JOB DESCRIPTION
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, support
Digital technologies play an important role in facilitating timely availability and quality of information for better health care services provision. In Tanzania, digital transformation is increasingly making quality data more readily available. The country has prioritized this and is on a journey to robust health data systems and data use. Important advances are underway, but significant investments are required to realize the vision. The Digital Health Strategy in Tanzania was launched in 2019 to leverage digital technologies to improve healthcare delivery, access, and quality throughout the country. The strategy aims to strengthen health information systems, facilitate data-driven decision-making, and promote innovation in the health sector. The strategy stipulates five strategic areas 1) Strengthened digital health governance and leadership, 2) Improved client experience through efficient provision of high-quality health services, 3) Empowered health care providers and managers to take evidence-based actions, 4) Sustained availability of health resources, and 5) Standardized information exchange. It also has 10 key priorities: Strengthen digital health governance and leadership to facilitate better coordination and implementation of digital health initiatives; Improve efficiency, accessibility (including use of telehealth), patient safety, and quality and continuity of care through digitalization of health service delivery in a holistic manner; Improve health workforce competency and use of technology to provide specialized care to under – served facilities; Promote healthy behavior through access to relevant health information, education, and communication; Enhance seamless and secure information exchange; Improve data use for evidence-based actions at all levels of the health system; Improve supply chain management of health commodities at all levels of the health system; Improve management of human resources at all levels of the health system; Improve management of financial resources; Strengthen disease prevention, surveillance, detection, reporting, response, and control at all levels of the health system. UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) is a key partner to the Government of Tanzania in implementing its National Digital Health Strategy 2019-2024. Through close collaboration with both the Ministry of Health and the President’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government, UNICEF has supported several initiatives towards country digitalization, including the Tanzania immunisation registry (TIMR), the Mama na Mwana digital client feedback platform, DHIS-2 (District Health Information System version 2) bottleneck analysis app and improvement of electronic medical records for primary health care (GOTHOMIS).
How can you make a difference?
UNICEF Tanzania is seeking for a qualified individual consultant to plan and conduct the review of the implementation of the National Digital Health Strategy 2019-2024 in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health, PORALG (President s Office, Regional Administration and Local Government), UNICEF, and other key partners and stakeholders from community level to National level. As it is over four years into the strategy’s implementation, a comprehensive review to assess achievements and challenges is highly needed now to review progress, enable course correction and inform the development of a new Strategy. The result of such a review will be used by the Ministry of Health and partners to understand the progress of the implementation of the current Strategy. Also, will provide valuable insights to strengthen ongoing and future digital health initiatives, ultimately contributing to improved healthcare outcomes and better health services for the people of Tanzania. Key decisions anticipated from the results of the review will be lessons to inform the implementation of the current Strategy and the development of the next strategy.
Scope of Work:
The objective of the consultancy is to provide high-quality technical and scientific expertise in conducting the review of the implementation of the Digital Health Strategy 2019 – 2024 in Tanzania and aim to provide answer to the following questions: 1. What has been the learning (achievements, successes, failures) during the implementation of the country’s digital health strategy? 2. What has hindered the implementation of the strategy to date? 3. How has the strategy/country been able to adapt to challenges and new developments? The specific scope of work is to: a. Assess the progress made towards achieving the strategy’s stated goals and objectives, including identifying any areas where progress has been limited and the reasons for this b. Identify the key achievements, successes, and failures realised during the implementation period as per the monitoring and evaluation road map for the National Digital Health Strategy 2019–2024 implementation. c. Assess the effectiveness of the coordination and governance structures in place for implementing the strategy, and identify any areas where these structures could be improved d. Identify and analyze the key bottlenecks, challenges, and risks that have hindered the implementation of the strategy, and develop recommendations for addressing them e. Identify and analyze the lessons learned from the implementation of the strategy, as well as the best practices and opportunities to inform future digital health initiatives f. Provide recommendations for enhancing the strategy’s effectiveness in the remaining period, to strengthen ongoing and propose future digital health initiatives and inform development of future strategy g. Identify and analyze new developments in the context (policy, social economic changes, global issues/events with local implications, emerging standards, and tech etc) that should inform the next evolution of strategy.
