Current vacancies

Consultancy Title: Rabies PEP vaccine and rabies elimination in SSA 2025, Consultant

Section/Division/Duty Station: Health/Immunization Section – Coverage and Equity Team, Programme Division, NYHQ

Duration: April 1, 2025 to October 1, 2025

Home/ Office Based: NYHQ / REMOTE

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 over 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.

Rabies causes an estimated 57,000 deaths globally each year, of which 24,000 are in Africa. Rabies is one of twenty- one neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and targeted for elimination by 2030. More than 99% of human rabies infections are transmitted by dogs. The rabies virus cannot be eradicated due to its reservoirs in wild animals, but dog- mediated human rabies disease can be eliminated through a combination of post-exposure prophylactic (PEP) vaccination, mass preventive vaccination of dogs, integrated bite-case management (IBCM), and raising of public awareness and knowledge about the disease, as has been demonstrated in the Americas.

The risk of rabies is strongly correlated with poverty and poor access to health services, and rabies disproportionately affects children below 15 years (around 40% of cases) and rural populations (around 80%). Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) lags in rabies elimination because of shortages of human rabies PEP vaccine, low dog vaccination coverage, low awareness of the risk of rabies, and limited knowledge in communities and among health care professionals about what action to take in case of human exposure to potentially infected dogs and other animals.

In 2024, Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, opened a funding window that allows countries to procure rabies PEP vaccines at favorable prices. It is anticipated that this support will improve availability of PEP vaccine in many SSA countries.

However, the full potential of improved PEP vaccine availability will not be realized unless supported by public health interventions that raise awareness about rabies, increase knowledge about PEP vaccination, improve IBCM in health care, and promote behavior change of health care providers and community members.

The purpose of the activity is to contribute to rabies elimination efforts in SSA and to support Gavi, The Vaccine

Alliance’s investment in improving availability of rabies PEP vaccine in health systems.

The purpose of the assignment is to ensure that UNICEF effectively delivers SBC, HPS and public awareness interventions in support of rabies elimination and rabies PEP vaccination in SSA countries.

Activities will include planning, resource mobilization, strategy development, and implementation support in the areas of awareness-raising, communication, education, training, and behavior change for rabies control, and will be conducted in collaboration with relevant teams in UNICEF headquarters and the regional offices in Africa.

UNICEF intends to support Gavi’s rabies PEP vaccine investment specifically and to contribute to wider rabies elimination efforts in SSA through a set of interventions intended to increase awareness about rabies and support behaviour change among health workers and community members with an emphasis on children. Given the disproportionate impact of rabies on school-age children, the education system will be the central platform for delivering UNICEF’s rabies interventions in tandem with a range of other channels, including social media, radio, print, and person-to-person communication within community health networks, all aimed at reaching school-going as well as out-of-school children, their parents, health workers, and communities at large. The key interventions will include guidance and training for health workers, community health workers, and teachers, community-based awareness- raising activities linked to World Rabies Day on 28 September, and other regional and national health awareness activities throughout the year. The project will work actively to strengthen collaboration among partners in the rabies community in SSA and promote the One Health approach to rabies elimination, particularly within the SBC and education communities that are not yet fully engaged in one health. The project will produce generic Public Goods communication materials and other resources which will be freely available for use by partners in the rabies elimination effort.

Effort and duration of assignment

The effort required by the consultant is estimated at 50% of a Full Time Equivalent (50% FTE) over a period of eight months.

The objectives are to:

1) Map, review, and conduct a gap analysis of existing resources, interventions, and strategies for increasing awareness and knowledge, and promoting behavior change in communities and within the health system to reduce the incidence of human rabies.

2) Adapt existing resources when required to make them fit for purpose, and propose development of new communication and education resources, and implementation strategies to fill the gaps identified in the review.

3) Make available a comprehensive package of communication, informational and educational resources on rabies for use by UNICEF Country Offices and partners in rabies elimination in SSA in community health networks, education system, and health system, including content for students, teachers, and health workers.

4) Conduct UNICEF led awareness activities around World Rabies Day on 28 September 2025

5) Attract funding for UNICEF’s continued work on human rabies elimination in Africa.

Deliverables

1) An inception report with a workplan and a Gantt chart outlining planned activities and timelines.

2) A desk review of currently available rabies-related communication and education resources and strategies, training tools and other materials, and the establishment of an online repository for existing and new rabies resources.

