Vacancy Announcement from UNFPA
Programme Analyst, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR)
Job ID: 40322
Location: Asia and Pacific
Full/Part Time: Full-Time
Regular/Temporary: Regular
Background Information
Closing Date: 22 November 2021 (5.00 pm Nepal Time)
Duration: One year (renewable)*
Contract Type: Fixed-Term
Duty Station: Butwal, Dhangadhi, Janakpur
* No expectancy of renewal in accordance with UN Staff Regulation 4.5
Organizational Setting
The Position:
UNFPA works to ensure sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) remain at the very centre of development. The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action (PoA) draws a clear connection between reproductive health, human rights and sustainable development. When sexual and reproductive health needs are not met, individuals are deprived of the right to make crucial choices about their own bodies and futures, with a cascading impact on their families’ welfare and future generations. And because women bear children, and also usually bear the responsibility for nurturing them, sexual and reproductive health and rights issues cannot be separated from gender equality. Cumulatively, the denial of these rights exacerbates poverty and gender inequality.
UNFPA works with Governments, UN agencies, civil society and other development partners to promote universal access to sexual and reproductive health care. This includes efforts to strengthen health systems, including supporting the implementation of reproductive health programmes, improving the quality of reproductive health care and strengthening human resources. UNFPA also works to make sure reproductive health commodities are available where needed, such as contraceptives, life-saving medicines and basic medical equipment, and that a functioning logistics system is in place.
Reproductive health is a lifetime concern for both women and men, from infancy to old age. UNFPA supports programmes tailored to the different challenges people face at different times in their lives, including comprehensive sexuality education, family planning, antenatal and safe delivery care, postnatal care, services to prevent sexually transmitted infections, and services facilitating early diagnosis and treatment of reproductive health illnesses. To support reproductive health throughout the life cycle, services across a variety of sectors must be strengthened in addition to health and education systems.
The Programme Analyst, Sexual and Reproductive Health serves as the senior-most expert in SRHR in UNFPA in the assigned province. S/he will provide technical leadership for UNFPA’s work on SRHR towards accelerating the achievement of the ICPD PoA and Agenda 2030 in the province. S/he will engage in policy advocacy efforts, provides technical assistance and management support in SRHR, promotes rights-based approaches, and positions UNFPA’s work strategically within the health sector.
S/he will ensure linkages with other UNFPA supported programmes in the areas of adolescent and youth, gender equality, and population dynamics, and will build capacities of staff and concerned partners at the provincial and local level to mainstream reproductive rights.
S/he will be located at the UNFPA Provincial Office, based in the provincial capital; and will work under the overall technical guidance and support of the SRHR Specialist, based in the UNFPA Country Office in Kathmandu, and the direct supervision of the UNFPA Provincial Head of Office, and in close collaboration with the UNFPA teams at all levels.
How you can make a difference:
UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, working in a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s strategic plan focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices against women and girls.
In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.
UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who uphold the values enshrined in the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.
Job Purpose:
The Constitution of Nepal 2015 and the Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Rights Act 2018 protects the sexual and reproductive health rights and choices of women and girls. However, Nepal has one of the highest ratio of maternal deaths in the region (239 per 100,000 live births), an indication of the country’s weak health system. The COVID-19 pandemic has strained the health system further with health resources and capacities diverted from SRH services to address the pandemic. Overall, women and girls from marginalized groups continue to suffer disproportionately from unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortion, maternal deaths and disability, sexually transmitted infections and gender based violence.
UNFPA has had a close working relationship with the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) for the last four decades and has contributed to establishing a progressive policy and legislative environment for SRHR; provided technical support to put in place SRH protocols and guidelines; invested in developing health systems including human resources and supply chain management for SRH; and provided SRH commodities to the Government of Nepal.
UNFPA also works closely with its provincial and local unit counterparts and other partners at sub-national level, with a strong field presence in several districts and in the provincial capitals of Province 2 (Janakpur), Province 5 (Butwal) and Sudurpaschim Pradesh (Dhangadhi). In addition, under the UNFPA supported gender equality/gender based violence programmes, UNFPA has established presence in Province 1 and Karnali Province.
Since 2018, UNFPA has focused on enabling the new federal structure, at all levels, to strengthen the delivery of SRH services in the above-mentioned geographic areas, with a focus on marginalized and vulnerable groups. This has included advocacy efforts to mobilize political and financial support from policy makers; provision of technical assistance to put in place an enabling policy environment for SRHR; support for SRH including family planning (FP) commodities; and oversight of a range of implementing partners engaged in capacity building and service delivery at the local level.
