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Job Title                         Programme Specialist, RH, NOC, Baghdad

Job ID                              40584

Location                          Arab States

Full/Part Time                Full-Time

Regular/Temporary       Regular

Rotation                          This post is non-rotational

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Background Information

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS VACANCY IS ONLY OPEN TO NATIONALS OF IRAQ

Closing Date: 16 December 2021

Duration of the post: One year renewable (*)

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[*] No expectancy of renewal in accordance with UN Staff Regulations 4.5.


The Position:

The Programme Specialist ensures the effective management of UNFPA activities in the areas of reproductive health. You will oversee project formulation and evaluation, joint programming initiatives and national development frameworks. You will lead the programme team and collaborates with the Iraq Country Office’s operations/administrative support staff.

You will report to the UNFPA Programme Specialist SRH.

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.  UNFPA’s new strategic plan (2022-2025), focuses on three transformative results: (a) ending the unmet need for family planning; (b) ending preventable maternal deaths; and (c) ending gender-based violence and harmful practices, including female genital mutilation and child, early and forced marriage.  

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 are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.


Main Tasks & Responsibilities

Job Purpose:

Working within a large and complex Country Office environment, you will ensure the effective management of UNFPA activities in the areas of reproductive health in line with the Country Programme Document (CPD) 2020 – 2024 focusing on strengthening national capacity for the provision of high-quality integrated sexual and reproductive health services, especially for the most vulnerable populations, including women, young people, internally displaced people and those in refugee camps.  

Employing your programme management experience, you will oversee the work of the programme team as well as consultants, advisors, and experts. You will provide quality, timely and integrated technical and programmatic leadership in terms of UNFPA policy and strategy related to address reproductive health issues.  You will work to increase the national capacity for demand creation of sexual and reproductive health services, including provision of information, especially for women and young people.   You will contribute to policy making and strategies related to reproductive health and their inclusion in the global development agenda as outlined in the Iraq Poverty Reduction Strategy, Iraq National Development Plan (2018-2022) and Iraq Vision 2030; which is aligned to the four outcomes of the UNFPA Strategic Plan, 2018-2021, the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for Iraq (2020-2024), and the UNFPA Iraq Country Programme Document (2020 – 2024). You will establish and maintain collaborative relationships with counterparts in government, multi-lateral and bilateral donor agencies and civil society to address emerging issues, and effectively influence diverse stakeholders to contribute to achieving UNFPA’s mandate.

You would be responsible for:

Programme Management

  • Strengthening and reinforcing UNFPA’s leadership role in Sexual and Reproductive Health through provision of high quality technical assistance for government and other national counterparts in the country.
  • Overseeing the formulation and design of country programme and its component projects on Family Planning and RH Commodity security including supply chain and demand creation, in collaboration with Government counterparts, NGOs and other partners and in line with Government priorities and according to UNFPA programme policies and procedures.
  • Scaling up family planning services, with a focus on regions where the contraceptive prevalence rate is low.
  • Providing technical support to cost and implement the family planning action plan.
  • Providing technical and material support to the midwifery colleges, associations and regulators to improve pre and in-service.
  • Enhancing existing maternal death surveillance and response systems to reduce maternal mortality.
  • Providing reproductive health lifesaving services in the humanitarian settings.
  • Conducting studies on the barriers to access and utilization of family planning services.
  • Improving the logistics management information system for better reproductive health commodity security.
  • Overseeing achievement of programme results by ensuring appropriate policies and procedures are applied, and appropriate monitoring and oversight mechanisms and systems are established and implemented.
  • Overseeing project implementation, establishing collaborative partnerships with executing agencies, experts, government counterparts and other UN agencies to facilitate timely and efficient delivery of project inputs, and addressing training needs of project personnel.

Policy and Advocacy

  • Advocating for Improving availability of Sexual and Reproductive Health services, including the prevention of HIV transmission among populations that are most at risk and their partners, and from mothers to their children.
  • Conducting behaviour change campaigns on family planning.
  • Raising awareness and support education on sexual and reproductive health and family planning services and rights.
  • Engaging with educational institutions to integrate sexual and reproductive health modules in their curricula.
  • Working with the media to raise public awareness about the sexual and reproductive health and family planning services and rights.
  • Engaging health workers and community-based organizations to increase demand for family planning.
  • Establishing family planning social marketing programmes in communities where the contraceptive prevalence rate is low.
  • Advocating for family planning integration within primary health care and increased national budget allocation for family planning.
  • Reviewing the political, social and economic environment relevant to Reproductive Health, and pursuing opportunities for UNFPA assistance and intervention. Assessing implications of new policy developments and strategies on programme execution and ensuring appropriate implementation.
  • Participating in advocacy efforts of Country Office by developing and providing to the Management relevant fact sheets and policy briefs.

Resource Mobilization

  • Participating in resource mobilization efforts of the Country Office by ensuring preparation of relevant documentation, i.e. project summaries, conference papers, speeches, donor profiles, and participating in related donor meetings and public information events.
  • Participating in inter-agency thematic group meetings to ensure UNFPA interests and identifying specific areas for support, building on UNFPA comparative advantages and UNFPA programmatic objectives in the country.

Knowledge Management

  • Ensuring the creation and documentation of knowledge about current and emerging Reproductive Health issues, by the programme team through the analysis of programme, projects, strategies, approaches and ongoing experience for lessons learned, best practices, and uses this knowledge for information sharing and planning future strategies.
  • Supporting capacity development for service providers on rights-based family planning.

Qualifications and Experience

Education: 

Master degree in Public health, Medicine or other related social science field.

Knowledge and Experience:

  • Five years of increasingly responsible professional experience in the field of Reproductive Health.
  • Experience in programme/ project management including experience in large multi-sector projects, designing and appraising proposals and actively liaising with relevant and potential project partners.
  • Knowledge of international Reproductive Health issues with specific attention to gender-aware and gender-sensitive and human rights approaches.
  • Experience in handling of web-based management systems.
  • Proven experience in coordinating/managing a multi-disciplinary team of staff, experts and consultants.
  • Experience in drafting and implementing legislation.
  • Field experience is an asset.
  • Prior experience in the UN system is an asset.
  • Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.).

Languages:

Fluency in English; knowledge of other official UN languages, preferably Arabic is desirable


Required Competencies

Values:

  • Exemplifying integrity,
  • Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system,
  • Embracing cultural diversity,
  • 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 national governments and partners/ building strategic alliances and partnership
  • Delivering results-based programmes
  • Internal and external communication and advocacy for results mobilisation

Managerial Competencies:

  • Providing strategic focus,
  • Engaging in internal/external partners and stakeholders,
  • Leading, developing and empowering people, creating a culture of performance
  • Making decisions and exercising judgment

UNFPA Work Environment

Workforce diversity:

UNFPA is committed to achieving diversity within its workforce, and encourages all qualified applicants, irrespective of gender, nationality, disabilities, sexual orientation, culture, religious and ethnic backgrounds to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Compensation and Benefits

This position offers an attractive remuneration package including a competitive net salary plus health insurance and other benefits as applicable.


Disclaimer

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Fraudulent notices, letters or offers may be submitted to the UNFPA fraud hotline http://www.unfpa.org/help/hotline.cfm

In accordance with the Staff Regulations and 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, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment. 


If interested apply before 16 December through this link: https://erecruit.partneragencies.org/psc/UNDPP1HRE/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/HRS_H...