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Individual consultancy: Junior consultant to support UNICEF Mozambique in innovative communication and monitoring activities (RapidPro)

Maputo

  • Organization: UNICEF - United Nations Children’s Fund
  • Location: Maputo
  • Grade: Consultancy - International Consultant - Internationally recruited Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Communication and Public Information
    • Information Technology and Computer Science
    • Monitoring and Evaluation
    • Innovation
    • Knowledge Management
    • Innovations for Sustainable Development
  • Closing Date: Closed

A national consultant is needed to meet the increased demand from programmes and units for more in-depth and direct technical support in utilizing RapidPro and to increase the capacity of programme, partners and government counterparts in using the platform to ensure sustainable programming.

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVE.

 

Technology for Development (T4D) is considered as an approach that incorporates technologies into international development and/or human rights to support development outcomes. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can be used directly to benefit a disadvantaged population, or indirectly, to assist an organisation or government to improve socioeconomic conditions by providing them with more and better information.  The type of projects often employ low-cost, low-powered technologies (such as bidirectional SMS based softwares) which more likely to become sustainable in rural, underdeveloped contexts.

 

Associated with the growth of mobile phone users, SMS’s; Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems and even mobile applications are increasingly being considered and used by governments and development partners to better communicate with target audiences. There is already a wide range of use cases for SMS exchanges that have supported programmes by collecting timely, relevant information for decision making or social mobilization.

 

UNICEF Mozambique is in the process of launching several initiatives that collect data for monitoring, planning and decision making and that open communication channels with beneficiaries in order to trigger social mobilization towards targeted activities. These initiatives are mostly powered by RapidPro (https://community.rapidpro.io/), an open source platform that allows UNICEF to implement youth engagement programs like SMS BIZ/U-Report or education monitoring systems like EduTrac.

 

RapidPro has become the de facto UNICEF’s common platform for developing and sharing mobile services that can be adapted for different contexts and sectors. At present the following programmes and pilots are powered by RapidPro and require support, (even though additional ones can be added if required):

  1. Nutrition response to the drought emergency;
  2. In-service teacher training;
  3. Monitoring of reading activities;
  4. SMS BIZ / U-Report for adolescents and youth peer-counselling on Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV prevention;

 

In Mozambique, due to the volume of activities making use of this platform an increased amount of support during planning, launch and maintenance stages is required. To respond to this need, a national consultant is needed to meet the increased demand from programmes and units for more in-depth and direct technical support in utilizing RapidPro and to increase the capacity of programme, partners and government counterparts in using the platform to ensure sustainable programming.

 

 

METHODOLOGY AND TECHNICAL APPROACH.

 

For the present consultancy a collaborative, user centric, iterative methodology is to be adopted. In this regard the consultant is expected to approach the development of the current or any new tools in the following way:

  • Collaborative: Developing, maintaining or scaling up of any tool shall be done in close collaboration with the requesting programme to ensure it fully matches the needs and specific user requirements;
  • User centric: Communication tools developed in RapidPro will engage multiple, differentiated audiences and so the tools must have the end user characteristics and profiles in account when being developed;
  • Iterative: As these programmes are implemented a critical view to look for improvements is needed. Usually a communication tool is not finalized when deployed, permanent revision and updates in the search for improvements is necessary. Iteration is therefore key to the approach.

 

The technical approach to the assignment will start with an induction period which is expected to facilitate onboarding and speed up acquisition of specific knowledge related to the programmes and RapidPro technology. At the end of this stage, the consultant will be expected to design a workplan for the assignment duration and to be able to independently manage RapidPro applications.

 

Once the induction period is complete, the implementation and support stages start, which will correspond to the regular implementation of tasks and activities that support the programmes. This period will be monitored by periodic reports and the production of the consultancy outputs (see 3. Activities and tasks and 4. Deliverables and payments). The end of the consultancy will have handover activities and a final consultancy report.

 

 

ACTIVITIES AND TASKS.

 

The consultant will support the UNICEF Country Office team in strengthening the above RapidPro initiatives through the following tasks and activities:

