Consultant – Expert Technical Review, Finalization, Editing and Packaging of the Integrated Maternal and Newborn Health (MNH) Training Guidelines

Pact is an international nonprofit that works in nearly 40 countries building solutions for human development that are evidence-based, data-driven and owned by the communities we serve. Founded in 1971, Pact works with partners to build resilience, improve accountability, and strengthen knowledge and skills for sustainable social impact.

Programs - Pact strives for a world where all people are heard, capable, and vibrant. The Programs Team helps realize this objective by bridging program management, technical support, and business development, enabling Pact to achieve its global strategy. We ensure program excellence through continuous learning, monitoring and evaluation and provide organizational and industry-wide thought leadership by leveraging a complementary set of cross-functional, multi-disciplinary skills, expertise, and experiences. The Programs team: influences progressive change through the development and implementation of global and regional strategies and business plans; supports advancement of innovative solutions; pursues new business opportunities; and drives effective internal and external engagement to maximize Pact’s impact across the globe. Across all aspects of its role, the Programs Department adheres to and promotes a culture of inclusion, accountability, and respect.

This Request for Proposals (RFP) is issued under the Accelerating Children’s HIV/AIDS Treatment (ACHIEVE) Project, funded by the Department of State (DoS). ACHIEVE works to reduce HIV-related pediatric morbidity and mortality and improve health outcomes for children, adolescents, and their families in Malawi.
The Ministry of Health (MoH), through the Reproductive Health Directorate (RHD), has been leading the development of the Integrated Maternal and Newborn Health (MNH) Training Guidelines to strengthen standardized, coordinated, and high-quality MNH capacity building interventions in Malawi. The guidelines are intended to provide a harmonized framework for the implementation of maternal and newborn health training across the country in line with national priorities, standards and evidence-based practices.
The guideline development process has been highly consultative, involving key stakeholders and implementing partners supporting MNH programming in Malawi, including Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), UNICEF, Beginnings Fund, Last Mile Health (LMH), Jhpiego, Nest360, Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Research Programme (MLW), and the Association of Malawian Midwives (AMAMI). The process has included technical consultations, review meetings, and a review workshop held in May 2026 aimed to refine the draft guidelines and ensure alignment with current national policies, protocols, and global best practices in maternal and newborn health.
Following the review workshop, the RHD recommended a thematic expert review process involving specialists across key MNH content areas, including Maternal Health, Newborn Health, E-MOTIVE/ Postpartum Hemorrhage (PPH), Eclampsia and Anemia, APT- Sepsis, and the introductory and literature review sections. This expert review process is intended to validate and strengthen the technical content prior to final endorsement.
To support this process, Pact, through the ACHIEVE Project, seeks to engage a qualified consultant to facilitate the thematic expert review and provide overall coordination, harmonization, technical editing, formatting, and final packaging of the Integrated MNH Training Guidelines. The consultant will be responsible for producing a professionally designed, technically sound and publication-ready document ready for submission to the Ministry of Health Senior Management Team (SMT) for review and endorsement.

Period Of Performance
The Offeror is expected to perform services from 13th July 2026 through 12th August 2026

Pact does not tolerate fraud, collusion among offerors, falsified proposals/bids, bribery, or kickbacks. Any firm or individual violating these standards will be disqualified from this procurement, barred from future procurement opportunities, and may be reported to the relevant Donor.
Employees and agents of Pact are strictly prohibited from asking for or accepting any money, fee, commission, credit, gift, gratuity, object of value or compensation from current or potential vendors or suppliers in exchange for or as a reward for business. Employees and agents engaging in this conduct are subject to termination and will be reported to the Donor. In addition, Pact will inform the Donor of any supplier offers of money, fee, commission, credit, gift, gratuity, object of value, or compensation to obtain business.
Offerors responding to this RFP must include the following as part of the proposal submission:
Disclose any close, familial, or financial relationships with Pact or project staff. For example, if an offeror’s cousin is employed by the project, the offeror must state this.
Disclose any family or financial relationship with other offerors submitting proposals. For example, if the offeror’s father owns a company that is submitting another proposal, the offeror must state this.
Certify that the prices in the offer have been arrived at independently, without any consultation, communication, or agreement with any other offeror or competitor for the purpose of restricting competition.

The objective of this consultancy is to support the Ministry of Health (MoH) Reproductive Health Directorate (RHD) in the thematic expert review, technical validation , finalization, harmonization, editing, formatting, and packaging of the Integrated Maternal and Newborn Health (MNH) Training Guidelines to ensure the document is technically sound, aligned with national priorities and global best practices, and ready for submission to the Ministry of Health Senior Management Team (SMT) for endorsement.

Scope of Work
The consultant shall:

• Review the draft Integrated MNH Training Guidelines and all relevant reference materials, policies, protocols, and supporting documents.
• Develop and support the implementation of a thematic expert review process, in collaboration with Pact and the MoH Reproductive Health Directorate, to validate and strengthen the technical content of the guidelines.
• Facilitate and coordinate inputs from thematic experts covering key MNH content areas, including Maternal Health, Newborn Health, E-MOTIVE/Postpartum Hemorrhage (PPH), Eclampsia and Anemia, APT-Sepsis, and introductory and literature review sections.
• Consolidate, harmonize, and incorporate comments and recommendations received from thematic reviewers, ensuring consistency of content, elimination of duplication, and resolution of technical and structural gaps.
• Edit the guidelines for technical accuracy, clarity, readability, grammar, terminology, and consistency in formatting and presentation
• Support the layout, design and packaging of the guidelines in accordance with Ministry of Health standard and expectations.
• Facilitate the incorporation of feedback from validation and review meetings and work closely with Pact and the MoH Reproductive Health Directorate to finalize the document.
• Prepare and submit final editable and print-ready versions of the Integrated MNH Training Guidelines, including all annexes and supporting materials, for SMT review and endorsement
• Provide any additional revisions required following SMT review to support final approval and publication of the guidelines.

• Advanced degree in Public Health, Medicine, Nursing, Midwifery, Health Systems Management, or related field.
• At least seven (7) years of professional experience in maternal and newborn and child health programming, policy development, or technical advisory support in Malawi.
• Demonstrated experience supporting the development, review, editing, harmonization, of national health guidelines, training curricula, manuals, or other technical documents.
• Strong technical writing, editing, and document quality assurance skills, including the ability to consolidate inputs from multiple stakeholders into a coherent and user-friendly final product.
• Experience facilitating technical consultations, review workshops, or multi-stakeholder engagement processes.
• Demonstrated experience working with the Ministry of Health, development partners, professional associations, and other key stakeholders in Malawi.
• Strong project coordination, communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Excellent written and spoken English.

• Previous experience supporting the development or revision of national maternal and newborn health policies, guidelines, standards, or training materials in Malawi.
• Prior experience working with the Ministry of Health and/or development partners on maternal and newborn health initiatives.
• Knowledge of current national and global maternal and newborn health policies, standards, and best practices.
• Successful completion of similar assignments involving the review, harmonization, editing, and finalization of national health guidelines or training materials