Program Officer-Infectious Healthcare Waste Management

Contract

This is a UNV National Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as National UN Volunteer. It is normally only for nationals. More about UNV National Specialist contracts.

UNDP supports stabilization, state-building, governance and development priorities in partnership with Bangladesh governments, the United Nations system, the development partners and other partners to help the country to achieve sustainable development by eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, accelerating structural transformations for sustainable development and building resilience to crises and shock. Bangladesh is already poised to graduate out of Least Developed Country (LDC) status by 2026. But achieving the goal of becoming a developed nation depends on successfully navigating the LDC graduation impacts, attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), fulfilling the commitment to Leave No One Behind (LNOB) by 2030, and achieving Upper Middle-Income Country (UMIC) status by 2031. These key steps are constrained by several challenges including inequality, inadequate employment opportunities, underutilized youth population, low domestic resource mobilization and private investment, and risks due to climate change, among others.

The challenges of achieving Bangladesh’s mid-term goals and implementing the 8FYP amidst economic uncertainties will require rapid need-based analysis of diverse issues. Preparing the country for smooth graduation from the LDC status also requires short and rapid appraisals of programmes and policies. An arrangement for rapid policy-oriented research support to cater to the needs of some key government departments could be crucial for post-Covid-19 policymaking for economic recovery.

Given the contexts mentioned above, UNDP is in the process to set up an Economic Policy Unit (EPU) that will involve researchers and experts on various timely economic analysis. The research initiatives will require supports from junior researchers on data generation, compilation and analysis. Therefore, the EPU needs a Research Assistant for data analyses, literature searches and other relevant tasks as assigned.

Current Project Background (Bangladesh): On an average, every day the 26 public hospitals of Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh produce more than 3,120 Kg/day of waste. And there is no systematic way to properly manage infectious waste that is manually disposed of or treated inside or outside the hospital areas. The hospitals as well as municipalities are also not well equipped with modern machinery in treating the infectious wastes that are generated from the hospitals separately. However, the project mainly aims to strengthen the infectious healthcare waste management systems by deploying locally appropriate healthcare waste management practices and technologies to help address both infectious and non-infectious healthcare challenges during and beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic to protect human health and help minimize the Pandemic's environmental and social impacts. The current Project covers all district level (3) and sub-district (23) level public hospitals in Chittagong Hill Tracts (a total of 26 hospitals) under the following three main outputs:

1. Use of modern technology (autoclaves/ Microwaves for Infectious Healthcare Waste Management.
2. Capacity Building of the hospital staff on healthcare waste management.
3. Development of local guidelines based on national and international guidelines

Under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Project Manager of the HCWM initiative the Programme Officer- Infectious Healthcare Waste Management, will support the HCWM initiatives to assess context, design baseline, generate new idea, design and support in innovation piloting, generate knowledge from the HCWM initiative and support in multicounty knowledge management. The incumbent will be responsible for carrying out the following tasks:

1. Coordinate with national, regional and global team and key stakeholders for the implementation and management of different initiatives;
2. Coordinate field level piloting, planning and development projects;
3. Contribute to new intervention designing and resource mobilization;
4. Develop and maintain partnership and donor relationship;
5. Coordinate research and context analysis on SDGs and frontier challenges based on the developmental challenges of Bangladesh and propose solutions.
6. Coordinate the results reporting for internal and external parties including development partners at the national and global level.
7. Coordinate networking, communications, capacity development and knowledge management activities.
8. Provide support to the Project / Programme Management Team to achieve the targeted results.

The following section describes the functions under each of these categories with expected results:

• Coordinate with national, regional and global team and key stakeholders for the implementation and management of different initiatives:- o Ensure regular coordination with the national, regional and global team in support of the HCWM initiatives; o Facilitate stakeholder analysis and identification of key stakeholders at the national, regional and global level in line with different initiatives along with initiatives in hill tract areas. o Support policy advocacy for sustainable solutions of local challenges based on experimentation and evidences considering the HCWM initiatives in hill tracts area.

• Coordinate field level piloting, planning and development projects:- o Undertake field visits to the selected locations to understand local context. o Facilitate exploration of grassroots solutions in line with local context engaging the local community. o Explore the possibilities / feasibilities of introducing quick piloting of ideas. o Develop work plan / action plan to pilot innovative projects in selected locations. o Coordinate with the field team and relevant stakeholders to implement different pro-jects. o Ensure effective coordination among the project teams, field teams. o Support planning and capacity development of the field teams. o Develop strategies to engage the local community for the implementation of innovative solutions in a participatory approach. o Strengthen relationship with key stakeholders at the field level for coordinated and effective implementation of innovative solutions.

• Contribute to new intervention designing and resource mobilization:- o Analyze donor strategies in line with the country, sector and geographic focuses. o Identify potential donor agencies / development partners for experimenting innovative solutions. o Develop concept notes / project proposals in line with the strategic planning of the donor agencies. o Develop joint proposal in coordination with other countries, regional office and HQ teams.

