National Consultant for legal review and adaptation of key healthcare laws in North Macedonia

UNICEF in North Macedonia is hiring a National Consultant for legal review and adaptation of key healthcare laws. This is home-based, short-term consultancy in a duration of four months.

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For every child, the right to health

The National Consultant for legal review and adaptation of key healthcare laws will provide technical assistance for the revision of the legal health framework with a focus on strengthening the equity and quality of healthcare for children, particularly for the most vulnerable.

How can you make a difference? 

The Ministry of Health in North Macedonia has initiated a public consultation process to amend 12 existing laws related to healthcare, including the Law on Health Protection, the Law on Health Insurance and the Law on Health Evidence. The process aims to strengthen the legal framework and improve healthcare access, affordability, and quality, particularly for underserved groups.

Most children in the country receive health care through the mandatory health insurance system, funded by the Health Insurance Fund (HIF), which covers a wide range of services. To qualify, children must be under 18, have regulated residence, and possess valid personal documents. In some cases, proof of social status is required. Children not covered by mandatory insurance receive care through state programs offering preventive services, medical exams, immunizations, and both basic and specialized care.

For families at risk of poverty and social exclusion, however, proving their status is challenging due to lack of information, knowledge of procedures, and financial resources for administrative fees or travel costs. This often results in vulnerable parents being unable to include their children in the health system. Affected children typically have unemployed or bankrupt parents, no income, are unregistered, or are migrants and refugees without legal status. Additionally, the mandatory health insurance system is that children's access to services depends on their parents' active insurance status, which is linked to employment. If parents lose their insurance status, often due to non-payment or late payment of contributions by employers, children can easily be left without health insurance. According to MICS 2019 data, 5.4 percent of children, or around 20,000, do not have health insurance and are effectively excluded from the health care system.

Early childhood development and education in North Macedonia are legally supported through the Law on Child Protection, which outlines the care and upbringing of preschool children, while complementary provisions are found in the Law on Health Protection to govern the organization and delivery of health services. The country, however, lacks a universal system for monitoring developmental disabilities, and intervention services are insufficient and fragmented. There is no monitoring of their implementation, data collection, or analysis for identification, diagnosis, and treatment. Inadequate examinations, screening tests, and lack of parental awareness can lead to delayed diagnosis and missed treatment opportunities. While existing programs have significant benefits, additional adjustments and resources are needed to ensure equal access to services for all children, regardless of their location or socio-economic status. Based on a probable rate of 12.5%, approximately 17,554 out of 140,436 children from birth to six years may need early childhood intervention (ECI) services.

There is also inadequate reporting and inconsistent data collection, with limited disaggregation across institutions, which has hindered effective responses to violence. Efforts are ongoing to digitalize case management systems, although bottlenecks persist. The National Coordination Body for Protection of Children Against Abuse and Neglect, reconstituted in 2017 to enhance data collection protocols and case management across sectors, remains under-resourced and lacks decision-making authority. One of main CRC recommendation is to ensure data disaggregation by key factors (e.g., age, sex, disability, ethnicity) to analyze the situation of vulnerable children, including those affected by violence, or with disabilities. The CRC also recommends that the country must implement mandatory reporting and child-friendly, multi-agency responses for all cases of violence against children, including neglect and sexual abuse, both offline and online – this includes the health sector.

In view of the current consultation process, UNICEF seeks to engage a national consultant with legal expertise to provide technical assistance for the revision of the legal health framework, with a focus on strengthening the equity and quality of healthcare for children, particularly for the most vulnerable.

Scope of Work:

Under the direct supervision of the Health Officer the consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Review and analysis of existing legislation

• Legal provisions mapping based on a desk review of the laws, legal reviews and health related regulations for pediatric care, health insurance and early detection and intervention to identify gaps, inconsistencies and barriers vis a vis national and international commitments (e.g., WHO Universal Health Coverage principles, EU health policy frameworks, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and data protection regulations).

• Draft specific legal amendments to address gaps, inconsistencies and barriers, including but not limited to ensuring the establishment of universal health insurance coverage for every child at birth, provisions for early detection and intervention and strengthening of the legal framework related to violence against children, particularly reporting.

• Organize and facilitate consultations with the National Legal Working Group mandated to review the laws, as well as key stakeholders, including but not limited to the Ministry of Health, Health Insurance Fund, healthcare providers, WHO, UNFPA, civil society organizations, pediatricians, social workers and parent representatives to present the analysis, recommendations and legal amendments, and adjust amendments based on feedback received.

• Gather input on the practical and financial implications of introducing proposed amendments and develop policy brief outlining recommendations of additional analysis/changes to accompany proposed legal revisions.

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

Minimum requirements:

Academic background:  Advanced degree in Law. Exceptions can be made for professionals having an advanced degree in another field but with substantive professional experience with legal revisions.

• Minimum of 10 years of experience drafting legal documents in social sectors.

• Knowledge of North Macedonian legal, healthcare and social systems, including the Health Insurance Fund’s operations.

• Familiarity with international health and social policy frameworks (e.g., WHO, EU, UN)

• Strong stakeholder engagement and facilitation skills.

• Excellent analytical, writing, and communication skills in English and Macedonian.

• Prior experience working with the UN system and/or international development agencies is an asset

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others 

[add the 8^th competency (Nurtures, leads and manages people) for a supervisory role]. 

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

Remarks:  

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable candidates are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for consultancy with UNICEF are required to submit a letter signed by the Guvernement official confirming that the consultancy assignments do not coincide with their regular work in the Government and/or Government institutions. 

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.