National Consultant : M & E Officer for the Program Management Unit (PMU) (Health Resilience Fund) in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Harare, Zimbabwe

Contract

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UNICEF Zimbabwe is seeking to hire an enthusiastic Monitoring & Evaluation Consultant for the Program Management Unit (PMU) under the Health Resilience Fund (HRF), accountable to effective delivery of the HRF MEL and results framework

BACKGROUND

The HRF 2022-2025 is a pooled health fund that is continuing to build on the gains obtained through the Health Development Fund (HDF) 2016-2021, with thanks to the support of the European Union (EU), UK Department for International Development (DFID) now Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Government of Ireland and The Global Alliance for Vaccines (Gavi). The programme aims to support the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) in the context of the National Health Strategy (NHS) 2021-2025 to achieve its goal of improving the quality of life of its citizens, through contributing to access to comprehensive and effective health systems and structures for appropriate services in the country. The HRF will mainly focus on primary health care (PHC) in rural areas. The purpose of the HRF is to safeguard gains achieved through the Health Transition Fund/ Integrated Support Programme for Sexual Reproductive Health (HTF/ISP) and HDF. The HRF will invest strategically to End Preventable Deaths; consolidate the country’s Global Health Security, health systems strengthening while embracing the humanitarian/development nexus in line with hazards faced by the country. The programme will take targeted health system strengthening actions while advocating for enhanced allocative and operational efficiency, and mainstreaming climate change, gender, women and girls’ empowerment, human rights, disability, and safeguarding approaches.

PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

UNICEF is recruiting for the PMU for the role of Monitoring & Evaluation Officer. This position is therefore not a UNICEF country office position.

The Health Resilience Fund’s (HRF) Programme Management Unit (PMU) Monitoring and Evaluation Officer will be responsible for working with the 1st Tier implementing partners (IPs) to design, coordinate and implement a harmonised HRF monitoring, evaluation, research and learning framework. This post is accountable to effective delivery of the HRF MEL and results framework. He or she will provide professional expertise and assistance in HRF information/data needs and collection, statistics and data analysis, monitoring & evaluation (M&E), preparation of reports, communication, and partnership, and in implementing training programmes for IPs, monitoring, evaluation, and research capacity building with special attention to the interest, concern, and participation.

ASSIGNMENTS:

Within the delegated authority and under the PMU set-up, the incumbent may be assigned the primarily, shared, or contributory accountabilities for all or part of the following areas of major duties and key end-results.

1. Integrated Monitoring, Evaluation & Research Planning (IMEP) : Provide technical support to ensure there is a well-prioritised and realistic plan of research, monitoring and evaluation activities that will provide the most relevant and strategic information to manage the programme, including tracking and assessing HRF contributory story.

2. Situation Monitoring and Assessment : Provide technical support to ensure timely and accurate measurement of change in conditions in the country or region, including monitoring of socio-economic trends and the country’s wider policy, economic or institutional context, to facilitate planning and to draw conclusions about the impact of programmes or policies.

3. Programme Performance Monitoring

1. Provide technical support to ensure that the HRF programme has quality information, data, and evidence to assess progress towards expected results established results framework and in annual work plans.

• Lead implementation of the HRF results framework ensuring milestones/targets are updated from reliable data sources against baseline values.
• Compile monitoring and evaluation information/ data and make them available to programme/planning sections.
• Provide technical support as necessary to identify and adjust a set of programme performance indicators, in the context of the multi-year and annual IMEPs, the Annual Management Plan and Annual Work Plans, as outlined in the HRF programme document
• Provide technical support to ensure that monitoring systems are in place and that key annual programme indicators are tracked and analysed, to guide programme and management decisions.
• Carry out data collection and analysis from field visits, standardising them across the HRF pillars, to feed into programme performance monitoring.
• Keep track of follow-up action based on decisions resulting from performance monitoring and evaluation.
• Contribute to the preparation of management reports (e.g., relevant sections of the annual reports), drawing on monitoring and analysis of key management indicators.
• Work with the Unit Strategic Information and Reporting Officer to prepare statistical reports and provide technical support that meet the HRF reporting requirements.
• Assist in the preparation of reports on systemic issues, good practices or any other analysis or data related to programme implementation and/or evaluation, including programme’s performance, relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability, as well as good practices in partnerships and collaborative relationships.

b. Link the monitoring and evaluation data to the management decisions. Through work with an independent M&E provider who will analyse monitoring data and undertake verification where required. Key data sources will include:

• Management of the Health Information System (HIS) (including the District Health Information System 2 (DHIS2) for the HMIS and health trackers).
• Regular surveys such as the quarterly Vital Medicines Availability and Health Services Survey (VMAHS) building on experience from the Health Transition Fund (HTF) and Health Development Fund (HDF)
• Consulting Community Health Committees and community groups; consolidating and disseminating feedback to the Fund Administrator and Funding Partners
• Make strategic use of periodic household survey such as the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS)
• Consolidating evidence from routine data, surveys, consultations, programme field visits (Joint Review Mission, Annual Review Missions), and ensuring data and evidence is used to influence programme direction.
• Collaborate with IMEA to perform programme results management monitoring and evaluations.

