Human Resources for Health Needs Assessment, Kampala, Uganda, 35 days in 3 months, Ugandan Nationals only

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 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 and Purpose

Uganda's Ministry of Health (MoH) approved and signed the National Community Health Strategy (NCHS) in October 2022. The NCHS is a long-awaited guiding document for developing effective community health systems, which is the essential component of Primary Health Care (PHC) systems and subsequent achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). UNICEF will support the MoH in disseminating NCHS to the district level and building the national and subnational level’s capacity to implement the NCHS.

UNICEF has recently initiated the Primary Health Care Community Empowerment (PHCCE) programme, using the Child Friendly Community Initiative (CFCI) strategy to improve access to PHC through strengthening decentralisation, mobilising the community to participate in activities, and enhancing cross-sectoral convergence, including health, nutrition, WASH. UNICEF is piloting the PHCCE programme in Kamwenge district and provides technical and financial assistance to operationalise the NCHS. The purpose of the the PHCCE using the CFCI is to empower communities to take responsibility of their own health. The MoH has adopted this programme as their flagship programme for implementing the NCHS.

UNICEF will support the operational research on the implementation of PHC and NCHS in Kamwenge district to generate evidence that will be used to advocate for the adoption and scale-up of the approach by other PHC and community health stakeholders in the country. This ToR is particularly for the Human Resources for Health (HRH) needs assessment, which will be conducted as part of the operational research. The result of the assessment will inform the government of the HRH needs where more government’s investment is required to implement the PHC and NCHS.

SCOPE OF ASSESSMENT:

The National Community Health Strategy will be used as the key guidance document for implementing this assignment. The strategy specifies a structure that will be adopted to support its implementation. Based on the structure, the consultant will:

1. Establish the staffing levels as well as gaps of community health critical cadres including Parish Chief, Health Assistant, Public Health Nurse, Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) and VHTs. Using a random selection of districts from each of the regions of the country, use secondary data to establish the staffing situation and gaps for the same cadres.
2. Assess current roles and functions of the community health critical cadres and compare with the expected roles as defined in the NCHS and establish implications if any.
3. Assess community health structures inter- coordination gaps and advise on how to improve CHW coordination, supervision, and performance.
4. Provide HR costs estimates required to develop a minimum capacity for implementation of the National Community Health Strategy and establish funding gaps.
5. Develop recommendations for the MoH and its development partners to support optimal implementation of the NCHS from the perspective of HRH

The geographical focus will be on Kamwenge and a few other selected districts.

Justification

PHC and community health are critical steps for achieving UHC, and both MoH and UNICEF recognize them as priority areas to invest in. The Permanent Secretary of MoH requested UNICEF to pilot the full package intervention of PHC and community health in Kamwenge district and make evidence regarding how it works and the cost of implementation. This HRH needs assessment is one of the evidence generation activities UNICEF is planning in Kamwenge district, which will feed into the government’s effort to scale up the PHC and community health country wide.

Objectives

The objective of this assignment is to generate evidence regarding HRH needs to implement the PHC and NCHS that will be used to advocate for the adoption and scale-up of the approach by other PHC and community health stakeholders in the country.

Major Tasks

1. Develop an Inception Report detailing understanding of the assignment and study implementation plan & budget (if any).
2. Conduct HRH Needs Assessment with a clear description (capacity, linkage to the existing structures, effectiveness, and the existing gaps and the cost of filling the gap), propose recommendations
3. Present to CH task force meeting and TWG for feedback
4. Support validation of the results of the HRH Needs Assessment
5. Develop final report which takes into account issues coming up during the validation meeting
6. Review the National Community Health Strategy

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

Education

• Advanced university degree in Social Science, Economics, Public Health, or other relevant disciplines.

Work Experience

• • At least 10 years of experience in designing and implementing studies, research, and evaluations in the field of public health, health economics, economics, statistics, or other related disciplines.
  • o Experience working in Uganda and/or African context is an advantage.
  • o Experience working with international development organizations and/or government institutions is an asset.
• Technical knowledge o Human Resources for Health
• Public Health
• Health System Strengthening
• Research methodologies

Language skills:

o Excellent written and verbal communication in English is required. Knowledge of the local language is considered as an asset.

Conditions:

• The consultancy will only commence when the 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 contractors 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
• COVID19 Vaccination for this position is mandatory.

How to Apply

UNICEF is committed to gender equality in its mandate and its staff. Well qualified candidates, particularly females are strongly encouraged to apply.

Qualified and experienced candidates are requested to submit a letter of interest including a Technical Proposal outlining a road map for review and implementation timeline. In their letter of interest, candidates should highlight their previous work experience relevant to the assignment, the attributes that make them suitable, and their proposed approach to the assignment.

The applicant should also submit a Financial Proposal outlining the total costs for this consultancy with payment linked to the main deliverables outlined above. The financial proposal should indicate an all-inclusive lumpsum fee composed of consultancy fees, travel costs and subsistence/living allowances (where applicable).

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.