Background
and Justification
The Ministry of
Health in Malawi adopted the Community-based Therapeutic Care (CTC) approach
(now CMAM[1]) since 2004 with the aim of increasing coverage and
accessibility of treatment for uncomplicated acute malnutrition. The approach
entails decentralizing care to health centres and treating the majority of
cases as out-patients through the provision of Ready-to-Us
e Therapeutic Foods
(RUTF) and basic medical care. This is complemented by supplementary feeding
for moderately malnourished children. Currently the CMAM programme is reaching
about 65 per cent (42,000) of the severely acute malnourished (SAM) children
out of the expected case load of 69,533. This indicates the need to urgently
enhance active-case finding through nutrition screening at community level for
early identification of under-five children who are malnourished to be enrolled
in CMAM programmes.
The recent Nutrition
Rehabilitation Unit (NRU) assessment conducted in May and September, 2015 in
the 101[2] NRUs revealed poor management of cases, inadequate number
of well trained personnel involved in the management of cases, poor supply
management (persistent stock outs), lack of M&E materials and poor
infrastructure. Following the findings, some recommendations and action points
were established and these need to be followed up by the Ministry of Health
(MoH) in collaboration with UNICEF and partners.
Alongside the
routine work, the nutrition section has been involved in emergency response
following the floods and drought spell that hit the country in 2015 and earlier
this year. Despite the good progress on the implementation of emergency
response activities some of the activities are behind schedule hence the need
of more HR in the nutrition team to effectively support Ministry of Health.
Support will be
needed from the three consultants beyond the current contract period Supporting
MoH in monitoring and supervision of CMAM program activities including
implementation of the recommendations/action points from NRU assessment;
support Designing, planning and execution of community mobilisation integrated
in community care groups in ensuring active nutrition screening; Participate in
aligning CMAM guideline with the WHO 2013 updates; conduct on-the-job support
and mentoring as well as assessment of quality of services at district and
health facility level, conduct CMAM quarterly joint supervision and monitoring
and End use monitoring of CMAM supplies. The consultants will be supervised by
Ministry of Health and UNICEF to ensure alignment to the 2015-2022 CMAM
operation plan.
Scope of
work
The main
responsibility is timely nutritional and surveillance systems reinforced and
strengthened (CMAM database, DHIS2, Rapid SMS and Nutrition Surveys). The
following are key areas:
Communication
Provide
timely, complete and accurate reports using country level data
Support
the Ministry of Health in preparing and releasing the Monthly and Quarterly
Nutrition Information Updates/Bulletin
Situation
Monitoring and Assessments
Support
in nutrition joint assessments and monitoring
Take
lead in preparation of data inputs with emphasis on targets and achievements
Ensures
timely and accurate information on changing conditions of children and women
and facilitates information exchange in order to support planning and
measurement of program impact
Provide
technical support on nutrition surveillance to NGOs leading nutrition
surveillance at the district level
Program
Performance Monitoring
monitoring and evaluation materials for nutritional screening and ensure
establishment of a reporting system at all levels
in selected districts on NRU and OTP data with NGOs and health workers
in compilation and analysis of CMAM and Mass screening data
CMAM program performances with Nutrition Section for further sharing with
Ministry of Health for distribution to partners
NRU and OTP data to inform programming
the design, implementation and analysis of nutrition surveys, including SMART
Survey
on the different nutrition surveys conducted in the recent (2-3) years in
Malawi to identify gap areas
data to Nutrition Section Chief for real time monitoring of CMAM program and
RapidSMS-AnthroWatch
information gaps at national and subnational levels and provide recommendations
on addressing information gaps
capacity building of district level personnel on the nutrition modules e.g.
CMAM integrated in the DHIS2 for reporting and use
sectorial technical lead agencies provide training support on data management
at district Level if need arise
development/mentoring/coaching to select institution in Malawi on SMART Survey
methodology
Expected
deliverables
Timely,
complete and accurate monthly reports using country level data
Monitored
reports with data inputs with emphasis on targets and achievements
Periodic
Nutrition surveys
Assessments
conducted and analyzed
Monitoring
general situation of MAM and SAM through CMAM database
Effective
use of nutrition data and information in supporting quality of improvement of
programs at district and Facility level
Regular
analysis of Program Data
Positioning
Nutrition Information Systems within DHIS 2 at Ministry of Health for
maintenance of Nutrition and Health information and its use for decision making
Training
on data management at District level in coordination with sectorial and
technical lead agencies supported
Payment
Schedule
Under the guidance
of Chief, Nutrition and in consultation with Nutrition Specialist (L3), the
incumbent will develop deliverables for each month that is accepted and signed
by Chief, Nutrition. This document will be referred to as the Monthly
Deliverable Schedule.
