Consultant to Strengthen Community Health Program in 4 provinces in Vanuatu (18 months)

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. 

We operate in the Pacific, specifically in the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. These 14 Pacific islands countries are home to 2.3 million people, including 1.2 million children and youth. They inhabit more than 660 islands and atolls that stretch across 17.2 million square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean. This area is comparable to the combined size of the United States of America and Canada. Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu are classified as Fragile States according to World Bank/OECD criteria. 

All 14 Pacific Island countries and territories have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, only a third are on track with reporting obligations. You can explore the different areas of our work at the link provided here: www.unicef.org/pacificislands . 

Background of Assignment:  

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines primary health care (PHC) as a “whole-of-society approach to health that aims at ensuring the highest possible level of health and well-being and their equitable distribution by focusing on people’s needs and as early as possible along the continuum from health promotion and disease prevention to treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care, and as close as feasible to people’s everyday environment”1. PHC entails of three interrelated and synergistic components:

• Evidence-informed multisectoral policy and action to systematically address the broader determinants of health
• Meeting people’s essential health needs throughout their lives through primary care and essential public health functions as central elements of integrated health services
• Empowering individuals, families and communities as health advocates, co-developers, caregivers and self-carers

Vanuatu is one of the countries that have renewed commitment on PHC in the 2018 Declaration of Astana to accelerate progress on universal health coverage (UHC) and the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This commitment is underscored in the Vanuatu 2030 People’s Plan which described the country’s development goal of a healthy population that enjoys a high quality of physical, mental, spiritual, and social well-being. One of the strategies to achieve this goal is ensuring the population of Vanuatu has equitable access to affordable, quality health care. The Vanuatu 2030 People’s Plan is complemented by the Vanuatu Health Sector Strategy 2021 – 2030 which is a guiding document for the development and improvement of the country’s health sector and describes the health sector’s approaches in the planning and implementation of health programmes at all levels including communities. Role of communities in the creation of health and well-being has been recognized by the Vanuatu Health Sector Strategy 2021 – 2030. The strategy highlights that empowerment and community engagement, ownership and leadership in health promotion, policy contribution and accountability at all levels, including for management of health facilities, are essential elements of the Vanuatu’s PHC.

Vanuatu is also at the forefront of the climate change crisis. Vanuatu faces immense challenges due to its vulnerability to climate change and natural disasters. The 2021 World Risk Index identified the country as the most at-risk nation globally for natural disasters. Vanuatu’s Revised and Enhanced first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC – 2021 to 2030) embodies the nation’s utmost ambitions regarding adaptation, mitigation, and addressing loss and damage, aligning with its commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The pivotal role of communities have been further emphasized in this strategic document through 20 mitigation commitments, 116 adaptation commitments, and 12 loss & damage commitments centered around community engagement, mobilization, and accountability.

While the Village Health Workers (VHWs) program of the Ministry of Health in Vanuatu has a potential to play a central role in realizing the vision of comprehensive community based PHC, so far the focus has been on delivery of curative health services at fixed aid posts with less emphasis on the engagement and linkages with various community actors and platforms for health promotion. Similarly, health committees established for each health area throughout Vanuatu form an important part of accountability mechanisms at community level, their functionality vary, particularly in empowering the most unprivileged and underserved members of the communities.

OBJECTIVE / SCOPE OF WORK 

This Consultancy is aimed at strengthening the community health program of the Ministry of Health as per the comprehensive community based PHC vision articulated in the national policy/strategy documents. Specifically, the consultant is expected to:

• Lead evidence-generation on the community health and nutrition landscape through community mapping, stakeholder analysis, and capacity assessment in selected urban and rural areas of 4 focus provinces (Malampa, Penama, Sanma and Shefa). This will include current situation analysis and identification of opportunities for strengthening community health and nutrition outcomes, with special attention to:

• Community outreach with preventive, promotive, and curative service
• Community empowerment to provide oversight for service delivery and to co-develop better health
• Interface between health service providers (including VHWs) and communities
• Representative participation of the communities

• Design and support implementation, monitoring and documentation of community health and nutrition pilot in 1 urban community and 1 rural community each in 4 provinces. The pilot design should include not only the intervention package but also clearly defined roles and responsibilities of stakeholders with their linkages/relationships and monitoring framework/tools with measurable indicators for performance tracking. The pilot interventions are expected to last for 6 months.

Please refer to the ToR ( Community Health Consultant – Vanuatu) for further information on the deliverables and the timelines. 

GUIDANCE FOR APPLICANTS:  

Please submit a separate financial offer along with your application. The financial proposal should be a lump sum amount for all the deliverables and should show a break down for the following:

• Monthly / Daily fees– based on the deliverables in the Terms of Reference above
• Travel (economy air ticket where applicable to take up assignment and field mission travel)
• Living allowance where travel is required
• Miscellaneous- to cover visa, health insurance (including medical evacuation for international consultants), communications, and other costs.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…  

 Education:   

• Certificate in nursing, health services, community development, or other relevant disciplines. Any equivalent combination of education and/or work experience may be considered.

Knowledge/Skills Required

• More than 5 years of professional work experience on community health and/or nutrition program management.
• Knowledge and understanding of the Vanuatu health system specifically village health workers program.
• Working experience with international organisations is an asset.
• Ability to work in a team, capacity to deliver within tight deadlines, good interpersonal skill and accountable to his/her action.

 Language:   

• English and Bislama

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. 

Remarks:

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic. 

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.  

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. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. 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.  

Individuals engaged under a consultancy 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. Consultants 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.  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process for this consultancy.