UNDP Jobs - 62621- Policy Specialist, Access and Delivery Partnership

Policy Specialist, Access and Delivery Partnership

Location :

Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

06-Jan-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-3

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 year renewable

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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

The United Nations Development Programme (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. We are on the ground in 170 countries and territories, working with governments and people on their own solutions to global and national development challenges to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

The Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. BPPS’s staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages, represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, South-South and Triangular cooperation initiatives, and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. BPPS works closely with UNDP’s Crisis Response Unit (CRU) to support emergency and crisis response. BPPS ensures that issues of risk are fully integrated into UNDP’s development programmes. BPPS assists UNDP and partners to achieve higher quality development results through an integrated approach that links results based management and performance monitoring with more effective and new ways of working. BPPS supports UNDP and partners to be more innovative, knowledge and data driven including in its programme support efforts.

BPPS supports UNDP’s 2014-2017 Strategic Plan, focusing on 7 outcomes including strengthening institutions to progressively deliver universal access to basic services (outcome 3). The HIV Health and Sustainable development team, within BPPS, is helping to contribute towards this outcome.

HIV, Health and Development Approach

UNDP is a founding cosponsor 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 UNDP’s core strengths and mandates in human development, governance and capacity development to complement the efforts of specialist health-focused UN agencies. UNDP delivers three types of support to countries in HIV, health and development.

First, UNDP works with partners to address the interactions between governance, human rights and health responses. Sometimes this is done through focused or specialized programmes, such as promoting attention to the role of the human rights, law and legal environments in facilitating stronger HIV responses, including the use of flexibilities in intellectual property and human rights law to lower the cost of drugs and diagnostics and to increase access to HIV-related treatment. UNDP also works to empower and include marginalized populations who are disproportionately affected by HIV, such as sex workers, men who have sex with men and people living with HIV; this includes increasing access to justice for these populations. Beyond these focused efforts, UNDP plays a key role in ensuring attention to HIV and health within broader governance and rights initiatives, including support to district and municipal action on MDGs, strengthening of national human rights institutions and increasing access to justice for marginalized populations.

Second, UNDP helps countries to mainstream attention to HIV and health into action on gender, poverty and the broader effort to achieve and sustain the Millennium Development Goals. For example, UNDP works with countries to understand the social and economic factors that play a crucial role in driving health and disease, and to respond to such dynamics with appropriate policies and programmes outside the health sector. UNDP also promotes specific action on the needs and rights of women and girls as they relate to HIV.

Third, as a trusted, long-term partner with extensive operational experience, UNDP supports countries in effective implementation of complex, multilateral and multisectoral health projects, while simultaneously investing in capacity development so that national and local partners can assume these responsibilities over time. The UNDP/Global Fund partnership is an important part of this work, facilitating access to resources for action on MDG 6 by countries that face constraints in directly receiving and managing such funding. UNDP partners with countries in crisis/post-crisis situations, those with weak institutional capacity or governance challenges, and countries under sanctions. When requested, UNDP acts as temporary Principal Recipient in these settings, working with national partners and the Global Fund to improve management, implementation and oversight of Global Fund grants, while simultaneously developing national capacity to be able to assume the Principal Recipient role over time.

Increasing access to affordable treatment for HIV and related co-infections in low and middle income countries remains a key aspect of UNDP’s work under the UNAIDS Unified Budget and Accountability Framework (UBRAF). The cost of treatment is often affected by various laws and policies. They are part of the complex set of factors that influence access at national, regional and international levels. As a founding co-sponsor of UNAIDS , guided by the health-related MDGs, particularly MDG 6; “to halt and reverse the spread and HIV, Malaria and other epidemics by 2015”, UNDP is mandated to provide support to governments in their implementation of policies and programs that protect the human rights of people affected by HIV.

Access and Delivery of New Health Technologies for Neglected Tropical Diseases

The majority of deaths caused by infectious disease are of poor people living in low and middle income countries with many occurring in children under five. HIV, malaria, tuberculosis (TB) and other epidemics continue to devastate communities throughout the developing world. The prevalence of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), endemic in 149 countries, also remains high. As part of its work on accelerating progress on the MDGs, UNDP is committed to working with partners to achieve the health related MDGs including MDG 8.E specifically aimed to address the sector gap in research and development (R&D) funding for new global health technologies for global diseases and their availability: “in cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries.”

The Access and Delivery Partnership (ADP) is a five-year (2013-2018) project that aims to help LMICs enhance their capacity to access, introduce and deliver new health technologies for TB, malaria and NTDs. New health technologies are broadly defined as drugs, diagnostic tools and vaccines that are relevant for the prevention, treatment or cure of TB, malaria and NTDs, but have not yet been introduced in LMICs. The introduction of new health technologies can place a weighty burden on existing health systems. These burdens may include new requirements for drug regulation, supply and distribution, and health personnel training. Accordingly, the ADP focuses on strengthening the capacity of LMIC stakeholders to facilitate the development of the systems and processes required to effectively access new health technologies, and introduce them to populations in need. Led and coordinated by UNDP, the ADP is a unique collaboration among UNDP, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases at the World Health Organization (WHO/TDR) and PATH. Working together, the partners leverage the expertise within each organization to provide the full range of technical skills necessary to strengthen capacity in LMICs.

