Individual consultancy to Develop a National Plan for Triple Elimination of Vertical Transmission of HIV, Syphilis and Hepatitis B, Maputo, Mozambique (90 days in 4 months)

To provide technical support to the Ministry of Health’s National Programme for the Control of STIs, HIV/AIDS in developing the National Plan for the Triple Elimination of Vertical Transmission of HIV, Syphilis and Hepatitis B 2025-2029.

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Purpose of Activity/Assignment:  An international consultant to develop a National Plan for Triple Elimination of Vertical Transmission of HIV, Syphilis and Hepatitis B, 2025-2029.

 

Scope of Work:

–             To provide technical support to the Ministry of Health’s National Programme for the Control of STIs, HIV/AIDS in developing the National Plan for the Triple Elimination of Vertical Transmission of HIV, Syphilis and Hepatitis B 2025-2029.

 

Activities and Tasks:

 UNICEF supported the MOH to develop the current national PMTCT plan 2020-2024. The implementation of this plan has been supported by various stakeholders, including PEPFAR and the Global Fund.

In 2023, UNICEF also supported the mid-term review of the national plan.  The mid-term review recommendations are expected to guide the development of new national plan:

•            Align the plan with the WHO Framework for the implementation of triple Elimination to child transmission of the HIV, Syphilis and HBV

•            Align with the Global Alliance plan to end paediatric AIDS country plan

•            Align the new plan with all strategic orientation’s recommendations provided on the mid term review

 

In addition to that the new national plan should be closely linked with the Global Alliance to end AIDS in children and other relevant strategic initiatives implemented in Mozambique. Under the technical guidance of the Head of the National STI-HIV/AIDS Control Programme of the Ministry of Health (MISAU) and the Focal Point for Prevention of Vertical Transmission (PMTCT), the consultant will have overall responsibility for supporting the development of the National Plan for the Triple Elimination of Vertical Transmission of HIV, Syphilis and Hepatitis B 2025-2029, which is expected to be a pragmatic document with clear actionable interventions and integrated mechanisms to monitor and strengthen programme management in the area of PMTCT, with the corresponding costing and monitoring plan.

The National Plan for the Triple Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV, Syphilis and Hepatitis B, to be developed, should include strategic interventions at national, sub-national and community levels.

The consultant will use the findings and recommendations from the mid-term review conducted in 2023 and the national data pre-assessment, which is being undertaken prior to this consultancy.

Giving the availability of results and recommendations from the mid-term review the consultant will focus on the following activities:

–             Prepare initial draft plan: Work closely with MOH and in consultation with PMTCT technical working group to prepare the initial draft of the national plan articulating priority interventions based on gaps identified and contextual factors.

–             Facilitate the workshop:  Organize and facilitate a national workshop to gather input from broader stakeholders on the drafted national plan.

–             Prepare Final National plan: After 90 days of work prepare Portuguese version of final draft plan

–             Prepare final plan costing:  After 120 days of work prepare Portuguese version of final costed plan

 

     Among others, the consultant’s activities will include:

•            Developing an inception report and presenting a schedule of activities including intermediate products that should be discussed and agreed with the team coordinating the drafting of the Plan;

•            Facilitating working groups to gather relevant information on programme management.

•            Propose a structure for the content topics of the National Plan;

•            Draft the contents of the topics in the structure of the National Plan for the Triple Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV, Syphilis and Hepatitis B in accordance with the decisions taken by the National STI-HIV/AIDS Control Programme and ensure that the spelling, language, morphological, syntactic, and semantic aspects are in accordance with the grammatical norms of the Portuguese language (including layout);

 

Work Assignments Overview (referred to activities and tasks above)       

Inception report development

Deliverables/Outputs   

Inception report

Timeline            

5 working days

Work Assignments Overview (referred to activities and tasks above)       

Initial drafted plan in Portuguese

Deliverables/Outputs   

Initial drafted plan

Timeline            

30 working days

Payment schedule

30%

Work Assignments Overview (referred to activities and tasks above)       

National workshop

Deliverables/Outputs   

Workshop report received including PPT

Timeline            

15 working days

Payment schedule

20%

Work Assignments Overview (referred to activities and tasks above)       

Final drafted plan in Portuguese

Deliverables/Outputs   

Final drafted plan including layout

Timeline            

30 working days

Payment schedule

25%

Work Assignments Overview (referred to activities and tasks above)       

Final drafted costed plan

Deliverables/Outputs   

Final drafted plan with costing ready for submission

Timeline            

10 working days

Payment schedule

25%

 

CONSULTANTS WILL BE ASKED TO STIPULATE ALL-INCLUSIVE FEES, INCLUDING LUMP SUM TRAVEL AND SUBSISTENCE COSTS, AS APPLICABLE.

 

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in  

  Medicine or public health related discipline

  Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

  –             At least 5 years of relevant work experience in public health, with demonstrated experience / expertise to develop PMTCT national plans are strongly preferred.

  –             Experience /knowledge of African context or Mozambique health system and stakeholders is desirable.

  –             Specific knowledge, competencies, and skills required: Excellent communication skills.

  –             Excellent skills in developing and cultivating a network for learning.

  –             Strong skills on describing and formulating strategies and plans

  –             Language skills: To be able to communicate in Portuguese or Spanish. Fluent in written Portuguese is strongly preferred

 Annex 3 Develop a National Plan for Triple Elimination of Vertical Transmission of HIV, Syphilis and Hepatitis B, 2025-2029.pdf

 

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).  

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.