Humanitarian preparedness and response is an integral part of UNFPA’s work in Nepal. UNFPA is the lead agency mandated with the responsibility to coordinate and implement life-saving SRH services as well as GBV response services in emergency settings. UNFPA has built the trust and confidence of the national and sub-national counterparts and partners in humanitarian settings, including in the capacity to provide an effective and rapid response, tailored to the local context, as experienced in the 2015 earthquake response and the more recent floods and COVID-19 responses.
The Programme Analyst, SRHR is entrusted with the responsibility of engaging in advocacy and policy dialogue for concerted actions by the provincial and local counterparts, UN system and other development partners, and civil society organizations and networks on issues related to SRHR. S/he will provide technical leadership and build partnerships to leverage financial and technical resources for accelerated achievement of UNFPA’s transformative programme goals. S/he ensures effective oversight and management of UNFPA-supported interventions in the areas of SRHR in development and humanitarian settings. Through substantive analysis and assessment of political, social and economic trends relevant to SRHR, s/he assesses the implication for UNFPA’s work in the assigned province; contributes to provincial and local policy and programme formulation, guides programme implementation, and ensures the achievement of programme results through monitoring activities. S/he establishes collaborative partnerships with key stakeholders and promotes coherence among partners in the development of policies and strategies, guidelines and protocols, and programmes. S/he will engage with UNFPA personnel working across the thematic and other teams at all levels.
Main Tasks & Responsibilities
You would be responsible for:
A. Policy Dialogue and Technical Support
- Facilitates UNFPA’s engagement in high-level dialogue with government, civil society, academic institutions and other partners and participates in various health sector technical advisory/working groups and in interagency task teams to position SRHR at provisional and local level.
- Promotes awareness of the critical role of the ICPD PoA in the achievement of the SDGs, in particular Goals 3 & 5, in relevant meetings, conferences and other fora.
- Keeps abreast of any policy and programme developments in the province that may affect SRHR outcomes and advises senior management on the potential impacts to UNFPA’s ability to advance its commitments.
- Identifies policy gaps in the fulfilment of reproductive rights and translates knowledge gained from programming into policy recommendations, with a focus on sustainability.
- Ensures application of good practices and learnings in the field of SRHR and drives new thinking and areas of innovation in SRHR programming among relevant counterparts and partners and UNFPA personnel.
- Provides strategic direction and technical support for advancing SRHR goals at provincial and local level, including in legislation, policies, strategies, technical guidelines, operational plans, manuals, clinical protocols, guidelines and training packages including health sector response to GBV.
- Contributes to the design of the UNFPA supported country programme and projects related to SRHR, ensuring that selected interventions position UNFPA as a thought leader in the area of SRHR and incorporate approaches grounded in gender equality and social inclusion.
- Establishes and strengthens civil society alliances to influence the policy agenda and promote accountability mechanisms for the realization of reproductive rights.
- Anticipates, plans and supports life-saving SRHR humanitarian response interventions, ensuring adequate attention given to the needs of women and girls during emergencies in collaboration with the UNFPA humanitarian team and other partners.
- Contributes to state-of-the-art research findings and learnings and ensures key findings are fully integrated within UNFPA-supported policies and programmes; and promotes an integrated approach linked to other relevant thematic areas of work.
- Guides rights-based, gender-centric and inclusive policy and programme interventions under SRHR to reach those communities and vulnerable groups that are furthest behind.
B. Advocacy and Resource Mobilization
- Develops and maintains collaborative relationships with relevant provincial and local government counterparts and other key partners and asserts UNFPA’s comparative substantive role and contributions in advancing SRHR and facilitating coordination and collaboration among the key partners, in development and humanitarian contexts.
- Examines and interprets the political, social and economic environment and implications for UNFPA’s work in SRHR and advocates for increases in provincial and local government budgetary allocations and expenditures for SRH and assists in identifying entry points to leverage financial resources.
- Advocates for the integration of UNFPA-support evidenced-based good practices within provincial and local systems and processes, and engages in strategic partnerships to accelerate the sustainability of SRHR interventions.
- Provides technical support to generate information and evidence for policy advocacy and to influence Government, non-governmental counterparts, and other partners to accelerate the achievement of SRHR goals at national, provincial and local level.
- Contributes to the advocacy and resource mobilization strategy of UNFPA Nepal by exploring funding opportunities, including from the public and private sectors; maintains partnerships at technical level with donors and key stakeholders; and supports the preparation of relevant documentation, i.e. project proposals that are innovative and demonstrate potential for high impact, best practices and lessons learnt, and communication materials.
