New Opportunities United Nations at UNICEF Tanzania

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, education
In
Tanzania, adolescents (aged 10 to 19 years) are a key segment of the
population and according to 2022 census data, there are 13,849,710
adolescents in Tanzania which is equivalent to 23.1% of the total
population. In addition, the new one-dose regimen for HPV vaccination
targets girls 9 years old which constitutes another 880,149 girls.
According to the Tanzania Demographic Health Survey 2022 (TDHS 2022),
one in five adolescent girls aged 15-19 has begun childbearing which
imposes significant health risks to the mother and the child. Further,
46% of all new HIV infections are among children, adolescents, and young
people below the age of 25 years with 4 in every 5 new HIV infections
in this group occurring among adolescent girls and young women (UNAIDS
Estimates (2023).

Moreover, according to the School Malaria and
Nutrition Survey 2019, children 5 – 19 years old are affected by
multiple forms of malnutrition. About 11 percent of girls (15 – 19) are
overweight/obese, 47 percent are anaemic while 11.2 percent of children
aged 5–19 years are affected by thinness. Thinness disproportionately
affects children in rural areas (12.2 percent) compared to urban areas
(8.7 percent).

Regarding HPV vaccination, there are significant
variations across the country. For instance, the latest available data
from 2023 showed that the national coverage for HPV2 (2nd dose) was 86
percent, but much lower in for example Tanga region (48 %), and Kigoma
and Katavi regions (51%). Addressing the health and well-being of
adolescents is vital for social and economic development in Tanzania.

Its
determinants encompass factors related to the demand for health,
nutrition and HIV services, the supply of these services and the
enabling environment. On the demand side, socio-economic and cultural
factors such as low levels of education, high poverty rates,
discriminatory social norms, and certain religious practices contribute
to unfavorable care-seeking practices and behaviors among adolescents.

Similarly,
inadequate adolescent-friendly services and service delivery channels
limit appropriate service provision with a negative impact on demand.
Moreover, within the enabling environment, existing policies and
legislation often fail to recognize adolescents as a distinct
demographic group, and some policies lack alignment in prioritizing
components essential for adolescent development. Adolescents access
health, HIV, and nutrition services mainly through two platforms: fixed
health facilities and outreach in communities and schools.

These
platforms offer a range of services spanning from sexual and
reproductive health, HIV, and nutrition to psychosocial support.
Accessibility to services through fixed health facilities is often,
however, negatively influenced by provider bias and judgmental behavior
among health workers towards adolescents, resulting in the
underutilization of this platform. Similarly, outreach services in
communities and schools have been predominantly vertical and lack
explicit guidelines that define the packages of interventions tailored
to the needs of adolescents within these settings, leading to low
implementation and utilization of services through this platform.

In
response to these challenges, the National School Health Strategic Plan
(2018) has been developed to integrate key health interventions within
the broader framework of school health and education and define these
services as multi-sectoral. This strategic plan encompasses various
interventions including Health Education and promotion, School-based
Adolescent Health and psychosocial services, Healthy and safe school
Environment, Water, sanitation, and hygiene, and school nutrition, among
others.

The School Health Programme aims to enhance the
capacity of School Health Coordinators in delivering services while
promoting parental involvement. Additionally, integrating school health
services into early childhood development and protection is emphasized.
However, despite the potential benefits, these services are currently
under-implemented and underutilized due to the unavailability of funding
and the fragmented custodianship for the program.

How can you make a difference?
Focus of the assignment
UNICEF
and the government are embarking on strengthening primary healthcare
outreach services, to be provided in schools and communities, for
adolescents’ health and well-being. The first stage of this work will be
a Human Centred Design process to involve adolescents and other
stakeholders in identifying adolescents’ unique health needs and
desires. The output of this process will include proposed content for an
adolescent-centered service package and implementation strategies and
modalities for outreach in schools and communities.

The purpose
of this consultancy is to work hand in hand with the Ministry of Health,
President’s Office Regional and Local Government (PORALG), UNICEF and
other stakeholders to incorporate the outputs from the HCD process to
define a national package and implementation manual to be applied for
outreach to adolescents, and to revise this manual based on findings
from implementation research embedded with its roll out in several
mainland regions.

Scope of Work and Expected Outputs:
1. Engage with the institution that leads the Human Centered Design process
To
ensure effective capturing of the outputs of the HCD process,
engagement with the HCD process itself will be beneficial. This
engagement expects that the consultant will be familiar with all the
steps taken and the format of the HCD outputs. The expected level of
effort is approximately 5 days and be spent on meetings with the HCD
team, attending relevant sessions and dissemination of results, and
reviewing materials.