• Develop and maintain partnership and donor relationship:- o Develop and maintain partnership with different countries along with HCWM activities. o Facilitate regular analysis to identify potential partners in line with needs and strategic priorities and develop partnership / collaboration strategies. o Coordinate with multi-countries to design and implement the HCWM initiatives. o Coordinate with development partners and donor agencies for smooth management of funds and implementation of planned activities under the initiatives.

• Coordinate research and context analysis on SDGs and frontier challenges based on the developmental challenges of Bangladesh and propose solutions:- o Facilitate context analysis to understand the development challenges in Bangladesh towards attaining SDGs. o Coordinate with the research team to conduct context analysis and different types of assessments considering the project needs. o Provide technical support to the field team to manage field research on different thematic areas as per the needs. o Facilitate sense-making with district level stakeholders on SDGs challenges. o Support rigorous data innovation (qualitative and quantitative) based on research and evidences focusing the HCWM initiatives.

• Coordinate the results reporting for internal and external parties including development partners at the national and global level:- o Prepare periodic progress reports and results reports for UNDP’s corporate reporting as well as donor / global reporting. o Prepare summary reports, brief, synopsis based on the findings and experiences. o Ensure regular flow of data and information for periodic progress and results reporting. o Capture learnings, good practices, success stories in coordination with the field team in line with the results reporting requirements. o Review results documents prepared by field teams and ensure quality. o Support the research and implementation team in process documentation and development of knowledge products.

• Coordinate networking, communications, capacity development and knowledge management activities:- o Coordinate the development of knowledge products for exchanging knowledge and lessons learned at national, regional and global level. o Document success stories, impact stories, human interest stories and lessons learned to communicate results at national and international level focusing the HCWM initiatives for hill tracts areas. o Prepare periodic blogs, write-ups and communication products in coordination with the CO Communications Team. o Facilitate joint blogs and joint publications in collaboration with other countries. o Coordinate with relevant units within UNDP to promote the successful innovations at global spheres. o In coordination with the communication unit, develop strategies and tools to raise awareness on SDGs challenges and innovative solutions among the field level stakeholders. o Support organizing knowledge sharing and results dissemination events at national and international level. o Assess capacity gaps and needs of the research team, field level staff and relevant stakeholders within UNDP and beyond and support capacity development. o Attend global level meetings, learning events and exchange knowledge and lessons learned.

• Provide support to the Project / Programme Management Team to achieve the targeted results:- o Support to develop, review and update project / programme work plan, budget and reports. o Undertake regular field visits to different implementation areas of HCWM in hill tracts area and ensure monitoring and supervision of field level activities. o Support the results management of different initiatives both at the field and national level. o Coordinate with UNDP’s sub-office in Cox’s Bazar and district offices for effective implementation of programme activities focusing the project activities. o Provide technical support to the projects for effective planning, implementation, results management and documentation. o Perform any other task assigned by the supervisor, UNDP management.

Results/Expected Outputs: • Strong coordination, networking and partnership • Assistance in project management • Successful HCWM initiatives implementation in hill tracts area

• Accountability • Adaptability and Flexibility • Building Trust • Client Orientation • Commitment and Motivation • Commitment to Continuous Learning • Communication • Ethics and Values • Integrity • Planning and Organizing • Professionalism • Respect for Diversity • Working in Teams

development sector with specific focus on programme coordination, planning, management and implementation, research, results management and reporting.

• Experience in the implementation of SDGs related initiatives in Bangladesh. • Sound understanding of the development context of Bangladesh as well as SDG chal-lenges and frontier challenges. • Experience of coordinating with government agencies at different level and partnership management. • Experience of coordinating development initiative with UN agencies and INGOs at the national and global level. • Working experience with UNDP / UN organizations will be preferred. • Familiarity with ethnographic research. • Experience in strategic and operational planning and implementation of activities. • Experience in report writing, making presentations and use of computers. • Experience in both development and humanitarian settings is an asset.

Dhaka is located in central Bangladesh along the Buriganga River. Not only is it the capital city, but it is also the largest in the country. It is the centre of political, cultural, and economic life in Bangladesh. The official language is Bengali, while English is the working language of UN Agencies. In recent decades, Dhaka has seen the modernization of services, communications, and public works. The city is attracting large foreign investments and greater volumes of commerce and trade. It is also experiencing an increasing influx of people from across the nation; this has reportedly made Dhaka one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. Good English-speaking medical, dental services, and educational centres are available for internationals. Dhaka is connected to other cities by rail, road, and by air and internationals can move easily from one city to another.

Dhaka has venerable green spaces, including many gardens and parks, historical places, and nice restaurants. The weather is tropical - hot and very humid during the summer monsoon season (April-September) and drier and cooler in the winter (October-March).

Historically, Bangladesh has been a safe country for internationals so far. While Dhaka is not categorized as a hardship station, the volunteer should be prepared for limitations in freedom of movement on foot, by public transport, and to certain locations.