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Options Consultancy Services Limited Job Vacancies in Nigeria, December 16th 2014

Dec 2, 2014, 11:22 AM
Options Consultancy Services Limited

Options is a leading provider of technical expertise, short-term consultancy and long-term management services in the health and the social sectors. Established in 1992, Options has evolved into a dynamic organisation with a broad portfolio of work that includes over 900 assignments in 50 countries. We work with a wide range of clients that includes donors, national governments, the private sector, academic institutions, and civil society.

Evidence for Action (E4A) is a programme managed by Options Consultancy Services and funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) until 2016 to improve maternal and newborn survival through a combined focus on evidence, advocacy and accountability across six sub-Saharan African countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. The E4A consortium brings together experts from academic institutions, internationally recognized advocacy and accountability coalitions and civil society organizations. It works through local institutions in each of the six selected countries which hosts a small E4A Country Team.

In each country and at a regional level, E4A has launched a locally driven programme under an umbrella E4A regional advocacy campaign known as MamaYe! The campaign has a clear focus on survival and positive stories rather than a resigned social acceptance of death in pregnancy and childbirth which is common throughout Africa.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the advocacy work, has committed resources to expand the reach of the E4A program and enable existing and effective models of change to be scaled-up, improving maternal and newborn survival in Nigeria, Malawi and Ethiopia.

We are looking for a Campaign Lead to champion the MamaYe advocacy efforts in Nigeria.

Job Title: Campaign Lead

Location: Abuja

Job Summary

As the MamaYe Campaign Lead, you will be responsible for leading the advocacy MamaYe campaign and public engagement on maternal and newborn survival in Nigeria.
You will report to and work closely with the Country Director, to contribute inputs to overall advocacy strategy and programme workplans to ensure the success of the MamaYe campaign and achievement of results. You will also work closely with other members of the country team supported by the host agency, and Options’ head office team members, in particular the Technical Support Unit (TSU), Advocacy Lead and Advocacy Coordinator based in London, UK.
Primarily, the role as MamaYe Campaign Lead is to build, strengthen and expand the advocacy movement and activism through the MamaYe campaign.

Responsibilities

Provide leadership of the MamaYe campaign and activism work in Nigeria.

Act as the public face of the MamaYe campaign in Nigeria:

Oversee MamaYe strategy and activities in existing and new states and ensure linkages and scale up to national level
Oversee advocacy content on the MamaYe website (advocacy messages, new stories, blogs) and ensure linkages with the evidence pieces
Lead process of advocacy strategy development, monitor progress of workplan and advocacy strategy to ensure it is on track, and regularly report on progress to the Country Director
Tailor and target advocacy messages, ‘asks’ and actions for diverse audiences including change agents, opinion-formers, media, decision makers and the public
Represent the programme at key national, regional and international meetings and conferences as required

Provide leadership of the MamaYe advocacy team:

Work with the Country Director to provide leadership and oversight of the E4A advocacy team, working closely with the National Coordinator, Communications Advisor, Advocacy Coordinator, State Coordinators, Budget Advisor and Health Correspondent.
Lead the advocacy team in the implementation of diverse campaign activities at national, state and community levels.
Ensure team is engaging in advocacy related monitoring and evaluation activities to inform strategic direction and implementation.
Work with partners and existing coalitions to ensure MamaYe is a core component of a vibrant and sustainable, national civil society-led advocacy coalition on maternal and newborn health in Nigeria.
Use evidence to drive advocacy efforts at state and national levels, including the development of advocacy materials
Support the development of an advocacy strategy and help build the capacity of the Accountability for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health in Nigeria (AMHiN) NGO, an integral MamaYe partner to become a stronger and collective voice pressurizing for change
Support the review and implementation of the strategy and workplan

Lead the development of partnerships and stakeholder engagement:

Lead engagement with key stakeholders and current partners, including NGOs, taskforces, working groups, media, civil society, advocacy coalitions and the private sector
Develop and support E4A efforts and networks within Nigeria and link with regional level advocacy work
Build upon networks and relationships to ensure widespread participation in MamaYe

Expand and build capacity of diverse activist networks:

Provide strategic oversight of public mobilisation and activism, including the recruitment, training and messaging to diverse activist groups, such as the public, traditional leaders and the media, to hold decision-makers and politicians accountable to key MNH commitments
Provide oversight and leadership on the development of advocacy messaging or ‘asks’ for particular stakeholders, organisations or individuals based on robust evidence

Engage activists and the public and monitor and track actions:

Train activists in a leadership capacity to oversee advocacy work in particular geographical settings

Person Specification
Essential:

Substantial experience working within advocacy in women’s, maternal and newborn health-related issues
Extensive experience in leading successful and innovative advocacy campaigns, policy influence, motivating and mobilising others, and in leading an advocacy coalition that includes CSOs, as well as the media and faith-based organisations
Strong experience on communicating effectively to different stakeholders to seek change
Well-connected with key stakeholders in maternal and newborn health (programmes, policy, advocacy and/or accountability)
An excellent understanding of the Nigeria political, cultural, economic and social context and maternal and newborn health landscape in-country
Experience of close working relationships with partners and consortia
Self-starter, can work independently and as part of a team
Excellent written, online and oral communication skills
Fluent in English

Desirable:

Experience in events management
Experience in accountability / transparency mechanisms such as budget tracking, scorecards, etc
Proficient in Hausa or Yoruba

Others:

You are passionate about maternal and newborn health issues and have a track record of mobilising, communicating and catalysing social change in Nigeria.
You are a prominent leader in civil society and an activist for women and children in Nigeria
You have experience leading and managing an advocacy team and working with activists and volunteers.
You have strong relevant networks and experience in coalition building.
You are skilled at developing advocacy strategies and cultivating partnerships with diverse stakeholders including government, private sector, non-governmental and civil society.
You have an astute understanding of and effectively employ strategies within the political, social, cultural and economic landscape in Nigeria when designing and implementing advocacy campaigns and initiatives.
You are a strong writer, communicator, team player and connector with the ability to make change happen.

Job Title: State Coordinator

Location: Gombe State

Job Summary

The State Coordinator for Gombe will strategically drive and manage the smooth implementation of MamaYe- Evidence for Action (E4A) activities in this State in a way that is Value for Money and ensuring that expected results, as laid out in the programme logframe and country strategy, are achieved.
You will be expected to work with the country director, national coordinator and advocacy and communication advisors, the health correspondent, MamaYe Lead, Budget Advocacy Advisor and other State coordinators to strategically use evidence for strengthening advocacy and accountability for maternal and newborn health, targeting this evidence to relevant audiences (e.g. Non-governmental organisations, advocates, accountability structures, district health planners, policy makers) with the aim of accelerating progress on maternal and newborn survival in Gombe State. A key component of this role is to facilitate evidence based planning and decision making to ensure efficient allocation of resources to MNH in order to improve quality of care for mothers and babies.
As the State Coordinator, you will be responsible for the overall functioning of MamaYe-E4A in Gombe, providing technical inputs and support in the use of evidence to power advocacy and accountability on maternal and newborn health. Working closely with the MamaYe Lead, you will ensure a strong MamaYe movement grounded in evidence based approaches and tactics. Technical support will be provided to you by Options, specifically the Technical Support Unit and consortium partners, who will help ensure you have the international and national technical support necessary to deliver your objectives.
You will proactively identify and exploit opportunities for scaling up existing E4A approaches that have proven to be successful. In addition, you will be expected to share areas of learning and come up with new ideas, which will enable the programme to achieve results. You will also be responsible for ensuring that state level work reinforces national level work and responds to changes at the national level.
You will be expected to work closely with E4A colleagues based in Nigeria and internationally, particularly on technical and work planning issues, contribute inputs to the country operational plan and strategies, and ensure that state level logframe indicators and targets are met.
You will be based in Gombe State at an organisation selected by Options, which will act as the host agency. It will be important to work closely with staff from this host agency and make sure that capacity at the agency is built where necessary.
You will report to the National Coordinator, whilst maintaining regular technical communication with other E4A colleagues.
Team reporting arrangements will be reviewed if any change in team staffing occurs

Responsibilities
Lead Technical Inputs on MNH in Gombe:

