Data Systems Engineering Technical Support to Ministry of Health, 11 Months, Kampala, Uganda

Consultant Medical & Health Programme & Policy IT & Telecom

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, a fair chance

Uganda is one of the over 190 countries and territories around the world where we work to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease, and discrimination place in a child’s path. Together with the Government of Uganda and partners we work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, the objectives of the Uganda National Development Plan, and the planned outcomes of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework. Visit this link for more information on Uganda Country Office https://www.unicef.org/uganda/

How can you make a difference?

Background

Community Health in Uganda

Uganda’s policy objectives of improving equity, efficiency, and effectiveness of the health sector, prioritize preventative and promotive interventions and a focus on a people centred approach for integrated Primary Health Care (PHC). These interventions are primarily delivered through PHC, including at the community level. Community level interventions provide a unique opportunity to deliver integrated programmes and Village Health Teams (VHTs)1 have been identified as having a key role in achieving this.

The GoU is highly committed to PHC and recognizes that a strong, well-resourced and well functioning community health system is at the core of PHC and is critical for the achievement of

universal health coverage (UHC). Although initially focused on MCH and communicable diseases, Uganda’s PHC policies and programmes have evolved over the years to respond more

comprehensively to its population needs. Following the renewed 2018 Astana Declaration, MoH is putting together a UHC roadmap to respond to the latest developments at the country, regional and global levels. Community health is an integral part of the road map.

Reproductive Maternal Newborn Child Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) at the community level

In 2020, the GoU published its National Development Plan 2020-2025 (NDP III) and National Health Policy III 2020-2030. The NDP III adopts a programme-based approach and RMNCAH is specifically expected to contribute to the health sector through indicators such as reduced neonatal mortality rate from 27/1,000 live births to 19/1,000 and reduced maternal mortality rate from 336/100,000 to 211/100,000. A wide range of bottlenecks have been identified as delaying the reaching of these targets. They include but are not limited to food and nutrition insecurity; inadequate population management including teenage and unwanted pregnancies; and limited information on sexual and reproductive health to name a few.

This has raised attention towards the need to design and implement integrated health services to

address clients’ needs at different stages in life. Cross cutting interventions, platforms, and tools such as promotion of the KFCPs, FC and CAPA that provide contextual, and systems support at the community level have been prioritized in the draft RMNCAH Sharpened Plan 2021 – 2025 as well as use of systems such as digital CHIS (Community Health Information System), FC (FamilyConnect) and MPDSR (Maternal Perinatal Deaths Surveillance and Response) Tracker to strengthen evidence-based planning and monitoring to improve service delivery.

UNICEF Uganda Country Programme 2021-2025

In the Country Program and Acton Plan 2021-2025, UNICEF commits to strengthening the community platform through use of innovations and technology. This is emphasized in all five of the Child Survival and Development (CSD) outputs, namely, Maternal Newborn Health, Child Health, Adolescent Health and Wellbeing, Nutrition and WASH. For instance, through interventions such as consolidation and scaling up innovations in maternal and new-born care (mobile (m)health and voucher system), use of digital health to support Maternal Death Audit and general health service delivery by frontline health workers at both health facility and community levels; improve scale and quality of community-based management of acute malnutrition; and public-private partnerships for innovative sanitation technologies and maintenance of WASH facilities. UNICEF continues to work on a scalable community engagement model that will support planning and monitoring process.

Purpose of Assignment and Scope:

The Consultant will support the Ministry of Health’s Health Information Management Division and ICT Unit with software development, software enhancement and functionalisation of interoperability for the Maternal and perinatal death surveillance response (MPDSR) App, Community Health Worker Registry (CHWR), and Family Connect (FC) Progression Model tool, ICT online Inventory and MoH Master Registries.

The consultant will also support the database management for eCHIS implementation and ensure that the eCHIS remains operational minimizing down times for the eCHIS system.