3) A rabies awareness toolkit with resources and strategies for increasing awareness and knowledge, and promote behavior change related to rabies prevention for use by UNICEF Country Offices and rabies partners in communities, education systems and health systems in SSA countries.

4) A rabies training package and education and communication materials for use in communities and schools (Health Promoting Schools (HPS)), including content for engagement with students, youth, parents, and community leaders.

5) Work commenced with UNICEF Country Offices in at least three SSA countries to support the implementation of rabies elimination strategies and use of the resources in the toolkit and training package.

6) A generic funding proposal of UNICEF’s rabies elimination work that can be used when engaging with GAVI and other potential donors

7) A communication and activity plan for UNICEF led activities around World Rabies Day 2025.

8) A progress report on work completed under the contract and a roadmap outlining strategies and activities for UNICEF’s work on rabies elimination in SSA for the 2026-2030 period.

Work Assignment Overview

Deliverables/ Outputs Delivery deadline

1) Write an Inception report with a work plan and a Gantt chart outlining planned activities and timelines.

- Inception report, workplan and Gantt chart submitted

14.04.2025 - (2 wks.)

2)  Conduct a desk review of all available rabies related communication resources and strategies, training tools and other materials, and establish an online repository for existing and new rabies resources.

- Desk review conducted and a report of the findings written with clearly articulated assessment and categorization of the existing resources, identification of gaps and needs for development of new materials, and an online repository of communication resources developed.

26.05.2025 - (8 wks.)

3)  Develop a rabies awareness toolkit with resources and strategies for increasing awareness and knowledge, and promote behavior change related to rabies prevention for use by UNICEF Country Offices and rabies partners in communities, education systems and health systems in SSA countries.

Rabies awareness toolkit developed and available online.

23.06.2025 - (12 wks.)

4)  Develop a rabies training package with education and communication materials for use in communities and schools (Health Promoting Schools (HPS)), including content for engagement with students, youth, parents, and community leaders.

Rabies training and education material package for communities and schools developed

21.07.2025 - (16 wks.)

5) Work commenced with UNICEF Country Offices in at least three SSA countries to support the implementation of rabies elimination strategies and use of the resources in the toolkit and training package.

Report on status of implementation of rabies elimination activities by UNICEF Country Offices 11.08.2025 - (19 wks.)

6) Write a generic funding proposal for UNICEF’s rabies elimination work which can be used when engaging with GAVI and other potential donors.

Generic funding proposal developed

25.08.2025 - (21 wks.)

7) A communication and activity plan for UNICEF led activities around World Rabies Day 2025.

World Rabies Day 2025 plan developed

01.09.2025 - (22 wks.)

8) Write a progress report on work completed under the contract and a roadmap outlining strategies and activities

Progress report and roadmap submitted and approved by UNICEF

13.10.2025 - (28 wks.)

Qualifications

Education:

A bachelor’s degree or higher in public health, sociology, anthropology, development communication; Global/Public Health, One Health, Social & Behavior Change, and related or a related field is required. A master’s degree is an advantage

Applicable work experience can be substituted if the university degree is not aligned with the field of work in terms of reference. Additional qualifying experiences may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.

Language Proficiency:

Excellent written and spoken English.

Knowledge of Swahili and/or French language is an asset.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in public health program design and implementation in low and lower middle-income countries (LICs and LMICs).

• Experience of designing, developing, and implementing social behavior change (SBC) interventions for health in LICs and LMICs.

• Experience of designing, developing, and implementing health interventions on Health Promoting Schools or other education system platforms in LICs and LMICs.

• Work experience from rabies prevention and control and school health programme in low-income countries, is an advantage

• Ability to work independently, take initiative, and to pro- actively bring partners together around a common cause (rabies elimination).

• Strong presentation and public speaking skills.

• Track record of developing funding proposals and progress reports.

Requirements:

Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and 

- Upload copy of academic credentials 

- Financial proposal that will include/ reflect :

o the costs per each deliverable and the total lump-sum for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.

o travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR. 

o Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.

o Indicate your availability 

- Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.

- At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.

- Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant. 

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process 

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UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).    

To view our competency framework, please visit  here. 

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. In its Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2022-2030, UNICEF has committed to increase the number of employees with disabilities by 2030. At UNICEF, we provide reasonable accommodation for work-related support requirements of candidates and employees with disabilities. Also, UNICEF has launched a Global Accessibility Helpdesk to strengthen physical and digital accessibility. If you are an applicant with a disability who needs digital accessibility support in completing the online application, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF.

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.  

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.