International evaluation expert for (Kangaroo Mother Care) KMC evaluation _ International Consultant

UNICEF Iraq Office is seeking a Internasionaal expert Consultant to support with (Kangaroo Mother Care) KMC evaluation. The main purpose of this consultancy is to generate evidence and insights that enhance current and future implementation and scale-up of the KMC programme.

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For every child, the right to survive and thrive

Background

Kangaroo Mother Care Intervention in Iraq

In 2018, UNICEF supported the establishment of a Center of Excellence for KMC and the government of Iraq plans to scale up the KMC countrywide as the main approach to managing prematurity and low birth weight. While a standardized framework to measure implementation and progress towards effective coverage of KMC has been developed, this framework is not implemented in the context of Iraq, and there is a knowledge gap about the barriers of implementation, especially when it comes to implementation in vulnerable and low socioeconomic status communities in Iraq.

To achieve SDG goal 3: good health and well-being, target 3.2. by 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births, the Government of Iraq has adopted KMC as the key intervention to be scaled up.

With the aim to improve the survival rate of small and sick newborns, the groundwork for KMC was laid in 2018 with the Ministry of Health endorsing the KMC concept and establishing a dedicated Center of Excellence in Baghdad with the focus on:

• Developing National Guidelines;
• Training: Training of Trainers (ToT) model, and curricula for quality Antenatal Care/Postnatal Care counselling;
• Initiating KMC services in Baghdad in a major maternity hospital;
• Providing training and coaching to staff in other facilities including on essential newborn care

As a result of these efforts, intermittent KMC has been initially introduced in 7 hospitals then expanded to 16 additional hospitals across 12 Governorates.

UNICEF support included:

• Participation of a national delegation in Regional UNICEF KMC workshop in Beirut, Lebanon in 2017;
• Attendance of 25 hospital healthcare staff in a three-day local courses in Baghdad, Iraq
• Rehabilitation of Newborn Care Unit (NCU).
• Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) packages to 23 hospitals.
• Social Behaviour Change activities covered healthcare staff and community

Evaluation use

Evaluation findings will support developing an evidence-based model and a strategy for scaling up KMC in Iraq which will reduce neonatal mortality in the country.

• Ministry of Health (Federal and KR) will strengthen national KMC implementation, guide scale-up efforts, ensure program sustainability, and inform policy development.
• Healthcare Facilities will be guided with regards to implementation improvements, will be enabled to address facility-specific challenges, and will be use best practices.
• UNICEF Iraq will tailor its interventions to enhance current program effectiveness.

Evaluation scope  

• With regards to thematic scope, the evaluation will cover all the aspects of the KMC adaptation and implementation by UNICEF in Iraq.
• With regards to time scope, evaluation will look into KMC programme since the beginning of its implementation in 2017.
• With regards to geographic scope, evaluation will take place at nationwide federal level and at KR level, at governorate level, and at healthcare facility level.

Methodology

Evaluation Approach

The overall methodological approach shall be based on United Nations Evaluation Guidelines (UNEG) norms and standards and will comply with relevant UNEG and UNICEF guidance materials. The methodology will be further elaborated during the inception phase, and the annexes of the inception report will include the research instruments and evaluation matrix. 

The methodology shall be framed around the OECD/DAC evaluation criteria of relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, while also incorporating UNICEF’s guiding principles on gender equality, disability inclusion, equity, and human rights. In doing so, the methodological approach will pay attention to vulnerable or ‘at risk’ groups to ensure that their needs are identified, represented, and addressed through the data collection and analysis techniques.

The evaluation will follow a theory-based approach. The evaluation team will suggest in the technical note and later refined in the inception report, a specific and detailed evaluation design that outlines how evaluation questions will be addressed. The evaluation team will outline its approach to answering the evaluation questions in a comprehensive evaluation matrix.

The evaluation matrix may include, but not be limited to, key indicators related to newborn care practices and health outcomes, such as how quickly newborns gain weight, bond with their mothers, and transition successfully to the home environment. The number of trained healthcare workers and the percentage of mothers practicing Kangaroo Mother Care, as well as monitoring neonatal mortality rates and assessing parent (mothers, fathers, and caregivers) satisfaction with the program, may also be included.

The evaluation will consist of desk review, data collection, and data analysis & report writing phase.

Desk Review will consist of review of existing guidelines, treatment protocols, and training modules related to KMC, community KMC and community follow-up care and facility KMC discharged babies, and related literature. Furthermore, as part of the technical note and subsequent inception report, a proposed approach for benchmarking KMC implementation in Iraq against good practices and models from comparable countries, is required. This should include:

• Desk review and analysis of KMC implementation strategies in settings with similar health system constraints, socioeconomic factors, and cultural contexts to Iraq;
• Identification of good practices, innovative solutions, and lessons learned that are relevant and potentially adaptable for Iraq.

