Individual Contractor : Monitoring and Information Systems Specialist (Open to Malawian 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, Health...

Despite recent gains, Malawi’s health outcomes remain challenging. Health care resources in Malawi are unfairly and inefficiently focused on tertiary level facilities and services. Universal Health Coverage (UHC) can only be realistically achieved through a lower cost Essential Health Package (EHP) that emphasizes primary and preventive care, alongside improving quality and strengthening health systems. The UNJP HSS (UN Join Programme on Health Systems Strengthening) funded by FCDO (United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office) aims to improve the health and survival of the most vulnerable in Malawi. The programme will place emphasis on i) reaching the poorest and most vulnerable with cost effective primary and community-based services; ii) improving quality of care to ensure better life-saving outcomes and increased demand; and iii) establishing more effective district governance and accountability for service delivery and outcomes to make better use of available resources.

The programme represents a significant shift from largely input-driven health financing at national level, to focus tightly on strengthening quality and coverage of UHC and delivering better health outcomes at the sub-national level through decentralized administration. The programme will:

• increase provision and uptake of quality, cost effective life-saving primary healthcare (PHC) services;
• improve equitable resourcing, and district management of services; and
• strengthen Government accountability and citizens’ participation in delivery of health services in districts.

United Nations Joint Programme

A Joint United Nations programme on Health Systems Strengthening (UNJP-HSS) has been developed by UNICEF, WHO and UNFPA and coordinated by the Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO). This was in response to dialogue with FCDO and the Government of Malawi (GoM). The Joint Programme will provide technical support to ensure quality integrated Reproductive Maternal Newborn Child Health (RMNCH) services being available and accessible at primary care and community levels, leading to high coverage of such services which is a key condition for women, children and adolescents to attain a state of good health by 2025.

The United Nations Joint Programme will identify and build upon the complementarities of the three agencies, bring together the added value of each of the partners to address the multifaceted areas of HSS, PHC and achieving UHC - all important contributions towards sustainable development goals in Malawi.

How can you make a difference?

Support planning, monitoring, analysis and reporting of the UN Joint Programme on Health Systems Strengthening

• Develop and execute a plan for orientation of various staff cadres on the UNJP-HSS porgramme
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of project cycle processes to ensure the achievement of results as planned and allocated;
• Develop training materials, SOP, guidelines for monitoring and reporting
• Provide relevant data for donor reports and ensure quality assurance

Build capacity and improve coordination of district and satellite offices through supervision and mentorship support

• Support rapid assessment of capacity development needs of districts for monitoring and learning and develop capacity building plan
• Support to strengthen district level capacity on data collection, data quality, analysis and use for program planning and prioritization in 6 targeted districts
• Conduct bottleneck analysis to identify mentorship gaps at satellite and district levels
• Strengthen coordination of monitoring and reporting among key sectors at national, satellite and district levels
• Support capacity building of districts in use of information to inform programme planning
• Support MOH and districts in evidence-based planning and budgeting
• Facilitate supportive supervision visits to 6 targeted districts to improve monitoring of RMNCH programmes
• Support MOH to harmonize data collection tools and standardize tools
• Provide ongoing support to district coordination committees by making data accessible

Strengthening health information systems, real-time monitoring, surveillance, dashboards for effective programme monitoring

• Support MoH in regular updating of score card for key performance indicators for RMNCH programmes
• In collaboration with CMED, advocate and support inclusion of key PHC indicators in DHIS2
• Provide technical support in configuration, customization of primary health care information systems, including community health information system (CHIS) into DHIS2
• Manage dashboards, users in DHIS2 and provide feedback to CMED for standardization of indicators and tools
• Support CMED and MOH in conducting data quality and review meetings
• Support the generation and use of gender disaggregated data.
• Support development of the Early Warning System (based on U-report) to inform vulnerable communities about flood risks in timely manner.

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

Academic qualification:

• An advanced university degree (Master’s Degree) in Data Science, Health Information Systems, Statistics, Public Health or other relevant disciplines is required.

Work experience:

• Five years or more professional experience in monitoring using health information platforms is needed
• Expertise in District Health Information Systems (DHIS2) is required
• Demonstrated ability to develop dashboards for Health programme monitoring is essential
• Experience in conducting assessment, compiling and analyzing data and write reports is required
• Demonstrated ability to effectively cooperate with national authorities in the design, implementation and dissemination phases of the review and development of strategic documents and operational plans at national and district level is desirable
• Experience in knowledge management systems for health interventions is desirable
• Demonstrated abilities or experiences in facilitating stakeholders consultations is desirable

Technical skills and knowledge:

• Demonstrated competencies in monitoring and information systems is required
• Knowledge in analytical and quantitative skills is required
• Familiarity with mobile-based real-time monitoring platforms, and application of these technologies for development planning, response, monitoring and reporting are desirable

Competencies:

• Ability to multi-task and cover multiple work streams simultaneously
• Self starter; self-reliant with excellent organization, coordination & planning skills
• Naturally committed and hard-working, with ability to work under pressure

Please refer to the attached full Terms of Reference ToR MIO UNJP-Health Systems Specialist.pdf for more details on the consultancy and requirements.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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.

HOW TO APPLY...

Interested consultants should provide the following:

1. Expression of interest / motivation letter
2. Curriculum Vitae
3. Examples of work on drone related activities
4. Financial proposal including a breakdown of their all-inclusive fees (including professional fees, travel, living cost, visa and other costs). Financial Proposal for Consultancy.xlsx Complete the attached form.
5. References details from 3 persons with whom the candidate has worked closely, including former and current supervisors

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.