Consultancy – Development of Capacity building Toolkit for Public health emergencies in UNICEF East and Southern Africa Region

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                                                                      TERMS OF REFERENCE

Title of Assignment	Health Consultant – Development of Capacity building Toolkit for Public health emergencies in UNICEF East and Southern Africa Region
Section	Health
Location	Nairobi, Kenya
Duration	80 days within a period of 4 months

Background and Justification
A key priority for UNICEF East and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) is ensuring that all countries are well prepared for, and respond to emergencies, including public health emergencies, timely, effectively, and in a manner that contributes to building resilience of the health system.
Over the past 5 years, the east and southern Africa region has experienced an increasing trend in public health emergencies and humanitarian crises with serious health impacts particularly for already vulnerable children, women and communities. Two recent emergencies – the 10th Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (exported twice to Uganda in 2019), and the current COVID-19 pandemic, have underscored the following:
i. Preparedness facilitates timely and efficient response – this was the case for EVD preparedness priority countries and the transition to COVID-19 in early 2020.
ii. Countries with gaps in preparedness are unlikely to develop timely and effective response capacities at the initial phase of an outbreak, when such capacity will make the most difference.
iii. Public health emergencies come with huge indirect costs. Before COVID-19 the EVD outbreak in West Africa, cholera, smaller and geographically limited outbreaks of EVD and Marburg virus disease and conflict in several ESA countries had impacts on health services and contributed to stalling or reversing economic and other gains.
There is therefore a critical need for ESARO to support countries to develop or adapt strategies to effectively prevent, mitigate, and manage these emergencies as well as to enhance capacity for preparedness and response to public health emergencies. Building and maintaining such capacities at country level and particularly within UNICEF is one of essential components for better preparedness and response; it will equip UNICEF staffs and partners to deliver quality and timely response in line with the aim of Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Actions. In line with this, the ESARO health section is seeking to recruit a consultant to support the development of a toolkit for training in PHE and accompanying reference materials for UNICEF country teams. This toolkit will be instrumental in providing relevant and required technical knowledge and skills to country office staff to better respond to public health emergencies in different contexts.

Scope of Work
Goal and Objective:
This consultancy aims at supporting the development of a training toolkit for public health emergencies for use by UNICEF country Office staff in the UNICEF East and Southern African Region.
1) Under the supervision of the Health specialist (Emergencies), the consultant will develop a toolkit for public health emergencies for the region.

2) Provide details/reference to AWP areas covered: This consultancy pertains to 240R/A0/10/801/004/011 which covers ‘Health Emergencies: Provide technical assistance, capacity development, oversight and quality assurance to COs for health emergencies, including the implementation of the regional cholera framework’.

3) Activities and Tasks:

• Three-month activity plan in line with deliverables (as per the detailed table under output/deliverables)
• Approach: Review of existing PHE toolkits with gap analysis (including via interviews with key informants) and proposed approach and contents for UNICEF ESAR toolkit
• Outputs: Toolkit, PPTs for training and reference materials including PHE factsheets, pilot with two country teams.

Block 1: Global public health emergency architecture

i. Global PHE preparedness and response architecture and coordination mechanisms (cluster/sectoral coordination, IMSTs)
ii. UNICEF approach to emergency preparedness and response including in public health emergencies
iii. UNICEF emergency procedures, structures, and guiding principles: CCCs/health sector commitments, accountability to affected populations
iv. Needs assessments during public health and humanitarian events: risk assessments for PHEs, initial rapid assessments

Block 2: Responding to events of public health concern

v. Landscape of public health events and humanitarian events in the ESA region
vi. Guidance for response to outbreaks of priority diseases using a cross sectoral lens and in line with ESARO guidance:
• Category 1: Epidemic prone diseases with significant public health impact ;
• Category 2: Endemic and epidemic prone diseases with limited geographic distribution requiring additional attention and capacity building ; and
• Category 3: Endemic or epidemic prone diseases affecting a very limited geographic area and/or which pose a limited threat .
vii. Social and behaviour change communication in public health emergencies: key concepts, approaches, and priority actions
viii. Health in humanitarian crises – SRH including SBGViE, Maternal and Newborn health, CPiE and MHPSS
ix. Sectoral collaboration in different types of emergencies: Nutrition, WASH, and health: NEs, PHEs, NiE/HiE/WASH in emergencies, School health in emergency

