Senior Public Health Consultant (National)
Contract
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1. Background and Context The COVID-19 pandemic is the defining global health crisis of our time. It is also a human, economic and social crisis. Countries around the world are being challenged by increasing demand for health care of people with COVID-19, compounded by fear, stigma, misinformation and limitations on movement that disrupt the delivery of essential services. In Montenegro, as of 3 March, there were a total of 8,775 active cases of COVID-19 – with a 14-day cumulative incidence of 1,097 cases per 100,000 persons. The total number of registered cases since March has been 77,493, which means that more than twelve percent of Montenegrins have been, as per official records, infected with the coronavirus. The total number of fatalities associated with COVID-19 was 1,031, which is 1,641 per million inhabitants. There is a noticeable issue of non-adherence by the population to recommendations on social distancing, mask wearing, handwashing and other precautionary measures. Potential causes for this are public fatigue with the prolonged public health crisis, a lack of trust in public institutions and limited effectiveness of containment measures. Fatigue about risk communication and community engagement messaging and loss of trust in public institutions may also drive negative attitudes vis-à-vis the new COVID-19 vaccine that could hinder vaccine uptake. Another challenge is that the COVID-19 outbreak and response has been accompanied by an “infodemic”: an overabundance of information from various sources — some accurate and some not — that makes it hard for people to decide which is a trustworthy source of information. The fight against disinformation is a joint effort involving all stakeholders encouraging them to promote authoritative sources of information, as well as demote content that is fact-checked as false or misleading.
Immunizations are an essential health service that protect susceptible individuals from vaccine-preventable diseases (VPD). Preventing a VPD outbreak not only saves lives but requires fewer resources than responding to the outbreak and helps reduce burden on a health system already strained by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Montenegro, in addition to the COVID-19 crisis, is faced with critically low, declining immunization rates. Immunization coverage rates for first dose of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR1) have been decreasing in recent years – from 90% in 2010 to 42.1% in 2018 (the year of the latest public report), which is a critically low rate[1] and one of the lowest in Europe and Central Asia region. This means that almost 60% of all young children were not protected from the most contagious vaccine-preventable diseases. Some municipalities are especially at risk, for example Budva where MMR1 coverage was only 15% in 2018. In addition, every seventh child in Montenegro was not protected from Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis 3 (DTP3) in 2018. In early 2020, Montenegro, with the support of the UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asian conducted a Root Cause Analysis of suboptimal immunization coverage at the sub-national level. Some of the main root causes were: insufficient knowledge of paediatricians in contraindications and in interpersonal communication (IPC) for immunization, lack of motivation of immunization service providers for timely immunization and weak accountability of service providers for achieving immunization targets, strong anti-vaccination campaign in media and social networks and weak nation-wide mechanisms for generating demand for immunization[2].
Already declining immunization rates are, at the global level, further adversely affected by COVID-19. In Montenegro, according to media reports, immunization coverage rates decreased further during 2020 in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, to below 20% for MMR1 at national level and approximately 10% in the capital, Podgorica. Urgent actions are required to ensure that the low immunization rates do not plummet due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 situation also represents an important opportunity for health systems strengthening, for example by identifying, understanding and modifying immunization policy and practice issues that contribute to missed opportunities for vaccination, or by addressing issues in the supply chain or by strengthening collaborations with other sectors to engage or reach underserved populations.
In order to respond to the above challenges, in December 2020, UNICEF Country Office in Montenegro and the EU Delegation to Montenegro signed a two-year Action “Strengthening health system resilience and response to the COVID-19 pandemic and epidemiological risks”. The overall objective of the Action is to ensure that inhabitants of Montenegro, particularly children and vulnerable groups, benefit from improved protection from the COVID-19 epidemic as well from vaccine preventable diseases, while the Action specifically aims to ensure that inhabitants of Montenegro, particularly children and vulnerable groups, benefit from a strengthened public health system through improved risk communication and community engagement on COVID-19 and improved immunisation services.