Support the implementation of the MamaYe-E4A strategy at state level
Support MNH evidence-related strategies/activities in the State;
Support relevant ministries and others in strengthening maternal death review processes;
Contribute to the generation, analysis and packaging of evidence to support advocacy and accountability efforts;
Establish state level accountability mechanisms bringing together a diverse array of partners to push for change on MNCH issues
Collaborate with stakeholders (i.e. including media, advocates, CSOs) committed to strengthening evidence, advocacy and accountability in Nigeria;
Track progress in Gombe State against logframe indicators in collaboration with the Evidence Advisor;
Keep MamaYe websites up to date with relevant evidence, new stories and blogs
Contribute to the development of workplans and country strategies and their implementation

Delivery of Operational Plan:

Develop country operational plan in Gombe State, coordinating activities of the programme team and consultants (and engaging in trouble-shooting where necessary) to support the smooth implementation of the programme;
Work with MamaYe-E4A staff to regularly review and develop the political strategy to overcome barriers and build on supportive factors to ensure the successful implementation of the E4A workplan in Gombe State.
Provide technical input to the overall E4A strategy, using best practice on what works to achieve change in health outcomes;
Ensure sound technical implementation of the operational plan in Gombe State;
Quality assure evidence related outputs;
Monitor progress of operational plan to ensure activities in Gombe State are on track and regularly report on progress to the National Coordinator;
Proactively anticipate and participate in identifying technical assistance (TA)/subcontracting needs relating to evidence, advocacy and accountability areas or wider work in focus states, in conjunction with Options, and management of TA including development of TORs, contracting of TA and monitoring of TA outputs;
Oversee financial management and reporting in Gombe State and submission of timely and accurate financial reports to Options;
Oversee financial management and reporting for the Gombe office’s budget;
Actively look for opportunities to drive forward E4A’s work in Gombe and opportunities to collaborate with other in-country stakeholders
Lead on coalition building with regard to accountability mechanisms in Gombe, helping to ensure that E4A makes the right connections and supporting the development of E4A as a platform in line with E4A’s strategy;
Work in conjunction with the Health Correspondent to build the MNH capacity of Nigerian journalists, opinion-formers and decision-makers in line with the E4A Nigeria work-plan.
Information Packaging, Dissemination, Advocacy, Accountability and Sharing of Lessons Learned
Identify the information needs of target audiences and package/tailor evidence according to formats which are most relevant and meaningful to each one;
Develop tactful strategies to promote the effective use of evidence into action (policy, programme, advocacy, accountability) among different stakeholders;
Work with advocates and those working to strengthen accountability mechanisms to ensure they have the evidence required to be more effective;
Use evidence to support the development and populating of accountability tools to track MNH progress and commitments;
Package complex scientific information for a range of stakeholders in an easily understandable and appropriate format for non-scientists, and disseminate as appropriate;
Identify opportunities for sharing lessons learned and tools, and dissemination of the programme result
Attend Advisory Committee meetings as required to provide updates on E4A’s work in Gombe State;
Work with and leverage efforts by other development partners in the State, and with their networks to mobilise greater public and political support for advocacy efforts;
Work with the MamaYe Lead, Communications Specialist and Advocacy Coordinator to develop advocacy materials (i.e. stories, campaign materials) and ensure that the E4A/MamaYe Nigeria campaign website is a useful tool for delivering the advocacy strategy.

Requirements

You are passionate about maternal and newborn health issues and have a track record of mobilising, communicating and catalysing social change in Nigeria.
You are a prominent leader in civil society and an activist for women and children in Nigeria
You have experience leading and managing a team.
You have strong relevant networks and experience in coalition building.
You are skilled at developing health strategies and cultivating partnerships with diverse stakeholders including government, private sector, non-governmental and civil society.
You have an astute understanding of and effectively employ strategies within the political, social, cultural and economic landscape in Nigeria when designing and implementing advocacy campaigns and initiatives.
You are a strong writer, communicator, team player and connector with the ability to make change happen.
You have an understanding of the political, social, cultural and economic landscape in Nigeria

