International Consultancy : Evaluative review of the Malawi Emergency Response (Open to Non-Malawian Nationals Only)

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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, Care...

In December 2021, Malawi experienced its fourth wave of COVID-19, brought on by the Omicron variant. As of 31 March 2022, Malawi conducted 562,051 tests, of which 85,640 tested positive for COVID -19. Since the pandemic started, 2,626 fatalities have been registered. To date, Malawi has recorded the highest Case Fatality Rate of 3 per cent globally. The impact of COVID-19 is being further exacerbated, in the southern districts of Malawi, by floods and compromising cholera and polio responses. Tropical storm Ana hit the southern parts of Malawi on 24 January. The President of Malawi declared a state of disaster on 26 January, and UNICEF immediately launched a response with other UN agencies in support of Government efforts. Since then, a series of flooding events have been experienced, including the tropical storm Gombe in March. Over one million people have been affected by the floods. Tropical storm Ana alone affected 995,000 people, including 130,000 children. Of the affected populations, approximately 190,000 were hosted in 178 displacement sites (mostly schools). The floods caused extensive damage to infrastructure and crops and disrupted access to essential social services. Children have been severely affected and learning for over 400,000 children has been disrupted due to damage to school infrastructure. Further complicating the COVID-19 and emergency flood response is the first reported case of wild polio in Malawi in 30 years, confirmed in February, and the cholera outbreak in March. Access to routine immunization for children continues to be compromised by COVID-19. Access to healthcare facilities is nearly impossible in some areas due to floodwaters, and bridges are swept away due to the heavy rains. Community health concerns over accessing health facilities and vaccine hesitancy complicate vaccination efforts. As of 30 March, 35 cases of cholera were registered with two deaths.

On 17 February, the President of Malawi declared a public health emergency after a case of wild poliovirus was discovered in Lilongwe. UNICEF has since supported the Ministry of Health with establishing an Outbreak Response Emergency Operation Center. UNICEF, WHO, and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) conducted risk assessments, social mapping, social behavioural change communication, vaccine management, and supporting supplementary immunization efforts. A nationwide vaccination campaign was commenced on 21 March 2022, targeting children under five years old who will receive four doses of the oral polio vaccine.

Worse still, on 2 March 2022, Malawi confirmed the first case of cholera in the current cholera season (November 2021- October 2022). As of 17 March 2022, the outbreak has been reported in two districts (1 case Machinga, 5 cases Nsanje). The last ever case of cholera in Machinga was in the period of October to December 2016. While Machinga district, where the case was reported to a hospital, was covered in the 2016 and 2021 Oral Cholera Vaccine (OVC) campaigns, Balaka was not covered. UNICEF is supporting the Ministry of Health to investigate the status of the two districts regarding the availability of supplies and undertake further investigations on the contacts of the identified case.

How can you make a difference?

The evaluative review will assess UNICEF’s 2021-2022 emergency response to floods, cholera, Wild Polio Outbreak and COVID-19 in Malawi. The response plan covers critical gaps in the planned response, especially in areas such as Health, Child Protection, Social Protection, Nutrition, WASH, Education, and Communication for Behavioural and Social Change. The specific objectives of an evaluative, rights-based, equity-focused review in Malawi will be as follows:

• Examine and consider the efficiency, effectiveness, coherence, connectedness, sustainability and outcomes of the emergency response activities.
• Assess the emergency preparedness and planning and analyze the gaps and lacunas as well as strengths in designing and delivering the emergency response.
• Review the linkages between the emergency and development programming and gaps thereof.
• Review performance objectives for the ERP: (Assess the amount of funding sourced, allocation and utilization rate; Assess the target population reached under a given thematic area (Health, WASH, Community engagement for Behaviour and social change, Social Protection, Nutrition, Child Protection and Information Management), assess coordination, logistics and partnerships.
• Document key lessons from the ERP process to inform programming decisions.
• Identify strengths and weaknesses, and make recommendations for improving future emergency responses and strengthening the emergency-development nexus.
• Examine the ERP’s ability to build resilience as well as the ability of communities and individuals to recover from shocks.
• Identify critical data gaps, review the use of technology such as drones and other tools in emergency preparedness and response, contributing to the generation of evidence that can improve the monitoring of the ERP.

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

Academic qualification:

• Master’s Degree in Social Sciences, International Relations, Development Studies, or any related field.

  Work experience:

• At least 5 years’ experience in conducting evaluation, research, strategic analyses and reviews, documentation, evaluation and policy documents related to children and adolescents is required.

• Previous UNICEF or UN work experience is an added advantage.
• Previous work experience on gender, climate change and risk analysis is an added advantage.
• Previous analytic work on socio-economic impacts of emergencies like covid-19 pandemic, floods and cholera outbreaks is an added advantage.

Technical skills and competencies:

• Strong quantitative (statistical) and qualitative analytic skills are a must (age and sex-disaggregated and gender-sensitive statistics).
• Previous experience with conducting rights-based and equity-focused analyses of the situation of children and women and experience in writing analytical papers on children and women's issues is required.
• Demonstrated ability to engage effectively with stakeholders at all levels, including facilitating consultations with government representatives, NGOs, academia, children, adolescents and other stakeholders; Knowledge of social, economic, political and cultural contexts of Malawi is desirable.
• Excellent analytical skills is required.

Languages:

• Proficient in English, with excellent written and spoken communication skills - a written sample may be required.

Please refer to the attached full Terms of Reference TOR for ERP Evaluation .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 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.

HOW TO APPLY...

Interested consultants should provide the following:

1. Curriculum Vitae
2. Brief technical proposal (no longer than five pages) demonstrating the consultant’s understanding of the assignment and approach/methodology to the assignment
3. 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.
4. References details

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.