  • Support RapidPro powered programmes and pilots, working closely with the Innovation specialist to ensure the good functioning of the communication platforms being used and to provide timely support to the implementing sections and partners;
  • Document RapidPro powered programmes and pilots, and generate regular progress report with data generated by the platform;
  • Support partners in preparing activities and providing helpdesk services (helpline support function)
  • Conduct monthly progress meeting;
  • Design, test and monitor call flows for each programme using RapidPro;
  • Monitor and track use of programme resources, specifically communication costs, SMS’s and Airtime transfers;
  • Identify strategies to promote participation of target audiences and increase reporting rates. This might include scheduling call flows, triggering call flows and / or other strategies that promote user engagement;
  • Provide advice to partners on training materials that contribute to enhanced user adoption and easiness of user onboarding;
  • Development of communication materials and documentation that supports programme implementation. These might include the preparation of media content for training sessions, user manuals, user support materials (tables; forms; etc).
  • Prepare and package basic data reports using the data collected. These might include exporting data into Excel formats; running descriptive analysis of data and preparing presentations or factsheets with findings;
  • Conduct field trips as required for monitoring or provision of support to partners purposes;
  • Facilitate training sessions to staff and partners about RapidPro and the programmes under implementation;
  • Participate in meetings, online calls or other events that directly relate to the tasks of the consultant;
  • Prepare or support in the preparation of a minimum one Human Interest story, blog post or other communication material for each of the programme activities being implemented;
  • Prepare monthly progress reports to inform the Innovation Specialist, implementing sections and partners on progress and bottlenecks experienced;

 

 

DELIVERABLES AND PAYMENTS.

 

Payments will be processed upon acceptance of the corresponding deliverable and against an invoice that will make reference to the contract reference and deliverable number. Payments will be approved by the respective section chief.

 

Deliverable 1:

Delivery timeframe: 30 days             

Deliverables/products: (a) Consultancy Workplan no longer than 10 pages, including a tentative calendar for activity implementation; (b) Progress report template: template of progress report is designed; (c) First monthly progress report: Maximum 4 pages, excluding annexes; (d) Monthly SMS Biz survey data analysis report; (d) DNFP training materials package for remote user onboarding;

 

Deliverable 2:

Delivery timeframe: 30 days (1 month after Deliverable 1 is submitted)

Deliverables/products: (a) Monthly progress report; (b) Log of requests and user support activities provided; (c) Draft interoperability table between existing digital health platforms (LMIS; ODK; CommCare; OpenMRS) and SISMA, including an action plan for RapidPro and DHIS2 integration; (d) RapidPro Capacity building session materials (Partners); (e) Monthly SMS Biz survey data analysis report.

 

Deliverable 3:

Delivery timeframe: 30 days (1 month after Deliverable 2 is submitted)

Deliverables/products: (a) Monthly progress report; (b) Log of requests and user support activities provided; (c) Blog post / Human interest story is produced about one of the programmes; (d) Monthly SMS Biz survey data analysis report

 

Deliverable 4:

Delivery timeframe: 30 days (1 month after Deliverable 3 is submitted)

Deliverables/products: (a) Monthly progress report; (b) Log of requests and user support activities provided; (c) RapidPro Capacity building session materials (UNICEF); (d) Monthly SMS Biz survey data analysis report.

 

Deliverable 5:

Delivery timeframe: 30 days (1 month after Deliverable 4 is submitted)

Deliverables/products: (a) Monthly progress report; (b) Log of requests and user support activities provided; (c) Design two competition games for SMS BIZ, looking at increasing registration and engagement of users; (d) Monthly SMS Biz survey data analysis report;

 

Deliverable 6:

Delivery timeframe: 30 days (1 month after Deliverable 5 is submitted)

Deliverables/products: (a) Log of requests and user support activities provided; (b) Blog post / Human interest story is produced about one of the programmes; (c) Monthly SMS Biz survey data analysis report; (d) Final consultancy report;

 

 

MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION.

 

The consultant will be based in UNICEF Mozambique premises, with access to a computer and wi-fi. The consultant will be supervised by the Innovation Specialist, in close collaboration with relevant Programme and ICT Unit staff.

 

 

QUALIFICATIONS AND SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE.

 

Academic qualifications. Bachelors’ degree or technical degree in computer science, engineering, statistics, applied mathematics or other related technical disciplines. First / technical / vocational degree and an additional 2 years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the higher university degree.

Work experience. Some relevant work experience in Information and Communication Technology; Technology for Development desirable. Work experience in real-time two-way SMS programmes. Experience with digital content sharing platforms, such as social media, Facebook, Wikipedia.

Specific knowledge, competencies, and desirable skills. Knowledge or experience working with SMS messaging platforms. Understanding of two way communications, logic flow development, interactive SMS content. Ability to understand visual analytics, to perform data confirmation, and report analysis. A creative self-starter with a flexible can-do attitude and capacity to work independently

Language skills. Fluency in English and Portuguese

 

 

EVALUATION CRITERIA.

 

The selection of the consultant will be based on a “best value for money” principle.  Interested candidates should, submit their CV, cover letter, a one page text in Portuguese and another in English describing specific motivation to work at UNICEF and reference letters from previous work experiences or professors / teachers. In addition to this, candidates must indicate their all-inclusive fees (including travel, subsistence costs, etc.) for the services to be provided.  The office shall select the individual who quoted the lowest fee from the list of individuals who are deemed technically suitable for achieving all tasks in time.  The technical evaluation criteria are stipulated below.

 

This vacancy is now closed.
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