Nutrition Supply Chain Consultant, NOB, Kampala, Uganda, 06 Months, Ugandan Nationals Only

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, a fair chance

Uganda is one of the over 190 countries and territories around the world where we work to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease, and discrimination place in a child’s path. Together with the Government of Uganda and partners we work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, the objectives of the Uganda National Development Plan, and the planned outcomes of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework.

Visit this link for more information on Uganda Country Office https://www.unicef.org/uganda/

How can you make a difference?

BACKGROUND

Undernutrition remains an important contributor of poor maternal, new-born and child survival and development in Uganda. While prevalence of stunting has decreased from 33 per cent to 29 per cent between 2011 and 2016, wasting has been mostly stagnant with a decline from 5 per cent to 4 per cent. There is significant variation among regions in Uganda, whereby wasting is the highest in the regions with emergencies or chronic and cyclical drought.

To support the Government of Uganda for improved health and nutrition service delivery, UNICEF Uganda is focusing its efforts on system strengthening at both national and district levels. Recently, UNICEF has been supporting the MOH in evidence-based advocacy for the financing of nutrition supplies through domestic resources. UNICEF supports the Government of Uganda with the procurement of nutrition supplies including therapeutic supplies for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) (i.e., ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), F-100, F-75 and ReSoMal), Vitamin A, deworming and anthropometric equipment. In addition, UNICEF supports the MoH with forecasting, procurement, storage, delivery, and monitoring of these supplies. In 2019, a total of 90,779 children under 5 years of age affected by SAM were admitted to treatment nationally. The number of SAM children reached reduced to 26,514 due to challenges induced by COVID-19.

Nutrition supplies are managed through two approaches. Vitamin A and deworming, for example, are distributed through the national supply chain system that is managed by the National Medical Stores (NMS). The NMS delivers the supplies from its central warehouse to health facilities. On the other hand, therapeutic supplies that are procured by development partners are managed through a parallel supply chain. UNICEF procures therapeutic supplies which are then stored in the UNICEF warehouse in Kampala and distributed by UNICEF to target districts and Regional Referral Hospitals, and the last-mile deliveries from district stores to health facilities are handled by districts with UNICEF support. UNICEF has been engaging the MOH to integrate nutrition supplies within the national supply chain system for accountability and sustainability.

In 2016, an assessment on the current supply chain of the SAM treatment supplies demonstrated that integration of nutrition supplies into the national supply chain system is feasible and can be implemented in short to medium term (approximately 18 months) with a relatively low investment. In this context, in December 2018, a stakeholders meeting on the nutrition supply chain integration was convened in which key stakeholders including the MoH and NMS indicated their commitments to the integration process and agreed on a roadmap to establish an integration supply chain system for nutrition supplies.

Several activities were undertaken from 2019-2021 to facilitate the integration. A Taskforce for the Integration of Nutrition Supplies was set up by the MOH. The Task Force was led by the Nutrition Division and included the National Medical Stores, Pharmacy Department and partners including UNICEF, USAID, WFP among others.

The Integration of Nutrition Supplies Task Force proposed to implement the integration as a pilot. UNICEF responded to the MOH’s request by initiating the pilot for the integration of nutrition supplies in the West Nile region in October 2020 through SIDA donor funding support. Given the highly technical needs to support the MOH in terms of nutrition supplies management, UNICEF supported the MOH by recruiting a Nutrition Supplies Consultant from September 2019 to March 2021, seconded to the MOH to provide technical support and guidance to the Nutrition Division. The Consultant was responsible for building the MOH technical capacity for nutrition supplies management and to facilitate the planning and implementation of the pilot working closely with NMS and the Pharmacy Department. The next steps include monitoring and supportive supervision to reinforce the capacity of the trained health staff. It is also planned to conduct a review of the pilot to document lessons learned and to examine the feasibility of scaling-up the piloted approach nationwide.

UNICEF provided technical inputs to the Position Paper drafted by the Nutrition Division, NMS and the Pharmacy Department which serves as an advocacy for the MOH to discuss with senior management for committing funds for the procurement of therapeutic supplies. Further technical support will be required to support the MOH using evidence from the pilot to advocate for the integration and committing funds for RUTF.

Given the critical juncture of the pilot for the integration of nutrition supplies in the West Nile Region, the services of the Nutrition Supplies Consultant is required for an additional 6 months to provide technical assistance and guidance to the MoH to implement the pilot and to commit domestic resources for RUTF.

SCOPE OF WORK

1) Assist with the coordination and management of the nutrition supply chain integration

1. Support the MoH as the lead implementing partners with the functioning of the specialised taskforce for the nutrition supply chain integration comprised of key nutrition supply chain stakeholders such as the MoH Nutrition Division, RMNCH and Pharmacy Department, NMS, WFP, district Pharmacy/Medical Supply unit, USAID, UNICEF and other relevant partners, assist the MOH with organizing the Integration Taskforce meetings; draft and share minutes from the meetings.
2. Provide support to MOH to conduct the periodic review, updating and finalization of the Costed Implementation Plan for the integration process. The plan encompasses actions with specific and measurable milestones in a wide range of areas required for the nutrition supply chain integration, including but not limited to, forecasting and quantification, finance and resource mobilization, procurement, quality assurance, storage, distribution, inventory management, governance and leadership, information management, human resources, capacity strengthening, and performance management.
3. Using the costed implementation plan for nutrition supply chain integration as a starting point, support the MOH to coordinate the development of a an annual workplan (2022) for priority activities to support the integrated national supply chain, in each of the pillars (building blocks) of the implementation plan.