2. Conduct consultations with stakeholders not captured in the HCD process
Stakeholder
consultations should be conducted with health workers, teachers, and
community members as well as with relevant civil society organizations
and at the national level with the Ministry of Health, PORALG and the
Ministry of Education. These consultations aim to identify adolescent
health needs from these stakeholder’s perspectives to be able to bring
these findings together with the HCD outputs to define an integrated
package of services. The expected level of effort is around 25 days and
will include stakeholder identification and scheduling of consultations,
conducting consultations, collating and consolidating results from
consultations and summarizing these in a report.

3. Define an
integrated Package of PHC services and draft an implementation manual
for PHC outreach for adolescents through school and community platforms
Based
on the HCD process with adolescents and stakeholder consultations, the
package and implementation strategies of PHC outreach services for
adolescents through school and community platforms should be defined and
validated. The package is expected to encompass a range of preventive,
promotive, curative, and supportive services aimed at promoting
physical, mental, and social well-being among adolescents. It should
address the multifaceted needs of adolescents comprehensively,
recognizing the interconnected nature of physical, mental, and social
well-being.

The consultant will provide technical assistance to
teh government throughout this process through preparing meetings and
presentations and leading the write-up. The consultant is responsible
for ensuring that the content is integrated, evidence-based, accurate,
age-appropriate, and culturally sensitive. The implementation manual
needs to be based on realities on the ground, link with other existing
guidance and provide practical guidance, tools, and resources for
implementing outreach activities effectively. The expected level of
effort for this work is 20 days and includes preparation and
participation in two government-led workshops.

4. Revise package
and implementation modalities based on findings from implementation
research and produce a brief to inform the update of the National PHC
outreach guidelines based on the defined service package and
implementation manual.

In this activity, the package of
interventions and implementation modalities will be updated based on the
findings from the implementation research to be conducted by a research
institution (not by the consultant). The consultant will participate in
the dissemination of the implementation research findings, contribute
to the interpretation and recommendations, and then incorporate these
findings in the final package and implementation guidance. In addition, a
brief should be formulated that can be used to inform any update of the
national PHC outreach guidelines and the National Essential Health Care
Intervention Package. The expected level of effort is 20 days.

WORK ASSIGNMENT, DELIVERABLES, TIME FRAME AND PAYMENT   
PAYMENT SCHEDULE. 
UNICEF
reserves the right to withhold all or portion of payment if performance
is unsatisfactory, if work/output is incomplete, not delivered or for
failure to meet deadlines.

ASSESSMENT / SELECTION PROCESS AND METHODS 
Evaluations:
The applicant should submit both technical and financial proposals
which clearly stipulate how the work will be conducted. The Financial
Proposal should include all costs of this assignment including fee,
travel costs, accommodation as UNICEF will not pay any DSA. 

Proposals
will be both technically and financially evaluated. The technical part
will carry a weight of 75%, in which the consultant will put clear
his/her technical approach to ensure quality attainment of each
deliverable and the consultancy in totality. The financial part will
take 25% showing the proposed budget breakdown of consultancy cost for
each deliverable (fees, travel, and accommodation) and eventual total
consultancy cost. 

LOCATION, DURATION & LOGISTIC 
The
consultant will be required to travel (enter number of trips and
locations – based on the travel budget indicated in the ToR. The
consultancy is expected to be for five months.

PAYMENT SCHEDULE. 
UNICEF reserves the right to
withhold all or portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if
work/output is incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet
deadlines.

ASSESSMENT / SELECTION PROCESS AND METHODS 
Evaluations:
The applicant should submit both technical and financial proposals
which clearly stipulate how the work will be conducted. The Financial
Proposal should include all costs of this assignment including fee,
travel costs, accommodation as UNICEF will not pay any DSA. 

Proposals
will be both technically and financially evaluated. The technical part
will carry a weight of 75%, in which the consultant will put clear
his/her technical approach to ensure quality attainment of each
deliverable and the consultancy in totality. The financial part will
take 25% showing the proposed budget breakdown of consultancy cost for
each deliverable (fees, travel and accommodation) and eventual total
consultancy cost. 

LOCATION, DURATION & LOGISTIC 
The
consultant will be required to travel to Dodoma and 3 other regions
which will be determined. The consultancy is expected to be for five
months.

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

• Advanced
  university degree in Public Health, Epidemiology, and other relevant
  fields with a background in health (MD, DDS, Nursing, Pharmacy, or other
  relevant health disciplines) plus a master, or higher degree in public
  health or related field
• Five (5) years of professional work
  experience in the national and/or international programming,
  implementation monitoring and evaluation of adolescent health.
• Proven expertise in engagement with adolescent
• Proved experience in developing guidelines and strategic documents.
• Proven
  work relations with national (MoH, PORALG), regional, district and
  sub-district structures (RHMT and CHMT level), community and CSOs
• Excellent
  communication skills (both written and verbal) to be able to liaise
  with a wide variety of people and good attention to detail.
• Excellent writing, facilitation skills, negotiation skills, and oral and written communication
• Fluency in written and spoken English and Swahili is required.
• Strong analytical skills

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness