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, health.

Significant investments have been made to enhance immunization supply chain management across Pacific Island Countries (PICs) over the past year. These efforts include strengthening the cold chain, developing capacity in vaccine forecasting and stock management, and providing logistics support. To evaluate the impact of these investments and further improve supply chain performance, an Effective Vaccine Management Assessment (EVMA) was conducted in 11 PICs during 2023/4, including the Solomon Islands in February 2024.

The EVMA results for the Solomon Islands revealed a national score of 61%, slightly down from 63% in the 2017 assessment, with none of the criteria meeting the 80% standard. Among the Facility Operations Criteria (E1…E9), the highest scores were for Vaccine Arrivals (77%) and Vaccine Management (72%), while the lowest were for Distribution (57%) and Waste Management (57%). For Facility Management Criteria (M1…M4), Supportive Supervision and Performance Monitoring scored below 50%, at 37% and 41% respectively. The Maintenance and Repair criterion (E5) scored 62%, with all input categories (information, human resources, policy and procedure, and financial resources) below 60%, except for Human Resources, which was 70% (still below the standard).

These findings indicate that despite significant progress and recent investments, such as the procurement and installation of cold chain equipment and temperature monitoring devices, there are still gaps in evidence-informed management practices. Areas needing improvement include equipment maintenance, visibility of immunization supply chain (ISC) data, especially at the lower level, stock management, planning, monitoring, and procedure standardization.

Sub-optimal vaccine and stock management not only increase the operational and opportunity costs of vaccination but also exacerbate inequities and stagnate demand, particularly affecting underserved, urban poor, insecure, and hard-to-reach populations. Vaccine and injection material stocks and stock-out incidents are not regularly reported to higher levels at the national level and in health facilities. There is also inconsistency in reporting recorded utilization and wastage rates for vaccines and injection materials, and temperature monitoring reports are not consistently shared with the following levels.

Strengthening each component of the supply chain, from defining needs to monitoring, evaluation, and learning, is crucial for resilient and well-functioning immunization systems. Recognizing this, EPI and partners identified a need for technical support, and UNICEF was requested to assist due to its extensive expertise in supply chain management, particularly in immunization supply chains.

How can you make a difference? 

The purpose of the consultancy is to build capacity and support national authorities in effectively managing the delivery, storage, distribution, temperature tracking, monitoring, accountability, and waste management of all routine and COVID-19 vaccines and relevant commodities. It will also support the establishment/ revitalization of relevant coordination structures on the Vaccination supply chain, like the National Logistics Working Group (NLWG).

The specific objective is to support the EPI cold chain team to:

• Establish up-to-date vaccine and logistics inventories, including forecast/actual quantities, stock-on-hand, consumption rates, expiry dates, and cold chain temperature monitoring at national and subnational levels
• Specialized vaccine management supervision to provinces with immediate feedback and on-the-job training provided
• Build the in-country capacity on effective vaccine management, including quarterly updates and reporting on the cold chain equipment inventory.
• Review/update (based on identified need) and ensure standard operating procedures (SOPs) on the Immunization supply chain are in place and distributed to lower levels with implementation capacity built
• Finalization and quarterly implementation monitoring of EVM-comprehensive Improvement Plan.

Please refer to the ToR (TOR_Cold Chain and Vaccine Management.pdf) for further information on the deliverables and the timelines. 

GUIDANCE FOR APPLICANTS:  

Please submit a separate financial offer along with your application. The financial proposal should be a lump sum amount for all the deliverables and should show a break down for the following:

• Monthly / Daily fees– based on the deliverables in the Terms of Reference above
• Travel (economy air ticket where applicable to take up assignment and field mission travel
• Living allowance where travel is required
• Miscellaneous- to cover visa, health insurance (including medical evacuation for international consultants), communications, and other costs.

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

Education:

• An advanced university degree in one of the disciplines relevant to the following areas: Electromechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Public Health Engineering, Supply Chain Management, Health Sciences, Public Health, Epidemiology, International Development, Medicine, or a field relevant to technical assistance in immunization Supplies, Cold Chain, and Logistics.

Experience & Skills:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible professional work experience at national and international levels in vaccines programming including cold chain and vaccine management.
• Experience in Immunization Supply and Cold Chain Logistics management, new cold chain technologies, and understanding of the principles of vaccine management, knowledge and experience with data collection, data management analysis, and reporting are essential.
• Experience in immunization is mandatory
• Experience with the Pacific Islands context is an added advantage
• Ability to work in a multidisciplinary team and have the initiative to work independently to meet deadlines.
• Proven expertise in providing training, implementing, and monitoring immunization and health programs.
• Ability to work in a multidisciplinary team and have the initiative to work independently to meet deadlines.
• Strong interpersonal communication and writing skills, with the ability to lead/train a group of individuals and impart knowledge.
• Proficiency in English, verbal and in writing
• Computer skills, including quantitative analysis and reporting tools.

Language:

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset. 

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

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

To view our competency framework, please visit  here. 

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 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 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. Consultants 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.