The Africa HIV, Health and Development Regional team is based in the UNDP Regional Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Regional Centre provides technical and substantive support to 44 UNDP Country Offices as well as the African Union Commission, the Regional Economic Communities and key partners. The Policy Specialist will work within the UNDP Africa HIV, Health and Development team to provide expertise in programme support and policy advice related to implementation of the ADP. The Policy Specialist will report to the Programme Advisor of the Access and Delivery Partnership, as the primary supervisor, and to the Africa Team Leader of the HIV, Health and Development Group, as the secondary supervisor. The Policy Specialist will also support the establishment of partnerships with development partners, government, UN agencies and the civil society organizations to advocate the work of ADP in the Africa region. The Policy Specialist will also support the development of the UNDP HIV, Health and Development community of practice in the Africa region and promote networking and knowledge sharing across the region

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

Programme management support;
Policy advice and research;
Partnership and resource mobilization;
Knowledge management.

Programme management support:

Plan, coordinate and monitor the implementation of ADP activities and deliverables in the Africa region, in conjunction with the ADP Programme Advisor;
Support the initiation and organization of regional and national policy dialogues, capacity building workshops and meetings, as determined in the ADP project document and country workplans;
Provide support for management of consultancies and subcontracts;
Prepare reports on activities and results in accordance with the reporting requirements for the ADP.

Policy advice and research:

Coordinate the technical and policy support on issues related to enabling policy and legal environment, with a focus on innovation and access to health technologies;
Monitor technical support needs and provide assistance to ensure high quality technical support to UNDP Country Offices and relevant regional and national partners;
Network with experts of international development community, government partners, UN Agencies and prominent think-tanks;
Conduct background research and draft briefing notes, speeches, memos, and presentations.

Partnership and resource mobilization:

Develop and implement a strategy to facilitate regular communications between ADP partners, national focal points ADP focus countries, and other relevant technical partners;
Support partnership building and resource mobilization, by participating in relevant external meetings and developing communications and other related materials;
Support outreach, advocacy and representational events.

Knowledge management:

Coordinate advocacy, outreach, communication and dissemination of knowledge products developed by the ADP;
Contribute to preparation and production of knowledge products through serving as peer reviewer for ADP publications.

Impact of Results

The Policy Specialist’s role will support the effective implementation of ADP activities aimed at strengthening capacity strengthening in LMICs for equitable access and sustainable delivery of new health

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Innovation: Ability to make new and useful ideas work;
Leadership: Ability to persuade others to follow;
People Management: Ability to improve performance and satisfaction;
Communication: Ability to listen, adapt, persuade and transform;
Delivery: Ability to get things done

Functional Competencies:

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise:

Excellent research, policy analysis and written skills, with analytic capacity and ability to produce high quality practical advisory reports and knowledge products;
Good knowledge of access to treatment;
Demonstrated ability to strengthen the capacity of civil society or government officials on access to treatment.

Results-Based Programme Development and Management:

Strong ability to produce high quality outputs in a timely manner while understanding and anticipating evolving client needs;
Ability to focus on impact and results for the client;
Strong organizational skills;
Ability to work independently, produce high quality inputs;
Sound judgement, strategic thinking and the ability to manage competing priorities.

Policy advocacy: Advocates for the inclusion of UNDP’s focus areas in the public policy agenda:

Brings visibility and sensitizes decision makers to relevant emerging issues;
Builds consensus concerning UNDP’s strategic agenda with partners on joint initiatives;
Leverages UNDP’s multidisciplinary expertise to influence the shape of policies and programmes;
Demonstrates political/cultural acumen in proposing technically sound, fact based approaches/solutions;
Dialogues with national counterparts and other stakeholders to strengthen advocacy efforts.

Building Strategic Partnerships:

Effectively networks with partners seizing opportunities to build strategic alliances relevant to UNDP’s mandate and strategic agenda.

Knowledge Management and Learning:

Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through personal example;
Open to new ideas; shares own knowledge and applies knowledge in daily work; builds partnership for learning and knowledge sharing;
Demonstrated flexibility to excel in a multi-cultural environment; promote collaboration and facilitate teamwork across organizational boundaries.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

An advanced degree in international affairs, international trade law, public health law, or related field.

Experience:

Minimum of 5 years’ work experience related to policy advisory and programme support in the area of public health, HIV and treatment access;
Demonstrated knowledge of intellectual property rights, innovation and access to medicines issues;
Excellent writing, research, analysis and presentation skills;
Work experience in the Africa region highly desirable;
Familiarity with the UN system and other international development organizations an asset;
Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, experience in handling of web based management.

Language:

Fluency and proficiency in English;
Working knowledge of one other UN language an asset.