NATIONAL OR INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANCY: DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATIONALISATION OF THE NATIONAL ELECTRONIC MPDSR SYSTEM
Organisation: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
Job Number: 596433
Contract Type: Consultant
Duty Station: Maseru, Lesotho (Office-based)
Contract Duration: 8 months
Level: Consultancy
Category: Early Childhood Development
ABOUT UNICEF
UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights and help them fulfil their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.
At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job; it is a calling.
UNICEF offers diverse opportunities for professional and personal development, enabling staff to reinforce their sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. The organisation welcomes everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.
ABOUT THE CONSULTANCY
UNICEF seeks to engage a consultant to support the Ministry of Health in designing, developing, deploying and operationalising a National Electronic Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response System (eMPDSR).
The system will serve as the country’s central platform for maternal and perinatal death notification, review, response tracking, analytics and accountability.
The platform must be interoperable with existing Government of Lesotho information systems, particularly DHIS2, Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS), Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR), and other national death registration platforms managed by relevant ministries and agencies.
OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The objective is to establish a national electronic MPDSR platform that strengthens Lesotho’s capacity to identify, record, review, analyse and respond to every maternal, neonatal, stillbirth and perinatal death through a unified, interoperable and real-time surveillance system.
The system will link health facilities, communities, DHIS2, CRVS, IDSR and other relevant government information systems to improve mortality reporting, accountability, quality of care and the implementation of actions aimed at reducing preventable maternal and newborn deaths.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
- Digitise and automate all MPDSR notification, review, action-tracking, monitoring and reporting processes outlined in the National MPDSR Guidelines.
- Establish a national interoperable eMPDSR platform that exchanges data seamlessly with DHIS2, CRVS, IDSR, BKM, eLMIS and other relevant government information systems involved in birth and death registration and surveillance.
- Improve the completeness, timeliness and quality of maternal, neonatal, stillbirth and perinatal death reporting by establishing a dual-source surveillance approach linking community- and facility-level reporting platforms.
- Provide real-time dashboards, alerts and analytics to support the monitoring of mortality trends, causes of death, modifiable factors, review outcomes and the implementation of corrective actions at facility, district and national levels.
- Strengthen accountability by enabling systematic tracking, escalation, monitoring and reporting of MPDSR recommendations and response actions across all levels of the health system.
- Build national and district capacity for the sustainable management, administration, maintenance and use of the eMPDSR platform through training, mentorship and knowledge transfer to local institutions and personnel.
TERMS OF REFERENCE
For more information about this consultancy, review the complete Terms of Reference:
Download the Terms of Reference (PDF)
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
Education
An advanced university degree (master’s degree or higher) in one or more of the following disciplines:
- Health Informatics.
- Computer Science.
- Software Engineering.
- Information Systems.
- Health Information Systems.
- Digital Health.
- Data Science.
- Public Health with a specialisation in Health Information Systems.
- Information Technology.
- Electronic Engineering or a related field.
Work Experience
- A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible professional experience in the design, development, deployment and management of large-scale health information systems.
- Demonstrated experience leading the development and implementation of national digital health platforms in low- and middle-income countries.
- Proven experience in developing and deploying web-based and mobile-enabled health information systems.
- At least 5 years of experience in systems integration and interoperability using international health data exchange standards.
- Demonstrated experience integrating health information systems with platforms such as DHIS2, CRVS, disease surveillance systems or similar national databases.
- Proven experience in software architecture, database design, cybersecurity and data governance.
- Experience developing dashboards, analytics and data visualisation solutions for public health programmes.
- Demonstrated experience conducting user acceptance testing, system rollout, change management and capacity building.
- Experience working with Ministries of Health, UNICEF, WHO, UN agencies, development partners or government institutions.
- Previous experience in maternal, newborn and child health, mortality surveillance, MPDSR, public health surveillance or related health programmes will be an added advantage.
- Experience working in Southern Africa and/or Lesotho is highly desirable.
LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS
- Fluency in written and spoken English is required.
- Knowledge of Sesotho will be an added advantage.
KNOWLEDGE, EXPERTISE AND SKILLS
- Strong knowledge of digital health architecture and health information systems.
- Advanced knowledge of software development methodologies and system lifecycle management.
- Demonstrated expertise in interoperability frameworks, APIs, HL7 FHIR, OpenHIE and related standards.
- Strong understanding of DHIS2 architecture and integration methodologies.
- Knowledge of maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response systems and public health surveillance frameworks.
- Knowledge of data protection, cybersecurity, privacy, confidentiality and information governance principles.
- Expertise in database management systems, cloud-based solutions and web technologies.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving and systems design skills.
- Excellent stakeholder engagement and facilitation skills.
- Ability to translate business and public health requirements into technical solutions.
- Strong project management, planning and coordination skills.
- Demonstrated ability to produce high-quality technical documentation and reports.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
- Ability to train and mentor technical and non-technical stakeholders.
DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
- Certification in Digital Health, Health Informatics, Enterprise Architecture, Project Management (PMP, PRINCE2) or related professional qualifications.
- Experience developing or supporting MPDSR, MDSR, surveillance, civil registration or mortality reporting systems.
- Experience with DHIS2 Tracker, DHIS2 Events and interoperability components.
- Experience with OpenHIM, OpenMRS, OpenHIE, FHIR or similar digital health platforms.
- Knowledge of WHO digital health guidelines and interoperability standards.
- Experience developing systems using open-source technologies.
- Experience working on UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, Global Fund, USAID or other donor-funded digital health initiatives.
- Knowledge of the Lesotho health system and health information architecture.
- Availability of a multidisciplinary team comprising software developers, interoperability specialists, health informatics experts, data analysts and trainers.
- A proven track record of successfully delivering national-scale digital health solutions within agreed timelines and budgets.
UNICEF CORE VALUES
UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything the organisation does.
Learn more about the UNICEF Values Charter.
UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does. Its global workforce aims to reflect the diversity of the children it serves and is committed to inclusion regardless of race or ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socioeconomic background, minority status or any other status.
Learn more about Equity, Inclusion and Diversity at UNICEF.