Consultant for scaling up medical oxygen system programming work – UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia
Job no: 564298
Position type: Consultant
Location: Nepal Division/Equivalent: Kathmandu(ROSA)
School/Unit: Regional Services Div (SAR), Kathmandu
Department/Office: Reg Serv – Prog Section, Kathmandu
Categories: Health
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, a future
How can you make a difference?
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed significant weaknesses in countries’ medical oxygen systems, particularly in terms of infrastructure, production capacity, monitoring, strategic planning, and logistics. The impact was profound in the South Asia region, where gaps in the availability and rational use of oxygen in healthcare systems were highlighted. In the wake of the pandemic, the demand for medical oxygen in South Asia escalated from one million metric tons per year to over 11 million metric tons during the peak of the second wave in 2021.
To address these challenges, UNICEF has intervened to strengthen health systems, including improving oxygen supply and increasing trained human resources, such as biomedical engineers, public health planners, and supply chain experts as a priority component. This comprehensive approach has aimed to bolster system design, procurement, installation, and maintenance of oxygen equipment in all countries in the region. It has also promoted the development of relevant policies and guidelines while capacitating clinical staff for the safe administration of oxygen therapy.
While the pandemic has underscored the critical importance of and gaps in medical oxygen therapy, it is also a fundamental component of national treatment protocols for maternal, newborn, and child survival, surgery, and other medical conditions. The urgency of strengthening medical oxygen systems programming for MNCH has become a clear priority for national health systems.
As the pandemic response has become integrated into routine health services, UNICEF continues to work on integrating emergency oxygen investments into health systems strengthening, both globally and regionally, including South Asia. This integration aims to maintain surge capacity and strengthen local capacity on oxygen system programming to improve the quality of care, particularly for maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH).
Several persistent challenges remain, such as the insufficient availability of oxygen supplies, the limited capability of health workers to recognize the need for and administer oxygen therapy, and inadequate oxygen delivery systems. These issues significantly hinder the provision of oxygen care for severe childhood pneumonia, maternal complications, neonatal resuscitation needs, small and sick newborn care in special newborn care units, newborn stabilization units, newborn care corners, and non-communicable diseases. In addition, a significant proportion of the high burden of annual maternal deaths at health facilities in the region requires short-term ventilatory support in obstetric high dependency units (HDUs) and obstetric ICUs in district hospitals and first referral facilities, of which oxygen systems are a key component.
As a result, UNICEF’s approach to oxygen support is shifting towards improving medical oxygen systems programming, particularly for MNCH. This shift focuses on quantifying needs, tracking and maintaining equipment, improving infrastructure and supplies, building the capacity of healthcare workers, and decentralizing oxygen provision from specialist services to the primary health care (PHC) level.
At the heart of UNICEF’s global oxygen system strengthening framework are four key areas:
- Needs assessment, budgeting, and planning
- Procurement
- Product delivery
- Programmatic use
These areas are addressed through five integrated approaches:
- People and practices
- Data Analytics
- System design
- Financing and resource mobilization
- Policies and regulatory frameworks
Purpose:
UNICEF ROSA Health Section seeks a consultant to provide strategic guidance and technical support on the deployment and optimal use of oxygen ecosystems, focusing on oxygen system programming, to accelerate the reduction of maternal, newborn, and child mortality and stillbirths and to advance the PHC agenda in the South Asia region.
Key Assignments/Tasks:
Specific activities under the above objective are outlined below. Recognizing that different countries are at varying stages of planning, implementing, and monitoring their oxygen system strengthening initiatives, the activities listed below reflect a range of support options. These options will be tailored based on a thorough assessment of each country’s context.
- Support countries in conducting a situational analysis of the oxygen ecosystems, including oxygen therapy as an essential component of MNCH services, for selected countries in the region, including identification of gaps and assessment of demand in targeted geographical areas and facilities. The steps are as follows:
- Adapt or create data collection tools, using existing tools from UNICEF Global Oxygen resources
- Coordinate data collection in close coordination with country offices
- Analyze data and prepare country reports, including recommendations to inform oxygen system for MNCH programming and implementation
- Develop and disseminate a regional guidance note on the oxygen systems strengthening approach, focusing on the transition from COVID-19 response to improved oxygen availability and use in MNCH and PHC services. This includes a review of program guidance notes on oxygen systems from UNICEF and other relevant partners, key recommendations to facilitate the transition, a strategy for improving biomedical engineering capacity to ensure governments have strong national maintenance capacity for oxygen equipment and the development of a monitoring framework to track progress and achievements of medical oxygen systems.
- Provide technical support and guidance to leverage planned revisions of national strategies and plans on RMNCAH, PHC, and quality of care to improve access to oxygen therapy in MNCH services at all levels of health care facilities.
- Provide technical support to COs to facilitate the transition from COVID-19 oxygen response to improved oxygen availability and use in MNCH and PHC services, following UNICEF’s global strategy for scaling up oxygen ecosystems. This involves:
- Reviewing the status of UNICEF country offices’ strategic planning and their implementation
- Consulting with country offices without existing plans to understand their priorities and gaps.
- Assisting country offices in defining areas for strategic engagement and providing technical support to expand the oxygen ecosystems and facilitate the transition from COVID-19 oxygen response to improved oxygen availability and use in MNCH and PHC services.
- Redeploy and repurpose COVID-19 oxygen equipment to meet basic oxygen needs at all levels of care for broader use, particularly at MNCH service delivery points at the PHC and referral levels.
- Supporting the capacity building of health care workers to ensure the quality of care for hypoxemia management, neonatal resuscitation, preterm babies, and pneumonia management at MNCH facilities. This includes developing a medical oxygen system training module for mid-level and primary care providers and conducting training sessions on rational, safe use, and standard application of oxygen therapy.
- Coordinating CO activities to improve biomedical engineering capacity at national and sub-national levels, fostering sustainable oxygen infrastructure.
- Provide technical support to and coordinate with CO, RO, SD, and HQ oxygen teams in planning, monitoring, evaluation, learning, and resource mobilization, which may include:
- Assessing technical support needs and proposing a plan for each country after discussions with MNCH, HSS, and Supply focal points
- Maintaining regular communication with focal points at UNICEF CO, RO, SD, and HQ focal points to stay abreast of evolving situations, priorities, and comparative advantages. This includes attending weekly oxygen tracker meetings, and bi-weekly project implementation calls on oxygen generation plant and biomedical engineering support
- Strengthening in-country oxygen supply chain, including project planning and implementation to support on-site oxygen production plants and equipment, oxygen needs mapping, oxygen demand quantification and forecasting, supplier identification, infrastructure considerations, and planning for distribution, operations, and maintenance
- Defining and integrating selected oxygen-related indicators into HMIS/DHIS2 and establishing data systems to monitor oxygen consumption and needs
- Collaborating with COs, RO, and HQ to assess the impact of UNICEF’s oxygen investments, with a focus on maternal, newborn, and child survival and other medical conditions.
- Reviewing funding proposals for oxygen system strengthening, assisting in planning activities based on priority needs, develop technical or concept notes, evaluate bidding documents, guide the procurement workflow, and track resource mobilization and allocation
- Advancing the learning agenda by developing case studies, human interest stories, and SBCC and advocacy materials on oxygen systems in coordination with SBC and CAP teams
- Providing technical input on UNICEF global resources of quality assurance materials to ensure alignment with standard medical practices, safety compliance, and policies and protocols focused on oxygen system operation and patient care in hospitals
- Assisting COs in harnessing innovative oxygen systems solutions
Key Deliverables:
- Completion of the situation analysis of oxygen ecosystems and oxygen therapy in MNCH services – 60 days
- Development of a regional guidance note on oxygen system strengthening – 40 days
- Development of a medical oxygen system training module for mid-level and primary care providers – 50 days
- Conducting training sessions on rational, safe use and standard application of oxygen therapy in MNCH services – 40 days
- Monthly updates to share the achievements of technical assistance, progress of each activity, challenges, and proposed solutions – 30 days (10 x 3 days per month)
Note: Basically work remotely and no office space is required. Note that the consultant is expected to make bi-monthly visits to Kathmandu, with each visit lasting about one month.
Remarks: Please attach a financial proposal in USD while applying. Application without the financial proposal will not be considered.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- Education:
Advanced degree (Masters or above) in a related field including biomedical/electrical/mechanical engineering, or similar; or bachelor’s degree plus 2 additional years of experience in biomedical engineering
- Work Experience:
- Minimum 8 years of professional experience at the national and international levels in public health and oxygen system strengthening
- Experiencing in developing strategic plans or country road maps is considered an asset.
- Relevant experience in the South Asia region is considered as an asset.
- Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered an asset
C. Language Proficiency:
- English required – excellent writing, speaking, and reading.
- Speaking and reading in one or more South Asian languages is an asset
For every Child, you demonstrate…
UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).
Good networking and partnerships building skills
- Ability to work effectively with multi-faceted stakeholders
- Strong organizational and facilitation skills
- Excellent communication and writing skills in English
- Strong drive for results
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.
Advertised: Jul 24 2023 Nepal Standard Time
Application close: Aug 04 2023 Nepal Standard Time
Back to list Refer a friend
- Closes Aug 04 2023Consultant for scaling up medical oxygen system programming work – UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia in Nepal
UNICEF ROSA Health Section seeks a consultant to provide strategic guidance and technical support on the deployment and optimal use of oxygen ecosystems, focusing on oxygen system programming, to accelerate the reduction of maternal, newborn and child mortality and stillbirths and to advance the PHC agenda in the South Asia region.
