National Electronic MPDSR, Maseru, Lesotho (office based)

UNICEF

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UNICEF seeks to engage a consult to support the ministry of health to design, develop, deploy, and operationalize a National Electronic Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response System (eMPDSR) that will serve as the country's central platform for maternal and perinatal death notification, review, response tracking, analytics, and accountability. The system shall be interoperable with existing Government of Lesotho information systems, particularly DHIS2, CRVS, IDSR, and other national death registration platforms managed by relevant Ministries and Agencies.

The objective of this assignment 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 that links health facilities, communities, DHIS2, CRVS, IDSR, and other relevant government information systems, thereby improving mortality reporting, accountability, quality of care, and the implementation of actions aimed at reducing preventable maternal and newborn deaths.

Specific Objectives

• To digitize and automate all MPDSR notification, review, action-tracking, monitoring, and reporting processes outlined in the National MPDSR Guidelines.
• To 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.
• To improve the completeness, timeliness, and quality of maternal, neonatal, stillbirth, and perinatal death reporting through establishing a dual-source surveillance approach that links community- and facility-level reporting platforms.
• To provide real-time dashboards, alerts, and analytics that support monitoring of mortality trends, causes of death, modifiable factors, review outcomes, and implementation of corrective actions at facility, district, and national levels.
• To strengthen accountability by enabling systematic tracking, escalation, monitoring, and reporting of MPDSR recommendations and response actions across all levels of the health system.
• To build national and district capacity for sustainable management, administration, maintenance, and use of the eMPDSR platform through training, mentorship, and knowledge transfer to local institutions and personnel.

If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of Reference here: Tor ext TMC0007047.pdf

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

QUALIFICATIONS / SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE / EXPERIENCE/ COMPETENCIES (CORE/TECHNICAL/FUNCTIONAL) / LANGUAGE SKILLS REQUIRED FOR THE ASSIGNMENT

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 specialization in Health Information Systems

• •Information Technology

• •Electronic Engineering or related field

Work Experience:

• •Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible professional experience in the design, development, deployment, and management of large-scale health information systems.

• •Demonstrated experience in leading the development and implementation of national digital health platforms within low- and middle-income countries.

• •Proven experience in development and deployment of 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, Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS), disease surveillance systems, or similar national databases.

• •Proven experience in software architecture, database design, cybersecurity, and data governance.

• •Experience in developing dashboards, analytics, and data visualization 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, child health, mortality surveillance, MPDSR, public health surveillance, or related health programmes will be an added advantage.

• •Experience working in the Southern African region 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/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 (MPDSR) 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.

Desirables:

• •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.

• •Proven track record of successfully delivering national-scale digital health solutions within agreed timelines and budgets.

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