Job Description
2025-02-10 TOR_MM assessment IMCI PB impelementation National Consultant_for posting.docx
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.
Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.
And we never give up.
For every child, health
The health sector plays a crucial role during early years as it is uniquely positioned to provide support to children and their families with early and universal services and acts as a gateway for multisectoral coordination and integration. Both WHO and UNICEF have been supporting the primary health system strengthening and the provision of accessible and quality health care for child health and development. UNICEF has been particularly involved in strengthening quality home visiting (HV) services for young children and their families, provided as part of the primary health care.
The rationale for investing in HV came from the notion that the health sector in the Europe and Central Asia region had the strongest connection to young families through universal access to patronage nursing services, present in majority (80%) of countries. However, traditional approaches to HV offered a limited range of services and focused mostly on child’s (physical) health. Thus, the HV reforms brought opportunities to provide support for child development and well-being more broadly and to offer specialized support to the most vulnerable families to reduce health inequalities. This upgraded package of HV services has been modelled by UNICEF in many countries in the region under the label “Universal Progressive Home-Visiting” (UPHV) – where the universal services are available to all families for universal primary prevention, while progressive services are provided to a limited number of families based on assessment of risk and identified need.
UNICEF works with governments to integrate UPHV into existing primary health service delivery systems, advance capacity of home visitors, ensure adequate financial and human resources, supply the inputs and commodities needed for service provision, and develop effective monitoring and evaluation systems to track results and adjust as needed. The multi-country formative evaluation of UPHV in 2019 found that UNICEF -supported UPHV initiative is “one of the most pioneering efforts” in the region’s health sector: “For the first time, the science behind early childhood in all its complexity has been incorporated into health care.” Overall, the evaluation concluded that the HV model design is adequate, evidence-based, and able to deliver expected results with good prospects for UPHV to be sustainable and scalable in many countries.
Within the last five years, countries have tried to address the evaluation recommendations, and the time has come to map the current implementation status and common bottlenecks to ensure adequate access and quality and provide the most optimal and efficient guidance and support from UNICEF. Turkmenistan made considerable efforts to improve infrastructure at the central level, but strengthening PHC remains an urgent priority. Home visiting (HV) is integral to the PHC system, providing universal access to health services. However, the quality of services provided for outpatient and inpatient care is inadequate, and not all standards of health service provision are up to date. Child mortality remains the highest in the ECA region, with 40 per 1,000 live births and infant mortality being a major contributor with 34 per 1,000 live births. The neonatal mortality rate is 20 per 1,000 live births (MICS -2024). The country’s SDG targets to be achieved by 2030 are 12 and 25 per 1,000 live births for neonatal and under-five mortality, accordingly. Data on quality of care immediately after birth shows that most newborns receive basic care upon birth. At the same time, survival indicators suggest some challenges with the quality and extent of timely newborn care.
The introduction of evidence-based interventions for managing childhood illnesses, such as Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) and PHC Pocketbook, is a key intervention for a holistic approach to reducing childhood mortality and morbidity through interventions that target the most common deaths in children under 5 years. Evidence suggests that IMCI was significantly associated with a 15% reduction in child mortality when activities were implemented in health facilities and communities. The Pocketbook is for doctors, nurses, and other health workers responsible for caring for children and adolescents at the primary healthcare level. It summarizes guidance on how to manage – and when to refer – children and adolescents presenting with common complaints and conditions. The Pocket Book covers preventive and promotive measures from the newborn period to adolescence, including advice on the timing and content of well-child visits, the promotion of early childhood development, vaccination, nutritional counseling, HIV, supporting mental health and well-being, and health messages for adolescents. The Pocket Book summarizes information from existing WHO and other evidence-based guidelines.
How can you make a difference?
Purpose of Assignment:
- To provide support in conducting PHC assessment. The assessment exercise aims to take stock of the status of universal progressive home visiting services nationwide. The evaluation based on a maturity model should provide information on the state of UPHV policies, organization, scope, coverage, staffing, financing, reporting, and monitoring and identify the specific country level and common bottlenecks that impede expansion and access to quality home visiting programs. The assessment findings will be used to identify priority areas that need to be addressed in Turkmenistan and through the technical assistance and support of the Country and Regional Office.
- To support the Ministry of Health, its IMCI/PB working group, and the UNICEF International Consultant in the IMCI/PB approaches implementation activities and overall coordination of IMCI implementation.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- A higher education degree in medicine, preferably with a specialization in pediatrics, along with prior training in Integrated Management of Childhood Illness, would be beneficial. Alternatively, a medical doctor with at least five years of experience in pediatrics would be suitable (20pts).
- Previous experience in revision, updating, or development of policies, manuals, and or guidelines previously (20 pts);
- Minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in one of the above areas with IMCI focus, in particular (10pts);
- Demonstrated experience in the Europe and Central Asia region as a strong asset (10 pts)
For every Child, you demonstrate…
UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).
To view our competency framework, please visit here.
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.
According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. In its Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2022-2030, UNICEF has committed to increase the number of employees with disabilities by 2030. At UNICEF, we provide reasonable accommodation for work-related support requirements of candidates and employees with disabilities. Also, UNICEF has launched a Global Accessibility Helpdesk to strengthen physical and digital accessibility. If you are an applicant with a disability who needs digital accessibility support in completing the online application, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF.
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:
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.
The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.