roll out a national mobile health (mHealth) application to connect young people in Sierra Leone with interactive family planning information as one component of broader efforts to reduce unmet need for family planning. The proposed intervention is intended to be implemented primarily through mobile phones and will target young people in urban and rural areas of Sierra Leone.

Aim – An international individual consultant is required to support the development and implementation of an mHealth solution to equip young people with the information they need to make informed choices about family planning in Sierra Leone.

According to United Nations (UN) estimates, Sierra Leone has the highest maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 1,360 deaths per 100,000 live births and 1 in 17 women have a lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy or childbirth.

Out of a total of 706 maternal deaths reported in 2016, 80% were in health facilities with the leading causes of death being haemorrhage, hypertension disorders and sepsis. Recent country reports show that out of a total of 218,818 live births reported in health facilities in the country 5,608 were stillbirths, which translates to a rate of 25.7 per 1,000 live births. Nearly half of the stillbirths were fresh stillbirths; indicating suboptimal intrapartum care. This is due to inadequacies in the quality of care provided in health facilities. The evidence shows that high maternal, perinatal, neonatal and child mortality rates are associated with inadequate and poor quality health services.

The Health Sector Recovery Plan calls for the establishment of six Centres of Excellence (CoE) for maternal, newborn and child health care and nutrition with the aim to reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality through improvements in quality of care. Centers of excellence (CoEs) are created in various healthcare settings to signify that exceptional quality of service can be provided. CoEs for women’s health services have proven to be a successful approach for delivering high-quality care and have helped to raise the profile of women’s health issues and improve outcomes.
This consultancy is aimed at providing technical support to the UNFPA CO and the MoHS for the implementation of quality of care interventions in the country