Recrutement de 01 Individual National Consultant- to strengthen supply chain management related to nutraceutical products

Recrutement de 01 Individual National Consultant- to strengthen supply chain management related to nutraceutical products

Contract type: Consultant
Duty Station: Kathmandu
Level: Consultancy
Location: Nepal
Categories: Nutrition
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Each year, Government of Nepal, Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) invest a substantial amount of fund to procure nutrition related commodities, with budget often crosses more than NPR 400 million (USD$ 3,143,320). These commodities include Ferrous Sulphate (60 mg) + Folic Acid (400 mcg) tablets, Retinol (Vitamin A) capsules, Albendazole (400 mg) tablets, Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods (92 grams) sachets, Multiple Micronutrient Powder (1 gms) sachets, Fortified flour (super cereal) bags, F-100 (Formula milk) (114 grams) sachets and F- 75 (Formula milk) (102.5 grams) sachets. The label information in most of these commodities are suggestive to store these commodities in warehouse in controlled temperature (<30 degree centigrade) and relative humidity (65% ± 2) but these commodities are stored under room temperature in terai ecological zone where mean annual temperature (MAT) varies from 22 degree centigrade (winter daytime temperature) to > 38 degree centigrade (summer temperature). On top of that, these commodities are also stored in the mobile storage vessel whenever space shortage is faced to store these commodities under room temperature. Sometimes, the temperature of these mobile storage vessels goes above 60-degree centigrade which results in the loss of time, temperature, and relative humidity sensitive nutraceutical commodities.

The Government used guiding document from WHO, called WHO Technical Report Series, No. 961, 2011, Annex 9, ‘Model guidance for the storage and transport of time- and temperature- sensitive pharmaceutical products’, which is less referred for the nutraceutical commodities considering the nutrition related commodities close to the food commodities. Thus, less attention is paid to check the label information while storing, handling and distribution of these items considering the WHO guideline is only available in English script and no such guideline is available in Nepali Script.

To overcome this challenge, there is need to develop national guideline to store, handle, and distribution of temperature and relative humidity sensitive nutraceutical products for Nepal with the support of external technical assistance who works closely with the programme division in Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) Nepal and UNICEF Nepal.

Key purpose of consultancy includes:

The purpose of the consultancy is to provide technical assistance to develop national guideline to store, handle, and distribution of temperature and relative humidity sensitive nutraceutical products like Multiple Micronutrient Powder, Vitamin ‘A’ capsule, Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF), Resomal, F-75, and F-100.

The consultant will provide technical support to the Nutrition Division of the Department of Health Services and focal person in Logistics Management Section (LMS) in all aspects of nutrition supply chain management under the guidance of UNICEF Nepal and relevant government representative of the DoHS to drive the initiative.

The consultancy aims to strengthen nutrition supply chain for improved nutrition service delivery, building the capacity of relevant Logistics Management Section (LMS) staff in all aspects of supply chain management, keeping the safety of the nutraceutical products in priority through improved commodity management inside the warehouses of Government of Nepal, Ministry of Health and Population.

Desk review of WHO / UNICEF global guidelines, existing work process in Management Division, and other available documents (DHIS/IHMIS) on storage, handling, and distribution of pharmaceutical/ nutraceutical products as reference in developing a national guideline for time, temperature, relative humidity sensitive nutraceutical product’s receiving, storage, handling, and distribution.
Analyses potential safety risk of nutraceutical products that associated with the loss of the products in the medical stores at federal and provincial level to develop safety checklist for nutrition commodities for the purpose of correction of safety hazards and future working guidelines.
Organizes field study, stakeholder’s consultation, information analysis using the above safety checklist to provide information to the stakeholders at local, provincial, and federal levels.
Conducts in-depth analysis of IHMIS and e-LMIS reports to improve data quality that could cover entire supply chain information (stocks management, residual shelf life, required storage temperature & humidity of products, and distribution trends)
Drafts national storage, handling, and distribution guidelines for nutrition commodities. And coordinates to organise meetings with key stakeholders to finalize the national storage guideline and follow ups to get endorsement of the national guideline from Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) Nepal.
Facilitates preparation of forecast, supply planning using the QAT tools on nutrition commodities. Analyse the QAT reports and share the reports to the relevant stakeholders by highlighting products that will be expired within 12 months.
Transfer the knowledge on forecasting and supply planning, store, handle, and distribution of nutrition commodity through couching, mentoring and onsite training of the appointed staff members in Management Division.