This Action consists of two components. Component One aims at strengthening health system for adequate risk communication and community engagement response to COVID-19 in order to ensure that citizens and professionals adhere to the preventive measures introduced by the Government. Furthermore, planned activities will also help strengthen national risk communication and community engagement responses for potential future crises. Component Two aims at strengthening the health system to prevent the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases, by ensuring continuity of immunization services during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath and maintaining trust in immunization.
2. Purpose and Objective The purpose of the assignment is to provide technical expertise and assistance to the implementation of the Action “Strengthening health system resilience and response to the COVID-19 pandemic and epidemiological risks”. The specific objectives of this assignment are:
To provide technical expertise for quality implementation of all activities with a dual focus on addressing critical gaps in immunization coverage and risk communication and community engagement as well as strengthening resilience of public health systems in these areas. To support programmatic and financial implementation of activities under the aforementioned Action especially in relation to Component 2, but also Component 1 in close collaboration with the C4D Officer. To monitor the achievement of results and targets under the specific objectives. To develop and keep up-to-date programme information and to prepare reports, data analysis and documentation and share in a timely manner with relevant UNICEF Montenegro staff and relevant stakeholders as required to support the Early Childhood Development programme. To maintain effective communication, partnerships and working relationships for advocacy, technical coordination, information sharing and knowledge networking with national counterparts, donor, UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia.
3. Methodology and Technical Approach The methodology will include provision of technical expertise, preparation of implementation plans, implementation (provision of technical assistance, timely follow up), monitoring, reporting, maintaining communication with stakeholders, technical assistance to short term international and national consultants, technical assistance to the implementation of grants by national counterparts.
The consultant will work closely with relevant UNICEF Country Office staff, including Communications for Development Officer, ECD Officer, Health and ECD Consultant, Communications Officer, Operations Officer, Deputy Representative etc.
4. Activities and Tasks Under the direct supervision of UNICEF Early Childhood Development Officer, the Consultant is expected to support the implementation of the following:
Effective and efficient implementation of the Action “Strengthening health system resilience and response to the COVID-19 pandemic and epidemiological risks”, monitoring for adjustment and improvement of Action delivery and sustainability. Provides technical expertise for effective, high quality, efficient and timely (i.e. as per Action Timetable) implementation of Action activities, in particular Component/Result 2 on strengthening public health and vaccine management system to ensure continuity of immunization services and increase immunization coverage as well as to strengthen resilience of public health systems in these areas. Provides technical expertise to the Communication for Development Officer in the implementation of Component/Result 1 of the Action on effective and coordinated risk communication and community engagement to respond to COVID-19 and mitigate its impact on families, children and youth, and vulnerable groups. Provides support and assistance in the design, planning, and monitoring of the Action. Supports the improvement of Action delivery with emphasis on sustainability of interventions and community participation based on a human rights framework and cross sector approach to programming and community capacity development. Ensures that activities are in accordance with plans of action. Participates in the field visits to UNICEF project sites for monitoring project activities and local conditions and follows up with government counterparts and other partners on project implementation. Provides assistance to government counterparts and other partners in the planning and implementation of the Action. Assists in identifying necessary action for programme adjustments, acceleration, improvement and sustainability. Supports communication about the Action, in coordination and collaboration with Communications staff. Ensures that donor recognition and visibility requirements are adhered to in all communications and visibility activities, including by UNICEF partners contributing to this Action, in coordination and collaboration with Communications staff. Liaises with Health and ECD Consultant in the implementation of immunization-related activities of the EU and UNICEF partnership entitled “Regional Project to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the lives of children and families in the Western Balkans and Turkey” (2021-2022) to ensure complementarities between the two Actions. Support to procurement of supplies and disbursement of programme funds for the Action. Provides support and assistance to Operations staff on supply and non-supply assistance activities. Liaises with implementing partners to ensure timely submission of financial requests and reports. Monitors disbursements of funds, ensuring those activities are within established plans of action and programme budget allotments. Develops financial status reports for management as required. Maintaining up to date Action information, preparation of reports, data analysis and documentation in a timely manner as required to support the implementation of the Action and the Early Childhood Development programme. In consultation with monitoring and evaluation colleagues, conducts accurate and timely monitoring and data collection, and supports an integrated monitoring system, in consultation with all relevant