Consultancy to Conduct Causality Analysis of Sub-Optimal Immunization Coverage Tender

Procurement Summary

Country : Switzerland

Summary : Consultancy to Conduct Causality Analysis of Sub-Optimal Immunization Coverage

Deadline : 03 Sep 2019

Other Information

Notice Type : Tender

TOT Ref.No.: 35683914

Document Ref. No. :

Competition : ICB

Financier : United Nations Secretariat

Purchaser Ownership : -

Tender Value : Refer Document

Purchaser's Detail

Purchaser : UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN`S FUND
UNICEF 5 - 7 avenue de la Paix 1202 Geneva Tel: +41-22-9095111 Fax: 9095900/ 9095901
Switzerland
URL :https://www.unicef.org

Tender Details

Tenders are invited for Switzerland: Consultancy to Conduct Causality Analysis of Sub-Optimal Immunization Coverage at Subnational Level. Home-Based with Travel to Priority Countries. Up to 240 Working Days during October 2019 - August 2020.

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.

Home-based consultancy withtravel to priority countries

Up to 240 working days during October 2019- August, 2020

For every child, health

Despite the achievements of immunization programmes globaly, including the Europe and Central Asia Region in recent decades, immunization rates are decreasing and uneven across countries — from as high as 99 per cent in Albania to as low as 69 percent in Ukraine[1]. Although the immunization coverage remains relatively high overall in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region, at 93 per cent in 2018, with most countries having maintained coverage above the World Health Organization target of 95 per cent for basic antigens, there have been major declines in immunization rates in many countries in the recent years, only 40 per cent of countries in the region meeting the recommended target.

At the same time, national averages also mask disparities. A third of the countries in the ECA region have districts with DTP3 coverage below 80 per cent, and half of the countries have districts with MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine coverage below 80 per cent. There are significant equity gaps by geographical area, income, urban/rural location, and particularly among marginalized populations, such as Roma. In Serbia, 13 per cent of Roma children aged 18-29 months are fully immunized, compared to 71 per cent of non-Roma children, while in Bosnia and Herzegovina, only 4 per cent of Roma children have received all recommended vaccines, versus 68 per cent of non-Roma children.

National-level coverage can mask pockets of low coverage at the local level, resulting in an accumulation of susceptible individuals that often goes unrecognized until outbreaks occur. In the past five years, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Serbia, Tajikistan, Moldova and Ukraine have faced measles outbreaks. Over 100, 000 cases of measles have been registered in this region during 2018-2019 with 100 children and young adults dying from measles- complications.

The decrease in immunization rates is influenced by a combination of factors which influence vaccine availability, access to services and their quality and demand for immunization. Many countries in the region failed to establish good governance for providing effective and quality immunization services for all. Poor planning and forecasting mechanisms for vaccine procurement and weak vaccine management systems affect the continuity and success of national immunization programmes.

Many self-procuring middle income countries, challenged by competing priorities and inaccessibly priced vaccines on the global market, continue to face significant challenges in achieving financial sustainability and experienced several vaccine shortages, sometimes causing critical disruptions of immunization services Countries graduating from Gavi support may also struggle to ensure financial sustainability after graduation, especially when they will not be eligible for price prefernces after graduation.

The weak data management and the top-down, punitive approach still present in many countries put pressure on health professionals at local and district levels to report high coverage, leading to unreliable data, which also affect the quality of decision making and programming.

Beside supply chain challenges, which may affect immunization coverage, there is a growing vaccine hesitancy across the region, false perception that influenced by people-s concerns related to the vaccines safety, myths and misconceptions, often disseminated through traditional and social media, anti-vaccination (or so called ‘pro-choice-) movements, but also by a decreasing trust in the health system, health professionals and quality of services, influenced by negative past experiences and negative stories that are distrubute through social media. Evidence also suggests that although health professionals are the most trusted source of information for caregivers, they rarely engage in a meaningful communication to provide the necessary information, and to address their fears, false beliefs and concerns, due to poor interpersonal communication skills and limited time for interaction. Moreover, there are evidences that some health professionals, especially specialists (surgeons, neurologists etc) discourage parents to vaccinate their child and contribute to increasing of false contraindication numbers. This is complemented with poor governments- capacity to prepare for and respond in immunization-related crises situations, which diminishes public trust in the health system.

