POST:International Consultant

International Consultant for Development of the National Programme
UNDP
Location: Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Last Date: January 26, 2010

Position title: International Consultant for Development of the National Programme
Project: GFATM
Duty Station: Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Type of the contract: Special Service Agreement (output-based)
Deadline for applications: 26 January 2010
Instruction for submission of applications: Please fill out an Application form for SC/SSA positions posted on www.undp.tj by following the job vacancies link from this webpage. Please note that no other type of application form will be considered for such positions, other than the one found at the link specified above.
Introduction

The National Programme to Fight Tropical Diseases (malaria) in the Republic of Tajikistan for 2006-2010 will end in 2010. The main goals of the programme are:
Interruption of tropical malaria’s transmission and final liquidation of malaria foci’s in the country;
Prevention of outbreak of malaria morbidity;
Reduction of general morbidity rate - up to less than 20 cases per 100,000 populations.

Analysis of epidemiological situation in the country and official statistics indicate that malaria registration rate has been decreased over the programme implementation period. If in 2005, 2309 malaria cases were registered in the republic, out of them 81 were tropical malaria cases, only 1 case of tropical malaria was registered in 2009 (imported case from Africa) as well as local transmission of tropical form of malaria has been not observed.

In 2008, only 318 cases were registered constituting 4,5 cases per 100,000 populations. Outbreak of malaria has not been observed over the last 4-5 years. Interim evaluation of programme implementation conducted in 2008 by WHO international consultant and epidemiological situation on malaria show that the country has achieved significant results and it is high time to change the country strategy on malaria problems. Achieved results confirm that it is time to switch to a new strategy of WHO “From Malaria Control to Elimination” in the WHO European Region for 2006-2015.

In October 2009, UNDP has signed an agreement with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) on implementation of the Round 8 project for Elimination of Malaria in Tajikistan in 2010-2014. The overall goal of the project is to eliminate malaria infection through interruption of local malaria transmission, which is reflecting the regional malaria elimination strategy of WHO/Europe and adopted in the RBM strategy of WHO and the Millennium Development Goals, namely to have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases. The project is aimed at consolidating the achieved results of the ongoing reduction of Malaria infection. The project will scale up existing efforts of the malaria surveillance system, strengthening the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) capacity, improving early detection and effective treatment as well as promotion of integrated vector control management. The total proposal sum for five years is €9,221,792.02. Out of this amount, €4,831,343.94 was approved for the first two years of the project (Phase 1). The general population in 41 project districts of the country will be targeted by the project.

Goal and objectives of the National Programme:

Having taken responsibilities upon oneself to eliminate malaria against a background of significant reduction in malaria cases in Tajikistan was logical ground to develop the new National Programme to eliminate malaria in the country for 2010-2015.

The purpose of the new programme is elimination of malaria in the Republic of Tajikistan by 2015 and creation of stable epidemiological well-being/prosperity.
The malaria elimination strategy consists of decision of the following objectives:

Interruption of local malaria transmission in the country by 2015 and its subsequent elimination;
Prevention of reoccurrence of malaria transmission in the territory of the country where it was eliminated earlier.

The goals and objectives of the National Programme should comply with and have its source from Millennium Development Goals defined and approved by UN in 2004. They also should be in accordance with the New Strategy of WHO/Europe.

Simultaneously with the development of the new National Programme, the new monitoring and evaluation plan should be developed for the same period.

The MoH’s working group and National Coordination Committee (NCC) have developed a working version of the National Programme for 2010-2015 and upon the completion of the final version of the programme the main responsibility of the international consultant will be to provide technical support to technical working group (TWG) and national experts in development of the National Monitoring and Evaluation Plan.

I.The consultant is expected to undertake the following tasks:

1.Jointly with TWG, prepare a brief overview of Tajikistan’s malaria situation, existing national capacities to control the disease and available financial resources
2.Prepare the terms of reference for and manage the work of the national consultants in TWG to be involved in development of the National Programme and M&E plan
3.Participate and facilitate consultations and planning of co-operation with national partners and international community
4.Assist the TWG to organize Malaria situation analysis in Tajikistan
5.Jointly with TWG, identify the main priorities and interventions of the National Malaria Elimination Programme
6.Jointly with TWG, develop the NMEP (objectives, roles of partners, activities and indicators)
7.Jointly with TWG, develop the National M&E Plan
8.Analyze and consolidate recommendations of the national stakeholders and consultants into the document on National Programme for Elimination of Malaria for the period of 2010-2015 with clear division of responsibilities of the main stakeholders over implementation of the programme and National M&E Plan
9.Make presentation of proposed National Programme results and plans at the meeting of the TWG and key partners
10.Jointly with TWG, define costs for implementation of NMEP and National M&E Plan.

II.Qualifications and Experience requirements
Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in public health, social sciences or related fields
Minimum 10 years of progressive responsible working experience in public health and infectious disease control
Minimum 5 years of professional experience in Malaria area with good understanding of multisectoral approaches, planning, management, monitoring and evaluation of Malaria activities
International experience on the preparation of strategic documents and evaluation
Proven excellent analytical and writing skills
Good communications and interpersonal skills
Fluency in English, working knowledge of Russian is an asset.
Reliability and timeliness in keeping deadlines and delivering high quality products.
Experience of work with UNDP, GFATM and knowledge of their procedures and programme implementation strategies will be an advantage.
Experience in technical cooperation programmes and projects will be an advantage

III.Tentative schedule for delivery of outputs by the contractor

Duration of the mission:
The IC will be required to undertake a two week mission to Tajikistan and one week of desk work is required to finalize the draft and incorporate comments.

Schedule for the delivery of the below outputs will be discussed with the selected candidate.
Key outputs

Output 1: Mission report, initial consolidated draft of National Programme for Malaria Elimination and M&E plan are presented to TWG and key stakeholders (UNDP, WHO, ACTED, MoH, NCC, etc)
Output 2: Recommendations to UNDP CO for efficient implementation of malaria project funded by GFATM with an emphasis on national capacity need and gaps to be tackled within the new strategy;

Reporting by the contractor and payment for contractor’s services
For reporting purposes, in line with the abovementioned outputs, the contractor produces (1) draft review of Programme document, (2) final edited version of the National Programme and M&E Plan (3) A brief final report on programme development process with recommendations to UNDP for further implementation of malaria project funded by GFATM.

The payments arrangements will be agreed individually with the selected candidate.


Applications for this position should be sent to:

Please fill out an Application form for SSA position posted on www.undp.tj by following the job vacancies link from this webpage.
Since UNDP Tajikistan currently has a majority of male employees, we strongly encourage qualified female applicants for this position. UNDP seeks to ensure that male and female employees are given equal career opportunities and that staff members are able to keep an appropriate balance between work and private life.

Apply online to this position at: http://www.undp.tj/va/?turn_on=account&action=apply&ID=670