General

Description of assignment title: SRH Specialist

Assignment country: Sudan

Expected start date: 04/24/2023

Sustainable Development Goal: 3. Good health and well-being

Volunteer category: International UN Volunteer Specialist

DoA reserved for persons with disabilities: No

Host entity: UNFPA

Type: Onsite

Duration: 12 months (with possibility of extension)

Number of assignments: 1

Duty stations: Khartoum

Details

Mission and objectives

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 supports:

•  Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) for all, particularly women and girls in more than 150 countries – home to more than 80 per cent of the world’s population. SRH includes;  The health of pregnant women, especially the 10-15 million who face life-threatening complications each year  Reliable access to modern contraceptives sufficient to benefit 20 million women a year  Training of thousands of health workers, particularly midwives to help ensure at least 80 per cent of all child births are supervised by skilled attendants  Prevention of teen and early pregnancies, complications of which are the leading cause of death for girls 15-19 years old  Delivery of safe birth supplies, dignity kits and other life-saving materials to survivors of conflict and natural disaster
•  Prevention of gender-based violence (GBV), one of the most common forms of violence today affecting 1 in 3 women across the globe
•  Abandonment of female genital mutilation, which harms 3 million girls annually
•  Gender-responsive, age appropriate Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE)
•  Efforts to end child marriage affecting 12 million girls every year
•  Countries in development of youth policies and reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health policies and action plans.
•  Population census, demographic health surveys, research, data collection and analysis, which are essential for development planning as well as in humanitarian settings

Context

UNFPA Sudan country office, through its seventh country programme, committed to contribute to upgrading of midwifery services in Sudan. In support of this strategic direction, UNFPA supported MoH to conduct a midwifery work-force gap analysis with the technical support of the international confederation of midwives. This analysis provided information for evidence based policy decision making and pin pointed areas deserving of investment in order to accelerate the scaling up of midwifery in the country. The quality and coverage of the midwifery service in Sudan demand an immediate intervention in order to improve the quality of care as well as improving the reproductive health outcomes. UNFPA considers investing in upgrading of midwifery service provision, regulations and education as an optimum set of intervention with highest impact, at its present and future returns. With emphases on midwifery Education, UNFPA focuses on strengthening the capacity of the schools and institutions in terms of infrastructure and staffing aiming at meeting the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) standards for the pre-service training of midwives at diploma level. Under the overall management of the UNFPA Sudan country representative, and the direct supervision of the Head of health unit, the midwifery UNV is expected to carry programmatic functions related to sexual and reproductive health and rights with focus improving midwifery response in women and maternal health, MISP, Family planning and Reproductive health commodity security as well as HIV and STIs. The UNV will work in close coordination and complementarity with the Reproductive health analysts and field based staff, as well as the wide range of national counterparts (government, academia, NGOs and community based structures which are supported by UNFPA) to support ensuring effective and efficient program implementation.].

Task description

Under the supervision of Head of health unit or his/her designated mandated representative(s), the UN Volunteer Midwifery specialist will support the implementation of the midwifery programming in Sudan through:

•  In collaboration with Government counterparts, NGOs and other partners, contributes to the formulation and design of the reproductive health program with emphases and focus on Family planning programming, in both humanitarian and development contexts, in line with the country programme and the National priorities and according to UNFPA pro-gramme policies and procedures.
•  Analyzes and interprets the political, social and economic environment relevant to repro-ductive health with emphases on Maternal health and Family planning programming ad-dressing health system elements as well as the broader profile of stakeholders, and identi-fies opportunities for UNFPA assistance and intervention.
•  Keeps abreast of new policy developments and strategies analysing policy papers, strate-gy documents, national plans and development frameworks, and prepares briefs and in-puts for policy dialogue, technical assistance coordination, and development frameworks.
•  Expedites and coordinates project implementation establishing collaborative relationships with executing agencies, experts, government counterparts and other UN agencies facili-tating timely and efficient delivery of project inputs and addressing training needs of pro-ject personnel.
•  Helps in creating and documenting knowledge about current and emerging RH, by ana-lyzing programme, projects, strategies, approaches and ongoing experience for lessons learned, best practices, and shares with management for use in knowledge sharing and planning future strategies.
•  Assists advocacy and resource mobilization efforts of Country Office by preparing rele-vant documentation, i.e. project summaries, conference papers, speeches, donor profiles, and participating in donor meetings and public information events.
•  Work jointly with the reproductive health unit team members in developing and implemen-tation of monitoring and evaluation plan for the RH projects in consultation with the field officers, HIV and the finance monitoring officers.
•  Support in analysing and reporting on implementation of the assigned project activities, monitor project expenditures and disbursement to ensure delivery is in line with approved budgets;
•  Follow up all logistical, financial and contractual matters related to facilitation of the work of consultants, advisors and experts involved in the implementation of the sexual and re-productive health programme. Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:
•  Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by read-ing relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for in-stance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
•  Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
•  Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities;
•  Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publica-tions/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
•  Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;
•  Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.

