Job Opportunities at UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

Background

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity approach, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children's rights into action.

Children exposed to and living with HIV are a highly vulnerable group. The 2015 World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines[1] recommend that anyone diagnosed with HIV should begin antiretroviral treatment (ART) soon after diagnosis. This is especially important for infants and young children because delays in treatment can have long term consequences for their health and development. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is home to 85 per cent of all new paediatric HIV infections in the world. While many countries in SSA are working to scale up early infant diagnosis and paediatric treatment of HIV, coverage rates remain far below the global goal of 90 per cent by 2020. Limited availability and timely access to adequate HIV laboratory services to determine HIV status in infants and young children, and to monitor ART outcomes for children, women and other people living with HIV, remain major bottlenecks to effective roll out of the 2015 WHO guidelines. There is a particularly high risk of loss to follow up for HIV exposed infants during the postnatal/breastfeeding period and many of these vulnerable infants slip through the programme before a final determination of their HIV status can be made.

UNICEF is a leading and trusted partner in supporting governments in SSA to scale up early infant diagnosis (EID) and paediatric HIV. As part of this effort, UNICEF, along with other global partners, is on the forefront of introducing and rolling out new point of care technologies for EID and viral load monitoring in SSA as they become available to the market. UNICEF is supported by UNITAID to expand and accelerate the use of POC technology in both ESA and WCA regions.

Purpose of the Position

The Specialist supports UNICEF's HIV response in order to contribute authoritative technical expertise on Diagnostics and Paediatric HIV and management support throughout the programming processes to facilitate the administration and achievement of concrete and sustainable results according to plans, allocation, results-based management approaches and methodology (RBM) and UNICEF's strategic frameworks and plans for HIV/AIDS, standards of performance and accountability framework. The specialist with focus on 10 priority countries as follows: Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe in ESARO and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Cameroon and Senegal in WCAR.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

The Specialist is under the direct supervision of the UNICEF Senior Health Specialist (PMTCT and Paediatric HIV) in Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO), and with guidance from the UNICEF Regional Advisor HIV/AIDS in Western and Central Africa Regional Office (WCARO) and in collaboration with the Diagnostic Advisor and POC Project Manager in UNICEF New York Headquarters (NYHQ).

The incumbent will provide programme support, oversight, coordination and quality assurance, technical leadership and capacity development; advocacy, networking and partnership building; and, communications and knowledge management.

Programme support, oversight coordination and quality assurance

·  Ensure that regional and country level activities are implemented in line with expected outcomes and measurable progress indicators

·  Work closely with project countries to operationalize the committed deliverables for diagnostic and paediatric HIV specific activities.

·  Coordinate with Supply Division and COs to ensure POC operational demands are generated

·  Support CO focal points in managing country specific challenges for introduction and scale up of POC for early infant diagnosis (EID) and viral load monitoring (VL), and linkage to effective treatment and clinical decision making

·  Prepare timely and quality inputs to donor reports in line with grant commitments.

·  Monitor the overall implementation of diagnostic and paediatric HIV activities in line with office key performance indicators and in accordance with programme budget allotments.

Technical leadership, support and capacity development

·  Support countries and regional bodies to update POC and related laboratory policies and guidance

·  In coordination with NYHQ HIV Section and Supply Division, support the semi-annual and annual POC project situation analysis based on available information from CO and partners.

·  Support country level POC and related planning activities, assessments and evaluations

·  Support Supply Division and coordinate with COs to ensure POC operational demands are generated.

·  Facilitate and drive technical leadership on diagnostics, POC and linkage to treatment for country programme preparation and providing inputs for reviews where appropriate.

·  Providing guidance and feedback to RO and CO in development of POC related funding proposal.

·  Working closely with the HQ global diagnostics manager to inform global strategies that reflect national and regional priorities and bringing the latest global evidence to the region and COs.

·  Organize and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of UNICEF staff in POC diagnostics and paediatric HIV.

Advocacy, networking and partnership building

·  Build and strengthen strategic partnerships with regional and country level stakeholders and others to ensure harmonized and synergistic contributions to POC.

·  Contribute and take a lead role in POC diagnostics and related issues in major regional networks and forums and support country focal points in major country level networks and forums

·  Support coalitions and networks for advocacy at national and regional levels.

Key Expected Results

The key expected results from this assignment are as follows:

·  Monthly communication and status updates have been completed for the ten priority countries (7 in ESA, 3 in WCA regions) including progress, challenges and strategies for addressing them. Recommendations have been provided to strengthen POC introduction and roll out in the 10 priority countries.

·  Timely regional and country inputs submitted and high-quality inputs made for required donor reports. Regional inputs have been provided for the twice yearly situation analysis of point of care diagnostics and country contributions have been quality assured.

·  Up-to-date information documents on POC diagnostics developed and disseminated within the region. Knowledge sharing and learning sessions held on technical and programme issues with CO and regional staff.

·  Capacity of COs in the 10 priority countries strengthened in terms of HIV diagnostics, POC and paediatric treatment.

