Big Catch Up Consultant - Strategic Planning and Programme Management ESARO, PG - Health /Immunization, Remote - Req # 590753

Consultancy Title: Big Catch Up Consultant – Strategic Planning and Programme Management for ESARO

Section/Division/Duty Station: Health Section/Immunization, Programme Group

Duration: 15 February 2026 – 30 June 2026

Home/ Office Based: Remote

About UNICEF 

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:

The COVID-19 pandemic marked a significant downturn in coverage, representing the most severe decline reported in three decades. Prior to this, there was a ten-year period of stagnation in global progress on immunization coverage. It is imperative that urgent and continuous action is taken to reach the children who were missed.

As part of the Gavi Alliance, UNICEF has played a pivotal role in championing the Big Catch-Up (BCU) initiative, a worldwide effort launched in April 2023 to facilitate the recovery and enhancement of immunization systems. Reaching children who have missed routine immunizations necessitates aiding countries in recovering from the setbacks experienced since 2020. Additionally, countries require support to reestablish and resume essential services, such as routine immunization, which were disrupted by the pandemic. Sustaining the regained coverage of routine immunizations and essential services is crucial to resume progress towards achieving the goals and targets outlined in the IA2030 initiative.

UNICEF and partners have been supporting Ministries of Heath through tailored, country-specific response to urgently reach children who missed vaccination during 2019-2022 and close the immunity gaps due to the accumulation of a susceptible cohort. In December 2023, the Gavi Board approved fully financed vaccine doses for the Big Catch-Up (BCU), enabling support for all antigens included in countries’ routine immunization programmes during the 2019–2022 period, with eligibility extended to children up to five years of age

Countries are at different stages of final acceleration and completion of their Big Catch-Up (BCU) strategies. A critical element for success at this stage is the availability of high-quality strategic and operational plans, alongside robust programme management mechanisms, to accelerate delivery, address implementation bottlenecks, and manage residual risks.

Key risks to the successful completion of the BCU and proposed targeted mitigation measures to ensure countries achieve their catch-up objectives within the remaining implementation period have been identified. Beyond short-term recovery, BCU activities provide a strategic opportunity to institutionalize catch-up vaccination as a sustained component of essential immunization services, strengthening routine immunization systems through a comprehensive, system-wide approach.

As BCU implementation enters its final phase, countries require targeted support to accelerate delivery, resolve operational bottlenecks, ensure complete and accurate reporting, and prepare for structured close-out and integration into routine immunization.

UNICEF is recruiting a consultant to support countries during the final acceleration phase of the Big Catch-Up (BCU), while simultaneously preparing for programme close-out, dose reconciliation, and transition of catch-up vaccination into routine immunization systems.

This consultancy will provide direct technical support to countries within the Eastern and Southern Africa Region, including: Burundi, Comoros, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Zambia. The assignment will focus on accelerating implementation where gaps remain, strengthening monitoring and reporting, ensuring accountability through dose reconciliation, and documenting lessons learned to inform sustainability and future immunization recovery efforts.

AWP reference: This assignment links to Strategic Plan Goal Area 1.2 Immunization services as part of PHC in that its main objective is to support countries in strengthening the immunization performance with focus on planning, implementation, and monitoring of Big Catch-u