Major
Task
Deliverable
Timeframe
(man-days)
Comments
1.
Monthly
Work plan developed
Detailed
work plan with key milestones for each month
Monthly
Payment
will be made on submission of monthly progress report comprise of all three
deliverables. $10,000 / month which is 1/8th of the total
consultancy fee.
2.
Monthly district
level data compiled
25
district reports with key nutrition indicators as per DFID proposal
Monthly
3.
Produce
monthly outcomes data for CMAM program performance
Monthly
CMAM program performance compiled
Monthly
4.
Produce
one-pager monthly nutrition update based on the CMAM data and other available
information
One
pager nutrition situation update developed on monthly basis
Monthly
5.
Conduct
CMAM data quality audits
Monthly
data quality audit report with key recommendation
Monthly
6.
Conduct
6 years’ (2011 – 2016) time series analysis on the CMAM data to inform
programming
Monthly
time series progress report
Monthly
7.
Provide capacity
development/mentoring/coaching to select institution in Malawi on SMART Survey
methodology and CMAM data management
Monthly
capacity development progress report
Monthly
The consultant will
be paid monthly upon submission of due deliverables mentioned in the Monthly
Deliverable Schedule that are of acceptable quality to UNICEF and endorsed by
the Chief, Nutrition.
Desired
background and experience
At
least a Master’s degree in public health / nutrition, or master degree in statistics/
epidemiology or other related field.
Minimum
of 5 years of experience working in the field of data management, nutrition
information systems
High
Level Expertise in SMART and SLEAC/SQUEAC Nutrition Survey Methodologies. A
Master Trainer of will be given preference
Knowledge
in Community Management of Acute Malnutrition programmes desirable.
Experience
in supporting MoH in implementation of activity desirable.
Previous
experience in assisting governments in data monitoring and management.
Experience
in nutrition in emergencies a plus
Language
Required for the Consultancy:
- Proficient
in English
Other Skills
and Attributes: Guidance:
A
firm command of the Nutrition Information Systems (NIS) in emergencies and
development set-ups, and demonstrated experience in setting up and managing NIS
in different counties
Strong
working knowledge of data quality assurance mechanisms
Excellent
skills and demonstrated evidence of using the following statistical softwares
in Nutrition Information Systems Stata, R, ENA for SMART, CSPro, SPSS and MS
Excel
Proficient
in the use of either QGIS or ArcGIS in developing spatial maps for information
Nutrition Information System
Conditions
(Important)
The
consultant will be paid based on the deliverables.
All
remunerations will be within the contract agreement
No
contract may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the
consultant
No
consultant may travel without a signed travel authorisation prior to the
commencement of the journey to the duty station.
The
consultant will be required to sign the health statement for
consultants/individual contractor prior to taking up the assignment, and to
document that they have appropriate health insurance, if applicable.
The
Form ‘Designation, change or revocation of beneficiary’ has to be completed by
the consultant upon arrival, at the HR Section.
The
consultant is not entitled to payment of overtime.
[1] Community-Based
Management of Acute Malnutrition
[2] Two of which are
not functional
Qualified candidates
(international candidates) are requested to submit a cover letter, performance
evaluation report (if applicable), CV and Personal History Form (P-11 form) to
be downloaded from the website http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_53129.html),
a financial proposal (including all eligible fees and other costs deemed
necessary to carry out this assignment) on or before 12 August 2016
via e-mail address: hrmalawi@unicef.org
NOTE:
UNICEF
is committed to gender equality in its mandate and its staff. Well qualified
candidates, particularly females are strongly encouraged to apply.
Only
shortlisted applicants will be acknowledged.
Applications
sent through the post office or hand delivered is not accepted.
UNICEF IS A
SMOKE FREE ENVIRONMENT