·  Regional partnerships on HIV diagnostics, including POC and paediatric treatment strengthened.

·  A system developed and in place to monitor progress and track promising practices around the region in HIV diagnostics, POC and paediatric treatment.

Qualifications of Successful Candidate

Education

An Advanced University Degree in health laboratory, biomedical sciences, pediatric health, family health, public health, global/international health, health policy and/or management, epidemiology or other health related sciences is required.

Work Experience

A minimum of 8 years of professional experience in laboratory services, HIV/AIDS or public health planning and management at the international level some of which preferably in a developing country is required. Relevant experience in HIV and/or laboratory diagnostics programme or project development and management in any UN system agency or organization is an asset. Experience in programme monitoring and evaluation is an added advantage.

Language Proficiency

·  Fluency in English (verbal and written).

·  Intermediate French (at a minimum)

Travel

·  Willingness and ability to travel within the ESA and WCA regions up to 40% of the time.

Competencies of Successful Candidate

Core Values

·  Commitment

·  Diversity and Inclusion

·  Integrity

Core competencies

·  Communication (II)

·  Working with People (II)

·  Drive for Results (II)

Functional Competencies

·  Formulating strategies/concepts (II)

·  Analyzing (III)

·  Relating and networking (II)

·  Deciding and initiating action (II)

·  Applying Technical Expertise (III)

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 to become a part of our organisation.

"[1] World Health Organization, Guideline on When to Start Antiretroviral Therapy and on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV (Switzerland, 2015), http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/186275/1/9789241509565_eng.pdf?....

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

KENYA CO TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR) FOR INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTORS/ CONSULTANTS

PART I

Purpose of Assignment

To document Imarisha Afya ya Mama na Mtoto program achievements and develop an investment case in Kakamega County' programme

Location of Assignment

Nairobi with limited travel to Kakamega County

Duration of contract

30 Days in period of 3 months

Background and Justification

Kakamega contributes a high burden of child deprivation in the country, due to its high population. It also contributes significantly to national under five mortality. It has above-average under five mortality, with the largest difference being in the child mortality rate (i.e. deaths between one year and five years). However, more than half of mortality is within the neonatal and infant period. Factors potentially contributing to the high neo-natal and infant mortality include the low rate of skilled delivery, low rate of ante-natal care, and low rate of contraceptive prevalence. To curb this the Kakamega County rolled out 'Setting the Foundation in the First 1000 Days of Life – Accelerating Maternal and Child Survival in Kakamega County' programme.

The Kakamega cash transfer programme named Imarisha Afya ya Mama na Mtoto was developed by the newly established the county Government in 2013 with a purpose of improving the county maternal and new born health and survival levels. Hence the cash transfers provided to pregnant and lactating women helps to cover some hidden such as transport which are the main bottlenecks which prevent women to attend health services for ANC, delivery and primary health care for new born during the 1000 days.

Distinct platforms within the first 1000 days of life are the focus of improving maternal and child survival outcomes in this initiative. This focuses on the prenatal period with related platforms including antenatal care, community health strategy (addressing barriers including transport, community maternal and new-born health information and health seeking behaviours, food/nutrition security, community monitoring/scorecard), skilled delivery (addressing barriers of transport, social cultural, incentive based package for input – mother and baby items), postpartum and young child period from birth to 24 months including a focus in improved access to maternal child health services addressing transport, information/support – mothers to mothers support groups/male involvement and after six months, strategies for improving complementary feeding (fresh food voucher).

The programme is implemented to support pregnant mothers and children until age of 18 months. The project delivers a cash subsidy of Ksh 12,000 in a period of 18 months, in 6 cycles of Ksh 2000 and the main criteria to assess whether mothers are eligible for the program is be a resident in the county, pregnant or have a child below 18 Months and must be vulnerable and live in poverty. Therefore, it is designed and geared towards the conceptual period and a significant emphasis on the first 1000 days of life which is the critical window of opportunity where health and nutrition interventions to reduce stunting have the highest impact, this will not only maximize growth but also reduce the risk of death in infants and young children.

The programme targets the most needy pregnant mothers and new born babies up to the age of 18 months (the first 1000 days of life). For the first Phase of the program (2013/14 to 2016/17) the number of targeted facilities is 25 health facilities based on their workload in order to show significant results. The criteria for selection of the participating health facilities was to be a government facilities that conduct high volume deliveries

A management information system is developed by the County Government which covers key functions of the programme such as (i) registration module which is done at facility level with a biometric system, (ii) beneficiary management and monitoring module including a SMS system to alert mothers on their ANC or delivery days. To pay beneficiaries, the programme uses an innovative mobile payment system named MPESA.

UNICEF is supporting Maternal Neonatal Health in select counties including Kakamega in health system strengthening in governance, data management through improved MPDSR reporting, RMNCH scorecards and updated data in the DHIS reporting tools, policy and guidelines development, planning and budgeting, supply and commodity management.

