Mapping digital health interventions for learning and performance management functionality integration, Kampala, CSD, 6 months (National Consultancy)

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

How can you make a difference? 

Background and Purpose

Globally, 1.5 million lives are lost to vaccine-preventable diseases annually, and 25 million children remain under-immunized. In Gavi-supported countries in 2021, 12.5 million “zero-dose” children lacked any vaccination, highlighting a critical gap. Simultaneously, a growing health workforce shortage and persistent concerns about working conditions are creating a crisis in human resources for health. Health systems heavily rely on skilled health workers to perform vital functions. Extensive literature underscores the link between health worker availability and the quality of care and population health outcomes. However, many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face severe shortages and an uneven distribution of skilled health workers, impacting the delivery of essential health services, especially in light of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

In Uganda, DPT1 coverage initially improved during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching 97 percent in 2021. However, this progress reversed in 2022, signaling an increase in zero-dose children. DPT3 coverage also decreased to 89 percent in 2022. Despite reported declines in maternal and newborn mortality, as per the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS), these improvements are insufficient and are occurring at a slower pace, hindering the achievement of SDGs by 2030, particularly in the context of rising teenage pregnancies and inadequate stock management practices in health facilities.

 

The availability of human resources for health is crucial for delivering quality health services. While efforts are underway to address health workforce shortages, it is imperative to focus on enhancing the performance of the existing workforce. Traditional in-service training and routine supervision, in a lecture-style format, have not yielded the anticipated improvements in health worker performance and care quality. Consequently, exploring new and innovative approaches under the umbrella of learning and performance management is warranted.

 

In Uganda, challenges to regular training for frontline health workers include the high cost of manual training processes and a lack of resources (both infrastructure and human power). Compounding the issue is the already limited staff availability, making in-person training disruptive to service delivery. New local staffing norms have recently been approved to enhance the quantity of health workers in alignment with population needs. However, challenges lie in attracting health workers to fill these positions and securing the necessary fiscal resources to accommodate the increased staff. Utilizing digital channels such as SMS and app-based platforms can help mitigate these challenges.

Recognizing the need for enhanced system capacity, the Uganda Ministry of Health has recently established the Department of Institutional Capacity and Human Resources for Health Development, appointing a Commissioner to lead it. This marks an institutional shift towards strengthening health system performance.

UNICEF Uganda, with technical support from UNICEF NYHQ and UNICEF ESAR office supported the Ministry of Health, to identify Learning Performance and Management (LPM) strategies aimed at improving and maintaining health worker performance at the highest quality through supporting the adherence to national guidelines so as to achieve programmatic objectives.

As the Immunisation programme will be the entry point for Uganda, UNICEF NYHQ and ESAR supported UCO to engaged UNEPI to identify priority LPM solutions aligned with GAVI priority investments as well as the Ministry of Health’s Digital Health strategy.

Purpose of the Assignment and Scope:

The purpose of this assignment is to engage a consultant in conducting a comprehensive landscape assessment of digital tools currently in use within the healthcare system in Uganda. This assessment will inform the integration of learning and performance management in those tools and provide details of which cadres are using digital tools, if any, and which cadres will require development of new tools

Justification

Implementing LPM strategies will address critical gaps and strategically align with recent efforts to fortify Uganda’s health system. By conducting this landscape assessment, UCO aims to identify existing digital tools that can be optimized to address critical challenges in immunization coverage and health worker shortages. The consultancy aligns strategically with the establishment of the Department of Institutional Capacity and Human Resources for Health Development, and overall Ministry of Health priorities including those in contained in the National Health Information and Digital Health Strategic Plan 2021-2025. The Department of Institutional Capacity and Human Resource for Health Development is in the process of developing an eLearning platform. This assessment will also inform this development process through a better understanding of the existing tools and gaps and contribute to strengthening the design of the platform.

In response to the inadequacies of traditional training methods, this consultancy focuses on innovative approaches to ensure health workers are continually upskilled and reskilled. By providing a data-driven foundation for decision-making, this landscape assessment will map existing tools, understand their functionalities, and evaluate their coverage. This information will guide evidence-based recommendations for the integration of learning and performance management features.

Objectives

The objectives of the assignment will include:

Evaluate Existing Digital Tools:

In collaboration with Ministry of Health departments (UNEPI, MCH, Human resource, DHI) to gather the required information.

• The consultant will systematically review and analyze the digital tools employed in Uganda’s healthcare sector.

• Identify tools already utilized for learning and performance management among health workers.

• Assess the extent of coverage, specifically focusing on which health workers and subjects/interventions are addressed by these tools.

Assess Development Potential:

• Based on the landscape assessment, ascertain which of the existing digital tools are conducive to further integration of functionality to delivery learning and performance management strategies.

• Evaluate the adaptability and scalability of existing tools to leverage their functionality in supporting ongoing training and performance evaluation initiatives.

Mapping Digital Tools and Health Workers:

• Develop a comprehensive map illustrating the correlation between existing digital tools and the health workers they reach.

• Identify any gaps in coverage to determine which health workers remain unreached by current digital tools.

• Formulate recommendations for the development of new tools targeted at reaching these unreached health workers.

Recommendations for Improvement:

• Provide strategic recommendations for optimizing the use of digital tools in the context of learning and performance management.

• Propose enhancements or modifications to existing tools to maximize their impact on health worker training and performance improvement.

Align with Institutional Initiatives:

• Coordinate efforts with UNICEF’s Learning Performance Management (LPM) initiative, utilizing the Uganda National Expanded Programme on Immunization as a focal entry point.

Major Tasks

1. Develop an inception Report detailing understanding of the assignment and plan of execution
2. Evaluate existing use of digital tools for integration of learning and performance management
3. Disseminate & validate the digital tools evaluation report

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

1. Education:

1. A master’s degree with at least 5 years of work experience in the following domains

• Healthcare/ hospital project management
• Digital transformation project management
• Consulting experience with government agencies
• Capacity Building

2. Worked in data analysis and generated data-driven insights.
3. Experienced stringent reporting demands and can write professional project plans and reports.
4. Has experience working with both Government and international NGOs.
5. Engaged diverse stakeholders among public and private sectors as well as development agencies.
6. Excellent written and verbal communication in English

Competencies:

Communication: expresses opinions, speaks clearly, has a sense of diplomacy while interacting with external stakeholders.

Drive for results: passionate about action and helping to get things moving.

Team Spirit: enjoys working as part of a group with members of different backgrounds.

Learning and Researching: rapidly learns new tasks and demonstrates an understanding of newly acquired information.

Independence: can take initiatives and work with limited supervision to deliver results.

Coping with pressure maintains a positive outlook at work and works productively in a pressurized environment and in a crisis while keeping emotions under control.

Language:

English

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 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/individual contractors 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. 

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.