Purpose of consultancy:
Ensuring the sustainability of national RHCS efforts to deliver quality reproductive health and family planning services, including uninterrupted supplies of products, with particular attention to reaching marginalized populations.
Scope of work:
A. Technical support and advocacy
- Improve commodities visibility management
- Provide technical support in development, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of strategies, and programs related to RHCS and supply chain.
- Manage the provision of technical assistance in improving forecasting, warehousing, distribution, transportation, and logistics management information systems including in humanitarian settings
- Leads substantive monitoring of procurement and supply chain for health products and proactively review the underperformance, bottlenecks and ensures the accountability for the timely implementation of corrective actions to ensure timely supply of health products to achieve the programme objectives.
- Regularly monitor the level of RH commodities availability and stock-out levels at central and decentralized warehouses, as well as at service delivery points, through the review of information provided by the national coordination mechanisms; information from national Logistics Management Information System (LMIS); surveys; periodic on-site monitoring visits to the facilities; and other appropriate monitoring activities.
- Overall responsibility for monitoring the timely ordering, clearance, receipt, safeguarding, handover, distribution and use for intended purposes of the goods, including the timely completion of all Last Mile Assurance (LMA) process activities, and for ensuring adequate remedial actions are taken by the appropriate roles in response to issues affecting the process.
- Review Order Tracking System (OTS) and Shipment Tracker (ST) data to identify red flags indicative of problems in the processes (e.g., delays in shipments or customs clearance; shipping documents not sent or received; aged in-transit or static inventory; items approaching their expiration dates; missing handover documents) and ensuring adequate remedial actions are timely taken; and
- Enforcing compliance with inventory management requirements such as timely submission of inventory certifications and completion of periodic stock counts.
- Ensure that sufficient visibility and assurance is obtained over the adequate safeguarding, management, and use for intended purposes of programme supplies after their handover to partners or beneficiaries through the Last Mile Assurance (LMA) process and other appropriate monitoring activities
- Coordinate and provide technical support in annual survey of availability of contraceptive, essential and Life Saving maternal health drugs in Service Delivery Points
B. Capacity development and partnerships
- Contribute to enhancing national capacity to develop and maintain reproductive health services and commodity systems. These tasks will involve design and facilitation of formal training and conducting informal, on-the-job training.
- Identify IP's strengths and weaknesses (in the areas of Supply Chain Map and required risk mitigation actions, including capacity-building efforts
- Identify, develop and/or adapt training materials and manuals in the substantive area and ensure their availability for capacity development, and support their implementation.
- Lead and build capacity of stakeholders in commodity forecasting, inventory control systems, storage and distribution of RH commodities including contraceptives
C. Evidence and knowledge development and dissemination
- Make significant contributions to analytic works aiming to collect and review lessons learned from implementation and to refine methodologies for effective RHCS within a decentralized planning and budgeting context.
- Remain knowledgeable and up to date on all technical and implementation issues that relate to RHCS as well as other components of Health systems development.
- Support and build the capacity of the MOH experts in the collection, reporting, analysis, and use of logistics data for decision-making and for M&E (logistics indicators).
Duration and working schedule:
Initial two (2) months from 15 August to 15 October 2022
Place where services are to be delivered:
Yaoundé, Cameroon
Delivery dates and how work will be delivered:
- Validation of the COMPACT of commitment: August (wk4)
- MOU between DSF, DPML et DSF, UNFPA, and CENAME: September (wk2)
- Pricing circular with accountability document: September (wk2)
- SCM Post training supervision held: September (wk4)
- National Procurement Plan (further to the Quantification): October (wk1)
- Logistics Technical Working Group (LTWG): October (wk1)
- Monthly progress reports submission (in hard and soft copy): one (1) in September (wk2) and one (1) in October (wk2)
- Progress monitoring meeting minutes: Two reports in September (one in wk2 and one in wk4) and one (1) report in October (wk2)
- Technical report and handover note submission (end of the consultancy): October (wk2)
Monitoring and progress control, including reporting requirements, periodicity format and deadline:
- Monthly Progress Report
- Progress monitoring meeting every two weeks
Supervisory arrangements: Report to the Deputy Representative
Expected travel: Travel in provinces (areas of intervention of UNFPA)
Required expertise, qualifications, and competencies, including language requirements:
Education:
Master’s degree in public health, medicine, social sciences, pharmacy, or other related fields. Courses certificates in logistics, essential drugs, health system strengthening, and financing would be an asset.
Knowledge and Experience:
- 5 years’ experience in increasing responsibilities at the national level in SRH ideally, in logistics systems, public sector pharmaceutical supplies management of which 3 years’ experience should be in developing countries with direct experience relating to health and
logistics systems and management of family planning programmes. - Knowledge of public sector pharmaceutical program management at national level, especially in policy & management, Selection, Access, Quality Assurance and Rational Drug Use is an asset.
- Extensive knowledge of supply management: forecasting, warehousing, distribution,
transportation, logistics information systems. - Health sector-specific experience, including Experience with Public Health systems in developing countries, Health Commodity Supply Market, Logistics, and inventory
management related to pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, based on sound Supply Chain Management countries principles - General knowledge of the principles and operational aspects of integrated reproductive healthcare.
- Familiarity with UN development programmes and working procedures, especially UNFPA policies and programming procedures, would be an asset.
- Proven experience in managing complex programs and large-scale projects would be an asset.
- Computer Literacy: Proficiency in the use of standard MS Office packages and the Internet.
Languages:
Excellent written and oral communications skills. Fluency in French and English is required.
Services to be provided by UNFPA
Office space, Local mobile phone sim card, and Access to the Internet.
Application files
Applications (in French or English) must bear the title of the position and be sent by email to consultantcmr@unfpa.org no later than 31 July 2022. They must be complete and contain a cover letter, a curriculum vitae, P11 form of the United Nations, copies of diplomas and certificates. The files must be sent as a single attachment (PDF format only).
