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. 

In the Pacific we work in Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu: These 14 Pacific island countries are home to 2.3 million people, including 1.2 million children and youth, living on more than 660 islands and atolls stretching across 17.2 million square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean, an area 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, but only a third are on track with reporting obligations. Explore the different areas of our work in the link provided here www.unicef.org/pacificislands.

Background

Despite the progress made in recent years, Kiribati still faces significant challenges in relation to child and maternal health and nutrition. Infant and under-five mortality rates are estimated at 48 and 38 per 1,000 live births (United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME), 2022). Poor maternal nutrition and health status may contribute to child morbidity and mortality. Data from recent health and nutrition surveys indicate Kiribati is facing high rates of child undernutrition and maternal overweight and obesity as well as widespread micronutrient deficiencies.

Health system gaps are an underlying cause of poor maternal and child health and nutrition indicators in Kiribati. In order to improve indicators, there must be greater attention paid to building primary health care (PHC) systems and improving the quality of service. Weaknesses in PHC systems range from governance and leadership to procurement and logistics, health workforce, information and financing. Poor quality hinders the effectiveness of essential PHC services such as immunization, newborn care, treatment of childhood illness, maternal health and nutrition services. Improving services requires system-wide quality improvements rather than disease-specific approaches. Weaknesses in the system are pronounced at the subnational level where accountabilities lie but where investments in resources, energies, and managerial capacities have not reflected the importance of this level.

Health system weaknesses have also resulted in low demand for PHC services with patients bypassing primary health care services for tertiary care resulting in overburdening of tertiary services and delays in seeking care. This has resulted in a concentration of healthcare expenditure and service delivery at the national level, which compromises health seeking and quality of care.

In this context, UNICEF Pacific is seeking a qualified and skilled consultant to strengthen sub-national health systems and provide technical assistance and guidance to the Subnational Health Management Teams in Kiribati.

How can you make a difference?

The consultant will employ three strategies to achieve improved PHC quality: 1) strengthen institutional capacity through improved sub-national health team leadership and management to translate policy to practice and address system bottlenecks; 2) strengthen community and health system accountability by actively engaging communities and local government in PHC; and 3) strengthen the availability and quality of MNCH and nutrition services. This approach is designed to improve sub-national health management team capacity, under the leadership of the District Principal Nursing Officers, to prioritize, plan, budget, and assess the quality of and supervise primary health services. To implement the strategies, the consultant will engage in accompaniment which entails shadowing key subnational health team staff offering advice, instilling confidence, and assisting with troubleshooting. It will include engaging in a process of reflection with the subnational health management team to foster a culture of understanding what works, repeating it and institutionalizing it. To instill accountability, the main point of contact will be the subnational Director of Health, however, to strengthen systems, the consultant will work with all subnational health team members to improve performance and subnational health outcomes.

Please refer to the TOR for further information on the deliverables and the timelines.

Candidates must include a separate financial offer along with their application and technical proposal. The financial proposal should be a lump sum amount for all the deliverables but should also provide a breakdown for the following:

• Monthly / Daily fees– based on the deliverables in the Terms of Reference
• Travel (economy air ticket where applicable to take up assignment if in-country support is required, as well as any in-country travel)
• Living allowance for international consultants who will need to relocate to Tarawa, Kiribati for the entire contract duration
• 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:

• Advanced degree in health economics, health system management, public health, health service planning and other related disciplines

Experience:

• 5-10 years’ experience working in low- or middle-income countries with an emphasis on health systems strengthening
• Minimum of 5 years hands on experience strengthening sub national health systems and shepherding change management, an advantage
• Experience working in an international development context, particularly Pacific Island Countries, an advantage

Skills:

• Basic computer skills, and ability to balance and reconcile figures and transcribe accurately
• Able to manage relationships with government ministries, district local governments, national and district partners, service providers, communities and other stakeholders
• Communicates clearly and concisely

Knowledge:

• Technical expertise in PHC and health system strengthening, particularly district health system strengthening (DHSS) approach
• Familiarity with health systems in Pacific Island Countries, particularly in Kiribati, is a strong asset

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/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.

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 for ensuring 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.