Consultant, M&R Country Platform, M&R Immunization System Improvement and SIA Support in the Philippines

Organizational Context

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, with a network of 191-member National Societies. The overall aim of the IFRC is “to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote at all times all forms of humanitarian activities by National Societies with a view to preventing and alleviating human suffering and thereby contributing to the maintenance and promotion of human dignity and peace in the world.” The IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises.

The IFRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement), together with its member National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The work of the IFRC is guided by the following fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.

The IFRC has five regional offices in Africa, Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and the Americas. The IFRC also has country cluster delegations and country delegations throughout the world.

Due to the recent global financial cutbacks in public health and immunization activities, technical support to many countries has been withdrawn thereby seriously threatening the planning and implementation of vaccination campaigns in 2025 and 2026. Consequently, a collaboration between the IFRC and the Measles and Rubella Partnership (M&RP) has established a Measles & Rubella Country Platform (M&R Country Platform) to overcome this gap in technical support to Ministries of Health. The M&R Country Platform serves to advance the goals of the Immunization Agenda 2030 and is committed to reducing measles and rubella morbidity and mortality by supporting countries to implement the Measles and Rubella Strategic Framework 2021- 2030.

Repeated challenges, including vaccine stockouts, inadequate program monitoring and supportive supervision, and insufficient capacity at the service delivery level, led to low routine immunization coverage in the Philippines. The anticipated reported coverage of Pentavalent and Measles vaccinations for 2025 is only around 70%, leaving many children unprotected against deadly diseases. Consequently, the country has reported significant outbreaks of measles, pertussis, and diphtheria in recent years. In 2025, over 4,500 measles cases were officially reported from all 18 regions in the country, with 16 deaths, along with clusters of outbreaks in multiple cities and municipalities.

DOH will focus primarily on measles transmission control and revitalization of the routine program:

• Stop the measles transmission by quality implementation of the MR SIA in Phase 1 was conducted January 2026 and Phase 2 in June/August 2026.
• Restore infant vaccination coverage to at least 85% Fully Immunized Children (FIC) nationally by the end of 2026, with the eventual objective of reaching and sustaining 95% FIC in subsequent years.
• Strengthen immunization systems/VPD surveillance to attain the goals of the Immunization Agenda 2030 in the context of primary health care and UHC.

Immunization systems have demonstrated the need to increase capacity for robust and integrated public health programs. Such efforts include optimizing the routine immunization program, VPD surveillance, and the AEFI monitoring andresponse system at the national, subnational, and service-delivery levels.

Job Purpose

(...Continued from Organizational Context)

The Department of Health will undertake activities outlined in the National Immunization Strategy (NIS) to enhance and upgrade the immunization program at both managerial and service delivery levels. The revitalization plan has priority strategies, including advocating for the local executive, resolving cold chain and procurement issues, building capacity for program managers, ensuring adequate and frequent supportive supervision, and formulating/implementing needed guidelines.

Project objectives

The main project objective is to respond to the Department of Health’s requests for high-quality technical assistance in planning and implementing measles/rubella vaccination campaigns. To meet these Department of Health needs, IFRC is recruiting an international consultant who will reside in the Philippines to offer catalytic technical guidance within the country at subnational levels to support in planning, coordinating and conducting measles/rubella vaccination campaign/s during 2026. The IFRC consultant will provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Health, Red Cross/Red Crescent National Society and other relevant in-country partners to ensure the planning and implementation of high-quality measles/rubella vaccination campaigns to help achieve the objectives outlined above.

Alignment to the IFRC’s objectives and strategy

The M&R Country Platform aligns to the Federation’s Strategy 2030 as it supports the achievement of Global Aims:

Global Aim 1: People anticipate, respond to and quickly recover from crisis.

Global Aim 2: People lead safe, health and dignified lives and have opportunities to thrive.

Desired outcomes

Vaccination planning and implementation as supported by the consultant will engage key local/district partners and ensure campaigns will be timely, high-quality, and well monitored.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Working with the Department of Health, Centers for Health Development, local governments, and relevant partners and under the overall guidance and supervision of the IFRC project lead, the consultant for the IFRC’s Measles and Rubella Country Platform will focus primarily on meeting subnational targets for the quality implementation of the MR SIA, program manager capacity building, strengthening surveillance, responding to outbreaks, and intensifying routine immunization and perform the following tasks/ responsibilities:

1. Technical support for MR SIA 2026 and any outbreak response related to Measles and other VPD’s

• Provide technical support to develop MR SIA and Measles outbreak quick response guidelines for 2026.
• Update and revise the existing guidelines for DOH in strengthening SIA monitoring systems, including intra-campaign monitoring, independent monitoring, and post-campaign validation.
• Provide structured guidance to SIA management committees at regional and LGU levels, including bottleneck analysis and operational recommendations.

2. Technical guidance for routine vaccination

• Develop an analytical matrix for monthly identification of the priority areas for monthly.
• Support the monitoring in the identified areas and develop field reports analyzing trends in FIC, zero-dose, dropout, missed opportunities, and service delivery.

3. Support for VPD and AEFI surveillance strengthening

• Work with the Epidemiology Bureau and RESUs to review AFP, AFR, diphtheria, pertussis, NT, AEFI, and other surveillance indicators.
• Initiate structured data reviews meeting with EB to identify gaps in active surveillance, case investigation, specimen collection, and laboratory coordination.
• Develop the infodemic management plan for the AEFI for MR SIA and nationwide HPV expansion.

4. Subnational monitoring and supportive supervision

• Support the national DOH team to conduct regular field monitoring visits to priority CHDs and LGUs.
• Support implementation of immunization program reviews and cascading recommendations to LGUs.

5. Capacity building and training support

• Provide technical assistance for national and regional trainings, including MLM, VPD/AEFI surveillance, and outbreak response immunization (ORI).

6. National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) support

• Support CO to develop evidence briefs, agenda materials, literature syntheses, and background documents for 2026 NITAG sessions.

7. Coordination with the Red Cross-National Society

• Support the integration of the Red Cross/Red Crescent national society into the planning and coordination of vaccination activities to build capacity for future support. Specifically, facilitate Red Cross/Red Crescent participation in Department of Health social mobilization related committees to share Red Cross/Red Crescent knowledge of local community barriers, and if requested, support Red Cross/Red Crescent resource mobilization activities.

8. Reporting

• Prepare weekly summary updates on the status of preparations for the measles/rubella campaign and share with the Department of Health, IFRC (including the M&R Country Platform Officer in Geneva), Red Cross/Red Crescent National Society, UNICEF, WHO country office team, and other relevant in-country partners.

Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)

• Participate in a virtual mid-term meeting with IFRC Geneva and relevant Measles & Rubella Partners.
• At the vaccination campaign’s conclusion, support the aggregation of campaign data and reports into a national report for onward submission to the Department of Health, IFRC, WHO, Red Cross Red Crescent-National Society and other partners.

Method of delivery and reasons for selecting that method

Deployment to country to provide direct support to the Department of Health and in-country partners.

Output/s:

Output 1: Weekly MR SIA monitoring package for assigned CHDs, including:

• Daily and weekly coverage dashboards and trend analyses.
• Identification of bottlenecks and recommended corrective actions.

Output 2: Monthly VPD surveillance performance report, including:

• Analysis of AFP, AFR, diphtheria, pertussis, NT, and AEFI indicators.
• Recommended actions for EB, RESU, and LGUs, with documented month-to-month progress.

Output 3: Monthly routine immunization performance report, including:

• Coverage trends for FIC, MCV1, MCV2, pentavalent, OPV, PCV, and other antigens.
• Analysis of zero-dose, dropout, high-risk areas, and microplan implementation.
• Strategies and recommended actions to meet the expected monthly contribution of 8% toward annual FIC targets.

Output 4: Provide weekly reports to IFRC on the progress.

Support to be provided to the consultant

The consultant will be provided with support from the IFRC for travel, logistics, program management through the M&R Country Platform. Informal technical support will be provided through colleagues at the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office, as available.

Time Allocation

Currently it is estimated that the consultant will be contracted from July to October 2026. 40 hours per week over a 3-month period.

Management of consultancy

The consultant will be directly managed by the IFRC M&R Country Platform Officer with overall coordination from the IFRC Immunization Senior Officer based in Geneva.

Education

Required

• University degree in allied health-related field.

Preferred

• Master of Public Health.

Experience

Required

• Proven experience working in diverse, low-resource settings.
• Proven experience conducting technical support to international public health programs.
• Experience working with international, national, and local partners.

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

Required

• Strong knowledge with at least 5 years of experience in immunization programs, especially in the planning, implementation, and evaluation and vaccine preventable disease control activities and VPD surveillance.
• Ability to lead and supervise project staff at country level.
• Strong diplomatic and interpersonal skills with experience working effectively as a team member in diverse, multidisciplinary environments.
• Ability to work well in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple priorities that are subject to change.
• Ability to foster collaboration among diverse external and internal stakeholders and partners to achieve program goals.
• Excellent time and project management skills.

Languages

Required

• Excellent English written and oral communication skills. Ability to communicate and conduct work in English.

Competencies, Values and Comments

Application Instructions

• Please submit your application in English only.
• Please include the below in your application: Notes
  • A cover letter summarizing your experience and suggested approach to the consultancy
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • The consultant will be contracted by the IFRC and the standard contractual terms will apply.
  • Agreed travel expenses will be reimbursed at cost in accordance with in the IFRC’s relevant regulations.