Scope of Work and Objectives.

Purpose:

This consultancy will help to identify critical bottlenecks and root causes of low routine immunization coverage at subnational level and develop targeted action plans (including system-specific fixes), to increase and maintain high immunization coverage to protect children from vaccine preventable diseases.

Methodology:

The assignment will include a combination of desk review, interviews and focus group discussions, as well as workshops at subnational level to identify and discuss main bottlenecks/root cause analysis of low immunization coverage at subnational level from both supply and demand in priority countries: BiH, Moldova and North Macedonia. More priority countries can be included globally as required.

Expected outcomes:

Root cause analysis of low immunization coverage at subnational level in the 2-4 least performed districts in each country (to be decided per each country context and needs).
Costed sub-national action plans, which should be discussed and agreed with subnational stakeholders
Recommendations for national level to improve routine immunization coverage
Outputs/Deliverables per country:


* Nr. of days per country can vary, depending on country context ( to be discussed with coutry offices and MoH). For BiH the number of working days will be extended to cover Serbska region

**Can include weekends/holidays, but only with supervisor-s written approval.

***Payment will be based on the deliverables accomplished per country, and on the actual number of days worked.

Management and Organization

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of UNICEF ECARO Immunization Specialist with reporting line to regional Health Advisor and in close collaboration with health specialists from respective countries and Health Specialist (ADI) UNICEF HQ/NY.
There will be trips to countries, which will be covered by UNICEF as per the regulations
Country offices will be responsible to organize interviews, subnational workshops and provide relevant documents/information
Budget and terms of payment

The consultant will be paid per each country based on deliverables: 50 per cent of the total amount will be paid upon submission of the first 2 deliverables and the final payment (50%) after the final deliverables.

Qualifications and Experience

In order to fully achieve this assignment-s objectives, UNICEF is looking for an international individual consultant holding the following experience and qualifications:

University degree in public health or other health relevant field. Advanced degree will be an advantage
Minimum 8 years of experience in the area of public health
Proven expertise in undertaking root cause/bottleneck analysis in the area of immunization;
Proven experience in development of action/operational plans, preferably in the area of immunization
Familiarity with the health systems/ immunization programs.
Working experience in the Europe & Central Asia region will be an advantage
Experience in designing and facilitating workshops;
Experience in working with government and/or non-governmental organization
Previous work experience with UNICEF or another international organization will be an advantage
Fluency in English (both written & oral) is required. Knowledge of Russian language will be an asset
Conditions of Work

The consultant/s shall use their own facilities to manage the work, but, where circumstances demand otherwise, shall be allowed to make use of available UNICEF office space, computer and internet facilities with prior notification and arrangement with the supervisor and UNICEF Admin/ICT. The provision of these facilities by UNICEF shall be subject to their availability.

Estimated Cost of Consultancy: Estimated cost of consultancy is up to 240 working days. The Consultant shall indicate daily fees in its application. The consultant will be responsible to organise its own travel and should get prior approval of the supervsior before arranging any travel. Travel will be reimbursed by UNICEF based on submission by the consultant of the air fare receipt economy class and in accordance with standard UN per diem rate for each night spent in the designated location.

UNICEF will issue a consultant contract in USD. The payment will be made in USD by bank transfer and in instalments upon deliverables as per contractual agreement.

Reservations: UNICEF reserves the right to terminate the contract without a prior notice and/or withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if the rules and the regulations regarding confidentiality, ethics and procedures of UNICEF and the project partners are not followed, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines.

The candidate will be selected based on “best value of money” and will be governed by and subject to UNICEF-s “General Terms and Conditions for individual contracts.”

Please apply online and submit the following documents:

a) Cover Letter

b) Duly completed P11 form (which can be downloaded at the following link: http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc or fully completed online profile.

c) CV, if available (P11 form supersedes the CV)

Application should include the daily fee. Applications without a daily fee will not be considered.

Remarks:

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

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.

[1] Coverage of three doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3) vaccine, is used as a proxy for full immunization among children.

How to apply:
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 organization. To apply, click on the following link http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/?job=525806

Documents

 Tender Notice