TERMS OF REFERENCE

Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) M&E Case Studies Development, Consultancy

Location:NYHQ

Language(s) required:English, (French proficiency desired)

Travel:Yes

Duration of Contract:4 months

Application Deadline:13 August 2015

Background & Rationale

The Inter Agency Task Team on the Prevention and Treatment of HIV Infection in Pregnant Women, Mothers and Children (IATT) co-convened by UNICEF and WHO is a partnership of 33 organizations committed to the elimination of new HIV infections among children and keeping their mothers alive. Guided by the Global Plan towards the Elimination of New Infections among Children by 2015 and Keeping their Mother Alive (The Global Plan), the IATT focuses on 22 countries outlined in the Global Plan as priority countries and has three core mandates, namely:

  1. Develop and revise guidance and operational tools
  2. Monitor and track progress of country implementation
  3. Coordinate and provide technical assistance (TA) for EMTCT

To support delivery of these mandates, the IATT has thematic working groups one of which is the Monitoring and Evaluation Working Group (MEWG). The MEWG group, comprised of 30-35 member organizations, is tasked to coordinate and facilitate technical assistance; and provide operational and programmatic guidance in relation to global, national and sub-national program and progress tracking, across all 22 Global Plan countries.

Over the past decade, Prevention of Mother to Child HIV Transmission (PMTCT) programmes have rapidly evolved from delivering a single prophylactic drug to mothers to providing lifelong care and treatment for both mothers and children living with HIV. Lifelong treatment approaches—widely known as ‘Option B+’—are expanding from pilots to universal implementation as revised national treatment guidelines are scaled up across generalized epidemic settings. As service delivery programmes expand lifelong treatment approaches, data systems that collect, report and use routine and enhanced programme information must be strengthened to identify programme successes and challenges.

The IATT Monitoring and Evaluation working group, through its’ partnership with WHO and partner CDC, has developed and published the Option B+ Monitoring & Evaluation Framework for Antiretroviral Treatment for Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women Living with HIV and Their Infants (IATT M&E Option B+ Framework). The tool is intended to help guide national programmesreview, adapt and update current monitoring systems and continuously evaluate programmes, maximizing the potential impact of lifelong treatment (Option B+) programs to improve health outcomes and prevent HIV infections for women, their children and their families.

This resource is intended for use among national Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) officers; PMTCT, pediatric, MNCH and HIV Care and Treatment programme managers; and other stakeholders (including donors, implementing partners, and civil society) in countries with generalized HIV epidemics.

A number of countries have taken a lead in developing and implementing adaptations to their monitoring systems in order to be able to better document events throughout the care continuum for mothers and their infants and better determine retention and PMTCT outcomes. Examples of these efforts are: the HIV Exposed Infant Cohort Analysis in Kenya; the SMS enhanced monitoring system with weekly dashboard reviews to track ART initiations, early retention and commodity stock outs in Uganda; the enhanced monitoring system in Rwanda; and the implementation of a unique patient ID that links mother and infant pairs in Botswana.

Purpose

To shorten the learning curve for countries, UNICEF would like to showcase through documented case studies, these and other countries implementing M&E practices that align to the recommendations in this framework. The case studies will supplement the guidance within the B+ M&E framework by providing practical implementation examples outlining inputs, process, challenges and solutions. In order to complete these case studies a consultant is required to work with the IATT Secretariat as well as the MEWG in engaging countries; obtaining data, tools and information for development and completion of the case studies.

Expected results

  1. Tool Development done: Case study outline as well as data/information gathering template and plan.
  2. Documented Country Engagement Discussions and Outputs: abstracts, copies of tools
  3. Country case study write ups (final drafts) developed : 10 Country case studies covering 5 thematic areas namely:
  1. Cohort and Retention monitoring;
  2. Enhanced Monitoring;
  3. Sub-national Analysis for Unmet Need for PMTCT, EID and Pediatric ART done;
  4. Dashboards to enhance data use available; and
  5. Use of Unique Identifiers that Link Mother-Infant Pairs across Service Delivery Points and across Health Facilities as a foundation for Outcomes and Impact Assessment available.

Methodology

  1. Literature Review and Development of Tools

Case study outline and data/information gathering template: For each thematic areas namely covering 5 thematic areas (Cohort and Retention monitoring; Enhanced Monitoring; Sub-national Analysis for Unmet Need for PMTCT, EID and Pediatric ART; Dashboards to enhance data use; and Use of Unique Identifiers that Link Mother-Infant Pairs across Service Delivery Points and across Health Facilities as a foundation for Outcomes and Impact Assessment); a literature and desk review will be conducted from Global and country perspectives to inform the background, rationale and justification of the case studies. An outline of the case study for each thematic are will be drawn as well as data gathering template and plan.

