UNDP Jobs - 61777- International Consultant on Sustainability of Nati

International Consultant on Sustainability of National HIV and TB Responses, Laws and Rights-Related Issues in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Location :

Home-based with Two Travels in the Region

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

15-Jan-2016

Application Deadline :

30-Nov-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Up to 155 working days

Languages Required :

English Russian

Expected Duration of Assignment :

15 January 2016 – 31 December 2016

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

UNDP is the UN's global development network advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP is a founding co-sponsor of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), a partner of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and a co-sponsor of several other international health partnerships. UNDP’s work on HIV, health and development leverages the organization’s core strengths and mandates in human development, governance and capacity development to complement the efforts of specialist health-focused UN agencies.

While globally the number of new HIV infections is decreasing, the region of Eastern Europe and the Central Asia (EECA) is home to a fast growing HIV epidemic: rising from an estimated 970,000 people living with the virus in 2001 to 1.5 million in 2014. Levels of treatment in the region are low with estimated 19 percent of those in need of antiretroviral therapy receiving it in 2014. At the same time, EECA bears a significant share of a global burden of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB); of the world’s 27 high MDR-TB burden countries, 12 are in the EECA region. TB continues to be a leading cause of death for people living with HIV.

UNDP has been acting as interim Principal Recipient (PR) of Global Fund HIV and TB grants in a number of countries of the region, which is an interim arrangement till one or more national entities (government and/or CSO) are ready and able to take over grant implementation. While supporting countries in implementing grants and ensuring timely delivery of services, UNDP also helps develop the capacity of national entities to take over this PR role.

Among the key drivers of the Global Fund’s Funding Model is a transition to sustainable domestic financing of disease responses. This has immediate implications for many middle-income countries with concentrated HIV epidemics, including an end of their eligibility for Global Fund support, or significantly reduced support. UNDP has embarked on direct support to countries in sustainable HIV response financing, chiefly through modelling options under different budget scenarios.

While there has been a significant improvement in the legal environment relevant to HIV in the region, certain gaps still persist and they are closely related to the rights situation of people living with HIV, key populations most at risk of HIV infection and the legal and policy regulatory frameworks that govern national efforts in prevention, treatment, care and support. In cooperation with governments, other UN agencies, international organizations, and CSOs, UNDP works to develop the capacity of national legislators, government offices and CSOs on matters of HIV and the law. Through the regional project “HIV, Rights and Universal Access in Eastern Europe”, UNDP sought to support and develop the capacity of non-state actors to address the nexus between human rights, laws, and HIV, as well as to foster effective and efficient dialogues and cooperation between governments and non-state actors in this area. Through the regional project on “Sustainable Financing of National HIV Reponses in Select Countries in EECA”, UNDP analysed the legal regulatory framework that governs the access to HIV medicines in the context of intellectual property, registration and licensing and provided opportunities for optimization of these regimes both on national and regional levels, in the context of the Customs Union and the emerging Eurasian Economic Union. Other elements of the work on sustainable financing of national HIV responses included modelling work and analysis of and report on transition lessons learnt. Given the important role NGOs have been playing in prevention, treatment, care and support, together with European Centre for Not-For-Profit Law, UNDP carried out an analysis of legal frameworks related to social contracting of NGOs in selected countries of Europe and Central Asia.

In order to further enhance and speed up the implementation of follow up activities related to the conclusions and recommendations of these projects in the area of law and rights, UNDP seeks an international consultant to support the HIV, Health and Development (HHD) Team at the Istanbul Regional Hub (IRH).

Duties and Responsibilities

The Consultant reports to the UNDP Regional HHD Team Leader at the IRH (Supervisor), and will be responsible to:

Support the preparation, implementation and follow up of the following UNDP interventions:

Analysis of national legislation and proposed legislation of countries in the EECA region that concerns HIV and co-infections (TB, Hepatitis C and others), as well as the rights of key populations most at risk of HIV and TB. Developing sets of recommendations to improve legislation and mitigate possible risks of rights violation;
Further completion, corrections and update of database on the regulatory frameworks on IP, registration, licensing and procurement of ARVs medicines in the EECA region and supporting the UNDP contribution to UNAIDS investment cases in EECA countries;
Analysis of regulatory frameworks related to procurement of TB diagnostics and treatment;
Follow up on and expanding of UNDP efforts in promoting of social contracting of NGOs as providers of HIV-related services;
Analysis of the relevance of and challenges/opportunities for social contracting of NGOs in TB responses and other health services;
Support to regional organizations, representing key populations most at risk of HIV infection, such as the Regional HIV Legal Network, the Eurasian Coalition on Male Health (ECOM), the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN), the East Europe and Central Asia Union of People living with HIV (ECUO) and others;
Support to preparation of project documents, reports and recommendations; follow up with regional and country level stakeholders on recommendations and other related tasks.

