Position:Ongoing Recruitment- STTA Senior National: Population Expert

Palladium Pakistan (Pvt.) Limited

Job Location: Lahore

Country: Pakistan

Positions: 1

Job Type: Consultancy

Department / Job Category: STTA

Last Date: 30th July 2025

TA Title: Development Of Punjab Health And Population Strategic Plan (2026-31)

Programme

Evidence for Health (E4H) is a Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)-funded programme aimed at strengthening Pakistan's healthcare system, thereby decreasing the burden of illness and saving lives. E4H provides technical assistance (TA) to the Federal, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and Punjab governments, and is being implemented by Palladium along with Oxford Policy Management (OPM).

Through its flexible, embedded, and demand-driven model, E4H supports the government to achieve a resilient health  system that is prepared for health emergencies, responsive to the latest evidence, and delivers equitable, quality, and efficient healthcare services. Specifically, E4H delivers TA across three outputs:

Output 1: Strengthened integrated health security, with a focus on preparing and responding to health emergencies, including pandemics.

Output 2: Strengthened evidence-based decision-making to drive health sector performance and accountability.

Output 3: Improved implementation of Universal Health Coverage, with a focus on ending preventable deaths.

Background and Problem Statement

Over the past decade, Punjab has taken progressive steps to improve healthcare delivery through vertical programmes in primary health care, family planning, and disease control. Despite these efforts, the institutional separation between the Primary & Secondary Healthcare Department (P&SHD) and the Population Welfare Department (PWD) created inefficiencies in service delivery and weakened policy coherence. In response, the Government of Punjab initiated a major administrative reform in 2024, merging the two departments into a unified Health & Population Department (H&PD). The Specialised Healthcare & Medical Education Department remains a separate entity. This restructuring provides an opportunity to realign the province’s health and population goals through a cohesive policy and strategic plan for 2026–31.

• The development of a consolidated Health and Population Strategic Plan is driven by systemic challenges and international and national policy commitments. Punjab continues to face a double burden of disease, including maternal and child health concerns and infectious diseases. Further there is a growing prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The Punjab Health Sector Strategy (PHSS) 2019–28 identifies the need to enhance system integration and improve access to equitable, quality care, yet it does not fully incorporate demographic planning or long-term fiscal sustainability measures.

• At the national level, Pakistan has endorsed several global commitments and resolutions that emphasis integrated health governance. These include the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994, where Pakistan pledged to accelerate progress on universal access to reproductive health and family planning services. Additionally, Pakistan’s alignment with the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) targets under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is further reinforced by the Astana Declaration on Primary Healthcare 2018, which highlights the need to strengthen access to essential health services while ensuring financial risk protection.

• With the expiry of National Health Vision (2016-25) in near future, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination (NHSR&C) has drafted a new National Health & Population Policy Framework (2025-34) identifying unified/ common health & population strategic priorities with all provinces. It is therefore important to align provincial health and population strategic priorities with the National framework. 

In 2023-24, a third-party mid-term review (MTR) of the PHS 2019-28 was conducted with the support of the Evidence for Health (E4H) Programme to assess progress, including challenges and newly emerging issues and identification of future strategic priorities. Identified gaps needs to be addressed in the new PH&PS 2026-31. This Strategic Plan should establish a set of prioritised strategic health, nutrition and population agenda, while considering new realities and priorities of the ruling government at the provincial levels.

Strategic Approach

The PHS, 2019-28 is a key guiding document for health sector reforms in Punjab. While there are some successes in the implementation of PHS, 2019-28, new challenges are also faced over the period, including COVID-19, floods in 2022 and changing political-economic situation leading to some negative impact on the progress.    

• The H&PD decided to undertake the MTR during 2023-24 to assess progress, document findings, identify challenges, distil on learning and recommend revised priority actions for future

• Punjab government decided to merge the P&SHD and PWD, which has led to a need of a unified and comprehensive PH&PS 2026-31

• The strategic priorities of the new political government especially those related to PHC needs to be translated into an updated set of provincial strategic priorities with milestones and targets for the remaining period of SDGs and beyond.

