Supply Emergency Preparedness Consultant, UNICEF South Asia, Kathmandu, Nepal

The objective of the consultancy is to undertake a review of the current state of emergency preparedness from a supply perspective in specific countries in the region, through review of Supply and Logistics.

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, a future

How can you make a difference? 

South Asia countries are prone to annual flooding, landslides, droughts, and earthquakes.  With the effects of climate change these regular events could become even more severe.   The quality of any emergency response, particularly in large onset emergencies can be very dominated by the ability of the country and by extension UNICEF to respond to the emergency from a supply perspective.  For UNICEF CO’s over 60% of the total spend, flows through the Supply function, therefore it is critical that Supply and Logistics related emergency preparedness is undertaken to enable UNICEF to contribute effectively during any emergency response. 

The Core Commitments for Children (CCC) outline key commitments related to Supply and Logistics in the areas of preparedness and timely delivery of supplies.  These commitments are generally translated by each country into their context specific Emergency Supply and Logistics strategy, which outlines what preparedness is in place.  It is this document that will therefore be used as a starting point to assess the readiness of each country, and further explore challenges to be overcome and opportunities of increased levels of preparedness within South Asia.

Purpose:

The objective of the consultancy is to undertake a review of the current state of emergency preparedness from a supply perspective in specific countries in the region, through review of Supply  and Logistics strategies, interviews with the country offices, analysis of supply spend v procurement strategies/availability, mapping of logistics opportunities/constraints, with a view to identifying areas of opportunity and recommendations of how to improve emergency preparedness from a supply perspective within UNICEF South Asia countries.

Key Assignments/Tasks:

Following are the key activities that are envisaged to be completed to achieve the stated objectives:

1. Inception Report that includes a high-level overview to demonstrate the understanding of the tasks and how they will be undertaken, and should include an associated project plan (by 8 April)

2. Review of CO’s Emergency Supply and Logistics Strategies, and how fit for purpose the strategies are given the country context:

- Scenario definition that the strategy is addressing.
- Procurement supply plan and associated procurement strategies.
- Logistics challenges and how they are being address.
- Prepositioning.
- HR considerations – how agile is the current staffing?
- Is IP capacity considered, including last mile tracking.
- Is private sector being engaged for delivery of any emergency preparedness and response activities.
- How is Supply End User Monitoring (SEUM) being undertaken to ensure there is visibility down to the beneficiary?
- Is the strategy aligned with external stakeholders (other UN agencies, government etc.).
- Risks generally related to Supply, and the ability to deliver an effective response.
- This would include an initial review of the 8 countries in the region.  Following the initial review, it may be decided to focus on specific countries (by 10 May 2024).

3. Review with COs who have experienced recent emergencies, to understand challenges and how they are being addressed.  These are Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.  This is to answer the question, if another emergency happened tomorrow, would the challenges be mitigated with any changes that have since been implemented? (by 31 May 2024)

4. Undertaken analysis of supply expenditure and current procurement strategies for the region, including regional analysis over previous years (3 – 5 years to be agreed), LTA’s established within regional, Supply Division Global Emergency Supply List (ESL) and associated availability/locations (by 21 June 2024)

5. Undertake logistics mapping between the 8 countries in region to understand constraints to import/export expediently in the event of an emergency (by 21 June 2024).

6. Final Report, including analytics and overview of points 1 – 4 above, followed by recommendations and proposed action plan for improvement at a CO and RO level:

- Procurement strategies – is there anything we can do differently at the CO or RO level to support emergency preparedness, including localization at a country of regional level, sharing or (sub)regional LTA’s, (sub) regional supplier rosters etc.
- Logistics challenges – what needs to be addressed or done differently?
- Prepositioning – Individual CO v regional v global.  Is there anything we can do differently?
- Implementing Partners capacity and last mile monitoring.
- SEUM.
- Alignment of emergency preparedness and response with external stakeholders.
- Human Resource Capacity Building.
- General risk mitigations.
- Presentation of the findings related to the final report should be presented to the regional Supply Community and ROSA, following which an updated Final Report should be provided including any feedback from the presentations (by 5 July 2024).

Key Deliverables:

1. Inception Report, including an overview of the assignment will project plan for key activities; required days 5.

2.  Report of current state of emergency preparedness from a Supply perspective for the identified CO’s; required days 20.

3.  Report on interviews with CO’s on recent emergencies, including key themes related to opportunities and challenges; required days 15

4.  Supply analysis and Logistics Mapping for the region; required days 15.

5.  Final Report & Presentations; required days 10.

Note: The work is office based for 65 days. Please submit your financial proposal in USD when applying. Any applications without the financial proposals will not be considered.

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

Education: Minimum Bachelor’s degree is essential, and Supply Chain Management related professional qualifications are desirable

Work Experience:

• Minimum 8 years’ experience in Supply Chain Management (SCM) function
• Experience in working with in developing countries, with experience in South Asia preferable
• Emergency experience preferable
• Experience of providing advice at a senior level in change and/or improvement initiatives in SCM
• Advanced proficiency in English (written and verbal)

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS). 

Competencies:

Strong Analytical Skills

Good communication skills, with the ability to effectively build rapport.

 To view our competency framework, please visit  here. 

 UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment. 

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. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts. 

South Asia countries are prone to annual flooding, landslides, droughts, and earthquakes.  With the effects of climate change these regular events could become even more severe.   The quality of any emergency response, particularly in large onset emergencies can be very dominated by the ability of the country and by extension UNICEF to respond to the emergency from a supply perspective.  For UNICEF CO’s over 60% of the total spend, flows through the Supply function, therefore it is critical that Supply and Logistics related emergency preparedness is undertaken to enable UNICEF to contribute effectively during any emergency response. 

The Core Commitments for Children (CCC) outline key commitments related to Supply and Logistics in the areas of preparedness and timely delivery of supplies.  These commitments are generally translated by each country into their context specific Emergency Supply and Logistics strategy, which outlines what preparedness is in place.  It is this document that will therefore be used as a starting point to assess the readiness of each country, and further explore challenges to be overcome and opportunities of increased levels of preparedness within South Asia.