UNICEF SIERRA LEONE INVITES APPLICATIONS FROM INTERESTED PERSONS FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF RAPIDSMS IN SIERRA LEONE

Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone Duration: 9 Months

 BackgroundThe MDG targets are unlikely to be achieved by 2015 unless interventions are delivered effectively at community level and scaled up through community systems and leadership. The major bottlenecks to the reduction of maternal and child mortality in Sierra Leone include a low awareness about the availability and importance of maternal and child health services leading to low demand and utilization. Weak referral systems in most districts leads to delays in identification, the provision of emergency obstetric care and other critical interventions across continuum of care. Major bottlenecks to deliver services at community level is the unavailability of adequate trained community health workers (CHW) who are well supervised, incentivized, supplied and linked to the district health management information system. In addition, supply chain and stock management at health facilities is weak leading to frequent stock outs of essential drugs and commodities.

Poor and vulnerable populations are also hindered from accessing and utilizing services due to long distances to health facilities and poor mechanisms for tracking pregnant women and children. Caring practices, crucial to growth, development and survival of the child, are rooted in cultural beliefs and practices as well as the level of education of the parent, especially of the mother

Strengthening community systems using mobile technology will result in increased involvement of recipients of health and social care, advocacy, health literacy, health monitoring and home and community based care.

Purpose and RationaleThe main purpose of the consultancy is to strengthen the referral system, monitoring, timely reporting and supply chain management for nutrition by introducing e/m-Health project. Sierra Leone proposes to use cell phone technology to improve service utilization by mothers and children across a continuum of care from pregnancy to infancy in the most disadvantaged areas by removing the identified bottlenecks starting with nutrition interventions. It is proposed to build on technology experiences from other countries (Rwanda, Malawi, and Zambia) such as UNICEF global e/m-Health module package starting with AntroWatch and RemindMe for nutrition to then later integrate with Results160 project Mwana to provide important reminders to pregnant women during the antenatal period, registration of birth, postnatal period and early childhood. Technology will be used to speed up the provided messages for exclusive breastfeeding and appropriate infant and young child feeding practices, immunization and reduce Turnaround Time of EID HIV Results. The technology should ensure integration with government’s DHIS so as not to run parallel systems. The technology will therefore be used to;

Support CHWs in remote underserved areas to register pregnant women, neonates and children, track, follow up and refer to health facilities when needed. The

CHW will also be supported to collect and report vital statistics at community level.

Strengthen reporting lines between CHWs and PHU and PHUs and DHMTs including alerts to trigger responses across continuum of care

Support health centre staff to monitor and report on stocks of supplies and essential commodities (to begin with nutrition supplies – RUTF)

Provide incentives and motivation for CHWs to improve performance and retention of their services to poor, hard to reach and under-served communities.

The consultancy will coordinate and launch e/m-Health initiative for Sierra Leone that, will work across continuum of Sierra Leone, and interact with relevant Government, UN, NGO and private sector partners. Specifically the Consultant will:

Develop a nutrition intervention concept for e/m-Health in Sierra Leone with clear monitoring framework

Provide technical oversight and coordination of e/m-Health initiative in Sierra Leone

Contribute to overall monitoring and evaluation framework of the UNICEF country programme

Develop a costed phased country wide scale-up plan

Key TasksThe consultant is expected to perform the following tasks:

1. To conduct assessment and produce recommendations to best introduce the e/m-Health a. Liaise with Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) directorate, Food and Nutrition

Programme, DPI, DHMT, UNICEF and other partners to identify a district where assessment can be conducted

b. Conduct a two months assessment: Study the reporting, recording and checklists of nutrition interventions and

surveillance that can be integrated and incorporated into the e/m-Health package

Identify challenges and risks in introduction those components of e/m-Health in such environment

Develop a draft/recommended e/m-Health concept note

2. To develop a concept for e/m-Health in Sierra Leone with clear monitoring framework:

Liaise with respective Food and Nutrition Programme and RCH officials to identify nutrition priorities for e/m-Health

In consultation with government partners and UNICEF identify and recruit a high qualified candidate for local developer

In collaboration with MoHS and consultation with UNICEF NYHQ Tech Innovation and Regional Office identify the pilot district and develop an implementation plan

