RITD-Individual Contractor-Staff Assistant - AfCFTA-anchored Pharmaceutical Initiative

Result of Service Provides the full range of office management and administrative support at unit level, working under minimal supervision. Effectively tracks, monitors and provides quality control of key deliverables. Effectively organizes and manages records and data. Discretely handles confidential material/matters. Appropriately applies relevant policies, guidelines, procedures and processes. Establishes effective working relationships with internal and external contacts at all levels.

Work Location Addis Ababa

Expected duration 6

Duties and Responsibilities Organizational Settings and Reporting:

Under the direct supervision of the Chief of Section of the Regional Integration Section, and the overall guidance of the Director of the Regional Integration and Trade Division (RITD) the individual contractor/staff assistant will have the responsibility to undertake the following:

I. Background

The AfCFTA-anchored Pharmaceutical Initiative (Pharma Initiative) was initially launched in November 2019 by United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), alongside the Government of Seychelles (representing select Small Island Developing States (SIDS)), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Union Development Agency- New Partnership for Africa's Development (AUDA-NEPAD), in collaboration with UN Family entities, WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDOCO and UNAIDS. The initiative was first commissioned in select 10 pilot African countries which include Seychelles, Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius, Djibouti, Eritrea, Rwanda Sudan, Kenya, and Ethiopia.

The Pharma Initiative contributes towards the aspirations of the 2030 Global Development Agenda and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. In addition, it demonstrates the operationalization of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Plan for Africa (PMPA) and African Medicines Agency (AMA) by ensuring that private and public sector collaborations yield tangible results. The Pharma Initiative’s specific objectives are:

i) To address socio-economic-related challenges facing African member countries relating to access to equitable, safe, and affordable medicines and the creation of fiscal space to the African countries in the era of rising government debts excabarated by COVID, ii) To showcase the operationalization of the AfCFTA and AMA within the Pharma Initiative’s three pronged pillars: localized pharmaceutical production, pharmaceutical pooled procurement, and a harmonized regulatory and quality standards framework, iii) To increase intra-African trade of manufactured goods including medicines.

The Pharma Initiative takes on a three-pronged approach: 1. Establishment of a Centralized Pooled Procurement Mechanism (CPPM) for selected Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (SRMNCH) medicines and products. 2. Facilitation and advocacy for local production of selected SRMNCH products. 3. Ensure harmonized regulatory standards and quality assurance of medicines and commodities in partnership with relevant AUC Agencies.

The decision to focus on select maternal and child health-care products was informed by high maternal and infant mortality ratio in Africa as well as huge unmet needs for family planning and other reproductive health commodities. The maternal and child health burden remains relatively high across the continent and, the challenges relating to maternal and infant mortality persist, particularly in respect of achieving targets of key indicators within the SDGs. In connection to the above, there are other existing difficulties such as the lack of preventive immunization measures and vaccines.

In the backdrop of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the project temporarily deviated from its envisaged core objectives to support member States to mitigate shortages in COVID 19 medical supplies. Together with the African Union Special Envoy on COVID-19 Supplies, Afreximbank, and Africa CDC, the ECA facilitated the creation and endorsement in June 2020 of the Africa Medical Supplies Platform (AMSP) as a continental mechanism for coordination and distribution of COVID-19 medical supplies under the purview of the African Vaccination Acquisition Trust (AVAT). AVAT is envisioned as a central entity for the negotiation, procurement, and payment for vaccines and to act as the interface between AU Member States and vaccine manufacturers. Returning to its original mandate on SRMNCH products, the Pharma Initiative has published two expressions of interest (EOI) which have selected manufacturers to receive capacity building support to promote Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) for quality, efficacious and safe pharmaceuticals and to enhance the competitiveness of the companies and their ability to leverage the market opportunities offered by the implementation of AfCFTA and AMA.

As we enter Phase III of the Pharma Initiative, moving towards AU objectives of self-reliance and self-sufficiency, the ECA and partners will focus on supporting the institutionalization of a CPPM. Leveraging on AfCFTA and AMA, CPPM will contribute to addressing the issues of the fragmentation of African markets and, creation of a business case to promote local manufacturing of pharmaceuticals in the continent. Local production of pharmaceuticals and the harmonization of the medicines regulatory environment across the continent will increase access to safe, affordable, and quality medicines and will prepare Africa to deal with future pandemics, emergencies, and crises, establishing continental health security.