UNICEF in partnership with the County Government of Kakamega would like to engage the services of an experienced and competent a consultant who can document the lessons learnt, success stories, case studies, photography and document the cost of the program as an investment case.

Scope of Work

Goal and Objective

Under the supervision of the Social protection Specialist, the consultant will document the lessons learnt, success stories, case studies, photography and document the cost of the program as an investment case.

The consultant will intensely review and analyse the regular data collected in the program and for the county to document the maternal indicators progress and achievements since the program started in 2013 in comparison to the current status of 2016 as well as document the total cost of the program based on direct and indirect costs.

RWPPCR/IRs areas covered

The consultancy contributes to Outcome 6, Output 2 (social protection models) of the Country Programme. It also supports two of the three strategic shifts of the programme towards a) modelling of approaches to reach the most deprived children; and b) resilience building approaches.

The broad objectives of this consultancy would be:

• To document the success of social protection programming linked to maternal neonatal health by providing case studies and success stories from any of the vulnerable mothers accessing maternal and neonatal health services in the 25 health facilities and registered in the program,

• To document the overall costs of the program, develop an investment plan as well highlight the best practises of county budget allocation to build a case for children

Specifically, the consultant will perform the following activities/ tasks :

i) Document the process of implementation of the programme through discussions with policy makers, program staff and the program patron on achievements challenges, lesson learnt and way forward.

ii) Document success stories, case studies and photography of program beneficiaries.

iii) Document the health progress in maternal neonatal utilizing key indicators and comparisons between 2012/2013 and 2015/2016 showing the milestones achieved. Utilize for this DHS, DHS2 and any other relevant source of information

iv) Develop an investment case putting into consideration the source of revenue, utilization as well as the total cost per beneficiary, the investment case is intended to suit the needs of technical managers as well as policymakers and development partners interested in maternal, new-born and child health in Kakamega County.

v) Develop policy briefs to make a case for children and learning outcomes for other counties as part of knowledge management

Design conditions and Work relationships

• The documentation should show clear linkages of maternal and neonatal indicators and social cash transfers and its contributions to improved household economic status,

• Success stories, case studies and photography should be done with a written consent for publication and wider circulation. These studies should have a mix of adolescents, vulnerable households and orphans and/or twins,

• The produced documentation should be appropriate for publication with adherence to human rights approach.

Deliverables:

Deliverables

Duration (Estimated # of days )

Timeline/Deadline

Schedule of Payment

i) Approved inception report including interpretation of the assignment, proposed methodologies and approach, and work plan

3

1st instalment of 20% after submission of deliverables (i) and (ii)

ii) Data collection Materials and preliminary findings

5

iii) Draft 30 to 40 report documentation including (i) an analysis of the projects achievements, (ii) potential impacts or effects of the project on maternal neonatal and nutrition indicators, (iii) challenges and bottlenecks (iv) recommendations and way forward and (v) stories from the county and beneficiaries

15

40%

iv) Final approved report including a 3 pager produce policy brief and 1 full PowerPoint presentation

7

40%

v) Facilitate the Presentation of the documentation at the midterm review of the programme

1

TOTAL person days

31

N.B.

· Payment is on satisfactory completion of deliverables duly authorized by the Supervisor of contract.

· Specific deliverables of acceptable quality must be submitted at the planned times.

· Performance will be evaluated considering quality of deliverables, consultation with stakeholders, timeliness of deliverables of and comprehensiveness of work as defined in the terms of reference.

· The consultant is expected to carry out the documentation process in accordance with professional communication development standards

Required qualifications, desired competencies, technical background and experience

(Consult with HR on this prior to signing off on the TOR)

The consultant should have the following skills and qualifications:-

· At least Master's degree in social sciences, economics, communication or any relevant area

· Minimum of 7 years professional practical experience in conducting reporting and documenting projects, programmes or interventions in the area in Maternal health or poverty,

· Proven ability to: (i) handle multiple tasks under pressure with short deadlines; (ii) ability to work independently, seeking guidance on complex issues; and (iii) excellent interpersonal skills, proven team orientation and the ability to work across unit boundaries.

· Proven ability to translate technical needs into a communication package and/or coffee table booklet

· Proven experience in working with Government and international organizations is added advantage,

 

Interested consultants should indicate ability, availability and all-inclusive rate (daily/ Monthly fee) for expected deliverables to undertake the terms of reference. Applications submitted without a fee/ rate will not be considered.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Conditions

The consultant is expected to commit fully to this task as per the TOR and adhere to the timeline, subject to changes and revisions by UNICEF KCO team. The consultant will not have supervisory responsibilities nor authority on UNICEF budget and other resources. As per UNICEF DFAM policy, payment is made against approved deliverables. No advance payment is allowed unless in exceptional circumstances against bank guarantee, subject to a maximum of 30 per cent of the total contract value in cases where advance purchases, for example for supplies or travel, may be necessary. The candidate selected will be governed by and subject to UNICEF's General Terms and Conditions for individual contracts.

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 to become a part of our organisation.