Consultancy for LAC Regional Primary Health Care Strategy, UNICEF LACRO, 3 months (Home-Based)

Contract

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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, health

The Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region has made progress to improve health indices and is on track to achieving some of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals. For example, neonatal mortality rate has reduced to 9.3 deaths per 1000 livebirths compared to the SDG target of 12 deaths per 1000 livebirths. Similarly, under five mortality is down to 18 deaths per 1000 livebirths and on track to achieve the SDG target.

Despite this progress, some key health indicators have stagnated or even worsened during the past decade. For example, the maternal mortality ratio increased from xx to 88 between 2015 and 2020 with significant equity gaps among countries and population groups, with women of indigenous populations, Afro descendants, and adolescents as some of the most affected populations. Immunization coverage has fallen back or stagnated, in many places in the region. The coverages for DTP1 and DTP3 declined from 95 per cent and 86 percent in 2017 to 82 per cent and 75 per cent respectively in 2021, and while the trend is upwards (87 per cent and 79 per cent for DTP1 and DTP3 in 2022), much work remains to be done to sustainably prevent children from vaccine preventable diseases. It is estimated that more than 56,000 women in LAC are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and more than 28,000 die from it every year. However, the proportion of girls who are vaccinated against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) remains low at 52 per cent (2022). The LAC region also continues to be affected by disease outbreaks such as cholera, dengue, and Zika virus. The stunting rate in children under 5 remains stagnant at around 11 per cent, while overweight is on the rise (at 8.6 per cent in 2023, from 6.9 per cent in 2000). Coverages of interventions for prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV were affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the coverage of HIV screening among pregnant women during antenatal care in LAC reached a historic high of 80 per cent in 2019 but reduced to 68 per cent in 2021. Likewise, the access to antiretroviral therapy for pregnant women living with HIV increased to the highest level of 87 per cent in 2019 followed by a sharp reduction to 64 per cent in 2022 0 and 2021. These contributed to a gradual increase of mother-to-child transmission rates in some of the countries

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of well-resourced health services, including all components of Primary Health Care (service delivery, community participation and multisectoral engagement). The post pandemic period requires a strong focus on strengthening on Primary Health Care to address the inequities, stagnation in some of the key health indicators and resilience to disease outbreaks and ever-increasing humanitarian needs due to migration, meteorological events, and climate change.

To guide and harmonise the approach to support and scale up Primary Health Care among UNICEF’s Country Offices in the region, UNICEF LACRO is developing a regional strategy which aims at providing this guidance.

How can you make a difference?

Under the general guidance of the Regional Adviser, Survive and Thrive, and in collaboration with the other Advisers and Specialist in the Survive & Thrive Section in UNICEF Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office (LACRO), the consultant will conduct content review of the draft regional strategy for UNICEF’s support to Primary Health in LAC region. The review will focus on the technical content and the layout of the document to ensure that it is relevant and practical for UNICEF Country Offices in LAC region, cognizant that UNICEF’s PHC strengthening is guided by the overall UNICEF health strategy 2016 – 2030, and UNICEF and WHO’s Operational Framework for Primary Health Care and other recent guidance and agreements and has inputs from UNICEF Country Offices.

Key Activities/Tasks

• Review of the draft strategy
• Seek and collate inputs from UNICEF Survive and Thrive staff in LACRO, senior managers in Country Offices and relevant LACRO colleagues
• Incorporate the inputs from stakeholders and develop a second draft strategy

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Advance university degree (Master) in Medicine, public health, or related field.
• Prior work experience in policy and/or strategy development in public health.
• Eight years or more of experience in public health or primary health care space.
• Prior experience of primary health care in LAC is desirable.
• Analytical, conceptual ability; skills in communication and excellent writing skills in English is required.
• Fluent in English and knowledge of Spanish an asset.
• Demonstrated ability to work with various stakeholders.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS)

UNICEF competencies: building and maintains partnerships, demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness, drive to achieve results for impact, innovates and embraces change, manages ambiguity and complexity, thinks and acts strategically and works collaboratively with others.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

Administrative details

Supervision: The consultant will work under the overall supervision and guidance of the UNICEF LACRO Health Adviser.

Workplace: The consultancy is home-based.

Duration: The total working days for the consultancy is 20 days which will be spread for the 3 months duration of the consultancy

How to Apply: Application should be submitted online and should include: TMS application form duly completed, Cover Letter, Study certificates and Financial proposal (daily fee or per deliverable)

Qualified candidates are requested to indicate an all-inclusive (lump sum) fees for the services to be including all associated administrative and travel costs. Y

Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed 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.

Consultants must have their own equipment, tools and materials needed to perform their services. They will use their own laptops/computers, any application or system needed to complete the assignment. They need to provide the full service without using UNICEF resources.

Remarks:

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

Individuals engaged under a consultancy 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.

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UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.