Job Title: State Coordinator

Location: Taraba State

Job Summary

The State Coordinator for Taraba will strategically drive and manage the smooth implementation of MamaYe- Evidence for Action (E4A) activities in this State in a way that is Value for Money and ensuring that expected results, as laid out in the programme logframe and country strategy, are achieved.
You will be expected to work with the country director, national coordinator and advocacy and communication advisors, the health correspondent, MamaYe Lead, Budget Advocacy Advisor and other State coordinators to strategically use evidence for strengthening advocacy and accountability for maternal and newborn health, targeting this evidence to relevant audiences (e.g. Non-governmental organisations, advocates, accountability structures, district health planners, policy makers) with the aim of accelerating progress on maternal and newborn survival in Taraba State. A key component of this role is to facilitate evidence based planning and decision making to ensure efficient allocation of resources to MNH in order to improve quality of care for mothers and babies.
As the State Coordinator, you will be responsible for the overall functioning of MamaYe-E4A in Taraba, providing technical inputs and support in the use of evidence to power advocacy and accountability on maternal and newborn health. Working closely with the MamaYe Lead, you will ensure a strong MamaYe movement grounded in evidence based approaches and tactics. Technical support will be provided to you by Options, specifically the Technical Support Unit and consortium partners, who will help ensure you have the international and national technical support necessary to deliver your objectives.
You will proactively identify and exploit opportunities for scaling up existing E4A approaches that have proven to be successful. In addition, you will be expected to share areas of learning and come up with new ideas, which will enable the programme to achieve results. You will also be responsible for ensuring that state level work reinforces national level work and responds to changes at the national level.
You will be expected to work closely with E4A colleagues based in Nigeria and internationally, particularly on technical and work planning issues, contribute inputs to the country operational plan and strategies, and ensure that state level logframe indicators and targets are met.
You will be based in Taraba State at an organisation selected by Options, which will act as the host agency. It will be important to work closely with staff from this host agency and make sure that capacity at the agency is built where necessary.
You will report to the National Coordinator, whilst maintaining regular technical communication with other E4A colleagues.
Team reporting arrangements will be reviewed if any change in team staffing occurs.

Responsibilities
Lead Technical Inputs on MNH in Taraba:

Support the implementation of the MamaYe-E4A strategy at state level
Support MNH evidence-related strategies/activities in the State;
Support relevant ministries and others in strengthening maternal death review processes;
Contribute to the generation, analysis and packaging of evidence to support advocacy and accountability efforts;
Establish state level accountability mechanisms bringing together a diverse array of partners to push for change on MNCH issues
Collaborate with stakeholders (i.e. including media, advocates, CSOs) committed to strengthening evidence, advocacy and accountability in Nigeria;
Track progress in Taraba State against logframe indicators in collaboration with the Evidence Advisor;
Keep MamaYe websites up to date with relevant evidence, new stories and blogs
Contribute to the development of workplans and country strategies and their implementation

Delivery of Operational Plan:

Develop country operational plan in Taraba State, coordinating activities of the programme team and consultants (and engaging in trouble-shooting where necessary) to support the smooth implementation of the programme;
Work with MamaYe-E4A staff to regularly review and develop the political strategy to overcome barriers and build on supportive factors to ensure the successful implementation of the E4A workplan in Taraba State.
Provide technical input to the overall E4A strategy, using best practice on what works to achieve change in health outcomes;
Ensure sound technical implementation of the operational plan in Taraba State;
Quality assure evidence related outputs;
Monitor progress of operational plan to ensure activities in Taraba State are on track and regularly report on progress to the National Coordinator;
Proactively anticipate and participate in identifying technical assistance (TA)/subcontracting needs relating to evidence, advocacy and accountability areas or wider work in focus states, in conjunction with Options, and management of TA including development of TORs, contracting of TA and monitoring of TA outputs;
Oversee financial management and reporting in Taraba State and submission of timely and accurate financial reports to Options;
Oversee financial management and reporting for the Taraba office’s budget;
Actively look for opportunities to drive forward E4A’s work in Taraba and opportunities to collaborate with other in-country stakeholders
Lead on coalition building with regard to accountability mechanisms in Taraba, helping to ensure that E4A makes the right connections and supporting the development of E4A as a platform in line with E4A’s strategy;
Work in conjunction with the Health Correspondent to build the MNH capacity of Nigerian journalists, opinion-formers and decision-makers in line with the E4A Nigeria work-plan.
Information Packaging, Dissemination, Advocacy, Accountability and Sharing of Lessons Learned
Identify the information needs of target audiences and package/tailor evidence according to formats which are most relevant and meaningful to each one;
Develop tactful strategies to promote the effective use of evidence into action (policy, programme, advocacy, accountability) among different stakeholders;
Work with advocates and those working to strengthen accountability mechanisms to ensure they have the evidence required to be more effective;
Use evidence to support the development and populating of accountability tools to track MNH progress and commitments;
Package complex scientific information for a range of stakeholders in an easily understandable and appropriate format for non-scientists, and disseminate as appropriate;
Identify opportunities for sharing lessons learned and tools, and dissemination of the programme result
Attend Advisory Committee meetings as required to provide updates on E4A’s work in Taraba State;
Work with and leverage efforts by other development partners in the State, and with their networks to mobilise greater public and political support for advocacy efforts;
Work with the MamaYe Lead, Communications Specialist and Advocacy Coordinator to develop advocacy materials (i.e. stories, campaign materials) and ensure that the E4A/MamaYe Nigeria campaign website is a useful tool for delivering the advocacy strategy.