stakeholders. Assists partners to ensure that monitoring systems are properly designed, and that data collection and analysis from field visits are coordinated and standardized across programmes to feed into programme performance monitoring. Analyses monitoring data and recommends adjustment as appropriate to ensure achievement of programme objectives. Provides support and assistance in the timely preparation of annual progress report and final report for the European Union in compliance with the established guidelines and procedures, as well as in the preparation of Action implementation updates every two months including prior to the Action Steering Committee meetings. Assists in the drafting and preparation of programme reports for management, Steering Committee of the Action, donor (European Union), budget reviews, programme analysis, and annual reports, as required. Development and implementation of integrated health strategies and approaches through participation and collaboration with internal and external partners. Provides technical assistance in the integration of the Action with Early Childhood Development programme, other sectors and programme communication. Contributes to build on intersectoral experience and establish partnerships to promote innovative approaches to address immediate and underlying determinants of newborn, child and maternal health with a specific focus on immunization and the health system response to COVID-19, recognizing that health outcomes are not the results of action in the health sector alone. Exchanges information and knowledge with other programmes to contribute to achievement of the Action in the framework of the overall country programme objectives. This may imply assisting the Country Office in the implementation of emergency preparedness plan relating to Health. Assists in establishing effective monitoring, knowledge database/network and reporting systems to ensure the availability of current and accurate Action and programme information/data, and contributes to the development of communication materials and strategies to support advocacy and community participation for health with a special focus on COVID-19 and immunization; and to widen partnerships with all stakeholder at national, regional, district, community and household levels as well as with funding partners, including the private sector, in order to accelerate achievement of Action objectives. Keeps close contacts with external counterparts, including those of the UN and national partners, in order to improve the ability to collect and disseminate relevant data, exchange information on Action development and implementation. Shares knowledge, information, experience and lessons learned. The consultant is expected to be engaged for 11 months and two weeks with a possibility of extension.
5. Deliverables and Timeframe
The Consultant is expected to produce the following deliverables with the following tentative deadlines:
Monthly workplans for the implementation of activities. In collaboration with short-term international consultants, support to relevant national counterparts in the development of a multi-vial policy, IPC policy and at least four subnational targeted action plans to ensure continuity of immunization services, including catch up vaccination, by the end of March 2022. Support to relevant national counterparts to roll out training on vaccine safety, contraindications, and importance of continuous immunization during COVID-19 as well as infection prevention and control measures (IPC) during immunization sessions, by the end of March 2022. In collaboration with short-term international and national consultants, support to relevant national counterparts in the implementation of a national demand generation strategy in order to promote immunization, increase the demand for vaccination on the part of parents and caregivers, with the aim of increasing coverage and catching up the missed doses, by the end of March 2022. Support to international research agency to conduct behavioural insights research to track people’s knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards immunization based on which the demand generation strategy and overall health and immunization programs and budgets will be enhanced or implemented, by the end of September 2021. In collaboration with short term international consultant and national counterparts, support to the conduct of the EVM assessment and development of an Improvement Plan, by the end of September 2021. Support to Operations Officer to procure supplies aimed at upgrading the cold chain based on the EVM assessment and support to the Institute for Public Health to upgrade the national immunization database, by the end of 2021. Technical inputs to the C4D Officer for regular online quantitative and qualitative research to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices and perceptions of messages and the COVID-19 situation in the country, as required until January 2022. Technical inputs to the C4D Officer in the development of recommendations for adjusting the COVID-19 Risk Communication Strategy until January 2022. Technical inputs to the C4D Officer in the Production, pre-testing, translation and dissemination of communication approaches, material with key messages on COVID-19 and its impact, for different audiences through various communication channels in line with Government Risk Communication Strategy. Technical inputs to the C4D Officer in Strengthening community engagement, with focus on vulnerable groups and persons who cannot access information easily, through traditional & digital media campaign, and other activities promoting the key COVID-19 messages with active engagement of national and local partners. Support to communication around Action objectives, activities and achievements in collaboration with UNICEF Communications team, as required. Updates of Action implementation with specific focus on Component 2 (programmatic, achievement of results and targets) as required, continuously until 31 March 2022. Concise status update of the monthly workplan (see bullet a.). The consultant will be engaged for the period from 15 April 2020 until 31 March 2022 for a total of 11months and two weeks.