Based on agreed principles, the PH&PS 2026-31 will provide an account of strategic direction to achieve an updated vision and will be a guideline for best practices for sectoral, sub-sectoral, inter-sectoral strategic priorities and reforms in the health sector of Punjab

Objective

The overall objectives of the technical support will be:

• To consolidate policy direction and strategic priorities for health, population and nutrition under a single provincial framework that fosters coherence, efficiency, and equity in service delivery

• To facilitate inclusive and evidence-informed policy development, incorporate inputs from government departments and development partners’ representatives through structured stakeholder consultations

• To define thematic areas and common strategic priorities/ actions while considering equity and gender challenges 

• To define costed implementation pathways and financing scenarios that support sustainable investments in primary healthcare, family planning, disease prevention, and quality of care

• To embed an accountability and monitoring framework within the Strategic Plan, ensuring that progress can be tracked through measurable indicators aligned with UHC and SDG targets

• To provide strategic actions and legal-regulatory options for institutionalizing reforms in regulation, service delivery mandates, and governance structures across the health and population sector

These objectives will collectively ensure that the Strategic Plan is not only policy-compliant and technically sound but also operationally feasible and institutionally endorsed.

Scope of Work and Methodology

A team of consultants will be tasked to develop the costed PH&PS 2026-31 and its monitoring framework by using scientific evidence and an inclusive consultative process.

The team will work closely with the H&PD and other stakeholders, including the public and private health and population sector, civil society organisations, development partners, academia, and community representatives. 

The Technical Assistance (TA) will be executed through a phasic participatory, and data-driven approach, ensuring that the final Health & Population Strategic Plan 2026–31 is both evidence-based and locally owned. The scope of work will be structured across five main phases:

Phase 1: Inception and Planning

• Conduct a desk review of existing policy framework/s, departmental plans, health sector strategies, and global best practices relevant to integrated health and population planning

• Hold an inception meeting with the H&PD and Directorate of Population Welfare and partners to validate the work plan, roles, and coordination mechanisms

• Finalise the methodological framework, timelines, and deliverables

• Prepare an Inception report and presentation detailing the approach, stakeholder mapping, and tools to be used

Phase 2: Situational Analysis and Tool Development

• Perform a gap analysis of current health and Existing plan, strategy or policy In population department (before merger) may be reviewed In depth.

• using available information and data (e.g., Burden of disease, DHIS2, PDHS, MIS, MICS etc.)

• Analyse institutional and regulatory frameworks post-merger, identifying overlaps and opportunities for reform.

• Develop and validate customized tools for data collection, including stakeholder consultation guides, SWOT templates, and costing matrices

• Disaggregate findings by gender, geography, and service delivery tier where data allows

Phase 3: Stakeholder Consultations and Fieldwork

• Facilitate a series of consultative sessions and key informant interviews with:

• H&PD leadership and technical staff from both directorates

• District-level health managers

• Development partners 

• Civil society and academic institutions

• Other departments/ sectors etc

• Ensure inclusive participation, especially of women and marginalised groups, in line with SDG 5 and the ICPD principles

• Capture institutional preferences, operational challenges, and vision statements to inform Strategic Plan content.

• Document field insights to supplement secondary data and fill contextual gaps

Phase 4: Formulation of Strategic priorities/ actions, Monitoring framework and Costing

• Develop a clear vision, mission, principles and objectives for the Strategic Plan

• Draft the PH&PS 2026–31, organised around agreed thematic pillars

• Formulate strategic objectives, performance indicators, and targets aligned with SDGs, UHC, IHR and others.

• Propose prioritized interventions with timelines and responsible units

• Develop an investment case and costing scenarios using results-based budgeting principles to support evidence-backed resource allocation

• Produce a practical monitoring framework (localised health-related SDGs)

• Outline risk mitigation and implementation modalities, governance frameworks, including legislative or policy reform recommendations where required

Phase 5: Validation, Finalisation, and Dissemination

• Present the draft Strategic Plan in a Validation Workshop with cross-sectoral representation

• Incorporate feedback to finalize the Strategic Plan and its implementation roadmap

• Prepare policy briefs and a presentation deck to support internal reviews and high-level approvals

• Submit the Final Health & Population Strategic Plan, including a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework and policy endorsement pathway

• Support dissemination through approved channels to stakeholders and the public, where appropriate

This methodology ensures the TA is participatory, actionable, and aligned with both technical requirements and institutional expectations. Emphasis will be placed on flexibility to accommodate evolving needs during the assignment period.

Focal points nominated by the H&PD will be actively engaged, where possible, in developing the Strategic Plan

Timeline and LOE:

The level of effort for the role is 54 working days, from August 2025 - February 2026

Requirements

Technical Expertise

• Masters degree in demography, sociology, or population studies.

• At least 15 years of over all experience.

• Experience in population health planning and integration of family planning into health systems.

Competencies

• Strong analytical and planning skills.

• Policy development and demographic insight.

• Communication of complex population issues.

• Effective coordination across programs.

Deliverables/KPIs

1. Inception Report & Slide Deck

2. Draft Punjab Health & Population Strategic Plan document & Slide Deck

3. Final Strategic Plan and Dissemination event