Support UNDP’s work in policy advice and technical assistance in the field of:

Reviewing legislation, policies and practices related to HIV, TB, public health and development in EECA countries;
Supporting country offices in planning transition of HIV and TB grants to national entities;
Translating relevant materials (from English to Russian and back), carrying out background research;
Drafting of analyses, reports and recommendations;
Liaising with UNDP country offices and communicating on matters related to support provided. Liaising with other UN agencies’ offices;
Preparation, implementation and follow up with field missions;
Contributes to knowledge sharing by participating in the development of background papers publications, concept notes, presentations and other materials, including by contributing to the UNDP Regional Hub’s website and blog and the knowledge-sharing network Teamworks;
Contribute with law-related input to the Team’s efforts in promoting the sustainability of equitable healthcare systems in the region;
Support the liaison with government and non-state actors in the region for the purpose of UNDP interventions;
Contribute to periodic and annual reporting of UNDP and performs other tasks assigned by the Supervisor.

The Consultant is expected to be home-based.

Deliverables:

Conducted Analysis of national legislation and proposed legislation of countries in the EECA region that concerns HIV and co-infections (TB, Hepatitis C and others), as well as the rights of key populations most at risk of HIV and TB. Developing sets of recommendations to improve legislation and mitigate possible risks of rights violation (5-8 countries of the region with reports including recommendations to improve legislation and mitigate possible risks of rights violations of approximately 2-3 pages each);
Updated and, if needed, corrected database on the regulatory frameworks on IP, registration, licensing and procurement of ARV medicines in the EECA region and supporting the UNDP contribution to UNAIDS investment cases in EECA countries (including in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, and Ukraine);
Updated fact sheets on social contracting of NGOs in national HIV responses (including for Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan) and supported the expansion of UNDP efforts in promoting of social contracting of NGOs as providers of HIV-related services;
Conducted Analysis of regulatory frameworks related to procurement of TB diagnostics and treatment in selected countries of the region (5-8 countries);
Supported the efforts and work of regional organizations, representing key populations most at risk of HIV infection, such as the Regional HIV Legal Network (as main UNDP focal point), the Eurasian Coalition on Male Health (ECOM), the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN), the East Europe and Central Asia Union of People living with HIV (ECUO) and others;
Supported UNDP country offices in planning transition of HIV and TB grants to national entities (primarily for countries where UNDP is currently PR including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan);
Translated relevant materials from English to Russian and back (approximately 4 key documents of approximately 20-25 pages);
Contributed to the development of draft background papers, publications (3-4 key documents), concept notes (up to 4), presentations (up to 5) and other materials, also including contributions to the UNDP Regional Hub’s website and blog (up to 5 posts) and the knowledge-sharing network Teamworks, as described, assessed and evaluated by Supervisor and other Team staff;
Specific deliverables will be agreed upon with the Supervisor at the beginning of each month, in writing. Payments will be made once a month upon submitted satisfactory progress report against deliverables and approved timesheet submission providing details of time spent on respective deliverables, their timely execution and acceptance by the Supervisor.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Functional competencies:

Commitment to the principles set forth in the UN High Level Declarations on HIV and AIDS;
Very good understanding of the legal and practical aspects of HIV and co-infections in the region;
Familiarity with national healthcare systems and legal and practical issues surrounding non-communicable diseases;
Familiarity with the social determinants of health and health inequities;
Excellent organizational skills, ability to work independently, strict adherence to completing assigned tasks in a timely manner;
Quality-oriented professional, constructive approach to obstacles and delays in planned performance;
Excellent research and drafting skills;
Excellent communication and presentation skills, oral and written;
Advanced user of virtual communication tools.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

An advanced degree (masters or higher) in law, international law or human rights, public health, international relations, or other relevant field.

Experience:

Eight or more years of relevant regional experience in the field of human rights, law and health;
Of which at least three years of experience in working with legal aspects of HIV issues in the EECA region;
Experience on working with legal aspects of non-communicable diseases and healthcare systems reform is a plus;
Publications: At least three recent relevant publications (as author or co-author) in the field of human rights, law, and public health, or HIV, concerning the EECA region, in English;
Additional publications in English and/or Russian are a plus.

Language:

Fluency and ability to communicate and write complex research in English and Russian;
Knowledge of more regional languages is a plus.

Evaluation of Applicants

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications, an interview, and a financial proposal.

The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/compliant/acceptable;
Having successfully passed the interview;
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only candidates who received at least 70% of total score in each step of selection process (desk review, interviews) can be considered for financial evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation - max. 50 points:

Education and additional qualifications (courses, diplomas) - max. 10 points;
Publications (as listed in P11) - max. 5 points;
Eight or more years of relevant regional experience in the field of human rights, law and health (of which at least three years in working with legal aspects of HIV issues in EECA) – max 20 points;
Interview (Communication skills and languages) - max. 5 points;
Interview (corporate and functional competencies, problem solving skills) - max. 10 points.

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 21 points

Application procedures:

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website.

The application should contain:

Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application;
Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc ). Please upload the P11 instead of your CV;
Financial Proposal* - specifying a daily rate in USD. Payment to be made once a month upon submitted satisfactory progress report against deliverables and approved timesheet. Financial proposal must not include the estimated two missions;
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period). All envisaged costs (except of missions) must be included in the financial proposal. Travel costs for missions, if any, will be paid separately according to UNDP rules and regulations.
The selected candidate is responsible for obtaining necessary visas, if applicable. UNDP will strive to support the application process.

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.
Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org
General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://europeandcis.undp.org/home/jobs
Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.

Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.