  1. Country Engagement

Initiate and carry through country conversations prior to the Country Consultation Meeting in September of 2015, as well as during the meeting and after, until all information satisfactorily gathered. A country consultation is planned for September 2015 for 13 countries. Countries have been invited and provided with a guidance document that describes preparations leading up to the meeting. Countries (2 or 3) have been identified to make presentations in each of the 5 thematic areas (Table 1) detailing their implementation models. These countries will be engaged prior and during the meeting to initiate and carry forward conversations around the respective thematic areas as part of sharing perspectives and experiences on their implementation model; and as part of the data/information gathering process. This will involve travel to the meeting as well as to countries where an in-country follow up mission is required.

Table 1:Thematic Area and Suggested Case Study Country

THEMATIC AREA / COUNTRY CASE STUDY
1. Cohort Monitoring & Retention Monitoring / Kenya, Malawi, Uganda
2. Enhanced Monitoring / Uganda, Rwanda
3. Subnational Analysis Of Unmet Need For PMTCT, EID, Ped ART / Nigeria, Zimbabwe,
South Africa
4. Dashboard Monitoring / South Africa, Uganda, Kenya
5. Unique Ids To Link Mother-Infant Pairs / Zambia, Rwanda
  1. Data/information gathering

Gather data and information from the service delivery, program, policy and cost perspectives through country calls, country interaction at the Country Consultation meeting and follow up missions after the meeting as necessary.

For each case study, information will be collected on the following aspects:

-Background, rationale, justification

-Key Definitions

-Methodology

-Issues addressed

-Challenges identified

-Lessons learnt: good practice

-Lessons learnt: what would you do differently

-What it cost (initial implementation & scale up)

-Recommendations

In addition, there will be a focus on highlighting important aspects related to specific thematic areas (Table 2).

Table 2: Specific Information Required by Thematic Area

Cohort Monitoring & Retention Monitoring
  1. Description (present and historic) of PMTCT monitoring system, whether longitudinal, cross-sectional (visit based) or a combination of the two?
  2. Detailed description of how longitudinal monitoring is conducted and whether cohort analysis is done?
  3. Description of how the cohort is defined? (For PMTCT programs there are three different cohorts of interest. These three cohorts include: 1) the ART cohorts of pregnant women initiated on ART, 2) the ANC cohorts of pregnant women who attend the 1st ANC visit in the same month, and 3) the birth cohorts of HIV-exposed infants);
  4. Whether there is integrated longitudinal follow up for PMTCT and MNCH and how this is done if this is the case?
  5. What the outcomes of interest are?
  6. Is retention being monitored and measured? At what intervals?
  7. Is maternal retention monitored separate from Infant retention?
  8. How is retention defined?
  9. What is the numerator and denominator?
  10. What is the data source for retention cohorts?
  11. At what level is retention calculated and to which level is it reported? Health facility, district, provincial, national?
  12. What process did the MOH have to undertake to modify systems from cross sectional to longitudinal?
  13. Have training resources been developed?
  14. What major challenges are faced in cohort and retention monitoring?
  15. If guiding another country adapting to Cohort monitoring, what would the country describe as the major inputs and major cost items?

Enhanced Monitoring
  1. Is the country implementing any form of enhanced monitoring?
  2. In which sites are they implementing this form of enhanced monitoring?
  3. Which indicators are being tracked, at what frequency?
  4. Which are the source documents for the numerators and denominators?
  5. Have they developed or adapted any data management system for this enhanced monitoring?

Subnational Analysis Of Unmet Need For PMTCT, EID, Ped ART
  1. How is subnational analysis of unmet need for PMTCT, EID, and Ped. ART conducted?
  2. At what level is the subnational unit of monitoring?
  3. Describe the source documents for numerator as well as the denominator source or calculation?

Dashboard Monitoring to enhance Data Use
  1. Which indicators are monitored by dashboard?
  2. Is calculation automated or manual or both?
  3. Which platform is used for the electronic dashboard?
  4. Describe the process of how the data is analyzed and discussed for decision making?

Use of Unique Identifiers that Link Mother-Infant Pairs across Service Delivery Points and across Health Facilities as a foundation for Outcomes and Impact Assessment
  1. How wasthe universal and unique ID implemented in the HIV program?
  2. Has this universal unique ID been implemented more broadly in the primary health care system or in a vital registry system?
  3. Is the country able to use unique IDs to help link mother-infant pairs to track outcomes across service delivery points?
  4. How is the unique ID generated? Is it the same as the national ID # (if there is one)?
  5. How is it integrated into the various service delivery points?
  6. Does it transcend across different geographical locations?
  7. As this was being implemented, what were the key planning, training, system adaptation and cost considerations made for the introduction of this system?

  1. Analysis, Synthesis and Case Study Write up

Following the data/information gathering there will be analysis and synthesis of rationale, processes, methodologies, work flow, tools, outputs, cost, results, challenges and lessons learnt; and write up of the case studies. Two case studies will be written per thematic area, bringing out some contrast from methodological approach, country context and success or failure perspectives.

  1. Draft of a compendium of best practices/lessons

learned on M&E systems in the context of lifelong ART for pregnant women living with HIV.

Duty Station

Consultant will work at UNICEF New York Headquarters. Travel will be required. Countries to be determined.

