National consultancy to support an internal assessment of UNICEF’s capacity building interventions, Dushanbe, Tajikistan (for Tajik nationals only)

Consultant Programme & Policy Monitoring & Evaluation

Contract

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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,

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy, and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias, or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic, and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education, and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfil their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. Therefore, the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

UNICEF Tajikistan’s Surviving and thriving in the Early Years programme component identifies quality as a bottleneck impacting on the provision of maternal, new-born and child health services in Tajikistan. Thus, the programme aims to contribute to improving the quality of care, through technical assistance and capacity-building and greater accountability of service providers. In 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact the social and economic wellbeing of children in Tajikistan, particularly in the first half of 2021. Consequently, in 2021, UNICEF Tajikistan Country Office conducted capacity building training sessions for healthcare workers covering various aspects to improve quality of healthcare services provided, including laboratory and health workers capacity building related to handling COVID-19 in Tajikistan. UNICEF works closely with the MoHSPP in all stages of preparation and conducting the capacity building trainings and has quality assurance mechanisms in place.

How can you make a difference?

The main purpose of this consultancy is to conduct an internal assessment of the quality of the capacity building intervention for healthcare workers conducted by UNICEF Tajikistan Country Office in 2021.

DUTY STATION/DURATION:

Estimated duration**: 28 w/days during the period May 2022 – June 2022

Duty station**: Remote, with in-country travel

On-site working days: 28 w/ds

Off-site working days: n/a

Supervisor: Chief Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation,

*Reporting to**:* Chief Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, in collaboration with the international consultant

DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSIGNMENT

All activities under this consultancy will be designed in coordination with the UNICEF team. The following tasks will be some of the main responsibilities of the Consultant. For the purpose of this exercise, the capacity building intervention is considered as a series of activities that include the following components

a. training module: development, review and finalization of the module, trainings agenda PowerPoint presentation, handouts etc. in coordination with the UNICEF Early Years section and MoHSPP.

b. trainers: qualified trainer selected for each training and approved by the MoHSPP.

c. participants: health workers or beneficiaries of the training exercise.

d. training process: monitoring and quality control of the training process and documentation of these processes.

In addition to the main components, monitoring and quality assurance is applied in all components and mainly include quality assurance of the module and training content; pre-post knowledge assessment test and monitoring activities by the trainers, UNICEF Early Years section, UNICEF Field Staff and MOHSPP. The process of trainings is reflected in Figure 1.

Monitoring and quality assurance mechanisms are applied to ensure the quality of the following:

• Content of the trainings, including training modules
• Training delivery and process
• Participants, their knowledge, and performance before, immediately after and three to six months after participation in the training.

The quality of the three components significantly contribute to the quality of training outcomes and subsequent practices can be ensured through establishment and application of monitoring and quality assurance mechanisms and practices by all involved parties: MOHSPP, UNICEF Tajikistan Country Office and the trainers.

The hypothesis is that capacity building efforts can yield better results in terms of uptake, follow-up and sustainability of the programmes, only if they are carefully planned, implemented and measured in a targeted, successive and comprehensive manner. Although the training interventions to be assessed were delivered only in 2021, nevertheless, the internal assessment can help draw useful lessons to be applied in the ongoing and future programmes and projects. In terms of geographical coverage, the assessment will be conducted at the central and local level.

In summary, the assessment findings will be used to help the Country Office review/revise its approach to capacity building within the ongoing and future health related capacity building interventions and contribute to improving planning, coordination, quality control, documentation, selection of trainers and participants, content and delivery. It will also influence the engagement with government counterparts and support more strategic and sustainable capacity building efforts.

Specifically, the internal assessment’s objectives are:

• To assess quality, effectiveness and efficiency of the design and implementation process of the capacity development interventions for healthcare workers.
• To reveal good practices and gaps in the capacity building approaches at the national and subnational levels.
• To capture lessons learnt that UNICEF and partners can build on for future programming.
• Provide concrete recommendations to improve the implementation of capacity building initiatives in current and future UNICEF and joint programmes aimed at improving the performance and quality of healthcare services to the population of Tajikistan.

