National Consultancy: Coordinate and support capacity building of national and subnational stakeholders in delivering preventive interventions through health systems in Lao PDR

Contract

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UNICEF is a UN organization mandated by the UN General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. In Lao PDR, UNICEF is working with its partners to support the Government to realize children’s rights on survival, development, protection and participation.

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.

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UNICEF in Vientiane, Lao PDR is looking for a National Consultant to coordinate and support capacity building of national and subnational stakeholders in delivering preventive interventions through health systems in Lao PDR. The duration of this assignment is 12 months, starting 20th March 2023 to 19th March 2024 and the Consultant shall be based in Vientiane (Home/ Department of Hygiene and Health Promotion or Home) with occasional travel to the field.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

The consultant will work closely with the Ministry of Health especially with relevant departments to improve the delivery of preventive nutrition intervention through the health system. This will include

a) Strengthening Breast Milk Substitute (BMS) monitoring and enforcement of legislation

The Consultant will technical support UNICEF in coordination and collaboration with national and subnational government stakeholders especially ( Department of Hygiene and Health Promotion, Centre of Nutrition and Food and Drug Department etc) to scale up BMS monitoring activities in remaining 8 provinces. He/ she will support in updating training package of BMS monitoring based on the inputs received from first phase of monitoring done in 10 provinces, and support refresher training of central level trainers on revised BMS training package. He/ she will provide technical support in organizing Task Force Meetings to discuss progress, challenges and solution to address the issues related to violations of breast milk substitute decree .. Other support would include technical assistance to DHHP and CCEH in dissemination of communication materials developed for creating awareness of BMS decree for retailers and distributors. The Consultant will also support in organizing training of trainers (ToT), refresher training of frontline workers on broader IYCF practices as well as training of Village Health Volunteers in selected districts with high burden of malnutrition.

(b) Strengthening Micronutrient Supplementation Program

The Consultant will provide technical and operational support in collecting information of implementation status of micro nutrient supplementation program in the country which will include review the status of existing operational guidance, supplies chain system, monitoring and reporting of program to appreciate the challenges of program and seek for possible solution. The information would contribute in development of operational guidance, Job aids and IEC materials to improve the uptake of services , coverage, quality and reporting of micronutrient supplementation interventions especially Vitamin A & Iron Folic Acid supplementation etc. The Consultant will support in rolling out of recently developed innovative monitoring tool for the control and enforcement of national salt iodization legislation which includes real time data collection tool to report internal data from industries and external inspectors for quality assurance and quality control. He or she will support in coordination and organizing Task Force Meeting of Universal Salt Iodization programme to create forum to discuss progress, challenges and solution to address the issues related to salt iodization program including effective functioning of Potassium Iodate Revolving Fund (PIRF) committee etc..

More specifically, in consultation with the UNICEF Nutrition Team, the consultant shall support in:

• Technical support in monitoring and enforcement of BMS decree including roll out and dissemination of BMS communication materials for retail and sales point.
• Support in organizing refresher training of Central Level Trainers and cascade trainings of provincial and district level stakeholders on BMS monitoring.
• Technical support in preparation and coordination of Task Force Meeting of BMS committee under National Committee on Food and Drug Control.
• Joint monitoring & supervision visits of salt factories to strengthen quality assurance and quality control process of salt iodization.
• Technical support in the preparation and coordination of Task Force Meeting of USI committee to review progress, challenges and way forward saltof iodization program
• To provide technical and operational support to MoH in strengthening their capacity for the management of national micronutrient supplementation program which includes development of operational guidance, Job Aids and IEC materials etc.
• To provide technical support in organizing Training of Trainers (ToT) on IYCF and support cascading IYCF trainings for frontline workers and Village Health Volunteers in targeted districts.

Reporting Requirements:

The consultant will be under contract to UNICEF Lao PDR and report to the Nutrition Specialist with support of Chief of Nutrition as well as the wider nutrition team for administrative arrangements.

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

Qualifications or Specialized Knowledge/Experience Required:

• Medical doctor with preferably Public Health background or similar qualification
• At least 10 years of proven experience of working with government health system and good understanding of nutrition specific interventions in the Lao context.
• Excellent knowledge and understanding of training approaches, skills and expertise in leading trainings of preventive nutrition interventions.
• Good understanding of nutrition specific programmes like Infant & Young Child Feeding, micronutrient supplementation and Universal Salt Iodization (USI) programme of Lao PDR
• In-depth understanding and knowledge of the government internal process and administrative procedures related to the nutrition programme
• Strong interpersonal communication, persuasion, and training skills;
• Good organization skills including advocacy and dialoging skills with the government officials at decision making levels.
• Strong Lao language skills
• Excellent written and spoken English, an advantage

Submission of applications:

Interested candidates are kindly requested to apply and upload the following documents to: http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/

• Letter of Interest (cover letter)
• CV or Resume
• Performance evaluation reports or references of similar consultancy assignments (if available)
• Financial proposal: All-inclusive lump-sum cost
• The deadline for applications is 17th March 2023

Assessment Criteria:

For evaluation and selection method, the Cumulative Analysis Method (weight combined score method) shall be used for this recruitment:

a) Technical Qualification (max. 100 points) weight 70 %

• Degree/ Education in (20 points)
• Medical doctor with preferably Public Health background or similar qualification
• Strong interpersonal communication, persuasion, and training skills
• Knowledge of (20 points)
• Familiar with global guidance of international code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitute act.
• Good understanding of nutrition specific programmes like Infant & Young Child Feeding ,micro nutrient supplementation and Universal Salt Iodization (USI) programme of Lao PDR
• In-depth understanding and knowledge of the government internal process and administrative procedures related to the nutrition programme
• Strong Lao language skills
• Excellent written and spoken English, an advantage
• Experience in (40 points)
• At least 10 years of proven experience of working with government health system and good understanding of nutrition specific interventions in the Lao context .
• Past experience of implementation of Breast Milk Substitute (BMS) monitoring and USI monitoring would be added advantage.
• Familiar with innovative and technology-based applications to monitor nutrition programmes.
• Quality of past work (e.g. understanding, methodology) (20 points) o Assessment of previous work including good organization skills including advocacy and dialoging skills with the government officials at decision making levels
• Reference checks

b) Financial Proposal (max. 100 points) weight 30 %

• The maximum number of points shall be allotted to the lowest Financial Proposal that is opened /evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum 70 points score in the technical evaluation.
• Other Financial Proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.
• The Contract shall be awarded to candidate obtaining the highest combined technical and financial scores, subject to the satisfactory result of the verification interview.

The Contract shall be awarded to candidate obtaining the highest combined technical and financial scores, subject to the satisfactory result of the verification interview.

Medical Insurance: the cost of medical insurance, including Medical Evacuation and mandatory COVID-19 insurance for working in Lao PDR should be included in the proposal.

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.

View our competency framework at 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.

Remarks: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.