Block 3: Planning and monitoring

x. Preparedness planning: Government preparedness mechanisms, the humanitarian cycle, introduction to the risk analysis tool, UNICEF’s Emergency Preparedness Platform
xi. Supplies and logistics: planning, procurement and arrangements for emergency health supplies
xii. Costing PHEs preparedness and response: Key pointers from a health economist’ view
xiii. Managing health data during emergencies: Typical needs and approaches for data management, analysis and reporting; GIS mapping; and basic report writing
xiv. Conducting intra/after action reviews for public health events
xv. Operational research during PHEs: global guidance and current approaches, ethics & confidentiality

4) Work relationships: Within UNICEF, the consultant will be supervised by the health specialist (Emergencies) and will work closely with the regional office health team as well as with emergency focal points from C4D, Child Protection, HARP, Nutrition, WASH and others as appropriate. The consultant will also engage with external partners such as WHO, IFRC, Africa -CDC, US-CDC and National Ministries of Health if deemed necessary.

5) Output/Deliverables:

Deliverables	Duration (Estimated # of days or weeks)	Deadline	Schedule of payment	Percentage of payment
Detailed activity plan in line with deliverables Review report of existing PHE toolkits with gap analysis and proposed outline of UNICEF ESAR toolkit Summary of agreed approaches for each area to be developed with other sectors – C4D, CP, HIV, Nutrition, WASH	4 weeks	2/08/2021	5/08/2021	25%
Development of Block 1, 2 and 3 Block 1– document describing the following: Global PHE preparedness and response architecture and coordination mechanisms. UNICEF approach to emergency preparedness and response including in public health emergencies. UNICEF emergency procedures, structures, and guiding principles: CCCs/health sector commitments, accountability to affected populations. Needs assessments during public health and humanitarian events: risk assessments for PHEs, initial rapid assessments. Block 2– document describing the following: Landscape of public health events and humanitarian events in the ESA region Guidance for response to outbreaks of priority diseases using a cross sectoral lens and in line with ESARO guidance for category 1, 2 and 3. Social and behaviour change communication in public health emergencies: key concepts, approaches, and priority actions Health in humanitarian crises Sectoral collaboration in different types of emergencies Block 3– document describing the following: Preparedness planning Supplies and logistics Costing PHEs preparedness and response Managing health data during emergencies Conducting intra/after action reviews for public health events Operational research during PHEs	4 weeks	1/09/2021	4/09/2021	25%
Development of ESA relevant PHE factsheets  and compendium of relevant accompanying reference documents Development of toolkit into PPTs	4 weeks	4/10/2021	7/10/2021	25%
Report of pilot with two country teams Presentation of complete toolkit to the health emergencies cross sectoral core team for feedback and review Final report and complete toolkit	4 weeks	1/11/2021	4/11/2021	25%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Payment Schedule
Payments will be made in four instalments upon satisfactory completion of deliverables as shown in the table above.

Desired competencies, technical background and experience
a) Advanced university degree in public health with a first level university degree in a health science (medicine, nursing, public health or similar fields)
b) Minimum eight years of work experience in technical leadership/management of public health emergency preparedness and response in Africa.
c) Essential: Previous experience in integrated disease surveillance and response training and implementation. Desirable: Previous experience in cluster/sector coordination and knowledge on multi-sectoral preparedness and response to health emergencies.
d) Ability to develop and present public health training to a range of public health professionals with different skills sets/levels.
e) Fluency in English (verbal and written). Working knowledge of French or Portuguese desirable, but not essential.
Competencies
Core Values:
• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Accountability
• Trust

Core Competencies:
• Builds and maintains partnerships
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
• Drive to achieve results for impact
• Innovates and embraces change
• Manages ambiguity and complexity
• Thinks and acts strategically
• Works collaboratively with others

Administrative issues
The consultant will work under direct supervision and guidance of the Health Specialist (Emergencies).
With the current COVID-19 modality of work, the consultant is expected to work remotely. However, once onsite work has resumed, the consultant will be provided with office space but will be expected to bring his/her own equipment at the ESARO office in Nairobi.

Conditions
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.

Risks

There are limited anticipated risks for this consultancy, as realistic and concrete deliverables have been identified against a clear timeline.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply online using the button below.  As part of their application, candidates should provide:

1. A cover letter that specifies how you meet the desired competencies, technical background and experience (no more than 2 pages)
2. A short CV (no more than 4 pages)
3. A fee structure that should include: daily/monthly rate in USD and total fee

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 the organization.