II. The Genesis and Justification of Pharma Initiative

The signing of the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Area (AfCFTA), its coming into force effectively on 30 May 2019 and entering into an operational phase on 7 July 2019, marked momentous milestones in Africa’s economic integration. The AfCFTA brings on board a market of 1.3 billion people, a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $3.4 trillion, across 55 member states of the African Union (AU). On the other hand, the African Medicines Agency (AMA) plays a critical role in guaranteeing the protection of the integrated African market from substandard, and counterfeit products and services by providing a collaborating framework of common regulatory and quality standards to ensure that pharmaceutical drugs and products are effective, affordable, and safe. The AfCFTA and African Medicines Agency (AMA) changes the economics on the ground and strengthens the case for significant investment in manufacturing across the continent. Living in the era of COVID-19 pandemic associated with supply chains disruptions has drawn attention to the already overburdened public health systems in many African countries. It highlights the urgent need for sustainable health sector systems to serve as input to inclusive and sustainable development, promotion of value addition and income generation, job creation to cater for the youth bulge, technological and knowledge spill overs. The Agreements provides an appropriate sectoral approach to advocate for healthcare and wellness sectors, and more specifically the pharmaceutical sector. The healthcare and wellness sector, which is projected to be worth $259 billion by 2030 is said to have a potential to create 16 million jobs. The pharmaceuticals sub-sector has been identified as one of the world’s fastest growing markets exploding from to US$ 21 Billion in 2013 to about $60 Billion in 2020 and still growing.

The beginning of trading in 2021 under the AfCFTA making Africa the largest integrated trading area in the world by allowing access of good and services without tariffs to a forecasted market of 1.7 billion potential by 2030 has significant importance to public health and safety. The continent carries 25% of global disease burden, with over 50% of children who die under the age of 5 and 75% of HIV/ AIDS patients are Africans. However, the continent is only 11% of the world population. Additionally, 73% of the estimated 1.6 million people dying each year from AIDS are Africans as well as 92 percent of the deaths due to malaria. Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) account for 73 per cent of the disease burden among the elderly population. On other hand, communicable diseases (NDs) account for 78 per cent of the disease burden among the 0–14-year-old. The tragedy of it all is that most of these diseases are treatable and most related deaths could be prevented with timely access to appropriate and affordable and quality medicines and so are people living with long life diseases, they can lead productive lives. Presently, Africa manufactures less than 2 per cent of the medicines it consumes while it imports over 97 per cent of its needs from outside the continent at an annual cost of $14.5 billion. Worse still, several African countries import sub-standard or poor-quality medicines and some of the smaller Africa economies pay premium prices to source their pharmaceuticals owing to their weakened bargaining position with large, well-resourced, and dominant international pharmaceutical companies. It is estimated that the annual earnings from substandard and/or counterfeit drugs were over US$30 billion in LMICs, according to the 2017 World Health Organization study on the public health and socioeconomic impact of substandard and falsified medical products.1 Counterfeit and substandard drugs are a public health risk contributing significantly to morbidity and mortality. Africa’s high disease burden, poor access and affordability of medicines is compounded by factors that include importation sub-standard or poor-quality medicines, long lead times for international orders; infrastructure gaps such as poor logistics and storage capacity, as well as high transport and distribution costs. Implementation of the AfCFTA and AMA provide framework to address these existing market distortions in pharmaceutical sub sector, laid bare by COVID pandemic.

The Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa (PMPA) that was adopted by the AU Assembly back in 2007 observed: “a market size that would ensure sustainability as well as technical and financial viability was considered imperative.” Thanks to the AfCFTA and AMA, Africa is now able to say market size is no longer an issue for pharmaceutical manufacturers to engage in areas such as the local production of generic medicines on the continent or pooled procurement of medicines utilizing a common regulatory and quality standards framework. As a UN agency mandated to operate at the regional and sub regional levels, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), leveraged on its think tank, convening and operational core functions to engage relevant partners, provide the platform, networks, and analysis on the opportunities of the AfCFTA in the pharmaceutical sector across the continent. In 2018, ECA, AUC and partners commissioned a report titled “Review of Policies and Strategies for the Pharmaceutical Production Sector in Africa: Policy coherence, best practices and future prospective”. The policy recommendations emanating from the report informed the 2019 Africa Business Forum which was convened on the margins of African Union Summit on 12 February 2019. The Forum’s objective was to facilitate and consolidate a regional partnership between private and public sectors for the purposes of advancing health outcomes and shape health markets in Africa to spur improved health and wellbeing of its people and economy, as well as free up the fiscal space of the African Governments given the rising fiscal debt within the region. The Forum culminated in the launch of African Business Coalition for Health (ABCHealth), an African led coalition that mobilizes a core group of private sector champions to advance health outcomes and shape health markets in Africa.

Following the launch of ABCHealth, the ECA, AUC and partners convened an AfCFTA Regional Forum for the Horn of Africa on the theme: “AfCFTA Ratification and Implementation: Breaking Down Geographical, Logistical and Regulatory Barriers to Trade and Investment in the Horn of Africa to Boost Industrialization – A Focus on the Pharmaceutical Industry” in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 23-24 May 2019. As part of its mandate to ensure that private and public sector dialogue yields tangible outcomes, the ECA went on to conceptualize an AfCFTA-anchored Pharmaceutical Project and joined forces with its partners AUC, IGAD and selected Africa countries and Small Islands States represented by Seychelles to roll out the pilot Initiative.

II. Overall Objectives

It is against the background and specifically focused on the institutionalization and operationalization of a CPPM that the ECA is seeking the services of a Programme / Staff Assistant. Phase III of the Pharma Initiative is expected to assist member countries in: - Institutionalizing and operationalizing a CPPM. - Improving the efficiency of forecasting, quantification, and supply chain management of pharmaceutical products. - Promoting good pharmaceutical procurement practices. - Strengthening their bargaining power in relation to pharmaceutical manufacturers.

III. Duties and responsibilities:

• Perform a wide range of office support and administrative functions, duties and processes, including draft responses to routine correspondence, notes, and any other routine communications, as required;
• Use standard word processing package to produce a variety of routing correspondence, reports, tables charts, graphs required for events mentioned above;
• Maintain files and databases, including by managing individual case files, ensuring that all related correspondence and other documentation are appropriately filed, registered, and followed up;
• Research, compile and organize information and reference materials from various sources for reports, work plans, studies, briefings, meetings/conferences, etc;
• Assist in processing consultancy recruitment related assignments related to the AfCFTA anchored Pharmaceutical Initiative project (including processing consultants’ contracts from building JO to finalizing contracts and all follow up actions, processing consultants’ remuneration, travel requests, preparing travel claims, requests for office supplies and equipment, etc.);
• Provides secretarial, administrative and logistics support to meetings, boards, committees, conferences, etc. for RITD in general and AfCFTA-anchored Pharma Initiative Project in particular (including organizing special knowledge delivery events around the project, liaising with service sections within ECA (Conference Section, Travel, etc.) in support of the implementation of this project, initiating contacts with targeted experts for knowledge delivery activities and events and facilitate their travel and participation, maintaining electronic participation list at special knowledge delivery events and updating and disseminating lists of participants; documents, reports and other materials, where possible using electronic formats or coordinating courier services;
• Follow up on impending actions and deadlines. Perform basics data entry and extraction functions;
• Operate and maintain a variety of office equipment in the performance of basic office functions;
• Deliver urgent mail/messages;
• Maintains calendar/schedules; monitors changes and communicate relevant information to appropriate staff inside and outside the immediate work unit;
• Performs a variety of administrative duties (e.g. leave recording, meeting organization, reservations, office supply and equipment orders, etc.), including preparing and/or processing administrative requests/documents (e.g., travel requests, expense claims, vouchers, visa applications, etc.);
• Maintains files (both paper and electronic) and databases for work unit;

• Perform other administrative duties for the Division as assigned.

  Qualifications/special skills high School Diploma or equivalent. A minimum of five years of experience in general office support or related area. Has ability to apply judgment in the context of assignments given, plan own work and manage conflicting priorities. Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achis motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations.

  Languages English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in oral and written English and French are required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is an advantage.

  No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.