National Consultant on Strengthening Primary Health Care through the Universal Progressive Home Visiting (UPHV) Programme and Adaptation of the WHO Pocket Book (Birth to Adolescence)

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill 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 is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture., coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, the right to health!

• revising existing UPHV modules and adapting newly developed modules, with subsequent approval by the Ministry of Health;
• supporting digitalisation of PHC services through the integration of UPHV and nutrition indicators into the DMED health information system;
• developing and institutionalising modules on supportive supervision and monitoring and evaluation (M&E), including their validation and endorsement;
• supporting the establishment and operationalisation of an effective referral system linking PHC services with social protection mechanisms and makhalla structures; and
• reviewing and adapting the WHO Pocket Book to ensure alignment with the UPHV programme and national PHC reform priorities.

• Review the current UPHV programme design and contribute to revision and adaptation of new UPHV modules, ensuring alignment with national PHC priorities and life‑course service delivery.
• Ensure systematic integration of nutrition, early risk identification and preventive services within revised UPHV modules.
• Support alignment of UPHV operational guidance with national PHC and patronage regulations.

• Support integration of UPHV and nutrition indicators into the national DMED platform.
• Contribute to harmonisation of indicators across UPHV modules, PHC reporting and DMED data standards.
• Develop practical guidance for PHC providers on standardized data collection and use of digital tools during UPHV home visits.

• Contribute to development of supportive supervision modules for PHC providers delivering UPHV services.
• Support development and refinement of M&E frameworks, indicators and supervision tools for UPHV implementation.
• Ensure coherence between UPHV modules, supervision approaches and PHC performance monitoring.

• Support development and operationalisation of a referral system linking PHC services with social protection mechanisms and makhalla.
• Define referral criteria, roles, feedback mechanisms and documentation requirements.
• Ensure referral pathways are reflected consistently across UPHV modules, supervision tools and PHC guidance.

• Review the WHO Pocket Book in light of UPHV reforms and national PHC priorities.
• Identify sections requiring adaptation to reflect community‑ and home‑based service delivery, preventive care, nutrition, referral pathways and digital reporting.
• Develop a summary of changes made to the Pocket Book for agreement with the WHO Regional Office.
• Finalize the InDesign file of the adapted/translated version of the Pocket Book for mobile app development.
• Support adaptation of Pocket Book content to ensure practical usability by PHC nurses, midwives and family doctors.

• Coordinate technical consultations and validation meetings with relevant MoH departments, NASP, Makhalla, DMED teams and practitioners.
• Consolidate feedback and support finalisation of revised UPHV modules, supervision materials, referral guidance and adapted Pocket Book content.
• Provide ongoing technical assistance to UNICEF CO and the Ministry of Health as required.

• Prepare periodic technical updates and briefing notes.
• Develop a final consultancy report summarising outputs, lessons learned and recommendations for sustainability.

1. Revision, adaptation, and endorsement of UPHV modules – Revised and newly adapted UPHV modules (including nutrition components) developed, consolidated and submitted to the MoH for review and approval – Feb – Mar 2026 – 20 days
2. Revision and adaptation of the WHO Pocket Book for PHC – Adapted sections of the WHO Pocket Book aligned with UPHV, PHC reforms, referral pathways and digital reporting – Feb – Apr 2026 – 30 days
3. Digitalisation: technical support to integration of UPHV and nutrition indicators into DMED – Set of harmonised UPHV and nutrition indicators; technical inputs and guidance notes supporting integration into DMED – Apr – July 2026 – 10 days
4. Revision, adaptation, and endorsement of supportive supervision and M&E modules – Supportive supervision and M&E modules, tools and indicators developed, validated and submitted to the MoH – Apr – July 2026 – 10 days
5. Technical support in development and establishment of referral system between PHC, social protection and makhalla – Referral framework, roles, criteria and tools developed – Apr – July 2026 – 25 days
6. Coordination, technical consultations and validation – Technical meetings and validation workshops conducted; feedback consolidated and addressed – Aug – Sep 2026 – 10 days
7. Ongoing technical support to UNICEF CO and MoH – Ad hoc technical inputs, briefs and coordination support provided – Feb – Dec 2026 -20 days
8. Final reporting – Final consultancy report submitted and discussed with the MoH and UNICEF – Dec 2026 – 5 days

TOTAL: 130 days

Travel is required.

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education: Advanced University degree in health/public Health, maternal, pediatric health or other relevant fields

• Work Experience: 
  • University degree in Health/Public Health;
  • Minimum of 15 years of progressively responsible experiences in Public Health;
  • Demonstrated experience in supporting implementation of UPHV Program;
  • Proven experience in implementing capacity building and supportive supervision initiatives under RMNCH Program;
  • Knowledge of UNICEF’s health programs and UN policies;
  • Strong facilitation and coordination abilities;
• Language Requirements: Proficient Russian and Uzbek

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others 

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility jobs-near-me.org UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:  

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. 

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.