Duration of Contract: The total duration of the contract is for 12 months tentatively starting from 01 July 2023. The consultant will be based in Logistic Management Section of Management Division, Department of Health Services, Teku

Deliverables for this Assignment:

Tasks/Milestone Deliverables/Outputs Timeline Proposed Fee ( In Nepalese Currency)
Desk review and analysis of Safety report of nutraceutical commodities including in-depth analysis of iHMiS and e-LMiS related to nutraceutical products
Submission of report upon accomplishment of the review process of the UNICEF / WHO guidelines and other national guidelines,

Develop and submit field visit checklist, and organize field visits & stakeholder’s consultation with a focus on the safety risk management of nutraceutical products in the federal and provincial warehouses of Government of Nepal, Ministry of Health and Population

01 July - 31 Aug 2023
Draft national guideline to store, handle and distribution of temperature and relative humidity sensitive nutraceutical products with organization of series of consultation meetings with key stakeholders and helps in finalization and endorsement of the guideline from concern technical groups and Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) Nepal.
Submission of Final national guideline to store, handle and distribution of temperature and relative humidity sensitive nutraceutical products will be available together with follow up reports to endorse the guideline from Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) Nepal.

01 Sept - 31 Oct 2023
Facilitate preparation of forecast, supply planning using the QAT tools on nutrition commodities. Analyse the QAT reports and share the reports to the relevant stakeholders by highlighting products that will be expired within 12 months
Submission of QAT reports on forecasting, supply planning, and inventory

01 Nov - 30 April 2024
Provide on-site training, couching, and mentoring to management division staff members on forecasting and supply planning, store, handle and distribution of nutrition commodity
Submission of completed report on forecasting and supply planning, store, handle and distribution of nutrition commodity.

01 May - 30 June 2024
Total Fee (NPR)
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Education

Master’s in Global Health Procurement and Supply Chain Management or relevant degree in business / foods technology, master’s in pharmacy, master’s in public health.
Work Experience

At least 5 years work experience in medical warehouse, pharmacological company with handling of pharmacological/ nutraceutical products under controlled atmospheric condition experience with UN will be advantage
Knowledge:

Technology of production of pharmaceutical / nutraceutical products
Supply Chain system during production, storage, handling, and distribution of pharmaceutical/nutraceutical products.
Safety risk assessment and management of pharmaceutical/ nutraceutical products.
WHO technical papers around storage, handling, distribution of time, temperature, relative humidity sensitive nutraceutical products/ pharmaceutical products.
Standards and guidelines related to nutraceutical/ pharmaceutical products (e.g., British Pharmacopeia, American Pharmacopeia, Indian Pharmacopeia, UN Supply Catalogue)
Special skills:

Statistical analysis of IHMIS and e-LMIS or similar dashboard
Forecasting, supply planning and logistic related monitoring skills.
Development of logistic related Dashboard
Professional level skill on reading, writing, and speaking in English and Nepali language.
Competencies: List of competencies required for the individual to effectively complete tasks

Technical competency on supply chain management.
Drive for result
Teamwork
Good analytical, networking, coordination, and communication
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/individual contractors 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:

Request to submit financial proposal as per deliverables in Nepalese currency.

Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. Candidates from under-represented ethnic groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract 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 and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors 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.

Note:

This is a re-advertisement, hence previous applicants need not reapply.

Advertised: 24 Aug 2023 Nepal Standard Time
Deadline: 30 Aug 2023 Nepal Standard Time