Consultancy for In-depth analysis of Pediatric HIV case identification through Family Centred Approach Initiative in Mbeya Region
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Job no: 564976
Contract type: Consultant
Duty Station: Dar-es-Salaam
Level: Consultancy
Location: United Republic of Tanzania
Categories: HIV/AIDS
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
HIV epidemic control, including among children, remains a priority for the Government of Tanzania. UNICEF’s work is focusing on supporting the government achieve HIV prevention and treatment goals for children, adolescents, and women. However, whilst services to prevent vertical transmission of HIV and those aimed at providing care and treatment for children have been successfully scaled-up, many children remain unreached and undiagnosed, reflecting shortcomings in the continuum of care. Through this consultancy, UNICEF expects that systemic bottlenecks will be identified, defined and recommendations to improve early HIV detection and care among children are produced.
How can you make a difference?
To conduct an In-depth Analysis of the paediatric HIV cases identified during implementation of the Family Centred Approach (FCA) initiative in Mbeya DC and Rungwe DC in Mbeya Region. The main aim of this exercise is to identify systemic and household bottlenecks and factors related to delayed HIV case detection among children living with HIV in the two project districts.
Scope of Work:
To reduce treatment gap among children, the Ministry of Health has developed an Acceleration Plan on Pediatric Case Identification that outlines priority interventions to locate and link children and Adolescents living with HIV. In contributing to advance these efforts, UNICEF Tanzania in collaboration with National Council of People living with HIV and AIDS (NACOPHA) and the Ministry of Health designed a community-based model termed Family Centered Approach (FCA). The FCA was implemented in two districts of Mbeya Region (10 wards in Mbeya DC and 10 wards in Rungwe DC) as a proof of concept that aimed to enhance pediatric case identification especially for the hard-to-reach communities and families. Implementation of the FCA consisted of various activities, salient ones being capacity building of district and facility managers, health workers, and HIV treatment advocates (TAs); and establishing a community-facility referral and linkage mechanism. TAs delivered a holistic package of services for children, including community awareness on HIV and pediatric HIV case identification and linkage; wellness checks (immunization status, Vitamin A supplementation and deworming); nutrition screening and growth monitoring; and COVID-19 awareness, through house-to-house visits. TAs also provided peer support to caregivers of CLHIV as well as supporting their retention in care and strengthening PLHIV community platforms.
These interventions were interrelated and led to various achievements, key among them being more than 866 eligible children were reached, and their parents/caregivers consented for HIV testing, among whom 121 tested positive for HIV (Mbeya DC-95, Rungwe DC-26) representing a positivity rate of 14 percent which was much higher than most other testing modalities at the time. All children identified through this platform were linked to and subsequently initiated on HIV care and treatment services.
The FCA’s success in identifying 121 previously undiagnosed CLHIV and linking them to care offers the opportunity to better understand the gaps and bottlenecks to HIV case identification and treatment in these two high burden districts of Mbeya region. UNICEF is therefore seeking the services of an individual consultant to undertake an in-depth analysis of children identified during implementation of the FCA to identify key bottlenecks at individual, household, community, social and health system related to delayed HIV case detection among children. The findings will be useful to inform the design of innovative strategies that will enhance systematic early identification of CLHIV and foster linkage to treatment among children living with HIV.
Specific objectives:
i. To document characteristics of CLHIV identified through the FCA programme
ii. To identify health system and household factors related to early or delayed HIV case identification among CLHIV
iii. To explore critical pathways in the FCA model that contributed to identifying previously undiagnosed CLHIV
iv. Propose key recommendations to inform programming
Expected outputs/deliverables:
i. Cleaned and analyzed data set on the newly diagnosed CLHIV
ii. Research report on bottlenecks pertaining to early HIV case identification among children
iii. Documentation of elements of FCA programme that contributed to HIV case identification including case studies, human interest stories and photos where possible
v. Recommendations for improving pediatric case identification related to health system, individual, household, and socioeconomic factors
vi. Recommendations to strengthen and scale the FCA programme
Tasks to be completed by consultant:
i. Undertake desk review relevant for the assignment. (Additional details on FCA implementation will be provided)
ii. Develop an inception report with detailed plan of action outlining detailed approaches and timelines for the assignment
iii. Develop and produce a full study protocol with data collection tools to obtain ethical approval from recommended Institutional Review Board (IRB)
iv. Facilitate ethical approval for the study from a relevant Institutional Review Board
v. Lead data collection and community engagement in the field
vi. Adhere to data confidentiality throughout the process
vii. Undertake robust data analysis using acceptable quantitative and qualitative analytical methods as may be appropriate
viii. Develop and produce draft narrative report of the in-depth analysis containing key findings from the field, including selected human-interest stories, specific case studies describing how and where the gaps are.
ix. Produce final consultancy report with final versions of the narrative report, human interest stories, case studies and power point slides.
WORK ASSIGNMNET DELIVERABLES
TIME FRAME
PAYMENT IN
%
Develop an inception report with detailed plan of action outlining detailed approaches and timelines for the assignment 1. Inception Report
20th Sept 2023
20%
Develop and produce a full study protocol with data collection tools to obtain ethical approval from recommended Institutional Review Board (IRB) 2. Study protocol & IRB approval certificate 30th Nov 2023 30%
Develop and produce draft narrative report of the in-depth analysis containing key findings from the field, including selected human-interest stories, specific case studies describing how and where the gaps are. 3. Draft report, selected human interest stories, case studies 30th Mar 2024 30%
Produce final consultancy report with final versions of the narrative report, human interest stories, case studies, and power point slides. 4. Final report (narrative report, compendium of human-interest stories, case studies, and Power point slides) 30th May 2024 20%
TOTAL 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 proposal 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 carry 25% showing the proposed budget breakdown of consultancy cost for each deliverable (fees, travels and accommodation) and eventual total consultancy cost.
LOCATION, DURATION & LOGISTIC
The consultant will operate remotely.
The validity of the contract will be for 8 months. The consultant will be required to travel to Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, and Mbeya.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Advance degree (Masters’) in Healthcare (Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, or other Biomedical Sciences), Public Health, Social Science, Health system
At least 8 years’ experience working in the health sector
Experience working with communities, CSOs, key and vulnerable population groups in HIV response in Tanzania and Africa.
Demonstrated understanding of the health system along the continuum of care for HIV services
Excellent problem‐solving skills and ability to work within tight deadlines.
Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and adhering to deadlines
Solid understanding and proven track record of conducting quantitative and qualitative research. Experience of conducting verbal and social autopsy study methodologies will be an asset
Excellent written and oral communication skills
Ability to work with a multidisciplinary teams
Evidence of at least (3) consultancies of similar scope
Fluency in written and spoken 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.Deadline: 30 Aug 2023 E. Africa Standard Time
