Overview of position

• Somalia are considered a high malaria burden country & most of the population are at risk. The risk is highest among the people who live in low transmission areas, pregnant women & children. Easy access to safe, effective & quality medicines & health products is an integral part of the universal health coverage. The essential medicines supply chain systems cover diverse issues including manufacturing, forecasting, procurement, distribution, & delivery systems. Access to essential medicines is influenced by multitude of factors including personal factors such as perceived needs of the individuals, households & communities, service delivery factors such as the availability & distribution of supplies. The different stages of supply chain are positively or negatively affected by the all the health systems factors such as competent human resources & service delivery mechanisms. The challenges faced by the countries with weak systems such as Somalia were further deteriorated by the COVID-19 pandemic shocks & global financial & energy crisis.
• The global fund is one of the major donors supporting health systems strengthening in Somalia, it supports activities in the areas of policy development, MOH institutional capacity building, procurement & supply systems, health management information system & community systems strengthening.
• In collaboration with our client, WHO & other development partners, the Ministries of Health are leading in the provision of quality malaria services to the targeted community from prevention of illness, testing & diagnosing to the treatment of identified cases across Somalia. Our client procures malaria supplies & distributes them directly to implementing partners & / or through Ministry of Health. There are challenges in the timely delivery, storage, distribution & reporting of essential malaria supplies resulting in stock outs at service delivery points. Similarly, there are difficulties in reconciling morbidity & consumption data coming from the same facilities hindering accurate forecasting of supplies. At the same time identifying bottlenecks hindering smooth transfer of supplies from the central warehouse to health facilities has not been easy.

Purpose & justification of the assignment:

The overall purpose of this assignment is to assess the delivery, distribution, availability, use & reporting of malaria commodities from central warehouses to the malaria patient’s last point of contact. The specific objectives are to:

• Asses the logistics / transportation / delivery routes of malaria commodities & supplies from our client & the the central government warehouses to the health facilities.
• Review inventory & stock management systems & practices for Malaria supplies at all levels.
• Assess the operationality & use of the LMIS Malaria related tools at all levels.
• Assess the service providers adherence to malaria case management guidelines.
• Review existing mechanisms for coordination of Malaria supplies distribution & accountability between the various stakeholders.
• Review, update & extend Somali Malaria supplies quantification that takes into consideration 2022, present context & anticipated trends 2023 to 2026.
• Make recommendations to improve Malaria & other health supply management at all levels in Somalia.

Role objectives

Methods:

• The international consultant will be supervised by the Malaria Program Manager. This consultancy work will be in 2 phases for a total of 68 days between Jan 2023 & end of November 2023 (completion date). The f1st phase will be done between January to June 2023, while the 2nd phase will be done in last quarter of 2023. In the 1st phase, in collaboration with technical teams from our clients side & the Ministry of Health, the consultant will develop assessment proposal detailing the assessment approach & tools, training Procurement & Supply Management (PSM) & National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) data collection / supervision teams, review the quantification, oversee data collection, analyse the collected data & writing the final report. The consultant will work with the PSM & NMCP staff at federal & state level Ministries of Health.
• The data collection team will visit central & regional warehouses to assess their storage conditions & the mechanisms of transferring commodities to the lower levels. Program focal persons at national, state, region & where possible district levels will be interviewed & their feedback on the overall management of supplies captured. Likewise, the data collection teams will review medical & laboratory registers, LMIS registers, LMIS summary forms, verify stock cards by doing random inventory count of malaria commodities & check the order & delivery forms. The team will assess the storage conditions of the commodities & will have face to face interviews with the relevant health professionals in sample health facility. In the interview a wide range of questions will be covered such as malaria services provided, staff competencies in malaria case management, the frequency of supportive supervisions, expired stock, stock availability, stock outs, availability of LMIS registers / summary forms & issues in transporting & storage of supplies. Availability of & adherence to national treatment guidelines will be reviewed during the visits.
• In the 2nd phase, the consultant will lead a follow up assessment that will be built on the lessons learned from the experience of the 1st phase. The 2nd phase assessment fill assess the remedial actions against the weaknesses identified in the 1st phase. Upon the completion of the 2nd phase, the consultant is expected to develop a tailored supervision tools & in collaboration with the ministries to develop a follow up action plan for future follow up supervision assessments.

