Individual consultancy to support the development of a suite of tools and methods for costing WASH cholera prevention plans at national and hotspot levels

Job no: 558879
Contract type: Consultant
Duty Station: Maputo
Level: Consultancy
Location: Mozambique
Categories: Health, WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene)

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, h ealth  

How can you make a difference? 

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

In October 2017, the Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC) launched the ‘Ending Cholera: A Global Roadmap to 2030.’ The Roadmap provides a framework to reduce cholera deaths by 90%, and to achieve cholera elimination in at least 20 countries by 2030, through a multi-sectoral approach. The strategy focuses on systems strengthening for enhanced WASH services, laboratory capacity, disease surveillance and health system preparedness through early detection and quick response to outbreak; multi-sectoral interventions in cholera hotspots; and effective coordination at country, regional and global levels. UNICEF has supported the collective effort of Ending Cholera Roadmap, including the activities led by the WASH Working Group of the GTFCC. This contribution has been closely supported by CDC with various technical expertise.

Cholera “hotspots” are defined as “geographically limited areas (e.g., city, administrative level 2, or health district catchment area) where environmental, cultural and/or socioeconomic conditions facilitate the transmission of the disease and where cholera persists or re-appears regularly. Hotspots play a central role in the spread of cholera to other areas”.

Targeting cholera hotspots in priority geographies helps focus control programs on the most vulnerable populations and reduce inequities in both affected countries and globally, with a long-term impact on all water-related diseases. This will also represent a significant step towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the world poorest people.

The implementation of the Global Roadmap at the country level must be driven by national governments institutions with the support of national and international partners. To assist countries in developing and implementing their cholera control/elimination programs and aligning them to the Global Roadmap, it is proposed to develop National Cholera Control and elimination Plan (NCCP). The NCCPs should be sufficiently comprehensive, covering all aspects of prevention, control, and response. The WASH part of NCCPs should cover the following aspects: i) information on WASH services access in cholera hotspots areas; ii) mapping per cholera hotspot presenting the existing WASH services, their vulnerabilities and strengths, projects ongoing or to come with secure source(s) of funding to increase access, stakeholders, and their capacities to respond to local transmission, stockpiling of materials; iii) WASH field assessment in the hotspot areas to identify detailed programmatic needs.

NCCPs are strategic in nature and comprehensive in scope and therefore must include the financial needs necessary to mitigate the risks of cholera linked to the water, sanitation, and hygiene services in areas identified as hotspots.  In addition, it will be necessary for the local governments overseeing services in these hotspots as well as the WASH and Health partners operational in these hotspots to have the necessary information to generate cost estimates for operational planning. 

The overall objective of this consultancy is to support UNICEF to develop a suite of costing tools and approaches to inform both strategic and operational planning to reduce the WASH related risks to cholera in endemic countries.

 To reach this overall objective it is proposed for the selected individual to support the development of a national costing tool used to produce indicative cost estimates for advocacy and strategic planning purposes at national level including the ability to prioritize or rank hotspots. This tool should incorporate secondary data on national WASH coverage estimates as well as secondary data on unit costs (e.g., capital and operating expenditures) derived by relevant planning authorities.  The individual will also support the development of a methodology for operational costing which is applied at a lower geographic scale (i.e., district or hotspot level) to provide more precise cost estimates for different scenarios for increasing WASH service levels to reduce risk of future cholera outbreaks. It is envisaged that the final “operational methodology” will require collecting and analyzing primary data on WASH services and costs.  Both costing approaches will be instrumental for cholera endemic countries to meet the goals of their NCCPs.

The suite of tools/methods will be developed and piloted in Mozambique.  The national costing tool will be applied to the NCCP of Mozambique and the operational costing methodology will be developed and pilot tested in 2 different hotspots in the country- representing a mixed typology of urban/pre-urban and rural settings. Final hotspots will be determined in collaboration with the Government of Mozambique.

Scope of Work:

1. Goal and Objective: 

The goal of this project is to strengthen national capacity in cholera prevention, response, control and elimination by:

• Supporting the development of a WASH costing tool for strategic planning at the national level and applying it as a pilot in Mozambique.
• Supporting the development of a WASH costing methodology for operational planning at hotspot level and applying it as a pilot in two hotspots in Mozambique.
• Documenting all processes and procedures used in the pilot as well as all lessons learned and recommendation on how to adapt / improve tools for future applications.

The consultant will support UNICEF and CDC in realizing these overarching goals and objectives.

2. Specific Activities and Tasks:  

 Activity 1: Data and information to be used for the Strategic Costing Tool (developed by UNICEF and CDC) 

• Collate available WASH coverage data for Mozambique including national demographic and infrastructure surveys, internationally supported surveys (DHS modules), etc.
• Review available costing literature in Mozambique to identify financial planning processes, unit cost figures used by relevant authorities for budgeting and financing.
• Organize data as directed by UNICEF and CDC.
• Review and provide feedback on the draft strategic costing tool developed by UNICEF and CDC for application at national level in Mozambique.
• Support UNICEF and CDC in the application of the draft tool in Mozambique incorporating relevant national data.
• Support UNICEF and CDC in documenting necessary assumptions and limitations of the national tool.  

Activity 2: Support the Development of a Detailed Hotspot Costing Methodology

• Assist UNICEF in carrying out a stakeholder mapping in the select hotspot areas.
• Liaise with local government, WASH NGOs, and other stakeholders working in cholera response in Mozambique, organize and chair meetings, submit requests for data and information.
• Identify the range of WASH preparedness “packages” that have been used in cholera control in urban areas in Mozambique, for example considering the current outbreak in Zambezi.  This may include WASH preparedness activities targeting, public institutions, cholera treatment facilities, markets, and other public areas and environmental contamination.
• Maintain documentation on the process of identifying and obtaining expenditure data.
• Collate expenditure data from these WASH packages as well as from other WASH projects implemented in rural and urban areas in Mozambique.

Activity 3: Support a Hotspot WASH Assessment

• Provide inputs as requested into a comprehensive WASH Assessment led by UNICEF Mozambique and CDC in one or more of the selected hotspots in Mozambique.

• Support UNICEF Country Office, as requested, in the development of data collection and analysis processes related to the WASH assessment.
• Support UNICEF Country Offices in the analysis of WASH assessment data and other data to create a map of WASH vulnerabilities (e.g., displaced populations (IDPs, refugees, migrants), hazard maps etc.) to inform the Hotspot WASH Investment Plans.

Output 4: Support the development of two Hotspot WASH Investment Plans

Using the data obtained from the WASH Assessment plus any additional information, support UNICEF and CDC in the development of a menu of costed interventions for the improvement of WASH services including capital and operational costs: 

• Assist/facilitate necessary technical assessments with specific recommendations on WASH solutions for identified gaps for each cholera hotspot.
• Support UNICEF and CDC to elaborate the associated costings and cost recovery required to support the recommended WASH solutions for each cholera hotspot.
• All efforts should take into consideration the social aspects related to end users and community mobilization.

Output 5: Document Lessons Learned and Contribute to the Cholera Costing Guidance Manual

Assist UNICEF and CDC to collect lessons learned through the above processes and support the development of technical guidance for how to adapt and replicate the Costing Tools/Methods in other cholera endemic countries:

• This should include a step-based methodology for adapting the tool(s) and approaches (#2 and #3) so that they can be applied in other cholera endemic countries.
• The guidance should also explain how the outputs of the tools are used to develop a WASH Investment Plan(s), as part of the broader National Cholera Control Plan and in alignment with the SDGs.

Deliverables and payments:

Work Assignments Overview

Activity 1: Data and information to be used for the Strategic Costing Tool (developed by UNICEF and CDC)

Activity 2: Support the Development of a Detailed Hotspot Costing Methodology

Activity 3: Support a Hotspot WASH Assessment

Deliverables/Outputs

1. Data inputs to strategic tool (unit cost figures, WASH service levels)

2. Data collection plan for Hotspots (e.g., KII tools, stakeholder mapping, identification of WASH packages, appropriate unit of analysis)

Timeline: March 15^th

Work Assignments Overview

Output 4: Support the development of two Hotspot WASH Investment Plans

Output 5: Document Lessons Learned and Contribute to the Cholera Costing Guidance Manual

Deliverables/Outputs

3. List of WASH packages with the unit costs of each identified

4. Report including:

menu of costed options for rural and urban hotspots

list of lessons learned from application of hotspot costing methodology

5. Final versions

Timeline:

April 30^th

May 30^th

July 31^st

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have… 

Minimum Qualifications required:

Bachelors

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

1. Experience

• At least 10 years’ experience in water, sanitation, and hygiene related field, with at least 5 years’ experience working in Mozambique. 
• Experience analyzing or drafting water and sanitation policy and regulation
• Demonstrated experience carrying out studies on costing or economic analysis for WASH and Health projects or programmes.
• Knowledge of water and sanitation service delivery models and infrastructure
• Experience working for or in collaboration with WASH ministries including:
  • Direcção Nacional de Abastecimento de Agua e Saneamento
  • Direcção Nacional do Ambiente
  • Direcção Nacional do Comercio Interno
  • Inspecção Nacional das Actividades Económicas
  • Direcção Nacional de Saúde Pública
• Experience in cholera response is desired but not required

2. Skills:

• Analytical skills including use of statistical software such as: SAS, SPSS, or R
• Information management for WASH and Health
• Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping tools

3. Language:

• Ability to work in English and Portuguese.

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).   

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: 24 Jan 2023 South Africa Standard Time
Deadline: 05 Feb 2023 South Africa Standard Time