Individual Consultancy: Support for the development, preparation, co-facilitation and conduct of the CEE/CIS Regional Health Network Meeting (20 working days between 1 March to 15 June 2017)

The Health & Nutrition Section of the Regional Office for CEE/CIS is seeking an individual consultant to support the development, preparation, co-facilitation and conduct of the CEE/CIS Regional Health Network Meeting in May 2017.

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 and Justification

The CEE/CIS Health and Nutrition team consists of 1 Regional Health Adviser, 1 Immunization Specialist in Geneva and 1 Health/Nutrition Specialist based in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The regional office covers a total of 21 countries and territories, most of which have the presence of a Specialist, primarily as National Officers.

Approximately every 18 months, a regional network meeting is organized with the purpose of knowledge sharing, exchange of technical development, demonstration of new/novel approaches to address sector needs and provide forum for colleagues to showcase country-specific developments with the potential to enhance south-south collaboration. The last network meeting was held in September, 2015 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Since that time, there have been a number of staff changes and critical technical developments along with revised and updated strategies. Key developments[1] include, but are not limited to;

• Completion of the Multi-country Health Evaluation as well as management response
• Completed and merged RKLA 67 (regional strategy)
• New global health strategy
• UNICEF global nutrition Strategy: Overview and its implementation and link to SDG agenda
• Completed MNCHN mapping exercise across the region
• New guidance on Health Systems Strengthening and QoC initiative
• Every Mother Every Newborn/ ENAP initiatives
• Non-communicable disease initiatives and UNICEF role in early prevention of risk factors
• UNICEF Immunization roadmap 2017-2030
• Graduating Gavi countries
• Procurement challenges
• Global IPV shortages and vaccine switch from tOPV to bOPV
• Continued vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks
• Novel and emerging diseases
• New partnership opportunities; Regional Nutrition Partnership Platform

The venue for the meeting is confirmed in Chisinau, Moldova, the week of 15 May, 2017. The small regional team while being fully capable to organize and conduct the meeting, are completely occupied with country support as well as statutory Q1 responsibilities, leaving insufficient time to adequately focus on the close consultation required with all country offices and headquarters, to adequately develop the requisite materials and prepare the materials and related content that will ensure the successful conduct of the meeting.

Scope of Work and Objectives.

The consultant is expected to consult closely with the RO team as well as the Moldova country office, with the former on the technical content and background materials development and the latter, primarily with the arrangements related to the preparation of the venue to meet the requirements of the participants.

The selected consultant is expected to support the;

• General preparation and organization of the meeting
• Coordination for formulation of the agenda and consolidation of the sessions' plans to guide the conduct of the meeting
• Development and preparation of a background list of materials for reference
• Organization of related ppt files
• Organization of note taking throughout the session, preparation of the final reoport of the meeting, including follow-up actions

Work relationships: The consultant will be under the direct supervision of the Health Adviser and in close consultation with the Immunization and Health & Nutrition Specialists

Outputs/Deliverables:  

There might be a possibility to perform a Moldova Country Office related task which will require 8 additional working days. This assignment is to be confirmed in due progress of the consultancy.

Payment Schedule

The consultant will be paid 50 per cent of the total amount at the end of April upon submission of the first deliverable, and the final payment at the conclusion of the contract, dependent on the satisfactory delivery of items 2 – 5 above.

Qualifications of Successful Candidate

• An Advanced degree in Public Health/Nutrition/planning/management or other relevant social sciences;
• Five to eight years of relevant experience, at the national and international levels, in results-based management, institutional monitoring and national statistical systems;
• Previous experience in developing monitoring frameworks and systems;
• Experience in working with UNICEF, other UN agencies, and other international partners a plus;
• Fluency in English. Knowledge of Russian or another language spoken in the region is highly desirable. Work experience in the region is an asset. 

Competencies of Successful Candidate

• Communicates effectively to varied audiences;
• Consistently achieves high-level results;
• Analyzes and integrates verbal and other data from a number of sources;
• Sets clearly defined objectives and plans activities for self, own team or department;
• Demonstrates, applies and shares expert technical knowledge across the organization;
• Translates strategic direction into plans and objectives;
• Has good leadership and supervisory skills; co-ordinates group activities, ensuring that roles within the team are clear;
• Excellent knowledge and expertise in the RKLA6/7 technical areas.

Administrative issues

Focal Points CEE/CIS: Regional Health Adviser & Immunization Specialist, Geneva & Health/Nutrition specialist, Almaty, Kazakhstan.

It is anticipated that the consultant will meet with the core team in Geneva for a face-to-face consultation, preferably during the March Team Work Week (TWW) or immediately thereafter. The consultant is also expected to be physically present in Moldova, at least a couple of days prior to the start of the meeting to assist with final preparations.

Conditions

Travel to Geneva and to Moldova will be necessary.

Estimated Cost of Consultancy: Estimated cost of consultancy is 20 working days. The Consultant shall indicate the total amount with daily fees. Travel and accommodation expenses for the planned travels shall not be included in the financial offer, but will be reimbursed by UNICEF additionally 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 selected will be governed by and subject to UNICEF's "General Terms and Conditions for individual contracts."

[1] Note that the range of documents for reference also includes all materials made available under the nutrition umbrella as well as immunization and where necessary, early childhood development (ECD)

Please indicate your ability, availability and daily rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above.  Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

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.