National Consultant to support public engagement activities for the introduction of new vaccines and the launching of the national MR vaccine campaign

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.

Advert - National Consultant to support public engagement activities for the introduction of new vaccines and the launching of the national MR vaccine campaign

For every child, immunization

Background

Maldives has made impressive gains in immunization and continued efforts are being made to achieve comprehensive immunization coverage through the Routine Immunization Program (RIP) run by the Health Protection Agency (HPA). The reduction of under-five and infant mortality in the Maldives is a priority goal of the Government of Maldives, and according to WHO/UNICEF best estimates, at national level the programme has succeeded in maintaining coverage over 95%.

To achieve the full impact of vaccines, both current and new, high full immunization coverage in every atoll must be ensured. Under the routine Immunization programme, significant achievements have been made in preventing and controlling vaccine-preventable diseases through the introduction of various new and underutilized vaccines. These include the nationwide introduction of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)-containing pentavalent vaccine, inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), measles-rubella (MR) vaccine and human papillomavirus vaccines (HPV). Timely engagement with the public was undertaken to create demand for the vaccines, and to avoid misinformation/disinformation to deter parents from vaccinating their children.

In 2023, the first case of Measles positive case was reported in Addu City in April, followed by three more up until September. Since the elimination of Measles had been declared in 2017, a single case of the disease is considered as a disease outbreak. In January 2020, the country experienced a measles outbreak (since the declaration of Maldives being Measles free) and had to initiate a public engagement campaign to get those who have note completed the two doses to get vaccinated against Measles-Rubella vaccination, with the aim to close the immunity gap against measles and rubella in the population. The target population age group 6 months to 40 years and those who do not have documented evidence of the two doses of measles-containing vaccines were vaccinated with measles vaccine following the outbreak. The target was to vaccinate around 170,000 individuals aged 6 months to 40 years. Earlier, there had been measles outbreak in 2002 and 2005 which affected 926 and 1395 people respectively.

Though the routine vaccine coverage of Measles-Rubella (MR) and Mumps-Measles-Rubella (MMR) vaccination coverage is >95% (as per administrative date), the coverage has to be improved to ensure future outbreaks do not happen, to not put children’s lives at risk. There are around 126,047 migrant workers below 50 years of age living in Maldives, whose Measles vaccination status is not known.

Purpose and Objectives

The main objectives of the assignment are for the consultant to provide technical and coordination support to the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the HPA to implement public engagement activities as part of the Social Behaviour Change (SBC) plan to:

1. Introduce the Pneumococcal vaccine and Rotavirus vaccine through the routine immunization programme, targeting parents of children below 1 year of age for the Pneumococcal vaccine and parents of children below 6 months of age for the Rotavirus vaccine.
2. Improve timely Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccination uptake by the target population (parents of children who are 18 months of age to adults below the age of 50, who have not received two doses) via the national MR vaccine campaign activities to be rolled out, and subsequently through routine immunization services.
3. Support advocacy efforts to integrate COVID-19 vaccines into routine immunization/PHC strategies/plans and contribute to increasing visibility and uptake of COVID-19 vaccination, especially for the high-risk priority population groups.

Major tasks and deliverables

In line with the overall objectives, below are the specific deliverables the consultant is expected to achieve within the assignment period:

Major tasks

Deliverables

1

Based on the guidance from the MoH, HPA and UNICEF, develop the SBC plan defining the public engagement activities and institutional capacity-building activities for the introduction of the two new vaccines, launch of the national MR vaccine campaign and to amplify COVID-19 vaccines visibility and uptake, especially for the high-risk priority populations.

Costed SBC action plan defining the public engagement activities and institutional capacity-building activities for the introduction of the two new vaccines, COVID-19 vaccination for high-risk groups and the launch of the national MR vaccine campaign.

Timeline: 23 Nov 2023

2

Lead the development of all public engagement products including messaging, identification of delivery platforms, and institutional capacity-building activities including SOPs and other required resources, based on the SBC plan.

Content plan with details of developed messages, delivery platforms, SOPs and the donor visibility activities for the MR vaccine campaign.

Timeline: 23 Nov 2023

3

Work closely with MoH, HPA, UNICEF as well as vendors to lead the implementation of the designated communication, engagement activities aimed at the public, and capacity-building of institutions under both SBC and content plans.

End-of-assignment report, with digital copies of all SBC products/documents such graphics for social media, posters, leaflets, videos and the SOP for HPA’s institutional capacity building as well as the documentation of lessons learned, best practices in the implementation of SBC activities.

Timeline: 30 April 2024

Timeline: Six (06) months (between November 2023 and May 2024)

Duty station: Male’ / Maldives

Travel: N/A

Supervisor: Social and Behaviour Change Officer, with programme technical oversight from the head of Child Survival section and Health Officer (Immunization programme focal person).

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

Academic qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in communications, Public Health or Social Sciences related field. A Diploma in relevant field with experience on Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) interventions can be considered in lieu of the Degree.

Knowledge, skills, and experience:

• Minimum 2 years of work experience in SBC communication and / or community mobilisation.
• Experience in Project Management, or event management, including budgeting, especially in public health will be desirable.
• Past experience in working with government, non-profit organization, UN or UNICEF teams in similar assignments will be an asset.

Personal competencies:

• Demonstrate the ability to work in teams with diverse capacities.
• Must be able to manage diverse viewpoints, bring about required changes promptly and work in demanding situations.
• Able to deliver high-quality and timely deliverables.
• Able to respect tight deadlines and inputs to products to be developed.

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.