Expected output:

The overall aim of the assessment is to identify issues that hinder access to the essential & life saving malaria commodities within the country & recommend strategies that ensure quality & affordable products are availed to communities as & when needed in an equitable & sustainable manner. The following are some of the expected specific outputs:

• Malaria supplies delivery routes map(s).
• Malaria supplies stock levels as per guidelines.
• Malaria related LMIS tools & practices reviewed.
• Existing coordination framework for supply management analysed.
• Adherence of health workers to Malaria case management guidelines assesses.
• Consultancy report detailing the objectives of the consultancy, deliverables, methodology, outputs, lessons learnt, challenges & recommendations.
• A follow up assessment on the remedial actions taken to address the identified weaknesses of the 1st assessment is conducted.
• Updated supervision tools & follow-up action plan is developed.
• Quantification review report & tool.
• Reviewed & updated forecast methodology & assumptions.
• Forecast requirements for each malaria FY 2024 / 2025 / 2026.
• Supply plan for FY 2024 / 2025 / 2026.

The findings of the assessment will not only be used to strengthen supply chain management for essential malaria supplies but will also lay firm ground for the next phase of malaria supplies quantification.

Expected deliverables & timeline:

Tasks

Collect required data, organise & analyse the data & build for the quantification exerciseReport5

Develop a supply plan based on consumption data & determine quantities required, quantity to order, when these orders should be placed & validate the supply planReport5

Coordinate with MOH & our client & provide technical guidance for data collectionReport14

Produce a report as per the standard reporting requirements share, calculation tables & report with stakeholders on quantification

Finalize the quantification & forecasting package following reviews by stakeholders

Collate & analyze data on end user verification

Share & validate findings from field work for Q4, 2022

Submission of phase1 assessment report (2 reports)Report8

Facilitate 1 day refresher training for PSM & NMCP staff on the updated toolsReport12

Coordinate with MOH & our client & provide technical guidance for data collection

Collate & analyze data

Share & validate findings from field work for Q1, 2023Report15

Review / develop / adapt supervision tools based on findings of the assessments

Present the findings of the combined two phases report in a workshop & facilitate development of an action plan

Share final report.

Project reporting

Under the supervision of the Malaria Program Manager, the Consultant will conduct a nationwide Malaria commodity end user verification & supply chain system assessment.

Key competencies

• Relevant qualifications in Logistics, Supplies & Procurement Systems or related field.
• Fluent in written & spoken English.
• Knowledge of another official UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.
• Course certifications & specialized courses in Health & Humanitarian Supply Chain Management & Logistics Management Information System will be an asset.
• A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in procurement & supply chain management in health including logistics management information systems at national & international levels is required.
• An experience in working in countries with prolonged humanitarian crises & fragile states’ supply chain system is desirable.
• Emergency / humanitarian settings experience is required.

Core values:

• Care.
• Respect.
• Integrity.
• Trust.
• Accountability.
• Sustainability.

Core competencies:

• Demonstrates self awareness & ethical awareness.
• Works collaboratively with others.
• Builds & maintains partnerships.
• Innovates & embraces change.
• Thinks & acts strategically.
• Drive to achieve impactful results.
• Manages ambiguity & complexity.

Common technical knowledge required:

• Methodology of program / project management.
• UN programmatic goals, visions, positions, policies & strategies.
• Knowledge of global human rights issues, specifically relating to children & women & the current UN position & approaches.
• UN policies & strategy to address on national & international issues, particularly relating to conflicts, natural disasters & recovery.
• UN emergency program policies, goals, strategies & approaches.
• Gender equality & diversity awareness.

Technical knowledge to be acquired / enhanced (for the job):

• UN policies & strategy to address international humanitarian issues & the responses.
• UN common approaches to programmatic issues & UN positions.
• UN security operations & guidelines.

Team management

This role has no team management responsibility.

Further information

Qualified female candiddates are encouraged to apply for this role.

Disclaimer: At no stage of the recruitment process will CTG ask candidates for a fee. This includes during the application stage, interview, assessment and training.