- Supports the production of high quality communication materials for SRHR advocacy and for promoting visibility of UNFPA’s work and achievements, including preparing technical briefs, reports, and talking points/statements, as needed.
C. Programme Management and Coordination
- Manages the SRHR programme and projects in the assigned province including the development of work plans with implementing partners; maintains oversight on programme delivery; and provides quality assurance.
- Undertakes regular monitoring visits; assesses the effectiveness of SRHR interventions; identifies areas for further improvements; and makes an effort to address the barriers and bottlenecks with the partners, while building capacities for sustainability.
- Undertakes results-based monitoring and reporting under the SRHR programme including timely submission of progress and other reports, as required.
- Contributes to the documentation of lessons learned and best practices related to UNFPA’s work in SRHR; participates in communities of practices in the area of SRHR; and shares new approaches with UNFPA and the implementing partners for optimal results.
- Strengthens partnerships and collaboration with the Government, civil society actors and other development partners through supporting effective coordination mechanisms in development and humanitarian contexts.
Perform any other duties as requested by the supervisor and the management team in UNFPA.
Qualifications and Experience
Education:
- Advanced Degree in Public Health, Health Economics, Medicine/Health Sciences, or other related discipline.
Knowledge and Experience:
- At least two years or more of clinical experience as a public health professional, preferably in a low resource setting.
- Practical experience in emergency health sector, maternal health issues and service delivery.
- Knowledge and understanding of UN/UNFPA humanitarian/development programming and operations, and about UN common programming principles including a human-rights based approach, gender equality and capacity development.
- Proven ability to engage in high-level policy dialogue and advocacy.
- Ability to express clearly and concisely ideas and concepts in written and oral forms.
- Practical experience in design, management, monitoring and review of SRHR programmes/projects.
- Experience in policy advocacy, documentation, development of national SRHR strategies, protocols and training packages.
- Demonstrated experience in coordination and liaison with government counterparts, NGOs, UN agencies, private sector, development partners and CBOs.
- Good understanding of the Nepal Government’s health related policies, laws, policy making processes and the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with the relevant Government partners and other stakeholders.
- Experience using office software packages and web-based management systems.
- Ability to work independently and demonstrated experience in working successfully as a member of multidisciplinary team.
Languages:
- Proficiency in English and Nepali is required. Working knowledge of another UN language or local language is an asset.
Required Competencies
Values:
- Exemplifying integrity
- Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system
- Embracing diversity in all its forms
- Embracing change
Core Competencies:
- Achieving Results
- Being Accountable
- Developing and Applying Professional Expertise/Business Acumen
- Thinking analytically and Strategically
- Working in Teams/Managing Ourselves and our Relationships
- Communicating for Impact
Functional Competencies:
- Advocacy/ Advancing a policy-oriented agenda;
- Leveraging the resources of provincial and local governments and partners/building strategic alliances and partnerships;
- Delivering results-based programmes;
- Internal and external communication and advocacy for results mobilization.
Managerial Competencies:
- Providing strategic focus;
- Engaging internal/external partners and stakeholders;
- Leading, developing and empowering people, creating a culture of performance;
- Making decisions and exercising judgment.
UNFPA Work Environment
UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, teamwork, Embracing diversity in all its forms, integrity and a healthy balance of work and life. We are committed to maintaining our balanced gender distribution and therefore encourage women to apply. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities for all including persons with disabilities.
Disclaimer
WARNING TO APPLICANTS: UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you have received a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web. Should you feel that you have received a fraudulent notice, letter or offer that makes use of the name or logo of UNFPA, you may submit a report through the UNFPA fraud hotline http://www.unfpa.org/help/hotline.cfm
Notice to applicants: In accordance with the rules of the United Nations, persons applying to posts in the international Professional category, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, are required to renounce such status upon their appointment. Exceptions to this rule are very limited and can be made only for: (a) stateless persons; (b) newly appointed staff members who have applied for citizenship by naturalization, when such citizenship will be granted imminently; (c) acting staff members in the General Service and related categories with permanent residency status, on promotion to the Professional category; (d) staff members appointed under a temporary appointment. Please understand that UNFPA is not in a position to provide advice on or assistance in applying for any citizenship.
HOW TO APPLY:
UNFPA has established an electronic application management system. This allows applicants to create a candidate profile, which can be updated regularly and submitted for more than one vacancy.
Download the Step by Step Guide to Applying in the E-Recruit System of UNFPA at http://www.unfpa.org/employment.
Please print out the Guide for your reference during the registration and application process.
Notice: There is no application, processing or other fee at any stage of the application process. UNFPA does not solicit or screen for information in respect of HIV or AIDS and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.