Methodology

To prevent conflict of interest and to ensure the impartiality and absence of bias the assessment methodology will use an appropriate mix of quantitative and qualitative data with participatory elements to ensure validity and reliability of the programme data and information.

The detailed methodology will be developed by the external expert as part of the inception report and in close consultation with UNICEF and MoHSPP. The considerations of ethical principles required in this assignment will be described in the inception report.

The mapping of UNICEF-supported capacity development trainings for healthcare workers in Tajikistan in 2021 will serve as the basis for further analysis and exploration of the quality of the trainings and identifies gaps and bottlenecks. It also includes human rights, equity, gender and other cross-sectoral issues within the framework of this assessment.

The mixed methods will include desk review, interviews and focus-group discussions with healthcare workers who attended capacity building trainings conducted by UNICEF in 2021, specifically:

• Preliminary review of basic information: information relevant to capacity building trainings, knowledge assessment, inventory of capacity development trainings and identify and agree participants to be contacted.
• Comprehensive review of all relevant documents: In-depth document review of capacity building trainings conducted in 2021, including modules, M&E and other documents related to quality assurance.
• Key Informants Interviews: Face-to-face interviews with participants of capacity building trainings, trainers and UNICEF Early Years programme/project staff, including section chief.
• Focus group discussions: Among participants of capacity development trainings.

Thus, the internal assessment will apply both qualitative methods as in the given context they are better suited for the purpose of the assessment. All the collected data will be analyzed by the Consultant.

Key Deliverables and Estimated Timeframe and Payment schedule

#

Tasks/Milestone

Deliverables/Outputs

Number of days

Timeline

Payment schedule

1.

Implementation Plan and desk research

Contribution to Inception Report (desk research, clear implementation plan of the assessment, methodology/approach)

5 days

May

100% in June Payment is done upon successfully completing and submitting all deliverables of the task

2.

Implementation of the assessment, including data collection in the field, analysis of data and draft report)

Provide necessary support to international consultant in planning and implementation of field work and contribute to assessment report (assessment report includes data collection, analysis, and draft report)

8 days

May

3.

Finalize the assessment findings report

Final assessment report including executive summary and annexes

15 days

June

Final key deliverables:

1. Contribute to inception report with clear plan for delivering tasks assigned in the assignment with final timeline.
2. Support international consultant to plan and implement field work, data collection, analysis to draft assessment findings report.
3. Contribute to final assessment findings report.

Applicants are expected to provide a very detailed description of the methodology deemed applicable for this assignment.

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

The evaluation of the results will be based on:

• Technical and professional competence (quality of product delivered to UNICEF)
• Experience to carry out similar assessments and evaluations
• Experience and familiarity with Tajikistan healthcare system, Tajikistan or Central Asia context

The consultants will be selected based on the following criteria:

Education:

Advanced degree in relevant area of study, including Social Science, Development Studies or Public Health Work

Experience:

8-10 years of professional experience in evaluation or related work

Technical knowledge:

Experience in qualitative and quantitative data analysis

Excellent analytical, communication, organizational, and report writing skills

Competencies:

Ability to work to strict deadlines; Previous experience working with UN, including UNICEF

Language:

Excellent written and spoken Tajik and English. Knowledge of Russian is an asset

Qualified candidates are requested to submit:

1. Cover letter/application/CV.
2. A brief technical proposal with the proposed methodology/approach to managing the project, showing an understanding of tasks.
3. Financial quote for the consultancy in TJS per deliverable, stating also the timeframe for completion of deliverable and/or daily rate (as well as travel and subsistence costs, as applicable).
4. Minimum two examples of previous, relevant work related to the deliverables.
5. At least two references.
6. Applications without a technical and financial proposal will not be considered.

Queries can be sent to dushanbe@unicef.org with the subject line “National consultant to support UNICEF CO in Tajikistan”. Applications must be received in the system by 29 April 2022 on our website.

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.

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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.

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Added 2 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org