Mapping of network coverage in target districts and hard to reach, underserved populations

Identify mobile providers and assess their capacity to accommodate e/m-Health

Identify existing mobile technologies in the health sector and assess possibilities of interoperability

Identify the relevant tools required for establishment of e/m-Health

3. To provide technical oversight and coordination of Sierra Leone e/m-Health initiative

Coordinate with programme colleagues, local and international developers to ensure that:

Technical components/modules are identified, customized and developed;

Partnerships are forged and maintained; Develop mechanisms for sustainability

Advise on negotiation with mobile phone providers, in consultation with UNICEF NYHQ Tech Innovation efforts in this area

Consult, coordinate and achieve buy in from open source mobile system of choice on technical and non-technical community during the duration of the pilot

Train and mentor a team of local e/m-Health technologist to serve as master trainers and supervise cascade training in the implementation districts

Provide ongoing documentation of implementation process including challenges encountered and lessons learned, and Government and partner involvement in provision of technical, financial, and other programmatic support.

4. To contribute to overall monitoring and evaluation framework of the UNICEF country programme

In collaboration with UNICEF and MoHS, select priority nutrition indicators for 1,000 days in-line with selected e/m-Health modules

Design a system/module for aggregating, analyzing and reporting on identified indicators

In collaboration with health and WASH incorporate Cholera information and response

In collaboration with other units in CSD exploit synergies and develop e/m-Health concept incorporating other components of Child Survival and Development (CSD) include alerts for disease surveillance, danger signs, etc.

5. To develop a costed phased country wide scale-up plan In consultation with UNICEF, the MoHS and partners develop a costed phased

scale-up plan for e/m-Health: Adapt training module and manual Supervise one batch of ToT for e/m-Health Develop end-user tool that can be relayed using Training of trainers

Provide ton going supportive supervision on quarter basis Prepare final report

Expected DeliverablesThe following are expected deliverables during the consultancy period:

a. Online documentation – in blog format of process and key findings

b. Monitoring and evaluation framework developedc. Support to UNICEF Sierra Leone for technology for development (T4D)

deploymentd. On-going and final documentation of implementation and scale up process,

including challenges encountered and lessons learned, and Government and partner involvement in provision of technical, financial, and other programmatic support.

e. Integrated, Deployed and hosted systems in UNICEF Sierra Leonef. Local developer hired and mentored through project deployment sustainability

measures planned and budgeted forg. End user focused tool and documentation that can be relayed using Training-of-

trainers h. Costed plan for scale up endorsed by UNICEF and appropriate partners

Qualifications sought for the contractor/consultantIt is required that the project coordinator has at least 5 years (equivalent of P3 level) of experience with demonstrated results in the majority of the following areas:

i. Innovative uses of mobiles for development, particularly in the areas of data and health.

ii. Identifying a baseline, and measuring improvements in coverage and uptake, geographic expansion, etc.

iii. Training experienceiv. Programme communication / Communication for Development experiencev. Background experience with the UN, especially UNICEF is desirable

It is required that the consultant has:vi. Demonstrated communication and relationship building skills

vii. Good oral and written presentation skillsviii. Experience in creating spaces and environments that are conducive to team

participation and effective coordinationix. Proven capacity to work with and lead collaborative teams across different

locations and with different technical skillsx. Experience in budgeting and coordinating large scale projects

xi. Clear upward communication and management skillsxii. Knowledge of Sierra Leone operational context and readiness to travel.

xiii. Fluency in English.

Working arrangementsThe consultant is expected to work in close collaboration with MoHS and partners in the introduction of RapidSMS in Sierra Leone including DPI and ICT unit in UNICEF Sierra Leone. The international consultant is expected to mentor, coach and build capacity of a national consultant both remotely and physically to fully implement the RapidSMS as outlined above in the tasks.

Closing Date: Tuesday, 4 June 2013.

Applications should be sent to: srlrecruitment@unicef.org . When sending to this mailbox, please ensure that “Application for The Introduction of RapidSMS in Sierra Leone” is quoted on the subject line.

UNICEF is a smoke-free environment.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 organization.

The Personal History Form (P11) in MS Word format can be downloaded from our website at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_53129.html. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.