Requirements

You are passionate about maternal and newborn health issues and have a track record of mobilising, communicating and catalysing social change in Nigeria.
You are a prominent leader in civil society and an activist for women and children in Nigeria
You have experience leading and managing a team.
You have strong relevant networks and experience in coalition building.
You are skilled at developing health strategies and cultivating partnerships with diverse stakeholders including government, private sector, non-governmental and civil society.
You have an astute understanding of and effectively employ strategies within the political, social, cultural and economic landscape in Nigeria when designing and implementing advocacy campaigns and initiatives.
You are a strong writer, communicator, team player and connector with the ability to make change happen.
You have an understanding of the political, social, cultural and economic landscape in Nigeria

Job Title: Health Budget Advocacy Advisor

Location: Abuja

Job Summary

As the Health Budget Advocacy Advisor you will be responsible for leading technical inputs and support on health budget and resource tracking and advocacy for the E4A team in Nigeria.
Responsibilities will be directly aimed at advocating for MNCH/health budget allocation, release and expenditure and that such evidence is regularly tracked and shared annually at national and state levels. The role may involve carrying out some primary research, but will focus primarily on synthesising, packaging and disseminating existing evidence, conducting secondary analysis of existing data, and making sure evidence is communicated for advocacy and strengthening accountability to different stakeholders, including transparent national and state health budget release and expenditure
You will report to the Country Director and work closely with other members of the country team supported by the host agency, and Options’ head office team members, in particular the Technical Support Unit (TSU). You will work closely with the team in Nigeria including the National Coordinator, Communications Advisor, MamaYe Lead, Advocacy Coordinator, State Coordinators, and Health Correspondent.

Job Responsibilities
Coordinate budget and resource tracking work for E4A in Nigeria and regionally:

Identify organisations and opportunities for collaboration in budget and resource tracking to analyse and communicate current evidence on government health and MNH expenditure and resource allocation at both state and national levels.
Work with local coalitions or groups working on budget tracking to use findings for evidence driven advocacy and to strengthen transparency of results.
Use results of budget tracking exercise to effectively illustrate where blockages, leakages and delays occur and to advocate for better and more timely allocation and utilization of resources.
Assess timeliness and quantity of disbursement of decentralised funds in our focus states.
Support and expand regional Africa Health Budget Network efforts and activities in Nigeria, in collaboration with other members of the E4A team.

Facilitate capacity building on health financing and budget tracking:

Work with partners to ensure functional broad based budget tracking committees at national and state level and that members are in a position to advocate/influence the budget cycle
Develop training materials and conduct trainings for diverse stakeholders including civil society and media to increase the skills among CSOs and the media for monitoring and tracking health planning and expenditures, particularly at state level.

Packing and dissemination of budget tracking results:

Report and package key findings in different formats, and support the dissemination of results to increase transparency and action at state and national levels
Support and work with the E4A advocacy team to develop targeted evidence-based advocacy messaging using State budget tracking findings for the increased availability of resources for MNH.
Support the advocacy team and MamaYe campaign lead to share budget tracking results with local organisations and accountability mechanisms, media networks and journalists, communities and MamaYe activists to catalyse action

Lead evidence-gathering and updating on health financing evidence and data in Nigeria:

Identify local, national and international financial commitments on MNH in Nigeria and assess progress to achieving these promises.

