International OR National Consultancy : Monitoring, Information and Learning (MIL) Specialist

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, acceleration in achieving SDGs and health inequity in Malawi remains a challenge. 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.

The UNJP HSS programme will be working alongside GoM in formulation of health policies for delivery of RMNCH services and systems strengthening, directly implementing and effectively managing:

• Downstream partners for health workforce skills enhancement
• Community health workers (CHW) coordination and skills building
• Integration of health services
• Improving quality of healthcare services
• Effective work with communities on accountability initiatives
• Emergency preparedness and response interventions with flexibility to adjust priorities in responding to health shocks as they arise.

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision of the Health System Specialist, the incumbent will:

• Lead the development and implementation of a monitoring framework for the UN Joint Programme on Health Systems Strengthening
• Contribute to improvements and innovations within the UNICEF Health Section for monitoring and reporting

• Strengthen MoH through Capacity building and co-ordination between different levels of the health system

• Strengthen district level capacity on data collection, data quality, analysis and use for program planning and prioritization in targeted districts

• Facilitate 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 selected districts in evidence-based planning and budgeting
• Facilitate supportive supervision visits to targeted districts to improve monitoring of RMNCH programmes

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 development and implementation of monitoring systems for health interventions is needed

• Experience in designing monitoring framework, developing tools, compiling and analyzing data and report writing is required
• Capacity building experience in data management and quality assessment is essential
• Experience of working in LIC (Low Income Countries) and with key stakeholders such as Ministry of Health is needed.
• Experience in evidence based planning, bottle neck analysis is desirable
• Experience managing, analyzing, and visualizing data using web-based data visualization dashboards/platforms is desirable

Technical skills, knowledge and competencies:

• Demonstrated competencies in monitoring and information systems is required
• Knowledge in quantitative and qualitative analytical skills is required
• Knowledge of District Health Information Systems (DHIS2) is essential
• Familiarity with mobile-based real-time monitoring platforms, and application of these technologies for development planning, response, monitoring and reporting is desirable

• Demonstrated ability to develop dashboards for health programme monitoring is essential

• Track record of producing quality deliverables on time.

• Strong ability to multi-task and a drive for on-time delivery required.
• Should be a self starter; self-reliant with excellent organization, coordination & planning skills
• Naturally committed and hard-working, with ability to work under pressure

• Good communication, advocacy and negotiation skills

  Languages:

• Excellent spoken and written English and report writing skills is required.

Please refer to the attached full Terms of Reference TOR for MIO UNJP-HSS Round 2.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:

Interested contractors should provide the following:

1. Detailed Curriculum Vitae
2. Submission of at least one product reflecting candidate’s monitoring expertise (monitoring framework, monitoring report, data dashboard etc)
3. Brief technical proposal (no longer than five pages) demonstrating the consultant’s understanding of the assignment and approach/methodology to the assignment
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

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.