Job Title: Sudan Virus Disease Emergency Consultant
Organisation: United Nations Children’s Fund
Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda
About Organisation:
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is mandated by the UN general assembly to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.
Background and Purpose:
Uganda’s Ministry of Health declared an Ebola outbreak (Sudan strain) on January 30, 2025, marking the country’s sixth such outbreak since 2000. The outbreak began in Kampala/Wakiso and spread to Mbale, Jinja, and Mukono, with a total of 14 cases (12 confirmed, 2 probable) and 4 deaths. The last confirmed patient was discharged on March 14, and the outbreak was officially declared over on April 26, after 42 days with no new cases.
Job Summary:
- To assess to which extent the recommendations formulated during the last response have been used to inform the current preparedness and response plan and identify any resulting good practices
- To assess the effectiveness and contribution of the UNICEF Response to national efforts, in line with CCCs
- To inform the resilience efforts of the CO in terms of preparedness and Accountability to Affected Persons (AAP)
- To formulate recommendations to inform transition plan, coordination and PHE response from UN, UNICEF and national partners moving forward
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
- Preparatory phase
- Secondary data collection and desk review
- Preliminary stakeholder analysis
- Preparation for the inception phase
- Introductory meeting with ESARO, UCO staff, EMT and ERG to review/discuss TOR
- Inception phase
- May include a 1-week inception mission including visiting one or two priority counties
- Initial desk review
- Discussion of Theory of Change
- Preparation of draft inception report (see Annexes for the indicative table of contents), evaluation matrix and data collection tools
- Engagement with stakeholders including ERG on inception report through regular and debrief and working sessions (online)
- Undertake ethical approval process
- Finalization of inception report
- Data collection phase
- Preparation for data collection, including piloting of instruments
- Mission in Uganda (Kampala and selected districts) to collect data and meet with stakeholders including an internal consultation with UNICEF UCO staff (rapid survey or Delphi)
- Conduct remote/in person interviews and undertake additional desk review.
- Preparation of interview reports
- Population of evaluation matrix
- Preparation and delivery of Emerging Findings Debrief through online workshop #1
- Analysis, drafting, validation and completion phase
- Data analysis and drafting
- Preparation of a PowerPoint presentation on preliminary findings, conclusions, and recommendations
- Engagement with stakeholders on draft report
- Finalization of report and summary PowerPoint presentation
- Validation and co-creation of recommendations (Sensemaking workshop #2 – in person)
Deliverables
- Plan for inception phase
- Presentation of proposed evaluation approach and evaluation plan during kick -off meeting
- Draft inception report and instruments
- Presentation of the draft inception report – in person or via video link – to the Evaluation
- Submit ethical approval application(s) and respond to all comments
- Final inception report (plus completed audit trail addressing all comments)
- Debrief with key UCO staff and ERG members at the end of the data collection phase (to present emerging findings for feedback and discuss initial recommendations)
- A complete first draft evaluation report
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- A minimum of ten years’ experience evaluating humanitarian action. Prior experience evaluating UNICEF humanitarian response in Eastern and Southern Africa will be considered as an advantage.
- Experience in conducting multi-disciplinary evaluations, including evaluating rapid onset emergencies for UNICEF, other UN agencies or other international partners at the global, regional or country levels.
- Knowledge of the latest qualitative and quantitative methods and approaches in humanitarian evaluation, especially participatory methods and accountability to affected populations.
- Experience in desk review-based methodologies with strong qualitative and quantitative analytical and synthesis competencies.
- Technical expertise relevant to UNICEF’s emergency operations, familiarity with UNICEF’s emergency response, including the Core Commitments to Children, preferred
- Experience and knowledge of child rights and participation, equity, disability inclusion, and gender equality in research and evaluation, particularly in humanitarian settings
- Excellent analytical, communication and drafting writing skills in English
- Experience with the ethics of evidence generation; experience collecting data from vulnerable groups; familiarity with ethical safeguards.
- Significant advantages
- Proven ability to develop attractive evidence products that present complex information via Infographics and other communication means.
- Proven ethical use of Artificial Intelligence for data analysis
- A work record in Eastern and Southern Africa and with experience in Uganda within a humanitarian context
- In-depth knowledge of Ebola in the Eastern and Southern African Region specifically, with experience in preparedness and response to other public health emergencies
- Record of top-ranked evaluation reports by GEROS or other UN entities
- For every Child, you demonstrate…
- UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).
How to Apply:
All suitably qualified and interested applicants who wish to join United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) should apply online at the link below
Deadline: 30th July 2025
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Level of Education: Postgraduate Degree
Work Hours: 8
Experience in Months: 120