Consultancy: Effective Vaccine Management (Evaluation) Consultant Req

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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, Hope.

Consultancy Title: Effective Vaccine Management (Evaluation) Consultant

Section/Division/Duty Station: Health – Immunization/ iSC Section/ Programme Group, NYHQ

Duration: 12 June 2023 to 28 February 2024

Home/ office Based: Remote

About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:

Appropriate and effective in-country vaccine management is critical for governments, partners, and donors to achieve set goals of immunizing children (and others) with potent vaccines through contributing to vaccine potency, availability, reach and efficiencies.

UNICEF, WHO and partners support several initiatives to ensure that vaccines are effectively managed. The Effective Vaccine Management (EVM) initiative assesses supply chain performance using standard criteria, identifies bottlenecks, and develops recommendations for improvement. The initiative has long been a critical continuous improvement approach to strengthening immunization supply chains.

The mobile-based version- EVM 2 , was launched to provide a more robust dataset, more frequent assessment opportunities (including country-wide and targeted assessments) and to facilitate more comprehensive improvement feedback etc. EVM 2 has been rolled out in about 40 countries with emerging lessons. However, there is need to systematically document lessons learnt in developing the EVM 2 and in rolling this out in these 40 countries, across global, regional, national, and sub-national stakeholders.

Thus, UNICEF is seeking one (1) EVM Evaluation Consultant to provide dedicated quantitative and qualitative analytics expertise. The Consultant will develop an EVM 2 development and roll-out (quantitative and qualitative) protocol, develop evaluation tools, facilitate ethical approval for evaluation, administer questionnaires, conduct direct informant interview, focus group discussions etc. as required, to evaluate global, regional, national, and sub-national stakeholder experiences with development and roll-out of EVM 2.0, analyze evaluation findings and develop evaluation outputs including (in the minimum) one report, two case studies and two news materials. The Consultant will also provide expertise on the EVM 2 good practice initiative.

The consultant will report directly to the Health Specialist, Immunization Supply Chain and collaborate with a wide range of partners in iSC2, regions and countries.

Scope of Work:

Under the supervision of the Health Specialist, Immunization Supply Chain, the EVM 2 Evaluation Consultant will:

• Develop EVM 2 evaluation protocol to guide evaluation process.
• Produce evaluation tools including for both stakeholder engagements/consent taking, qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, reporting etc.
• Develop required materials to secure appropriate ethical approvals for conducting the formal evaluation.
• Conduct evaluation (quantitative and qualitative, as spelt out in protocol) of EVM 2 development and roll-out across 40 countries, engaging stakeholders across global, regional, national, and sub-national levels
• Collaborate on quantitative analytics (EVM 1 and 2 related), with other EVM Analytics Consultant, to ensure complementarity in analytics and evaluation.
• Produce and document outputs of evaluation findings.

Consultant requires UNICEF email address while engaging with stakeholders across global, regional, and country levels on above as this is critical to receiving and managing sensitive government supply chain data.

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:

• Develop EVM 2 evaluation protocol to guide evaluation process
• EVM 2 evaluation protocol finalized and approved - 30th June 2023
• Produce evaluation tools including for both stakeholder engagements/consent taking, qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, and reporting
• EVM 2 evaluation (quantitative and qualitative) tools and templates developed and approved - 14th July 2023
• Develop required materials to secure appropriate ethical approvals for conducting the formal evaluation.
• Required ethical approval documents finalized (including but not limited to Ethical application form/checklist, research protocol, participants information sheets/consent forms (as applicable) - 21st July 2023
• Conduct evaluation (quantitative and qualitative, as spelt out in protocol) of EVM 2 development and roll-out across 40 countries, engaging stakeholders across global, regional, national, and sub-national levels
• Conclude qualitative and quantitative EVM 2 evaluation - 25th August 2023
• Collaborate on quantitative analytics (EVM 1 and 2 related), with other EVM Analytics Consultant, to ensure complementarity in analytics and evaluation
• Finalized qualitative and quantitative analysis, liaising with other EVM Analytics Consultant - 1st September 2023
• Produce and document outputs of evaluation findings
• Evaluation outputs including (in the minimum) one report, two case studies and two news materials finalized - 22nd September 2023
• Provide expertise to update EVM 2 best practice guidance on the EVM tool, including related guidelines
• EVM 2 best practice guidance updated with UNICEF global goods. - 13th October 2023

Qualifications

Education:

• An Advance University Degree in one or more of the following areas: Statistics, Mathematics, Data Analysis, Supply Chain Management, Engineering, Public Health, or other relevant fields.

• Additional qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the university degree.

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of other UN languages is desirable.

Work experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible for A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible for producing qualitative and quantitative analytics, especially related to Immunization logistics and Supply Chain management etc.
• Familiarity with health systems evaluation (quantitative and qualitative), including use of appropriate methodologies
• Experience working on immunization supply chain and vaccine management projects.
• Familiarity with the Effective Vaccine Management (EVM) Approach, assessments and cIPs
• Experience in working with governments, working in resource-limited settings, monitoring, and evaluating supply chains, and risk management and mitigation will be an asset.
• Experience working in the UN system agency or development organization is an asset.
• Familiarity with emergency response is an asset.

Competencies:

• Ability to work in the multi-cultural environment.

Requirements****:

• Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and provide Personal History Form (P11) Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include:
  • your daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability
• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.