Timeframe

Start date: 31August 2015 End date:31December 2015 (4 months)

Deliverables

Table 2: Outline of Deliverables and Duration

Deliverables / Duration
(Estimated # of days) / Expected Submission Date
Literature Review and Development of Tools: Case study outline and data/information gathering template / 10 / 14 September 2015
Country Engagement: Initiate and carry through country conversations prior the Country Consultation Meeting in September of 2015, during the meeting and after the meeting. / 29 / 12October 2015
Data/information gathering: Gather data and information from the service delivery (including tools), program, policy and cost perspectives through country calls, country interaction at the Country Consultation meeting and follow up missions after the meeting as necessary. / Overlaps with Country Engagement + 5 days / 23 October2015
Analysis, Synthesis and Case Study Write up: Analyze/synthesize the rationale, processes, methodologies, work flow, tools, outputs, cost, results, challenges and lessons learnt; and write up case studies. / 20 / 23 November 2015
Develop a compendium of best practices/lessons learned on M&E systems in the context of lifelong ART for pregnant women living with HIV. / 37 / 31 December 2015

TOTAL DAYS

/ 101

Key competences, technical background, and experience required

Education:

  • Master’s degree in public health, epidemiology, information systems,
  • Strong experience in working on Monitoring & Evaluation/Strategic Information systems with knowledge of PMTCT and Paediatric HIV programming (min. 8 years’ mid-level experience)
  • Fluency in English required, with excellent writing skills, French proficiency desired.

How to Apply

Applicants are requested to send their submissions to with subject line: “Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) M&E Case Studies Development, Consultancy” by 13 August 2015, 5:00pm EST.

Applications must include:

  • Cover letter,
  • Maximum 3-page curriculum vitae (CV); and
  • Signed P11 form (
  • Indicate where you heard about this advertisement

Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

Due to the volume of applications being processed, only short-listed candidates will be contacted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to a reference-checking process to verify the information provided in the application.

NOTE: Files should not exceed 5.0MB limit

UNICEF is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants / Individual Contractors

1. Legal Status

The individual engaged by UNICEF under this contract as a consultant or individual contractors (the “Contractor”) is engaged in a personal capacity and not as representatives of a Government or of any other entity external to the United Nations. The Contractor is neither a "staff member" under the Staff Regulations of the United Nations and UNICEF policies and procedures nor an "official" for the purpose of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, 1946. The Contractor may, however, be afforded the status of "Experts on Mission" in the sense of Section 22 of Article VI of the Convention and the Contractor is required by UNICEF to travel in order to fulfil the requirements of this contract, the Contractor may be issued a United Nations Certificate in accordance with Section 26 of Article VII of the Convention.

2. Obligations

The Contractor shall complete the assignment set out in the Terms of Reference for this contract with due diligence, efficiency and economy, in accordance with generally accepted professional techniques and practices.

The Contractor must respect the impartiality and independence of UNICEF and the United Nations and in connection with this contract must neither seek nor accept instructions from anyone other than UNICEF. During the term of this contract the Contractor must refrain from any conduct that would adversely reflect on UNICEF or the United Nations and must not engage in any activity that is incompatible with the administrative instructions and policies and procedures of UNICEF. The Contractor must exercise the utmost discretion in all matters relating to this contract.

In particular, but without limiting the foregoing, the Contractor (a) will conduct him- or herself in a manner consistent with the Standards of Conduct in the International Civil Service; and (b) will comply with the administrative instructions and policies and procedures of UNICE relating to fraud and corruption; information disclosure; use of electronic communication assets; harassment, sexual harassment and abuse of authority; and the requirements set forth in the Secretary General's Bulletin on Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse.

Unless otherwise authorized by the appropriate official in the office concerned, the Contractor must not communicate at any time to the media or to any institution, person, Government or other entity external to UNICEF any information that has not been made public and which has become known to the Contractor by reason of his or her association with UNICEF or the United Nations. The Contractor may not use such information without the written authorization of UNICEF, and shall under no circumstances use such information for his or her private advantage or that of others. These obligations do not lapse upon termination of this contact.

3. Title rights

UNICEF shall be entitled to all property rights, including but not limited to patents, copyrights and trademarks, with regard to material created by the Contractor which bears a direct relation to, or is made in order to perform, this contract. At the request of UNICEF, the Contractor shall assist in securing such property rights and transferring them to UNICEF in compliance with the requirements of the law governing such rights.

4. Travel

If UNICEF determines that the Contractor needs to travel in order to perform this contract, that travel shall be specified in the contract and the Contractor’s travel costs shall be set out in the contract, on the following basis:

(a)UNICEF will pay for travel in economy class via the most direct and economical route; provided however that in exceptional circumstances, such as for medical reasons, travel in business class may be approved by UNICEF on a case-by-case basis.

(b)UNICEF will reimburse the Contractor for out-of-pocket expenses associated with such travel by paying an amount equivalent to the daily subsistence allowance that would be paid to staff members undertaking similar travel for official purposes.