HIV Aids National Contractor, Lesotho Maseru (8 months)

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Application deadline 1 year ago: Wednesday 30 Mar 2022 at 21:55 UTC

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Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, survival

How can you make a difference?

Purpose of Activity/Assignment: Lesotho is a small landlocked country surrounded by South Africa, with a population of about 2 million, of which 38 per cent are children under 18 years. The country is classified as a Lower Middle-Income Country (LMIC). The economy of the country is small. Because of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the economy has contracted by 5.4%1. In real terms, the size of the Lesotho economy now matches what it was in 2012, depicting a decade of lost growth. Extreme poverty (measured at the US$ 1.90 a day poverty line) that had fallen from 61.9% to 27.2%, from 2017 to 2019 has increased by 10 per cent, reaching 30 per cent in both 20202. More recently, poverty (at US$1.90 a day) is expected to have risen during the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching 30.5% in 20213. Lesotho has the second-highest prevalence of HIV in the world, estimated at 21.1%, with 3.8% of adolescents 10-19 years old living with HIV (Male: 2.8% - Female:4.38 %). While HIV-related outcomes have improved remarkedly for all other age groups, this is not the case for children and adolescents. There was a reduction of 67% in HIV testing among adolescents and young people and 47% in initiation to ART due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) account for a disproportionate number of new HIV infections4, driven by overlapping risk factors, such as high levels of sexual and gender-based violence, multiple concurrent partnerships, age-disparate sexual relationships, and early sexual debut. All these vulnerabilities have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. UNICEF Lesotho is a crucial partner to the Ministry of Health in response to HIV/AIDS through: generating evidence to inform policies and strategies through advocacy and modelling of promising practices, technical assistance and capacity building of country stakeholders, as well as leveraging investments for high-impact interventions to improve outcomes for children, their mothers and adolescents vulnerable or living with HIV. UNICEF Lesotho is looking for a national HIV/AIDS Contractor (maternity leave cover), based in Maseru, starting on 18 April 2022 over eight months.

Scope of Work: Under the overall guidance of the Chief of Child Survival and Development, the HIV/AIDS Contractor (maternity leave cover) will be responsible for the continuity of the HIV/AIDS portfolio, that is, managing, implementing, monitoring and reporting of progress on HIV related activities. They will provide technical, operational and administrative assistance to implement the HIV and adolescents component areas within the Ministry of Health-UNICEF 2022 and manage contracts with implementing partners (NGOs). Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Support to programme/project development and planning

  • Support the preparation/update of a situation analysis and assessments on HIV related issues to ensure that comprehensive, relevant and evidence-based data are collected to guide country office HIV programming, monitoring and delivery of the programme.
  • Participate in strategic programme discussions to provide input and operational support to develop integrated HIV programmes.
  • Formulate, design and prepare HIV programmes proposal, ensuring alignment with the UNICEF Strategic Plans and Country Programme and coherence/integration with UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), regional strategies and national priorities, plans and competencies.
  • Work closely and collaboratively with internal and external colleagues and partners to provide technical and operational support to programme planning, management and implementation and to ensure synergy, integration, coherence and harmonization of HIV programmes.

2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

  • Plan and collaborate with internal and external partners to establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators and measurements to assess/strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results for the assigned sector/s in HIV programmes.
  • Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual reviews with government and other counterparts to assess progress and determine required action/interventions to achieve results.
  • Prepare/assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths/weaknesses in programme and management, identify lessons learned and use the knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
  • Actively monitor programmes through field visits with partners/stakeholders to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems and take timely decisions to resolve issues and refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
  • Prepare regular programme reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.

3. Technical and operational support to programme implementation

  • Participate in strategic programme discussions to contribute to policy discussions and agenda setting to promote HIV interventions to ensure that at-risk and vulnerable populations are fully covered in times of greatest need.
  • Draft policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use, information and consideration.

4. Networking and partnership building

  • Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with relevant sector government counterparts, national stakeholders and global partners through active networking and advocacy.
  • Prepare communication and information materials for CO programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships and enhance resource mobilization for UNICEF HIV programmes.
  • Participate and represent UNICEF in appropriate inter-agency discussions.

Deliverables

Tasks/Milestone:

Deliverables/Outputs:Timeline (period/deadline)Develop consultancy workplan in consultation with supervisor indicators, and timeline for implementation and reportingWorkplan completed with monitoring indicators and timelineEnd April 2022Monthly reports indicating technical support provided to the MOH and implementing partnersMonthly contractor report indicating specific achieved deliverables

Last Friday of every monthCompletion of final contractor reportFinal assignment report submitted and approved16 December 2022

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

Education

Advanced University degree in Public Health, Social policy, or related field

Experience

  • 8 years or more of experience in adolescent, SRH or HIV-related Programming, at the National or Decentralized level in Lesotho
  • Demonstrated experience in HIV and/or adolescent programming and intervention design.
  • Demonstrated experience in providing technical assistance and capacity building on SRH and/or HIV programming for adolescent girls and young women.
  • Experience translating evidence into programme implementation.
  • Prior experience working in Lesotho with the Ministry of Health and Civil Society Organizations in Lesotho.
  • Excellent analytical and report writing skills as well as good negotiation and communication skills

Language Requirements

  • Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of local language will be an asset

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

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 and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. 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.

Remarks:

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.

Added 2 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: unicef.org