Justification

Data systems and Digital health provide a vital source of information for accountability and aid service delivery in the health system, respectively. With the current level of investment in the sector as well as the desire to achieve universal health coverage, it is critical that the capacity of government (MoH and DLGs) is strengthened to plan, implement, manage and assess data and digital health systems more efficiently and effectively. This will contribute to strengthening health systems and primary healthcare (especially at community level) which will ultimately lead to increased access to healthcare and improved population health status and outcomes in Uganda.

Objectives

This Consultancy is aimed at software engineering and administration techncial support to Ministry of Health. Specifically,

a. Support to development of MoH data systems and software programs that align with user

needs;

b. Support oversight of MoH data systems (databases) maintenance and security;

c. Support knowledge transfer and capacity strengthening of relevant Government officials at

national and sub national levels;

d. Support monitoring, documentation, learning, and knowledge management related to

implementation and scale up of MoH data and digital health systems.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Software/ Data Systems Engineering

a. Work with data and digital health end-users to define workflow problems they are trying to

address and design appropriate innovative technology solutions.

b. Support translation MoH programme needs into technical requirements that can be used to

develop MoH data systems.

c. Develop or adapt MoH software solutions or data systems by studying requirements analysis

and information needs; confer with stakeholders and management; study system flow, data

usage and work processes; perform software design using software development

fundamentals and processes; debug, test and deploy software solutions (e.g., MPDSR

Activity Tracker, DHSS-PM tool, National Health Registries, Information Exchange Layer,

Online MoH ICT Inventory, Digital HMIS tools forecasting tool, among others).

d. Design, develop and implement data management and data analytics solutions to support

evidence generation on selected indicators including enhancement of both new and existing

Health information System data sources (e.g., DHIS2, HRIS/CHWR), PIP, FamilyConnect,

eCHIS, MPDSR Activity Tracker, DHSS-PM tool, National Health Registries, Information

Exchange Layer, digital MoH ICT Inventory, digital MoH Budget Tracker, Digital HMIS

tools forecasting tool, among others).

2. Database Administration

a. Develop and maintain Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) processes across multiple data

systems or sources.

b. Extract, interface and share data with different databases as required by the MoH Health

Information Management Division to facilitate business intelligence and data warehousing

functions.

c. Identify data discrepancies and data quality issues and work to ensure data consistency and

integrity by implementing data security processes/procedures/programs recommended by the

MoH ICT security SOPs.

d. Automate maintenance tasks such as database backups, log transaction truncating, alerts, and

notifications in case of database unavailability and regularly test backups to validate their

status.

e. Respond to and resolve system load failures and performance issues.

f. Support the database components of all MoH data systems and applications as far as security,

optimization, monitoring, performance, and redundancy is concerned.

g. Advice MoH on Database Systems Performance improvement initiatives and Programs.

h. Implement and maintain Database Backup and Recovery (DR) programs or initiatives to

enhance business continuity in line with the MoH Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

policy.

3. Knowledge Transfer and Capacity Strengthening.

a. Support development and implementation of evidence-based knowledge transfer plans and

training curriculum or materials to strengthening skills of relevant end-users in use of MoH

data systems.

b. Support to organize and implement User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and trainings on use of

MoH data systems at national and sub national levels.

c. Organize bi-monthly sessions on implementation of MoH data systems with relevant officials

from Ministry of Health, districts, and partners – to ensure recurrent knowledge transfer.

d. Contribute to the development of MoH strategic and operational documents such as MoH ICT

Policy, MoH ICT Strategy, Data and Digital Health Systems Standards, among others.

e. Support data and digital health systems assessments and dissemination of findings.

