Home-based Consultancy: Big Catch-up Programme Management (240 working days; with travel as needed) – Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO)

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, dedication.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

The COVID-19 pandemic has marked a significant downturn in coverage, representing the most severe decline reported in three decades. Prior to this, there was a ten-year period of stagnation in global progress on immunization coverage. It is imperative that urgent and continuous action is taken to reach the children who have been missed.

As part of the Gavi Alliance, UNICEF has played a pivotal role in championing the Big Catch-Up (BCU) initiative, a worldwide effort launched in April 2023 to facilitate the recovery and enhancement of immunization systems. Reaching children who have missed routine immunizations necessitates aiding countries in recovering from the setbacks experienced since 2020. Additionally, countries require support to reestablish and resume essential services, such as routine immunizations, which have been disrupted by the pandemic. Sustaining the regained coverage of routine immunizations and essential services is crucial to resume progress towards achieving the goals and targets outlined in the IA2030 initiative.

UNICEF and partners are supporting Ministries of Health tailored, country-specific response to urgently reach children who missed vaccination during 2019-2022 and close the immunity gaps due to the accumulation of a susceptible cohort.
In December 2023, Gavi Board has approved fully financed doses for BCU; all antigens already in a country’s routine programme in the period 2019-22 can be supported and children up to 5 years of age are eligible.
Countries are at a different stage of planning and implementing BCU strategies; and one of critical elements for success is the availability of high-quality strategic plans and reliable management mechanism for its operationalization.
Partners have identified risks to the success of the BCU and proposed mitigation approaches to ensure implementation achieve countries’ catch-up targets. At the other end BCU activities should extend beyond short-term solutions; they offer a chance to integrate catch-up efforts as a continuous element of essential immunization delivery, leveraging a comprehensive system-wide approach.

UNICEF ECARO is recruiting a consultant to provide services to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in Big Catch-up planning and programme management including supporting quality assurance of data monitoring and reporting, documentation, and learning.

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the ECARO Immunization Coordinator.

Scope of Work

1. Big Catch-up policies, strategies, and implementation: The consultant will review countries’ Big catch-up policies, strategies, interventions, and monitoring reports and develop an implementation plan to address challenges and bottlenecks identified to ensure eligible children are identified and reached with required vaccines. The aim of the documents review and analysis is to ensure there is clear guidance on how to provide missed doses of vaccinations.
2. Development of knowledge management products: The consultant will develop documentation, case studies on strategies for BCU and efforts for continuously implementing catch-up vaccination as part of a whole system approach along the life course.

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks / Milestone	Deliverables / Outputs	Timeline / Deadline
Big Catch-up policies, strategies, and implementation: review countries’ Big catch-up policies, strategies, interventions, and monitoring reports and develop an implementation plan to address challenges and bottlenecks identified to ensure eligible children are identified and reached with required vaccines. Provide clear policy guidance to national health ministries and immunization partners on institutionalizing catch-up vaccinations.	Report of desk review for 2 countries’ BCU plans prepared. Analyzing approaches, challenges and bottlenecks for planning, identification and reporting on ZD/under immunized children conducted.	30 working days; By 30 October 2024
	Guidance on elements of planning, implementation, and monitoring that need refinement for the 2 assigned countries developed, including a regional approach to identify and reach zero dose children in Europe and Central Asia
	Develop a comprehensive framework that includes key performance indicators (KPIs), data collection methodologies, and reporting mechanisms. This framework will ensure accountability and enable continuous improvement in vaccination coverage under BCU.	20 working days; By 30 November 2024
	Develop policy briefs and guidance documents that outline recommended practices for integrating catch-up vaccinations into national immunization policies. These documents should align with global frameworks like the Immunization Agenda 2030 and include actionable steps for policy formulation and system strengthening.	20 working days; By 30 December 2024
	2 Interim reports of BCU implementation in the 2 assigned countries prepared.	20 working days; By 30 July 2025
	Final reports on BCU implementation in assigned the 2 countries	20 working days; By 30 November 2025
	The scheduled report to GAVI reviewed and presented.	No. of working days pending; By 30 November 2025
Development of knowledge management products: develop documentation, case studies on strategies for BCU and efforts for continuously implementing catch-up vaccination as part of a whole system approach along the life course.	Inception report and plan with countries on data and good practices developed	30 working days; By 28 February 2025
	Regular virtual meetings with structured agendas (e.g., monthly or bi-monthly) to bring together representatives from UNICEF, national health ministries, partner organizations, and other stakeholders involved in BCU implementation on implementation progress, challenges countries face, successes, lessons learned, and upcoming milestones. Facilitate the sharing of best practices, innovative approaches, and case studies from countries that have successfully implemented BCU strategies.	20 working days; By 15 December 2025
	Guidelines, training modules that cover best practices for implementation of BCU, recording and reporting catch-up doses, adapted to different healthcare settings and contexts. Include guidelines on integrating catch-up vaccinations into routine service delivery, utilizing tools like home-based records and electronic immunization registries.	30 working days; By 30 April 2025
	2 Field mission reports with findings of data collection, good practice and sustainability lense in 2 countries presented.	30 working days; By 30 September 2025
Final Consultancy Report.	Final comprehensive report on the assignment developed and presented.	20 working days; By 15 December 2025

Estimated Duration of the Contract

240 working days between September 2024 and December 2025.

Consultant’s Work Place and Official Travel

The Consultant will be remote/home-based.

As part of this assignment, some international travels are foreseen. The consultant will arrange her/his travel as and when they take place, and related costs will be reimbursed per UNICEF travel policy.

Travel Clause

• All UNICEF rules and regulations related to travel of Consultants apply.
• All travels shall be undertaken only upon the prior written approval by UNICEF.
• The consultant must be fit to travel, be in a possession of the valid UN BSAFE certificate, obligatory inoculation(s) and have a valid own travel/medical insurance and an immunization/vaccination card.

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy & Payment Schedule

Payment will be made on submission of an invoice and satisfactory completion of the above-mentioned deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

Please submit a professional fee (in USD) based on 240 working days to undertake this assignment, without travel fees as these will be reimbursed as and when they take place.

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

• Master’s degree in Medicine, Public Health, Health Policy and Management, Social or Behavioural Science, other related fields.
• At least eight (8) years of experience in international public health programme management.
• Proven experience in Immunization programme strategic planning, coordination, and monitoring, Immunization Programme reviews, microplanning, data analysis and report writing.
• Fluency in spoken and written English and Russian is a requirement.
• Experience interfacing with national ministries of health and immunization stakeholders considered an asset.
• Experience in planning and delivery of technical assistance.
• Effective presenter including ability to adapt the message and visual aids for multiple audiences to deliver concise, impactful presentations considered an asset.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a multi-cultural environment considered an asset.
• Proficiency in MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
• Similar experience in UN agency preferred. Conscientious and highly organized, with the ability to take the initiative and work independently under general guidance, meet tight deadlines, and deliver results.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most marginalized children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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.

Remarks:

Please include a full CV and a Cover Letter in your application. Additionally, indicate your availability and professional fee (in USD) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a professional fee will not be considered. 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.

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.