4. Evaluation : Provide technical support to ensure that HRF programme evaluation is designed and carried out with quality process and products and that evaluation results are useful to the intended audience.

5. M&E Capacity Building : Provide technical support to ensure that the monitoring and evaluation capacities are strengthened enabling them to increasingly engage in and lead monitoring and evaluation processes.

6. Communication and Partnerships : Provide technical support to ensure that all the above tasks are carried out and accomplished through effective communication and partnerships

Major tasks and deliverables:

Tasks/Milestone:****Deliverables/Outputs:****TimelineIntegrated Monitoring, Evaluation & Research Planning (IMEP)

• Creation of an integrated plan of research, monitoring and evaluation activities within the HRF context. Ensure that the IMEPs include data collection activities that provide accurate and relevant data on key activities and results
• Organization and facilitation of joint monitoring and evaluation activities
• Technical support on data collection, data management and data analysis for basic monitoring and evaluation.
• Generation of health emergency data needs and analysis in collaboration with emergency clusters and within specified timeframes.

Feb 2023 - Jan 2024Situation Monitoring and Assessment

• Coordination with partners and provision of assistance to facilitate use of up-to-date data and evidence in, inter alia, Situation Analysis, Common Country Assessment, Early Warning Monitoring Systems, Annual Reviews, Mid-Term Reviews, and Annual Reports or other progress reports.
• Leadership of HRF monitoring, evaluation and learning needs during health emergency response phases. E.g., support 1st Tier IP M&E capacity collecting, collecting and early warning
• Collection and generation of key analytical products related to existing early warning data to guide the adjustment of programmes and operational approaches when and as country contexts deteriorate.

February 2023 - January 2024Programme Performance Monitoring - Provision of technical support to ensure that the HRF programme has quality information, data, and evidence to assess progress towards expected results established results framework and in annual work plans. - Ensuring the link of monitoring and evaluation data to management decisions, through work with an independent M&E provider who will analyse monitoring data and undertake verification where required.

February 2023 - January 2024Evaluation

• Provision support to ensure that the relevant programme partners participate and formulate Evaluation Terms of Reference and design of high quality.
• Review and provision of technical comments on draft evaluation reports.
• Effective dissemination and sharing of knowledge, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and lessons from evaluation to the intended audience as described in the Terms of Reference with a view to improving programme performance and contributing to wider learning.
• Production of evaluation summaries for feeding results into key HRF programme planning processes
• Establishment of systems for effective participatory feedback to HRF partners, including to community.

February 2023 - January 2024M & E Capacity Building

• Technical inputs into a M&E capacity building strategy for HRF 1st Tier Implementation partners and corresponding activities for implementation in the context of the HRF M&E plan.
• Provision of technical support for implementation of capacity building strategies as a joint commitment with other developmental partners with special attention to the interest, concern, and participation of primary stakeholders.

February 2023 - January 2024Communication and Partnerships

• Synthesis of M&E results for the HRF stakeholders
• Effective communication of evaluation recommendations to the relevant partners for implementation, with advice on the Implementation Plan and follow-up action for future programming.
• Facilitation of learning events from the results of monitoring and evaluation

February 2023 - January 2024To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Education: Advanced University degree M&E, Statistics, Operations Research, social sciences, development planning, or related

Experience:

• At least 5 years professional experience required in a similar position

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

• Knowledge of Project and Activity Evaluation.
• Professional technical knowledge/expertise in Data Collection, Evaluation Process Management, Dissemination of M&E results.
• Technical knowledge on M&E methodologies, theories, standards and models, quantitative/qualitative/mixed methods, validity/reliability testing of data, data analysis and interpretation, and statistical inference methods.
• Experience working in a multi stakeholder environment and under tight deadlines

Languages

• Fluency in English is required.

• Knowledge of main local languages (Shona and Ndebele) is an asset.

  If interested and available to undertake the individual consultancy, please submit your application online and attach the required documents including the technical proposal and an all-inclusive financial proposal incorporating an approximate number of travel days for field (local) travel.

Technical proposal: The Technical Proposal should articulate an understanding of the TOR and include the proposed Tasks/Milestones, Deliverables/Outputs, Timeline and level of effort by deliverable. The similar table provided in the TOR is indicative. Applicants may use the indicative table as a guide or deviate as per the proposed approach. The proposal should also cost-effectively propose the local travel proposed by the applicant to undertake the assignment.

Financial proposal: The Financial Proposal should include the costs (providing a daily rate as justification) for each task, including consultant fee, proposed travel costs and perdiem, communications costs and any other proposed cost.

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.

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.