The Area Health Officer will collaborate with the Health Governance Coordinator (HGC) and the Health Governance Specialist (HGS)in:

1. Promoting the management, coordination, and planning, and the quality of health care services at canton level through integrated care approaches and quality programming.

2. Increasing the knowledge on the health systems in NES in the canton, and increasing the capacity of health actors to manage health needs and epidemic outbreaks thanks to a Health Information System (HIS) and to emergency preparedness and response protocols.

3. Improving the training offer and capacities of local Health Education Institutions (HEIs) in the canton if any, increasing the capacities of local health professionals and expanding their roles through task-shifting

4. The AHO will collaborate with the Health Governance Coordinator (HGC) and the Health Governance Specialist (HGS) in achieving the following results and outputs of the ERSHAD project in Qamishly health area:

a. Health care planning, preparedness and responsiveness are reinforced through multi-stakeholder engagement, management and monitoring.

i. Output 1.1: Establishment of an “Area-based Stewardship Unit” (ASU) in the area, through the upgrading the status and role of the Area Health Technical Committees piloted under the ISHRAF intervention to that of ASU tasked to oversee the development and the roll out of a Health Master Plan

ii. Output 1.2: Support to the development and roll out, through the ASU, of a Health Master Plan at area level and provision of external technical assistance and Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTPs) —sub-granting— with a learning-by-doing approach in line with the priorities indicated in the Health Master Plan

iii. Output 1.3: Support to a review of quality of care delivered in the territory, embedded within the ASU, possibly informing discussions on quality improvement initiatives and monitoring.

iv. Output 1.4: Support to the review of health financing, sustainability, revenue raising, cost efficiency considerations and expectations in as far as AANES / private sector contributions informing a long-term sustainability strategy and complementary research endeavors if necessary.Output 1.5: Mapping of emergency and referral services in NES, establishment and support to a referral network including a hotline in coordination with existing networks and resources.

v. Output 1.6: Support to the development of one or two possible private sector engagement pilots, based on a review of the current practice in terms of public-private partnership/collaboration, possibly enhancing the role of private health facilities or community pharmacies and/or pursuing access, patient safety or quality improvement goals in the area of family planning and maternal health

b. SO 1 - Result Area 2. Decision-making at territorial level is evidence-informed through the continuous update of the Health Care System (HCS) Dashboard to monitor health system performance and quality improvement, and thorough increased knowledge of the Health Care System and the Health Care Demand in NES.

i. Output 2.1: Continuous update of the ISHRAF project dashboard, and capacity building to strengthen data analysis, synthesis, communication, and related decision-making.

ii. Output 2.2: Complementary assessment of the Health Care Delivery System in NES, to expand the preliminary assessment conducted under the ISHRAF project, with particular regard to primary care services delivered by private actors and general secondary care services.

iii. Output 2.3: Analysis of Health Care Demand in NES, to complement the assessment on Health Care Delivery with key information on gaps and needs as expressed by health care services’ users.

c. SO 2 - Result Area 3. The training offer and capacities of local Health Education Institutions (HEIs) are improved, and the capacities of local health professionals and local Health Unions are increased.

i. Output 3.1: Support to the review of administrative, accounting, reporting, management and absorption capacity constraints of selected HEIs informing the development and roll out of a plan supporting improved administrative and financial management through technical assistance and FSTPs

ii. Output 3.2: Support to the curriculum development or review and capacitation of selected HEIs in the delivery of one postgraduate course in Global Health and Epidemiology or Health Care Management, building up from the lessons learned in the pilot training under the ISHRAF project.

iii. Output 3.3: In depth assessment on Health Unions, their current role and functions, expanding the preliminary mapping study conducted under the ISHRAF project, including a capacity building assessment and proposing a way forward for strengthening their role and capacities.

iv. Output 3.4: Development and roll out of basic capacity building plans to selected Health Unions with a focus on organizational management, project cycle management, financial management, reporting, and on exchanges of best practices.

The Health Governance coordinator will coordinate and supervise the function of the Area Health Officer with the assistance of the Health GovernanceSpecialist, giving corresponding time and planning for his/her personal capacity building in the above mentioned areas