The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Job Description

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, Hope

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

Since 2006, vaccination coverage in São Tomé and Príncipe has been among the highest in the West and Central African region, reaching 99.8% coverage for BCG in 2011. However, from 2020, vaccination coverage has decreased to almost 80 percent, which has been associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this reality, the country was notified to enter the accelerated transition phase from 2018 onwards for the total self-financing of its vaccination program, considering its Gross National Income (GNI) per capita and in accordance with the Eligibility, Transition and Co-financing Policy of Gavi. This phase was scheduled to be completed in 2023 but was extended until 2026. In 2018, the UNICEF SD supported the Country Office in hiring an expert to review the Vaccines Forecast Plan and in training key health personnel in estimating the quantity of vaccines and financing needs for the period 2018- 2021, including the identification of existing vaccines and possible sources of financing and the budgetary financing gap. After this period, the country still faces the need to update this exercise and consider new possibilities for financing immunization. UNICEF provides immunization supply financing technical assistance to countries to address the underlying causes of insufficient budget allocation and low and/or delayed budget execution to improve a country’s long-term self-financing capacity. These activities consist of supporting the strengthening of countries’ capabilities in forecasting, budgeting, spending, and in using evidence-based advocacy to influence domestic/national budget allocations for immunization supplies procurement and timeliness of funds release during procurement execution. This technical assistance fulfils one of UNICEF’s objectives aiming to support the government in the transition plan by the capacity building of health personnel to forecast their vaccine needs. This activity has been included in the 2023 – 2024 TCA.

Scope of Work:

The consultant will be expected to implement the following activities:

• Map the Immunization Supplies Procurement Budgeting Process to identify challenges in forecasting, quantification and costing of procurement needs (as well as develop budgeting templates, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and methodology if necessary), and cash flow timing issues.

• Review, and as appropriate, support revision of the immunization supplies forecast and consequent funding needs for the multi-year procurement of supplies and other vaccine-related commodities, including identification of the existing and possible sources of funding and the budget funding gap.

• Develop recommendations and a roadmap with short, medium, and long-term actions to enhance the immunization supplies’ procurement budgeting process.

• Train the national EPI programme staff (and, as needed, relevant Ministry of Finance officials and the members of the Committee for Sustainable Financing for Primary Health Care, recently established under the Multisectoral Coordination Council – CCM) on vaccine forecasting, budget preparation, cash flow planning, budget execution process and monitoring of expenditures.

• Support advocacy efforts for leveraging sufficient budget to fund supplies procurement needs through development of key advocacy materials / messages. The above activities are conducted at the initial assessment stage. Based on the mapping / assessment outcomes (and as stipulated in the roadmap developed from mapping process), further, tailored support may be necessary. The details of such support are identified at the roadmap development stage, and may include, but are not limited to the following: support in tools / SoPs / methodologies development / revisions, and in capacity building activities.

How can you make a difference?

Work Assignments

Develop an inception report that contains the proposed methodology, report outline, workshop/ training plan, data and information needs, and a detailed work plan for the in – country mission.