6. Travel: Travel within the country for monitoring purposes is expected. The Consultant is entitled to transportation and DSA as per UN rules.
7. Management and organization Management: The consultant will be supervised by the UNICEF Early Childhood Development Officer. C4D Officer will also be consulted about Consultant’s performance on a regular basis.
Organization: National Consultancy, individual, is required, meeting the criteria described below. UNICEF email account is required.
Schedule: This assignment will commence on 15 April 2021.
8. Key competences, technical background, and experience required
Education
- Advanced university degree in Public Health, Epidemiology, Paediatric Health, Family Health, Health Policy and/or Management or another relevant technical field;
Experience
- A minimum of ten (10) years of professional work experience in planning, programming, implementation and monitoring of health programmes; - A minimum of five (5) years of professional work experience in planning, programming, implementation and monitoring of immunization programmes specifically; - Experience with risk communication and community engagement related to COVID-19 will be a strong asset;
Language:
- Excellent command of both English and local language (spoken and written);
Other
-Excellent organizing and planning skills; -Excellent interpersonal and communication skills; -Excellent writing skills; -Demonstrated tact and high sense of responsibility and discretion; -Demonstrates integrity and high ethical standards; -Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
9. Application procedure
To apply for a vacant position, please submit P-11 form along with your motivation letter through “apply” button; The candidates are requested to submit a financial offer as a separate document consisting of a daily fee for the services to be provided, travel and subsistence costs, as/ if applicable.
10. Selection method: All applicants will be screened against the qualifications and requirements set above. Candidates fully meeting all the requirements will be further evaluated based on the criteria below:
1. Technical Evaluation – 70% of total evaluation – max. 70 points
Education: 20 points, Previous experience: 40 points, Language: 10 points. Only candidates who obtain a score of at least 70% in the Technical Evaluation (i.e. who score at least 49 points) will qualify for financial proposal evaluation.
2. Financial Evaluation - 30 % of total evaluation – max. 30 points.
The lowest price proposal will be awarded the full score assigned to the commercial proposal as per formula: lowest offer / financial offer of the candidate x 30. The recommendation for award of contract will be based on best combination of technical and financial score. Based on verified nominations and final scores, contract negotiations could be initiated with one or more successful candidates.
11. Remark:
Upon conducting the recruitment process and prior to signing the contract, all Consultants and Individual Contractors, including those working from home, must complete the following online courses:
- Ethics and Integrity at UNICEF; Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Abuse of Authority (PSEAA) and Sexual Exploitation Abuse (PSEA)
Consultants and Individual Contractors must complete the following course before commencement of any travel on behalf of UNICEF:
- BSAFE security training
Any consultant or individual contractor who is issued a UNICEF email address must complete the following courses no later than 30 days after signature of contract:
- Fraud Awareness, and Information Awareness Security Course (only for consultants/individual contractors with a UNICEF email address)
The above courses can be found on Agora through the following link: UNICEF Mandatory Training/Learning Courses.
11. Budget and Remuneration
-Payment schedule: The payments will be made on a monthly basis. -Recourse: 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. -Budget and Remuneration: Interested contractors are requested to submit their financial offer consisting of fee for the services to be provided, travel and subsistence costs, as applicable.
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities to apply.
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.
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Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
[1] Institute of Public Health of Montenegro, Statistical Yearbook 2018.
[2] Dr David Sulaberidze, 2020, “Root Cause Analysis of Low Immunization Coverage at Sub-national Level”. Unpublished report commissioned by UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia.