National consultant (Myanmar) to provide technical support in vaccine and cold chain management for Japanese Encephalitis vaccination Campaign

Advert for Myanmar national consultant to provide technical support in vaccine and cold chain management for timely implementation of Japanese Encephalitis Vaccination campaign, UNICEF Yangon - Myanmar

 TOR -JE Vaccine and Cold Chain Consultant_ Advert.docx;  EOI_ Consultant Vaccine and Cold Chain for JE Campaign 230317.doc

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.

Purpose of the Assignment

Background

The Ministry of Health and Sports, Union Government of Myanmar has received funding support from Gavi to support the implementation of nationwide Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccination catch up campaign targeting nearly 14 million children aged 9 month to 14 years. The campaign will be supported mainly by the alliance partners – UNICEF and WHO – who have been designated to manage the financial resources on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Sports.

UNICEF has been requested to provide technical, financial and human resource support in the areas of: i) cold chain and vaccine management; ii) overall campaign logistics including distribution and transportation of supplies; iii) communication, social mobilisation and advocacy to increase the community understanding on the rationale of the campaign and increase demand and uptake of service during and after the JE campaign; and iv) reaching the unreached children mainly in the conflict affected, hard to reach, self-administrative regions and peri-urban particularly among the migrant workers and slum dwellers.

In order to facilitate planning and implementation of the campaign, UNICEF will be deploying additional human resources to provide technical support to UNICEF teams, WHO, CEPI, Procurement and Supply Division in DoPH aiming at strengthening vaccine and cold chain system management for the JE campaign including timely distribution of vaccines and all campaign supplies to the service delivery points. In addition, UNICEF will provide support in cold chain management, repair, maintenance and installations. These functions requires dedicated technical experts to provide ongoing support on regular basis.

Purpose of the consultancy

To provide technical support in ensuring that all UNICEF supported activities related to vaccine and cold chain systems management for the JE campaign are implemented according to agreed timelines.

Geographic Area: Nation-wide (the consultant will be based in Yangon with frequent travel to NayPyiTaw and other State/Regions)

Assignment Tasks and expected Deliverables

Tasks End Product/deliverables Deadline

1. Work with UNICEF EPI and CEPI to ensure that vaccines are available and cold chain systems are ready for implementation of JE campaign in close coordination and consultation with UNICEF Supply/Logistics Team.

End Product: A detailed plan of action of all UNICEF supported activities for JE campaign focusing on the following: a) vaccine, injection materials and all other related supplies management; ii) Cold Chain Strengthening; iii) Distribution schedule of vaccine of all supplies including IEC materials.

Deadline: 30th June 2017

2. Work with UNICEF EPI team to ensure that the detailed distribution plan for vaccines, injection materials, cold chain, IEC materials and other related supplies are finalized and submitted timely to UNICEF Supply/Logistics unit.

End Product: Detailed distribution plans of all JE campaign supplies finalized and discussed with the CEPI/DoPH.

Deadline: 15th August 2017

3. Support UNICEF EPI team in monitoring of cold chain strengthening initiative to ensure adequate storage space at all levels ready to accommodate JE vaccines.

End Product: Detailed report on cold chain preparedness for the campaign with proposed list of cold chain points in need of additional cold chain equipment.

Deadline: 15th September 2017

4. Support UNICEF EPI team in tracking all supplies for the campaign in coordination with UNICEF Supply & Logistics team and Department of Public Health (CEPI and Procurement and Supply Division) to ensure timely distributions as per agreed timelines.

End Product: Detailed Report on the status of distribution of vaccines, injection materials, IEC materials as well as the status of cold chain repair and installations.

Deadline: 30th October 2017

5. Participate in JE campaign monitoring (before, during and after the campaign) to monitor the use of vaccines and other campaign supplies.

End Product: First field monitoring report highlighting the status of JE supplies including remaining balances of vaccines and supplies after implementation of first phase of the campaign.

Deadline: 30th November 2017

End Product: Second field monitoring report on the implementation of second round of campaign with details on the remaining quantities of JE vaccine and injection materials.

Deadline: 31st January 2018

6. Facilitate documentation of lessons learned, best practices and challenges in vaccine and cold chain management in planning, implementation and monitoring of nationwide JE campaign.

End Product: Final consultancy report highlighting lessons learned, best practice and challenges accompanied with a CD/Flash disk with key important documents.

Deadline: 15th March 2018

Qualifications of Successful Candidate

Education

• Advanced University degree relevant to the following areas
Business Administration, Management, Economics, Public Administration, and Public Health, Medicine, Pharmacy etc.
• Additional training in Business Administration and Supply Chain Management an asset

Years of relevant experience

• A minimum of four (4) years of relevant experience of planning and implementation of public health intervention with some background in vaccine and cold chain systems and immunization campaign management preferably gained within the UN System.
• Demonstrated capacity to work with Government institutions.
• Prior experience within UNICEF/UN context a plus.
• Experience of supply chain systems in Myanmar.
• Very good analytical and computer skills.
• Excellent report writing skills.

Language Proficiency
Fluency in English and Myanmar (verbal and written) is required.

Other conditions:
a) The consultant will be based in Yangon with frequent travel to NayPyiTaw and other State/Region depending on the needs.
b) The payment will be deliverable based and it is expected that the consultant may also work from home for at least 30-40% of his/her time to ensure timely completion of deliverables as per agreed timelines.

Competencies of Successful Candidate

To view our competency framework, please click here. 

Interested candidates are required to complete the Expression of Interest Form circulated with the call for proposals, answering the technical questions included. The consultant will be identified by UNICEF based on a competitive selection process, taking into account the candidate's experience, the quality of the answers produced, and the lump-sum requested. If deemed opportune, UNICEF will require a telephone interview with shortlisted candidates.

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.