Expected outputs/Deliverables.
| Work Assignments Overview | Deliverables/Outputs | Estimated Days | Estimated Budget |
| Inception phase:Develop an inception report for the assignment to include detailed activities, methodology, data collection tools and timeline, including proposed travels. | 1. Inception report and power point presentation | 5 days | 10.5% |
| Data collection and analysis: Site/field visits to selected regions/district Stakeholder consultations: policy makers, government officials, healthcare providers, digital health experts, private sector, academia, and civil society organisations, Administer questionnaire Collation and review of literature (desk review) Analysis of notes from stakeholder consultations and desk review | 2. Report and presentation from data collection and analysis, including: List of collated documents for desk review List of stakeholder consultations conducted Details of site visits and observations Results from analysis | 30 days | 62.5% |
| Report writing and validation of results:Development comprehensive report outlining the background, methodology, findings, conclusions and recommendations of the review, including an executive summaryPresent draft report to key stakeholders for validation and development of recommendation | 3. Draft report and presentation for validation.List of recommendations following validation meeting | 10 days | 20.8 |
| Final report and brief:Finalize report, incorporating revisions put forward during validation and including recommendations.Develop an executive summary of the report and a final power point presentation. | 4. Final reportExecutive Summary – Power point presentation of final reportDissemination of report | 3 days | 6.2% |
| TOTAL | 48 days | 100% |
PAYMENT SCHEDULE.
UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/output is incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines
ASSESSMENT / SELECTION PROCESS AND METHODS
Evaluations: The applicant should submit both technical and financial proposals which clearly stipulate how the work will be conducted. The Financial Proposal should include all costs of this assignment including fee, travel costs, accommodation as UNICEF will not pay any DSA.
Proposals will be both technically and financially evaluated. The technical part will carry a weight of 75%, in which the consultant will put clear his/her technical approach to ensure quality attainment of each deliverable and the consultancy in totality. The financial part will take 25% showing the proposed budget breakdown of consultancy cost for each deliverable (fees, travel and accommodation) and eventual total consultancy cost.
LOCATION, DURATION & LOGISTIC
The consultant will work remotely with scheduled travel to Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, and other regions in Tanzania mainland as appropriate. The validity of the contract will be for 48 days.
METHODOLOGY:
The review will adopt a mixed-method approach which may include the following components:
- Desk review: Conduct an extensive review of documents related to the strategy, implementation plans, progress reports, relevant literature, existing reports, progress documents, data sets, and other relevant sources to gather data on the strategy’s implementation.
- Stakeholder consultations: Engage with key stakeholders both public and private stakeholders and the digital health governance structures at different levels (community to National) through meetings, interviews, and focus group discussions (FGDs), including policy makers, government officials, healthcare providers, digital health experts, private sector, academia, and civil society organisations, to gather insights and perspectives on the strategy’s implementation based on available data. Surveys/questionnaires: to gather quantitative data on the implementation progress, digital interventions per the strategic areas and outcomes
- Site visit. To assess the utilisation and adoption rates of digital health strategy and digital health interventions. The selection of the sites will be done jointly with the Government (MoH (Ministry of Health) and PORALG) and UNICEF.
- Analysis and synthesis: Analyse the collected data, identify trends, patterns, gaps, and unmet needs, and synthesise the findings to draw meaningful conclusions and opportunities for a new Strategy. f) Data validation: Present findings to relevant stakeholders for validation purposes.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- Advanced degree in a relevant field, including Information Systems, Public Health, Health Policy, Health Systems, Primary Health Care, Quality of Care, Implementation Research
- A minimum of eight years’ experience in conducting and managing policies and strategies review for Health systems and services, including experience in digital-related activities.
- Familiarity with the Tanzanian healthcare system and digital health landscape.
- Experience in engaging with initiatives and networks on digital health related activities and working with national and subnational levels
- Experience in analysing healthcare policies and strategies would enable the person to assess the alignment of the digital health strategy with broader health sector goals and objectives in Tanzania
- Experience in stakeholder engagement and communication at both national and sub-national levels.
- Experience in qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis and report writing.
- Excellent interpersonal and facilitation skills to engage with high level policymakers in Tanzania
- Proven project management skills towards ensuring timely production of high-quality deliverables.
- Documented excellent written communication skills, including the ability to tailor messages depending on the intended audience.
- Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with international and national staff at all levels.
- Fluency in written and spoken English is required
- Proficiency in Swahili is an 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.
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.