4. Monitoring, Reporting, Documentation, Learning, Knowledge Management

a. Monitor progress and share status (report) on data systems implementation at national and sub

national levels.

b. Generate and distribute reports (standard and ad-hoc) and dashboards from the different MoH

data systems or sources.

c. Document and report (to the Senior Systems Administrator) database breaches or risks

identified during administration of the data systems.

d. Support registration services for COVID-19 vaccinations based on the eligibility criteria and

guidance provided by the Ministry of Health.

e. Support COVID-19 data analytics, data quality assurance and verification support at the

COVID-19 vaccination sites at district level.

f. Support documentation of clear and concise Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and/or

routine tasks related to MoH data systems or sources (using flowcharts, layouts, diagrams,

charts, code comments to aid finer illustration).

g. Support documentation of MoH software applications and/or data systems code base, technical/

training manuals, technical briefs, and activity reports.

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

Education

1. A Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Software Engineering,

Information Systems, or related field, with at least 5 years of work experience in the following

domains:

▪ Healthcare/hospital project management

▪ Digital transformation project management

▪ Consulting experience with government agencies

2. Worked in data analysis and generated data-driven insights.

3. Experienced stringent reporting demands and can write professional project plans and reports.

4. Has experience working with both Government and international NGOs.

5. Knowledge of database design/ theories/ languages such as SQL or SQL/PSM and familiarity

with database queries.

6. Ability to work with data architects and other IT specialists to set up, maintain and monitor

data networks.

7. Knowledge of database structure languages, such as SQL or SQL/PSM

8. Experience with server installation and maintenance.

9. Familiarity with database management and IT security best practices.

10. Excellent written and verbal communication in English.

Core competences:

1. Communication: expresses opinions, speaks clearly, has a sense of diplomacy while

interacting with external stakeholders.

2. Drive for results: passionate about action and helping to get things moving.

3. Team Spirit: enjoys working as part of a group with members of different backgrounds.

4. Learning and Researching: rapidly learns new tasks and demonstrates understanding of

newly acquired information.

5. Independence: can take initiatives and work with limited supervision to deliver results.

6. Coping with pressure: maintains a positive outlook at work and works productively in a pressurized environment and in a crisis while keeping emotions under control.

Conditions:

• The Consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Assistant Commissioner Health

Services, Health Information Management Division, Ministry of Health, and the Senior Systems

Administrator, ICT Unit, Ministry of Health, supported by the Health Specialist (Health Information System & Digital Health), UNICEF Uganda.

• The consultancy will commence only when contract has been signed.

• Consultants will not have supervisory responsibilities nor authority on UNICEF budget and other resources.

• Consultants will be required to sign the Health statement for consultants/Individual contractor

prior to taking up the assignment, and to document that they have appropriate health insurance, if

applicable.

• The Form 'Designation, change or revocation of beneficiary' must be completed by the consultant upon arrival, at the HR Section.

• No contract may commence unless the consultant provides a certificate of completion of a

mandatory course on “prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse”. A certificate to be

submitted with the signed contract should have been obtained in the last three months.

• Under the consultancy agreements, a month is defined as 21 working days, and fees are prorated accordingly. Consultants are not paid for weekends or public holidays

• Consultants are not entitled to payment of overtime. All remuneration must be within the contract agreement and are paid according to satisfactory completion of deliverables

• No contract may commence unless the consultant provides a certificate of completion of a

mandatory course on “Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse”. A certificate to be

submitted with the signed contract should have been obtained in the last three months.

• Clearance from DHR will be required for former UNICEF staff

• Clearance from the Government required for civil servants

Application Procedure/Call for Proposals

Interested candidates can apply

Interested candidates are required to submit a technical proposal on how they intend to approach the work. The proposal should include a timeline, and methodology, based on the Terms of Reference. The proposal must also include detailed CV of the consultant, as well as a financial proposal, clearly indicating daily rate for professional fees. The financial proposal must be all-inclusive of all costs (consultancy fees and where applicable air fares, airport transfers, daily living expenses). This is an international level consultancy and competitive market rates should apply.

Evaluation of Candidate:

The Technical proposal is weighted at 75% and 25% for the Financial proposal.

The consultant will be competitively selected from a list of applicants based on their past experience of doing similar work.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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.

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:

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

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.

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Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org