Senior Individual Consultant for Conducting Immunization coverage and equity assessment in Rwanda, 3 months

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Application deadline 3 years ago: Tuesday 8 Dec 2020 at 21:55 UTC

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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.

For every child, Health

How can you make a difference?

Title of Assignment: Senior Individual Consultant for conduction Immunization coverage and equity assessment

Proposed level of Consultancy: Senior

Location :Kigali

Duration :3months

Start date From:10/01/ 2021 To: 10/03/ 2021

Background and Purpose

Rwanda has one of the most successful Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) in Africa and has maintained high vaccination coverage above 90% for several decades (DHS 2015). With its goals to maintain high coverage and achieve universal coverage some questions remain not answered especially where the 10% children are not fully immunized to ensure better equity and higher effective coverage of immunization in all the districts and further in all facilities.

From the results of DHS 2014-15, the gap between households with mothers who had no education and those with secondary education and above increased from 10% in 2010 to 12% in 2017. A similar trend is observed between the wealth quintile with the highest coverage and that with the lowest coverage. Immunisation Coverage Survey (2017) found similar variation by education and wealth status.

Purpose

The purpose of this assignment is to conduct an Immunization Coverage Equity Assessment (CEA) to identify strategies for Rwanda to reach community with zero dose children with immunization services.

Justification

The 2019 Joint Appraisal identified among technical assistance the need to conduct equity assessment (develop TORs, Hiring Consultant, organize workshops, report dissemination) and the related technical assistance (TA) by UNICEF was included in the Targeted Country Assistance in 2020.

MOH in partnership with UNICEF and GAVI is willing to conduct a Coverage and Equity Assessment to better identify how many under-vaccinated and unvaccinated children there are, where they are, who they are, what is their gender and religions, what is the distance to access a health facility, what is their wealth category, verify reasons of vaccine hesitancy or refuser reasons so to understand why they have not been vaccinated. The evidence will be used to develop a strategy to improve coverage and equity in vaccination outcomes and 100% fully vaccinated Rwandan children.

Objectives

The purpose of the consultancy is to conduct a Coverage and Equity Assessment (CEA) of immunization services of high technical quality in Rwanda.

The specific objectives include:

• Describe the current situation and trends in vaccination coverage and equity in Rwanda; • Identify major factors and determinants of low coverage and inequities in EPI performance; • Recommend immunization programme specific strategies and interventions aimed at reaching the 10% of zero dose rwandan children and eliminating inequities.

Scope of Work and Methodology

Under direct supervision of the UNICEF Health Section and in close collaboration with the EPI manager in RBC/ Ministry of Health and key immunization stakeholders in the country, the consultant will provide technical guidance and ensure that the following activities are conducted with high technical quality:

• Comprehensive desk review of all available published or approved by stakeholders including national immunization review, survey and study reports, national strategies and guiding documents, international publications on CEA, WHO-UNICEF-Gavi policies and strategies among others • Qualitative key informant interviews (KII) and Focus Group Discussions (FGD) with service providers, caregivers, key community figures, religious leaders, elders gender focused NGOs and other relevant stakeholders to validate the desk review findings at various implementation levels. • A concise descriptive report along the lines of the CEA Report Template and a power point presentation of the findings from the desk review including trends, geographic disparities in coverage, important determinants of under-vaccination ‘including but not limited to gender, socio-economic status, education, religion, disability, geographical locationand effective social change, communication and interpersonal approaches aimed at addressing identified vaccination equity challenges. • A stakeholder’s consultation to review the findings and enrich the interpretation of the desk review data: The proposed methodology for conducting the immunization CEA should involve participatory and consultative exercises, ensuring the full engagement and ownership of the EPI stakeholders and all other interested parties.

ACTIVITIES AND TASKS

The activities listed below are to be carried out in collaboration with the national EPI manager and the WHO/UNICEF and other stakeholders including civil society organizations, professional associations, the consultant will use the UNICEF CEA tool to perform this work. 1. Desk review and data collection a) Desk review b) Develop qualitative protocols and conduct KIIs and FGDs with vaccination service providers, caregivers and immunization programme staff at various implementation levels to validate the desk review findings. c) Define population groups and communities with lower vaccination coverage and determinants associated with inequities in immunization (e.g. geography, education, poverty, gender-related, religion, hard to reach, disabled, vulnerable groups, single parents etc.) and categorize against available data;. 2. Compilation of available data and conduct preliminary analysis a. Prepare a repository of all identified data sources b. Construct an index of performance and determinates by district/province (league table) 3. Stakeholder consultation, formal and informal to gather data and contribute to interpretation of data a. Bilateral consultation with key stakeholders and donors (RBC,MOH, WHO, UNICEF, GAVI, etc.); b. Field visits to provinces in low performing districts and high performing districts, to be considered in the methodology based on the CEA tools c. Comprehensive field visit reports as part of data validation. 4. Report on data, findings and recommendations to include: a. Summary of data and major findings b. Develop tables classifying pro-equity strategies, interventions and outcomes. c. Tables classifying social change, communication and interpersonal approaches for immunization equity. d. Conclusion and Key Recommendations detailing targeted interventions that reach identified equity groups 5. Facilitate national consultative workshop with national participation of UNICEF,WHO, ICC, NITAG, RBC and Ministry of Health and a) Incorporate feedback from consultative members in report. b) Facilitate development of costed implementation plan for national, provincial and district evidence-based action plans to improve immunization equity. c) Facilitate development of recommendations on how to monitor the implementation and impact on disparities of the proposed pro-equity and coverage strategies. 6. Develop final report with executive summary of the key findings and recommendations, improvement plan, PPP and sharing the dataset.

Deliverables:

1.Inception report and desk review report 2. Draft report including Summary of data and major findings, tables classifying social change, communication and interpersonal approaches for immunization equity. Key groups associated with inequities in immunization (e.g. geography, education, poverty, gender-related, religion, hard to reach, disabled, vulnerable, uninformed/ unempowered adolescent mothers, single parents etc.) and categorized against available data. 3. Final report: summary of findings, district league table of coverage/inequities, key recommendations and finalisation of data repository for CEA

Deliverable Timeframe and Payment Schedule (%)

  • 1st Payment of 15%
    • Inception report and Desk review
  • 2nd Payment of 35%
    • Draft report: Summary of data and major findings.
    • Tables classifying social change, communication and interpersonal approaches for immunization equity.
    • Key groups associated with inequities in immunization (e.g. geography, education, poverty, gender-related, religion, hard to reach, disabled, vulnerable, uninformed/ unempowered adolescent mothers, single parents etc.) and categorized against available data.
  • 3rd Payment of 50%
    • Final report / analysis including: summary of findings, district league table of coverage/inequities and key recommendations.
    • Finalization of data repository for CEA

Evaluation Criteria

The Technical proposal is weighted at 70% and 30% for the Financial proposal.

Please note that the final remuneration will be negotiated by HR.

Payment Schedule

Payment is linked to agreed deliverables upon satisfactory completion and certification of deliverables by the supervisor.

General Conditions: Procedures & Logistics

Logistics • Travel arrangements (airfare ticket by the most direct flights in economy class): • On-field (in-country) transport will provided by UNICEF on Supervisor’s request • Payment conditions and currency: Payments will be linked to deliverables. National consultant will be paid in Rwandan Francs and International consultant will be paid in US Dollar • UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs is incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines • All materials developed by the consultant will remain the copyright of UNICEF and that UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in future.

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

Academic qualifications. At least a master’s degree in Medicine, Public Health or other related field of Social Sciences.

Work experience. o Minimum of eight years of professional experience in the management of public health programs; o Research experience in both quantitative and qualitative methods o Knowledge of national immunization programs and health systems; o In-depth knowledge and experience with Reaching Every Community (REC) approach and Immunization Equity Assessment; o Previous experience in the countries or regions with similar context to Rwanda is an asset.

Specific knowledge, competencies and skills required. o High capacity for data analysis meta-analysis and data triangulation and produce data repository; o Excellent communication skills.

Language skills. Fluency in English.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

How to Apply

UNICEF is committed to gender equality in its mandate and its staff. Well qualified candidates, particularly females are strongly encouraged to apply. Interested candidates should send their complete a CV/resume or Personal History (P11) form, which can be downloaded form (http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc), as well as a cover letter explaining what makes them suitable for this consultancy. The application package should be submitted to UNICEF’s online recruitment system.

Qualified and experienced candidates are requested to submit a letter of interest. In their letter of interest, candidates should highlight their previous work experience relevant to the assignment and the attributes that make them suitable for the assignment.

Only successful candidates from the technical evaluation exercise will be contacted and requested to submit their most competitive Financial Proposal.

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:

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.

Added 3 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: unicef.org