UNICEF Consultancy- Nutrition Supply Chain Consultant Jobs in Uganda

UNICEF Consultancy- Nutrition Supply Chain Consultant Jobs in Uganda

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.

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.

Responsibilities

  • Under the supervision of the Principal Nutritionist and the UNICEF Nutrition Manager, the consultant will provide day-to-day technical support to the MoH in all aspects of nutrition supply chain management under the guidance of a relevant government representative of the MoH to drive the initiative.
  • Contribute to improving the nutritional status of children and women in Uganda by supporting the MoH with integrating and strengthening nutrition supply chains for improved nutrition service delivery.
  • To provide technical assistance to the MoH in coordinating and managing the integration of the nutrition supply chain within NMS, performing their duties and responsibilities in the integration process and building the capacity of relevant health staff in all aspects of supply chain management.
  • The integration process goes beyond the handover of logistics functions to NMS and encompasses upstream components such as governance, planning, financing and performance management.

    Background:

    Under nutrition remains an important contributor of poor maternal, new-born and child survival and development in Uganda. While prevalence of stunting has decreased from 33 per cent to 29 per cent between 2011 and 2016, there are estimated 1,850,000 stunted children in the country.

    During the same period, wasting has been mostly stagnant with a decline from 5 per cent to 4 per cent.

    There is significant variation among regions in Uganda, whereby wasting is the highest in the regions with emergencies or chronic and cyclical drought.

    For provision of SAM treatment supplies, UNICEF is a main partner to the Ministry of Health (MoH), supporting the forecasting, procurement, storage, delivery and monitoring of these supplies. In 2018, a total of 46,820 children under 5 years of age affected by SAM were admitted to treatment nationally.

    UNICEF currently runs a parallel supply chain for the SAM treatment supplies – i.e., the supplies procured by UNICEF are stored in a UNICEF warehouse and distributed by UNICEF to stores of focus districts and Regional Referral Hospitals.

    Last-mile deliveries from district stores to health facilities are handled by districts with UNICEF support.

    On the other hand, there is a national supply chain system for essential medicines and health supplies managed by National Medical Stores (NMS) in the country, in which NMS delivers supplies from its central warehouse to health facilities on a monthly or bimonthly basis depending on a supply. Vitamin A supplies are distributed through this mechanism.

    UNICEF and WFP launched the Karamoja Nutrition Programme, a 3.5-year programme (2018-2021) aiming to reduce child and maternal undernutrition and anaemia through a system strengthening approach, with financial support from the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

    One of the focus areas of the KNP is the strengthening and integration of nutrition supply chain at national and district levels.

    In this context, in December 2018, a stakeholder meeting on the nutrition supply chain integration

    was convened in which key stakeholders, including the MoH and NMS, showed their commitments to the integration process.

    Key Tasks:
  • Coordination and management of the nutrition supply chain integration:
  • Support the MoH with the functionalisation of a specialised taskforce for the nutrition supply chain integration.
  • The consultant will coordinate and facilitate taskforce meetings.
  • Coordinate the finalisation and implementation of a costed implementation plan for the integration process with a pilot design for Karamoja.
  • Coordinate with the District Health Offices for the planning and implementation of the pilot design in Karamoja.
  • Monitor and update the implementation plan for the integration of nutrition supplies on a monthly basis, with special focus on timelines for the implementation of agreed milestones.
  • Coordinate the organisation of workshops to periodically review the integration process, assess its milestones and address challenges with evidence-based recommendations.
  • Ensure that there is a continuation strategy by the MoH and DHO for the integration process before the end of her/his assignment.
  • Support the MoH with performing technical duties and responsibilities in the implementation plan, such as supply chain coordination, policy and regulatory tasks and financial planning.
  • Assist NMS in coordinating with the MoH Nutrition Division for nutrition supply needs, stock monitoring, costing of supplies and logistics in the annual MoH budget in a timely manner.
  • Assess the capacity of the MoH Nutrition Division, regional nutritionists and the District Nutrition Focal Persons (DFNPs) on nutrition supply chain management, review and update existing training resources, and develop and implement the capacity development plan to fill gaps.
  • Implement the capacity development plan to enable the Nutrition Division to coordinate and manage supply-related activities in the integration and post-integration phases.

    Qualifications
  • A university degree, preferably Master’s degree, in pharmacy, procurement, logistics, supply chain management, public health, health sciences, or similar fields
  • At least 5-year professional experience in public health supply chain management or similar fields
  • Experience in project management
  • Experience of working with leadership and management spheres in public health programmes
  • Experience in facilitating dialogue among different stakeholders
  • Working experience with UNICEF, WFP, WHO or other UN agencies for supply or logistic management
  • Working experience with the Ministry of Health or other governmental entities
  • Experience in recommending and leading the implementation of interventions designed to strengthen government leadership and capacity to manage supply chains
  • Experience in reviewing and updating important policies and service delivery guidelines to support enabling environments for supply chain management
  • Experience in advocacy activities to support resource mobilisation to strengthen supply chains
  • Ability to effectively communicate and present supply chain concepts
  • Ability to stay focused and deliver results under pressure
  • Effective organisational skills; high drive for results and commitments
  • Strong teamwork skills

    How to Apply
  • Interested and qualified candidates should apply online by 25th July 2019
  • For more information and job application details, see; UNICEF Consultancy- Nutrition Supply Chain Consultant Jobs in Uganda

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