Data Collection will consist of quantitative and qualitative methods at both national and sub-national levels, encompassing various geographic areas that are representative of the target population. Key Stakeholder Interviews should include interviews with healthcare providers & managers, program implementers, government officials, and community representatives as well as mothers, fathers, and caregivers. These interviews shall gather deep insights into the implementation, challenges, and perceived effectiveness of KMC and follow up interventions. Observations shall be conducted at specific healthcare facilities and in communities. Focus Group Discussions may also be utilized with targeted stakeholders.

The technical note should reflect an evaluation approach fitting the objectives and the evaluation questions. Similarly, data analysis will reflect the approach, and the team will triangulate evidence from different sources (document review, interviews, routine monitoring analysis, observations etc.)

The evaluation team will be responsible for collecting data with minimum involvement of UNICEF staff in day-to-day data collection. UNICEF will however facilitate at the start of the data collection phase the contacts between the evaluation team and the interviewees/locations. Specific mechanisms for feeding back results of the evaluation to stakeholders will be included in the Inception Report methodology. 

With regards to data analysis, the inception report will explicitly detail the analytical approach that will be used for analyzing the data, and consequently for generating insights and sensemaking based on these findings, and this in line with the suggested evaluation method. 

Data analysis may include ethical use of AI for data triangulation purposes, however the application of AI in the evaluation process must be explicitly agreed upon with UNICEF.

AI tools cannot replace evaluative judgment, nor relieve the Evaluation Team Leader of their responsibility to ensure the integrity, quality, and credibility of the evaluation. The use of AI must be transparent, ethical, and aligned with UNICEF’s evaluation standards and principles.

Key deliverables and timeline

Key deliverables for this evaluation are as follows:

• Inception report including Methodology and Tools
• Presentation of preliminary findings workshop with key stakeholders
• Draft Final Evaluation Report of findings (executive summary of findings, findings per each evaluation criteria, lessons learned and recommendations)
• Final Evaluation Report and PowerPoint presentation Deck (executive summary of findings, findings per each evaluation criteria, lessons learned and recommendations)

Team composition

This evaluation will be conducted by a team of two individual consultants, an international evaluation expert and a national evaluation expert. This terms of reference are specified for the recruitment of the international evaluation expert; another one is launched for the recruitment of the national evaluation expert. The two consultants are expected to work closely together with the international expert taking lead on the evaluation and the national expert supporting in all evaluation deliverables, including the literature review, data collection and analysis and the report writing.

Technical evaluation criteria  

The technical note should include the following:

• Include your CV: This criterion will be assessed against the elements provided in the section required qualifications. The CV will be assessed against the depth and length of the experience, and the strength of expertise and skills mentioned.
• Include in your submission 3 samples of recent (within the past 5 years) evaluation reports in which you were the team leader and the sole or co-author.

Interested individuals are requested to submit a concise technical note (maximum 5 pages) offering a critical reflection on potential evaluation approaches relevant to this assignment. This is not a full technical proposal.

This note should:

• Demonstrate the Evaluation Team Leader’s capacity to conceptualize and adapt evaluation approaches within the parameters of the assignment.
• Present one approach, with clear rationale for their relevance and applicability.
• Reflect on methodological choices rather than merely describe them, highlighting innovative or contextually responsive elements where appropriate.
• Show awareness of the evaluation’s purpose, constraints, and potential for learning and utility.

This submission is not a technical proposal, but rather a thoughtful reflection that will help assess the team leaders evaluative thinking and strategic orientation.

• Furthermore, the note should include: 
  • Overall evaluation design and framework, including explanation of the approach to address the evaluation questions;
  • Explanation and justification of data collection and analysis methods;
  • Explanation of systematic methods for literature review, document review and secondary data analysis;
  • Explanation and justification of sampling strategies and proposed number of interviews/surveys/etc;
  • Approach to operationalize the integration of human rights, gender, equity and disability in the evaluation design and process.
  • A description of the approach for ensuring that the quality of the evaluation process and of the evaluation deliverables is in line with the quality expectations of UNICEF (see above) also considering the limitations and risks, and that the ethical considerations are well addressed during the entire evaluation process, in line with the UNICEF procedure on ethics in evidence generation (see above).
  • A tentative workplan, based on the ToR, with comments and proposed adjustments
  • This note should not include a full proposal for an evaluation methodology as this will be developed during the inception phase.

 Work Assignment Overview

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: [  ToR Evaluation KMC_interational consultant_full.docx ]

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education:
• Master’s degree in one of the following fields: Evaluation, health, development studies, social science, or related field.

• Work Experience:

• Relevant master's degree (evaluation, health, development studies, social science, or related field)
• 7 years' experience in leading evaluations (3 examples of work) in resource limited settings in child health, with systems strengthening/institutionalisation, an asset.
• Experience in managing evaluations in the UN system.
• Comprehensive understanding of OECD DAC evaluation criteria
• Proven expertise in conducting high-quality research, strong quantitative and qualitative data analysis skills, evaluation and analysis; experience advising international organizations and/or the UN is an asset; writing samples in English as part of the submission.
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Ability to work with senior officials.
• Experience in health programs in the MENA region is an asset

• Language Requirements: Fluency in English at native speaker level

For every Child, you demonstrate...

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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:  

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. 

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