Eligibility criteria

Age: 27 – 80

Nationality

Candidate must be a national of a country other than the country of assignment.

Requirements

Required experience

5 years of experience in

•  Required professional work experience at the national and/or international level in SRHR program; experience with public health is an asset, as is experience working in the UN or other international development organization;
•  Knowledge and experience in the field of programme development and management, including budget management is desirable
•  Excellent oral and written skills; excellent drafting, formulation, reporting skills;
•  Have affinity with or interest in SRHR work, volunteerism as a mechanism for durable development, and the UN System.
•  Minimum 3 years of relevant professional experience in reproductive programme design and implementation. Experience with projects or a programme implemented by multinational or bilateral donors is an asset.

Area(s) of expertise

Health

Driving license

–

Languages

Arabic, Level: Working knowledge, Desirable English, Level: Fluent, Required

Required education level

Master degree or equivalent in Mandatory educational background and experience in Midwifery, Public health and Programme Management.

Competencies and values

☒ Accountability ☒ Adaptability and Flexibility ☒ Building Trust ☒ Client Orientation ☒ Commitment and Motivation ☒ Commitment to Continuous Learning ☒ Communication ☒ Creativity ☒ Empowering Others ☒ Ethics and Values ☒ Integrity ☒ Judgement and Decision-making ☒ Knowledge Sharing ☒ Managing Performance ☒ Planning and Organizing ☒ Professionalism ☒ Respect for Diversity ☒ Self-Management ☒ Technological Awareness ☒ Working in Teams

Other information

Living conditions and remarks

Khartoum is the capital and trading centre of Sudan and is situated in Khartoum State, at the junction of the Blue and White Nile rivers; Omdurman is also a suburb of Khartoum, giving the urban area a population of over 3 million. It has long served as a major communications centre between the Arab countries of North Africa and central African countries. The city lies near the rich, irrigated cotton-growing Gezira area to the south and much of its trade is based on Nile river traffic. An oil pipeline links the city with Port Sudan on the Red Sea. Industries include tanning, textiles, light engineering, food processing, glassware, and printing. The climate ranges from tropical in the south to arid dry desert in the north. Khartoum is one of the hottest capitals in the world in summer, although the winter months are cooler and pleasant. A rainy season in many areas spans from April to October. Living conditions in capital Khartoum are good. Khartoum is classified as a family duty station, with a good level of services, accommodation and facilities. One can rent a comfortable modern apartment or house with air conditioners that mitigate the hot climate. The cost of living may be high, depending on the standards, particularly for food and accommodation. It is a relatively safe environment. MORSS compliance is required. Generally, the city is safe compared to other capitals in the continent. There are many restaurants and cafes for socializing, although limited sports facilities due to the climate although one can get membership of gyms for indoor exercise and there are clubs for swimming. No alcohol is allowed in Sudan. Dress code is conservative (arms and legs covered, although trousers are acceptable for women, head scarves do not need to be worn by expatriate women in the capital, men should wear long trousers. It can take time to settle into the country due to various red tape issues; however generally a reasonable standard of living is possible in the capital. Sudan is a unique country and unique (humanitarian) operation. It provides for an interesting and enriching environment, but also requires a mature level of cultural awareness, as well as more stamina and commitment than elsewhere to make life comfortable and affordable. Therefore, flexibility and the ability and willingness to live and work in harsh and potentially hazardous conditions, involving physical hardship and little comfort, are essential.

Inclusivity statement

United Nations Volunteers is an equal opportunity programme that welcomes applications from qualified professionals. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, care protected characteristics. As part of their adherence to the values of UNV, all UN Volunteers commit themselves to combat any form of discrimination, and to promoting respect for human rights and individual dignity, without distinction of a person’s race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.

Note on Covid-19 vaccination requirements

Selected candidates for certain occupational groups may be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) in line with the applicable host entity policy