Person Specification
Essential:

Degree in Health Economics or a related subject
Extensive experience in health economics, budget and resource tracking in Nigeria
Strong experience in using and communicating evidence effectively to different stakeholders to better inform MNH planning, decision making, advocacy and accountability efforts
An excellent understanding of the Nigeria political, cultural, economic and social context and health financing landscape in Nigeria.
Self-starter, can work independently and as part of a team
Excellent written, online and oral communication skills
Fluent in English

Desirable:

Masters degree in health economics or public health
Training others on budget tracking and advocacy

Others:

You have extensive experience and knowledge of health financing and budget tracking.
You have very good knowledge and understanding of the Nigerian health system structure and health financing processes including budget cycles.
You have an understanding of the political, social, cultural and economic landscape in Nigeria
You have previous experience in training others on budget and resource tracking.
You are passionate about maternal and newborn health issues.
You are a strong writer, communicator and connector.

Job Title: Health Correspondent

Location: Abuja

Job Summary

As the Health Correspondent you will be responsible for supporting advocacy and communication technical inputs through writing and disseminating diverse evidence based communication materials on maternal and newborn health for the E4A-MamaYe campaign.
A key role will be to produce and disseminate high quality written evidence based materials for a variety of online and print media to showcase the MamaYe campaign and activities.
You will report to the Country Director and work closely with other members of the country team supported by the host agency in Abuja and Options’ head office team members, in particular the Technical Support Unit (TSU) and other core team members. You will work closely with the team in Nigeria including the National Coordinator, Communications Advisor, MamaYe Lead, Advocacy Coordinator, State Coordinators, and Budget Advocacy Advisor.

Job Responsibilities

Lead inputs on communication and writing for various print and online media:
Identify, research and write stories highlighting successes within maternal and newborn health and to celebrate individual or organisational champions in Nigeria
Produce and disseminate press releases for key campaign and national events
Support E4A team members in developing rich online and social media content including blogs, stories and website updates.

Build the capacity of journalists and media networks on maternal and newborn health:

Mentor journalists in accurately using evidence, identifying stories and positioning media as a powerful accountability and advocacy mechanism to influence politicians and the public
Produce materials and deliver media training on investigative journalism and MNH
Support the development and implementation of an investigative journalism fellowship/competition to inspire, motivate and celebrate investigative journalism pieces on MNH issues, to mobilise action.

Support delivery of the operational plan:

Contribute ideas into the country operational plan and the overall E4A strategy, using best practice from the sector.
Work with the E4A team to develop specific communications materials and messages to support both advocacy and accountability efforts.
Support the development and writing of key strategies and reports as needed.
Monitor progress of the operational plan to ensure it is on track, and regularly report on progress to the Country Director.

Person Specification
Essential:

Master's Degree in Health or journalistic relevant field
Experience working as a journalist within the health sector
Experience of communicating evidence and statistics for different audiences on different platforms (e.g. print/web/mobile/broadcast) in an engaging way
Excellent written, online and oral communication skills
Experience of running campaigns on social media sites
Strong training, motivating and facilitation skills
Fluent in English

Desirable:

Good understanding of the maternal and newborn health landscape in-country
Proficient in Hausa or Yoruba

Others:

You have excellent written, online and oral communication skills and a track record of producing high quality communications materials, preferably in the health sector.
You have experience working as a journalist, reporting on topics of health and maternal and newborn health.
You have experience of translating complex, scientific information into short, accurate and accessible briefings and messaging for a wide range of audiences and using a wide range of media.
You have an understanding of the political, social, cultural and economic landscape in Nigeria and will be able to take this into account when communicating the work of E4A.
You have experience using social media, writing blogs and developing press releases.
You are passionate about improving the survival of mothers and babies.
You are a strong writer, communicator and connector.

Remuneration
Commensurate with experience

Application Deadline 21st December, 2014

Interview Date
23rd December, 2014

Duration
January 2015 - March 2017

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should email their CV and covering letter to: [email protected]

Note

Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for interview
Early submission of applications is recommended as shortlisting will be an ongoing process as applications are received

Options Consultancy Services Limited Job Vacancies in Nigeria, December 16th 2014

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