Operational Support for the Health Emergency Response on the Impact of Drought and Conflict-induced Internal Displacement Disbursement of per diem payments for Regional Health Bureau (RHB) Health Workers (HW): 
UNOPS will work with a mobile payment company to ensure that on a monthly basis 485 HW deployed in remote, hotspot areas are paid per diem in accordance with Ministry of Health  (MoH) rates. Disbursement through mobile payment companies is cost effective, reducing logistic and time costs. It allows HW the option to receive per diem from mobile money agents located close to their areas of deployment, which is more convenient than banks, thus increasing the willingness of HW to work in remote areas. Mobile payment is a strong incentive to attract and retain them. To manage this process, a UNOPS Operations Associate will work from the RHBs in both Jijiga (Ethiopian Somali region) and Bahir Dar (Amhara region) to assist with the planning of deployment of the HW and oversee per diem payments and assist with any changes in payments or delays.

Fleet management services for RHB allowing HW visit remote parts of the regions:
UNOPS will assign vehicles (through service providers): 22 4x4s pickups in Ethiopian Somali region. The vehicles will have drivers who are familiar with the region. The need for the vehicles is great as the Ethiopian Somali region is the second largest region in Ethiopia, consisting of only few urban centers, with the population spread out across the region. In able to be rapidly respond to health emergencies, the HW need to be highly mobile. UNOPS will manage the vehicles, working with service providers and humanitarian partners to ensure vehicles meet the requirements of the emergency in terms of equipment, availability, and quality of service. A UNOPS Operations Associate will work from the RHB in Jijiga under this component for troubleshooting, ensuring that the provider maintains the vehicles, and facilitating the planning and deployment of the response teams (this person will also oversee supply chain management services). In Amhara region, the RHB will have one SUV at its disposal for moving across the region to conduct supervision. The same modality will apply to the vehicle as in Somali region but no separate UNOPS Operations Associate will be needed for managing the vehicle.

Supply chain management services to deliver supplies in support of response efforts: 
UNOPS will deploy four 5MT trucks in Ethiopian Somali region to enable the RHB, UN and NGO partners to deliver supplies across the region. These vehicles will deliver health, WaSH, and nutrition supplies from Jijiga through to zonal logistics hubs for onward delivery to end-users in woredas and kebeles. To manage this process, a fleet management Operations Associate will work from the RHB in Jijiga to manage the supply chain component (as well as the SUV vehicles).

Capacity development of Supply Chain:
As part of the ongoing project, an analysis of the supply chain of the Ethiopian Somali region RHB will be conducted in early May. The findings of this analysis will be taken up by UNOPS and where feasible, turned into proposals for projects to be implemented to improve the supply chain management. To support the implementation of these findings, 13 health logisticians (with pharmaceutical training) will be assigned to the regional and zonal levels and their per diems paid by the project. This staff will implement technical and system level strengthening activities to improve the health supply chain management at the zonal level, building on the previous work done by WHO to create a pull system for medical products. The payment of per diems will address the issue of retention of qualified health logisticians at the zonal level due to inconsistencies in payments. By ensuring the presence of qualified and motivated staff, the existing system can be further improved by utilizing these staff based on the findings of the supply chain analysis.