2) Provide technical assistance to the MOH in the West Nile integration of nutrition pilot:

1. Coordinate with the District Health Offices for the implementation and monitoring of the ongoing pilot design in West Nile region.
2. Assist the MOH in the organisation of workshops to review the integration process and assess the milestones achieved with evidence-based recommendations.
3. Provide technical support to plan and implement the final assessment for the integration.
4. Assist with the drafting and finalization of the Assessment Report for the West Nile integration pilot. This should contain analysis of the impact of the tested approaches (using the agreed-upon indicators) and clear recommendations for the scaling up of the integration. Assist the MOH with drafting the powerpoint presentation for dissemination.
5. Document lessons learned from the pilot.
6. Develop and operationalize a proposal for phase 2 of the integration (extension of the distribution through NMS to West Nile districts, under the transitional phase until full national scale up can be implemented).
7. Ensure that there is a continuation strategy by the MoH and DHO for the integration process before the end of her/his assignment.

3) Support the MOH on the financing of Nutrition Supplies

1. Working closely with UNICEF, assist the MOH to develop advocacy paper and tools and relevant documentation to support financing of nutrition supplies.
2. Finalize the Position Paper for financing of nutrition supplies
3. Strengthen the MOH capacity for financial planning.
4. Develop a transition plan that outlines the proposed gradual transfer of financing for nutrition supplies, from partners to Government resources.
5. Provide technical assistance to Assist the MOH with the procurement of supplies through the UNICEF supply chain, including assisting with the completion of the documentation process and submission to the relevant authorities in the MOH for approval and onward submission of the request to UNICEF.

4) Assist in strengthening capacity of the MoH, Regional hospitals and DHO’s capacity in supply chain management

1. Provide technical assistance to the NMS and the MOH Nutrition Division to estimate nutrition supply needs, stock monitoring, costing of supplies and logistics in the annual MoH budget in a timely manner.
2. Assist the MOH with efficient stock management and coordinate with the districts, MOH and UNICEF for bi-monthly supplies distribution plan.
3. Conduct periodic review (beginning and at the end of 5 months) and provide updated report on the capacity of the MoH Nutrition Division and the District Nutrition Focal Persons (DFNPs and nutritionist in Regional Referral Hospital) on nutrition supply chain management. Develop and implement the capacity development plan to fill gaps.

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

The selected Consultant should have:

Education:

• A university degree, preferably Master’s degree, in pharmacy, procurement, logistics, supply chain management, public health, health sciences, or similar fields

Work experience:

2.) Experience

1. Required:

• At least 5-year professional experience in public health supply chain management or similar fields
• Experience in project management
• Experience of working with leadership and management spheres in public health programmes
• Experience in facilitating dialogue among different stakeholders

2. Desirable:

• Working experience with UNICEF, WFP, WHO or other UN agencies for supply or logistic management
• Working experience with the Ministry of Health or other governmental entities
• Experience in recommending and leading the implementation of interventions designed to strengthen government leadership and capacity to manage supply chains
• Experience in reviewing and updating important policies and service delivery guidelines to support enabling environments for supply chain management
• Experience in advocacy activities to support resource mobilisation to strengthen supply chains
• Experience and knowledge of supply chain management in the health sector in the region

3.) Required skills and expertise

• Excellent project management and coordination skills
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; ability to interact and influence with senior-level decisionmakers at the ministerial level and across different organisation; and capacity to act with credibility, tact and diplomacy on sensitive issues
• Ability to build strong relationships with stakeholders including the Government and external partners
• Successful problem solving and critical thinking skills
• Ability to effectively communicate and present supply chain concepts
• Ability to stay focused and deliver results under pressure
• Effective organisational skills; high drive for results and commitments
• Strong teamwork skills

4.) Language:

• Fluency in English.

Application Procedure/Call for Proposals

Interested candidates are required to submit a technical proposal on how they intend to approach the work. The proposal should include a timeline, and methodology, based on the Terms of Reference. The proposal must also include detailed CV of the consultant, as well as a financial proposal, clearly indicating daily rate for professional fees. The financial proposal must be all-inclusive of all costs (consultancy fees and where applicable air fares, airport transfers, daily living expenses). This is an international level consultancy and competitive market rates should apply.

Evaluation of Candidate:

The consultant will be competitively selected from a list of applicants based on their past experience of doing similar work (extensive experience in writing donor reports, in compiling and editing annual reports for various UNICEF offices).

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The competencies required for this post are….

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

Remarks:

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