Consultancy: Mapping procurement process and barriers in availability of key HIV products in EECA countries, PSC, Supply Division, Cph

UNICEF is recruiting a Consultant to map procurement process and barriers in availability of key HIV products in three EECA countries (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), and support in addressing the selected challenges

Consultant to map procurement process and barriers in availability of key HIV products in three EECA countries (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), and support in addressing the selected challenges

Duration: 4 months

Location: Home based, with the expected to travel to Nursultan/Almaty, Dushanbe and Tashkent for the extended period of time 

Start Date: August 2019

Reporting to: UNICEF 

BACKGROUND: Transition Preparedness Assessments for the Global Fund-funded interventions (TRAs) in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) have consistently identified Health Products Management (HPM) as a key transition risk, particularly as most countries are on the path of gradually taking over Global Fund-funded procurements. More often than not, the experience of shifting to domestic-funded and/or managed procurement of medicines or diagnostic technologies resulted in significant challenges from weak capacity to forecast country demand to barriers in the national procurement process or accessing international platforms or suppliers. Supporting countries to overcome these challenges and, thereby, ensuring continuous access to quality affordable health products is a core priority in EECA.

UNICEF is therefore seeking a consultant to support selected countries from EECA (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) in their efforts to address the Procurement and Supply Management of Health Products (PSM) challenges related to ARVs.

SCOPE OF WORK AND TASKS: The scope of this consultancy is map procurement process and barriers in availability of key HIV products in three EECA countries (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) and address selected technical barriers, e.g. working with specifications development, support the procurement process by supporting the establishment of relationships with suppliers, assessing the potential for the pooled demand.

DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT: Under the joint supervision of UNICEF RO, CO and SD, the consultant will conduct the following:

• Conduct mapping of procurement processes as related to key HIV products (ARVs), identify gaps and barriers in efficient procurement with regards to sourcing, pricing, international property rights, specification product lists, treatment protocols etc., potential for the pooled demand, capacity constraints and gaps to be included in the Capacity Development (CD) plan; an indicative checklist is provided below:

• Provide recommendations on how to strengthen the current procurement of ARVs commodities. The recommendations should cover the present state and be also linked to the future ideal state of the health procurement systems, thus, the CD plan should have all these elements;
• Ensure the assessment results and the capacity development plan are agreed upon with key stakeholders. For this it is recommended that a validation exercise involving key stakeholders is included in the process. Thus, a meeting with stakeholders to present the results, discuss and agree on the capacity development plan should be conducted.
• Draft an outline of the final report;
• Develop a final consultancy report with a detailed budgeted and timed capacity development plan with actions to address the identified gaps and, therefore, help building a resilient and sustainable health procurement system for ARVs. Thus, the CD plan together with relevant adds-on to sections and chapters need to be added to the report.

KEY DELIVERABLES:

• Document the conducted mapping / assessment including the barriers and recommendations; the mapping / assessment should clearly state (visualize) how the procurement process currently looks like and how it should look like
• Organization and conduction of a meeting with stakeholders to present the results of the assessment and recommendations, discuss and agree on the CD plan with actions
• Provision of the outline of the final report
• The final consultancy report in English and Russian (based on the in-country work and results of the above meeting with stakeholders) which should include:
  • the assessment results based on the country context, highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the system, their relative importance, the major risks identified and their likely consequences for the efficiency of the procurement system;
  • the recommendations on what elements need to be built into the procurement system to ensure its efficiency and effectiveness. The analysis should cover the present state and the recommendations should be also linked to the future ideal state of the procurement system;
  • A detailed budgeted and timed CD plan with actions, including capacity building, should be an integral part of the report.
  • Monitoring the progress of system improvements in accordance with the proposed plan.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

Education: Master Degree in Business, Public Health, Development, Procurement and Supply Chain Management and / or in another relevant discipline for health procurement and supply management.

Work Experience: Minimum seven years of professional relevant work experience in health/ARVs procurement systems analysis and assessment, setting up solutions for health procurement systems restructuring, reforms, and/or system improvements. Knowledge of and experience of the Central Asia region (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan) is an asset. 

Competencies: The successful candidate is expected to demonstrate the following competencies that are considered to be necessary to this consultancy:

Core Competencies

• Excellent communicator of verbal and written concepts to a government and international audience.
• Able to quickly understand instructions, to proactively seek clarification when needed.
• Able to work well in a team environment.

Functional Competencies

• Works independently and problem-solving oriented.
• Works in a multi-cultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships.
• Demonstrated communication and relationship-building skills.
• Proven capacity to work with and lead collaborative teams across different locations and with different technical skills.

UNICEF CORE VALUES

Diversity and Inclusion Treats all people with dignity and respect; shows respect and sensitivity towards gender, cultural and religious differences; challenges prejudice, biases and intolerance in the workplace; encourages diversity wherever possible.

Integrity Maintains high ethical standards; takes clear ethical stands; keeps promises; immediately addresses untrustworthy or dishonest behaviour; resists pressure in decision-making from internal and external sources; does not abuse power or authority.

Commitment Demonstrates commitment to UNICEF's mission and to the wider UN system; demonstrates the values of UNICEF in daily activities and behaviours; seeks out new challenges, assignments and responsibilities; promotes UNICEF's cause.

Language: Fluency in written and spoken English and Russian is required.

EVALUATION PROCESS:

Qualified candidates are requested to submit:

1. Cover letter/application that must also briefly describe the understanding of the objectives of the consultancy and the approach to deliver the expected results.
2. Financial quote for the consultancy which must include: the total consultancy fee (broken down into daily rate in US Dollars and number of consultancy days), travel costs (with details of the economy class ticket price) and administrative fees (if applicable, broken down into the separate categories of costs like internet, phone, etc.).
3. CV and P11.
4. Examples of previous, relevant work.
5. References.
6. P 11 form (which can be downloaded from our website at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_53129.html).

The applications should be submitted online through the UNICEF website. Queries can be directed to akrukar@unicef.org with subject line 'Consultancies'. Applications must be received by 22 July 2019. Please indicate your availability and daily rate to undertake the terms of reference above.  Applications submitted without a daily rate will not be considered. 

Travel costs and DSA will be covered in accordance with UN rules and regulations. No other remunerations apply. UNICEF considers best value for money as a criteria for evaluating potential candidates. As a general principle, the fees payable to a consultant or individual contractor follow the best value for money principle, i.e., achieving the desired outcome at the lowest possible fee.

Successful applicants will be invited to a telephone interview and will be evaluated by the following criteria: