Health Contractor - PHC Costing (International), UNICEF South Asia

Consultant Medical & Health Programme & Policy

Overview

Provide technical support for PHC costing and health systems strengthening.

You have:

• Advanced degree in public health, health economics or related fields.
• At least eight (8) years of relevant experience in PHC, HSS and HCF.
• Experience of working in the region is an asset.
• Proficiency in English language is required.
• Strong organizational and facilitation skills.
• Excellent communication and writing skills.
• Drive for results.

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

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 future

How can you make a difference?

Rationale:

The revitalization of Primary Health Care (PHC) is a priority agenda for UNICEF ROSA. To accelerate transition from vision to action will require intense support by the Regional Office for South Asia to at least five of the region’s eight Country Offices to implement national PHC Costing Exercises that strengthen both effective coverage of PHC level health services and intersectoral collaboration for the production of improved community health outcomes. It is an effort that will permit UNICEF to partner with governments and other stakeholders to put planning and budgeting for adequate, sustainable and predictable investments in PHC at the center of social development and social protection as the pathway for the achievement of SDG target 3.8, which calls on all countries to achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all. The work that this consultancy will support will focus on strengthening health systems for delivery of integrated MNCAH and Nutrition services at primary care level and essential public health functions and for strengthening multisectoral support systems for health outcomes (WASH, preparedness and response for health care needs in case of emergencies, and for C4D for SBCC, RCCE and accountability to communities).

ROSA wishes to engage a contractor to provide technical support and guidance to country offices for the development of PHC road map, guide the development of country specific PHC costing exercises and of multiyear PHC strengthening implementation plans and related management and governance roadmaps. It is work that requires specialized skills set currently not available within the ROSA team. It is a set of tasks that require the recruitment of a public health expert with an extensive knowledge of PHC and experience in health care planning, budgeting and financing, experience at the national and subnational level, proven experience in developing technical guideline documents and evidence analysis for knowledge generation.

The assignment will require close follow up with participating country offices, need to be completed timely and workload, and therefore requires the full-time deployment of an expert for a period of about 11 months. Hence, it is a set of duties that cannot be undertaken by current ROSA staff members as part of regular duty.

Purpose:

The purpose of the assignment is two-fold: First, to produce guideline documents and tools to help country offices make strategic prioritization in the conceptualizing of their PHC care models and developing PHC road maps and technically support monitoring the implementations in countries. Second, to guide and support the PHC costing exercise and generation of estimates by key cost categories including (i) capital cost (infrastructure, equipment, water, sanitation, electricity); (ii) health workforce wages/benefits; (iii) medicine and pharmaceuticals; (iv) maintenance; (v) planning, supportive supervision and district management as well as (vi) communication and information. Lessons from knowledge generated in the process will be shared across the region and beyond.

Key Assignments and Tasks:

• Produce and avail guideline documents and tools for development of PHC care models and road maps
• Review available global and regional guidelines and knowledge products on PHC and PHC costing
• Review national health and development strategy documents to understand the role PHC is positioned to play and outline advocacy needs and opportunities
• Design a framework for PHC in South Asia highlighting the basic components to be included and ensuring multisectoral actions and community engagement are properly articulated
• Outline a “model” PHC package for South Asia and a menu of core and complementary interventions to be delivered through community, primary care centers and referral level facilities

• Design a checklist for ensuring delivery of integrated PHC services and multisectoral PHC design and implementation

• Support participating country offices in the deliberations with Governments and development partners for producing context specific PHC models and strategies

• Engage relevant partners, including WHO and the World Bank, and participate in the regional discussions promoting PHC and UNICEF positions.

2. Provide technical support for PHC costing exercise in countries

• Review available PHC costing tools and advice country offices as required in the selection of appropriate tools to use
• Provide guidance and technical support for PHC costing exercises
• Follow for Quality Assurance of costing products of participating countries
• Produce guidance and support Country Offices in the development of advocacy packages for PHC financing with non-health sector government entities and partners
• Follow and support Country Offices efforts to institutionalize PHC costing in government planning and budgeting cycles for annual and longer-term expenditures

3. Provide technical support for the development of PHC implementation plans and monitoring the rollouts

• Support the development of PHC implementation plans in participating countries promoting integrated packages of care across the life course (MNCH, nutrition, immunization, HIV, ECD, adolescent health, disabilities, NCDs, injuries, env. health)
• Review and undertake Quality Assurance of implementation plans to ensure incorporation of multisectoral programmes and implementation (WASH, social protection, education – including for school health, child protection)
• Critically review plans and implementations to address inequities in health outcomes and to accelerate coverage, leaving no one behind
• Guide and support efforts for strengthening health systems, including community health (financing, workforce, data and digital health, supply chains, implementation research) and risk informed programming for humanitarian situations
• Promote scale-up of effective interventions and innovations, including for service delivery, community engagement and demand generation activities

4. Document lessons from the process of PHC costing and PHC-model initial implementations

• Support data capture, evidence generation and use for PHC scale up
• Support the documentation of UNICEF and partner led promising practices contributing to generation of UNICEF knowledge products
• Share knowledge on PHC and promote South-South exchange
• Work with Country Offices to identify research areas of focus on PHC in South Asia and engage country offices for implementation

Key functions/Day-to-Day activities:

• Undertake review of available global and regional guidelines and knowledge products, tools, national health and development strategies relevant for PHC and PHC costing to inform regional efforts and guide country offices as required
• Design/develop tools, guides and a framework for a model PHC package for South Asia
• Work with country offices and provide technical support in the development of PHC models and strategies as well as PHC costing exercises
• Undertake review of available global and regional guidelines and knowledge products, tools, national health and development strategies relevant for PHC and PHC costing to inform regional efforts and guide country offices as required
• Design/develop tools, guides and a framework for a model PHC package for South Asia
• Work with country offices and provide technical support in the development of PHC models and strategies as well as PHC costing exercises
• Undertake Quality Assurance of costing products and implementation plans of participating countries
• Engage relevant partners, including WHO, and participate in the regional discussions promoting increased investments in holistic PHC service delivery with a focus on MNCAH, Nutrition and related multisectoral action and UNICEF priorities.
• Support Country Offices in the development of advocacy packages and activities for PHC financing
• Critically review country plans and implementations promoting integrated packages of care across the life course and ensuring incorporation of multisectoral programmes as well as addressing inequity in health outcomes to accelerate coverage at national scale.
• Guide and support efforts for strengthening health systems, including community health and risk informed programming for humanitarian situations
• Support the documentation of UNICEF and partner led promising practices and evidence generation, contributing to generation of UNICEF knowledge products focusing on effective interventions and innovations, including for novel researches
• Facilitate knowledge exchange within South Asia and beyond

Duration: 11 months from 1 May 2021 to 31 Marc 2022 (working remotely)

Note: Please submit your applications with financial proposal. Applications without the financial proposal will not be considered. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advanced to the next stage of the selection process.

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

Education:

Advanced degree in in public health, health economics or related fields

Work Experience:

At least eight (8) years of relevant experience in PHC, HSS and HCF

Experience of working with in the region is an asset

Language Proficiency:

Proficiency in English language is required.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

• Ability to work effectively with multi-faceted stakeholders
• Strong organizational and facilitation skills
• Excellent communication and writing skills
• Drive for results

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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.

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Potential interview questions

Added 5 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org