Rapid Readiness Assessment of Mongolia for COVID-19 Vaccination

BACKGROUND

In January 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), WHO's highest level of urgency. On 11 March, WHO officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Globally, partners are working together on the response to mitigate the spread of disease -- tracking the spread of disease, developing critical interventions, distributing vital medical supplies, and supporting the development of therapeutics to manage disease and multiple vaccines.

COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and WHO. This facility is supporting the research, development, manufacturing, and pricing of a wide range of COVID-19 vaccine candidates. COVAX will ensure all participating countries, regardless of income levels, will have equal access to these vaccines once they are developed and available. The aim is to have 2 billion doses of vaccine available by the end of 2021.

To support the dissemination and distribution of these vaccines, countries will need to muster an effective and efficient effort by their health workforce. This may mean diverting existing human resource for a period of time or creating additional system capacity for vaccination. The ability to have the right workforce in the right place with the right skills will be critical for a comprehensive vaccination effort.

In order to prepare for the re-tasking of existing staff and the potential need to recruit additional staff, rapid readiness assessments should be carried out and high-level recommendations should be made to support countries in their planning. These readiness assessments should include assessment of the available workforce, the skills and distribution of that workforce and any challenges to successful delivery of a vaccination programme.

This readiness assessment is one of five in WPR. These assessments will be conducted jointly with WHO and supported by the WHO Country Office.

PURPOSE/SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THE ACTIVITY

This work aims to support the Health Policy and Service Design (HPS) Unit, Division of Health Systems and Services of the Regional Office for the Western Pacific to provide remote technical assistance in the conduct of rapid readiness assessments of the human resources for health capacity and capability and development of strategic recommendations to improve the readiness of the health workforce to meet the demands of a large-scale programme of COVID vaccination in Mongolia. The contractual partner will collaborate with the national consultants, Medical Services Administration – Ministry of Health and the WHO Health Systems and Services team, and the WHO vaccination team.

DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES TO BE CARRIED OUT

In consultation with the Health Policy and Service Design Unit of Division of Health Systems and Services, WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, the contractual partner will conduct remote readiness assessments and make high level recommendations on the health workforce readiness for COVID vaccination programmes, in close consultation with the concerned national teams and WHO. The following outputs and deliverable are expected:

Output 1:  Desktop research phase: Available data on health workforce numbers, skills and distribution is collected and summarised.   

Deliverable 1.1: High-level country reports of publicly available data.

Deliverable 1.2: Identification of areas of incomplete or unreliable data which may impact readiness for vaccination programmes.

Output 2: Data Collection phase: The international consultant, with the WHO RO and national teams, gathers data through semi-structured interviews with identified stakeholders.

Deliverable 2.1: In consultation with WPRO and national teams, targeted interviews to clarify areas of uncertainty identified in Deliverable 1.2 above.

Deliverable 2.2: Revision of high-level country reports, if required.

Output 3: Data Consolidation and analysis: All information gathered from interviews, desktop research and other sources consolidated in one place.

Deliverable 3.1: Develop high-level recommendations to increase workforce readiness for vaccination programmes, focussing on cost-effective and ‘no-regret’ solutions.

Output 4: Reporting: Draft report to share assessment findings with stakeholders

Deliverable 4.1: Work with WPRO and country team in Mongolia to develop the outline the draft report

Deliverable 4.2: Prepare a first draft report identifying the existing capacity, key challenges and opportunities in the heath workforce, and determining recommendations to increase workforce readiness for vaccination programmes:

Deliverable 4.3: Based on feedback from the technical meetings, revise the first draft report to final draft

METHODS TO CARRY OUT THE ACTIVITY

The contractual partner will review relevant documents and publications related to health workforce numbers, professions and distribution; coordinate with national consultants including country office counterparts and relevant stakeholders; and draft related activity reports.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

EDUCATION

Master’s Degree in human resources, public health, public administration, or related fields.

EXPERIENCE

• • At least seven (7) years of experience in human resources for health, workforce planning, public health or related
• • Experiences in conducting researches, assessments and evaluations
• • Experiences in data analysis and reporting
• • Previous experience of working with international agencies, government and national-level institutions, especially in WPRO/Mongolia context is an asset.

TECHNICAL SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE

• • Technical knowledge in health policy and healthcare/human resources for health including workforce planning
• • Data analysis and reporting skills
• • Good communication and coordination skills

LANGUAGES

Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English.

COMPETENCIES

• • Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond
• • Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
• • Ensuring the effective use of resources
• • Fostering Integration and team work
• • Communicating in a credible and effective way

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Contract duration: December 2020 – February 2021 (2 months)

APPLICATIONS

Qualified and interested specialists should submit their CV {for individual contractors} or Company Profile {for institutional applications} and Expression of Interest {cover letter} to the Supply Officer through WP RO UNGM at < wproungm@who.int > by 9 December 2020. 

The cover letter should outline how their experience and qualifications make them a suitable candidate for this position and should include their proposed daily consultancy fee and availability.

Please use Tender Notice No. 118680 as subject to all submission. Only successful candidates will be contacted.