National Consultancy: Two (2) Polio Vaccine Management Consultants (Open to Malawian Nationals Only)

Contract

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For every child, Care...

Malawi achieved polio-free status in 2002 and was certified in 2005. The last polio cases in Malawi were reported in 1992. In 2018 Malawi reported a case of Vaccine Derived Polio virus from Nsanje district bordering Mozambique. It was further established that this was a case from Mozambique and only came to Malawi seeking health services. The records of the case were further transferred to Mozambique for further follow up. In April 2016, Malawi switched from tOPV to bOPV; the country has not used the mOPV2 for any immunization. Injectable Polio IPV was introduced into the routine immunization schedules in December 2018. The current polio routine immunization schedule is: OPV0 from birth to 13 days, OPV1 at 6 weeks, OPV2 at 10 weeks, OPV3 and IPV at 14 weeks.

The implementation of polio eradication activities is coordinated by the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) under the Directorate of Preventive Health Services. The three polio committees namely National Polio Expert Committee (NPEC), National Certification Committee (NCC) and the National Task Force (NTF) on polio support the polio work in the country.

Malawi has declared a polio outbreak emergency on 16th February 2022 after the confirmation of Wild Polio Virus1 transmission. Immediate polio campaign and relevant response activities were planned to respond to the outbreak by the MOH and GPEI partners. All these activities demanded huge technical assistance from UNICEF Malawi country office, hence the Ministry of Health requested for external consultants to be deployed at national and zonal levels to provide technical assistance and build local capacity for strengthening immunization cold chain and vaccine management for the polio, cholera and COVID-19 outbreak responses and newer vaccine introduction in Malawi.

Meanwhile, the GPEI partners (MOH, WHO, CDC and UNICEF) have prepared a phase-2 plan for responding to the ongoing outbreak that will cover the period of May to December 2023. This phase will consist of 4 Polio National Immunization Days (NIDs) targeting 8.8 million 0-15 year children in each round. Like in phase-1 response, these multiple rounds of campaign will require huge technical assistance inputs to the department of health and the provincial health authorities, therefore, the MOH requested similar consultancy support from UNICEF in the area of social behaviour change, logistics and Supplementary Immunization Activities ( SIA) coordination.

UNICEF is accountable for supporting the Government in the areas of Social Behavioural Change Communication (SBCC), vaccines and logistics management and programme management.

How can you make a difference?

To provide technical assistance and build local capacity for vaccine management for the polio outbreak response nation-wide, following will be the specific tasks:

• Provide technical support to the EPI, MOH to assess the cold chain and logistics support required for the SIA
• Assist the Health Specialist to develop detailed vaccine management implementation plan with a monitoring framework to ensure quality implementation of SIA and that the planned SIA results are achieved
• Assist the Health Specialist and the Supply Chain Specialist in managing the procurement and distribution of vaccines as well as monitoring of functionality of cold chain and logistics (cold box, vaccine carrier, ice packs, fridges) in the country
• Assist in monitoring vaccine arrival at national level and in country distribution to all regions and districts, including monitoring of the distribution of vaccines and related accessories from National Vaccine Stores (NVS) to Regional/District Vaccines Stores (R/DVS) and the vaccines availability at health facilities for SIA
• Work with WHO to conduct the training/orientation of the provincial/district/health facility staff on cold chain and vaccine management (cold chain recommendation, VVM, disposal etc.)
• Monitor regular vaccine utilization and accountability during the SIA
• Monitor vaccine wastage and forecast any shortage in the campaign area
• Assist in engaging with key stakeholders including WHO, national or international NGOs, other existing partners, and donors in the above-mentioned activities
• Provide frequent and regular reports to the MOH/EPI/EOC on all aspects of polio cold chain logistics/ vaccine management and contribute to the drafting of SITREPS and bulletins. Prepare reports according to GPEI requirements.
• Support development and accomplishment of cold chain logistics (CCL)/VM quality improvement plan (QIP) after each campaign round
• Support outbreak response assessment teams (OBRAs) with information related to vaccine management, logistics and the cold chain
• Document lessons learnt and convened stakeholders to share lessons learnt
• Include cold-chain equipment purchased for the SIA in the RI Programme equipment inventory and maintenance plan
• Make sure that vaccines collected after the campaign are accounted for and are stored in correct storage conditions at all levels
• Perform other duties as will be assigned within the scope of this work

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

Academic qualification:

• Advanced university degree from a recognized academic institution in one or more of the following areas is preferred: Supply Chain Management, Engineering, Public Health, Project Management, Data Management and Analysis or related to supply and logistics operations in UNICEF programme areas.
• First university degree combined with additional 2 years of very relevant professional work experience and understanding of relevant functions may be considered in lieu of advanced university degree.

Work experience:

• Minimum eight years progressively responsible professional work experience at national and international levels in supply management, vaccines programming including cold chain and vaccine management.

• Work experience managing large-scale projects, working with governments, working in resource-limited settings, monitoring and evaluating supply chains, and risk management, mitigation will be an asset.

  Technical skills and knowledge:

• Product knowledge on cold chain equipment, new cold chain technologies and understanding of the principles of vaccine management, knowledge and experience with data collection, data management analysis and reporting are essential.

• Knowledge of procurement processes and good distribution practice could be beneficial.

Competencies:

• Strong analytical, negotiation, oral and written communication skills
• Effective presenter including ability to adapt the message and visual aids for multiple audiences to deliver concise, impactful presentations of primary health care interventions.
• Effective facilitator with proven ability to engage and train a group of individuals at national level and for front line health workers as well
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment

Languages:

• Sound written and spoken fluency in English is required

Please refer to the attached full Terms of Reference Cold Chain and Vaccine Management.pdf for more details on the consultancy and requirements.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

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.