Re-advertisement: National Contractor: Provincial Coordinator – Immunization based in Medan, Sumatera Utara, Indonesia

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For every child, health

For more information, visit the UNICEF Indonesia Country Office website: https://www.unicef.org/indonesia/

Title: National Contractor: Provincial Coordinator – Immunization

Duration: August/September 2022 – 31 December 2022 (full-time)

Duty Station: Medan, Sumatera Utara

Re-advertisement: applicants who had previously applied will be considered and need not re-apply.

How can you make a difference?

PURPOSE OF ASSIGNMENT

Indonesia’s health system reaches most children in their birth cohort of 4.9 million children a year with vaccines and other health services. However, Indonesia was one of several countries globally that had encountered stagnated vaccination coverage in the past decades before the COVID-19 pandemic. The service interruption and reluctance among parents and caregivers due to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a significant number of eligible children being unvaccinated. This situation has further deteriorated by the high burden on health systems to deliver the COVID19 vaccine among the 208 million target population in a short period. Many health workers reported a high workload with poor motivation due to various reasons.1 The pulse survey highlighted that health facilities reduced the frequency of vaccination sessions to cope with their high workload and other priorities. On the other hand, most health facilities and vaccine storage points at various supply chain levels experienced significant shortages of several routine vaccines.23 Furthermore, many children could not receive vaccines due to the closure of schools. All these issues were behind the high number of zero-dose children in Indonesia.

In response to a request from the Ministry of Health (MOH), through a letter # SR.02.06/9415/ 12020 dated 6 October 2020, UNICEF Indonesia has prepared a support plan for COVID-19 vaccine introduction outlining the following key areas as: Strategy Development and Advocacy, Procurement, and Supply-side Readiness, Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE), Data & Monitoring, and Health Sector and Immunization Program strengthening. Meanwhile, UNICEF is committed to providing TA support to help reach children across the country, especially those in need in rural and urban areas, with optimal immunization services during this pandemic.

Despite significant progress in the COVID-19 vaccination program, vaccination coverage among several target age groups remains low, inequity in vaccination coverage is apparent, and issues are reported with the immunization supply chain and vaccine management. Knowing the challenges, the Government of Indonesia (GoI) has requested UNICEF to intensify technical assistance to strengthen routine immunization; to support the introduction and scale-up of several new and under-utilized vaccines; to implement the COVID-19 vaccine program with optimal quality and to conduct a measles and rubella (MR) vaccination campaign.

SCOPE OF WORK

The Provincial Coordinator will facilitate sub-national support at provincial and district levels, including to provide technical support to program strategy development (planning, budgeting, and implementation); decentralized advocacy and communication efforts as part of a wider RCCE agenda; and to support respective local authorities to implement the vaccination plan with high quality and progress monitoring and feedback in the selected province.

The GoI has requested UNICEF’s support for COVID-19 vaccine introduction across a number of critical areas:

- Strategy Development and Advocacy: UNICEF is supporting strategy design through staff embedded within the National COVID-19 Recovery Task Force and sub-nationally through its network of seven regional offices.

- Procurement and Supply-side Readiness: UNICEF Supply Division (Copenhagen) will procure vaccines through the COVAX Facility while responding to regulatory bottlenecks. UNICEF Indonesia will be supporting cold-chain readiness for potential vaccine candidates. UNICEF Indonesia will also support other needed components for readiness such as microplanning and capacity development of health workers, particularly in remote areas.

- Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE). UNICEF is supporting a national communication strategy and tailored subnational strategies, alongside the design and dissemination of communications materials, digital vaccine deployment plans, media monitoring and outreach, and community engagement.

- Data & Monitoring. UNICEF is working to facilitate effective monitoring of populations eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

- Health Sector and Immunization Program: UNICEF provides technical assistance to guidance development, budgeting, and implementation support for COVID-19 vaccine and routine immunization services in the context of wider health system support.

WORK ASSIGNMENT

1. Work plan and objectives are strategically established, technical support is effective, provided, and planned results are timely delivered through strong technical leadership. As technical experts representing UNICEF coordinates with MOH, WHO, PHOs and DHOs.

a) Facilitate and organize different trainings/ orientation, and workshop at the sub-national level to upgrade the capacity of the local coordinator in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the COVID-19 vaccination plan.

b) Update the provincial and district Vaccine Introduction Readiness Assessment tools (VIRAT) and support the local team in prioritizing the high-risk communities.

c) Refine the COVID-19 vaccination plan at the subnational level, organize independent assessments in the provinces with lower capacity; and

d) Undertake field visits as necessary to monitor the implementation of vaccination plan and participate in periodic vaccine deployment plan reviews with government counterparts and other partners.

2. Provide course corrective actions including development of tools/ simple guidelines to ensure the quality of vaccine deployment plan preparations checklists are met, ensure/influence MOH and PHO’s approval of these tools, strategies including micro planning, a protocol for post vaccine deployment plan; including related monitoring and coverage validation tools for and apply in some districts and health centres through intensive mentoring and coaching in coordination with UNICEF and local partners.

3. Collaborates with other UNICEF sectors, particularly communication team, to ensure integration of the vaccine deployment plan with other sectors. Provide appropriate technical support on advocacy and socio mobilization coordination activities.

4. Develop local action plans for strategic support to the routine immunization programs in target provinces.

5. Support government at the sub-national level in mass vaccination campaigns to prevent or respond to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPD).

6. Explore, build, and maintain partnerships through networking and proactive collaboration with civil society organizations, community groups, leaders, and other critical partners in the community and civil society to reinforce cooperation through engagement, empowerment, and collaborative actions.

7. Final Report (in ppt and narrative) with recommendations and lessons learned. Summarize the best practice, strategies, and methods from the vaccine deployment plan to benefit a stronger routine immunization program for post vaccine deployment plan and push those practices, and strategies adopted by a national and subnational official to strengthen the routine immunization.

OUTPUT

a) Internal training/orientation, workshop implemented

b) Brief assessments of planning, trainings, corrective actions supported and recommended.

c) Monthly progress report on the refinement of vaccination deployment plan, vaccination implementation and evaluation developed and shared with MOH, UNICEF internally

d) Field visit report will be available and shared with UNICEF internally and MOH as necessary

e) Report on corrective actions, tools/guidelines, readiness checklist, protocols for post vaccine deployment plan vaccination program progress reports.

f) Routine immunization support plans and monthly progress report

g) Monthly & Final report

TOR Provincial Coordinator-EPI Medan-TMS.pdf

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

1. Public Health Expert, specific immunization, advocacy/communications and data/information management experience. High technical knowledge of immunization programs is preferred—good analytical, advocacy and conflict resolution skills.

2. Familiarity with country, government structures and public health system especially immunization stock management.

3. Able to work independently with minimal supervision.

4. Self-motivated and results oriented.

5. Proven ability to deliver under tight deadlines.

6. Good report writing, fluency in Bahasa Indonesia (is a must), and English, with computer skills.

7. Minimum 3 years experiences working in Immunization program.

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.

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. The candidate may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid).