UN WOMEN Jobs - 77370- To contract services for a consultant to support t

To contract services for a consultant to support the implementation of gender-based violence and HIV related programming in Jamaica

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Home-Based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

15-Mar-2018

Application Deadline :

05-Mar-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

maximum of 70 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

maximum of 70 working days

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

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. The UN Women Caribbean Multi-Country Office (MCO) is located in Barbados, covering the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean.

UN Women’s programming in Jamaica is covered by the UN Women Multi-Country Office – Caribbean (Barbados), and constitutes a significant proportion of UN Women’s portfolio in the region. Programme support is primarily focused on combating gender-based violence (GBV), HIV Prevention, strengthening women’s economic empowerment; and strengthening the institutional mechanisms in support of national commitments to advancing gender equality and combating GBV. As UN Women moves towards a more long-term, comprehensive programmatic approach at the country level, it is important that resources be brought to bear to support effective and timely implementation of the programming.

The world has pledged within the Sustainable Development Goals to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.

The Caribbean has been defined as the area with the second highest prevalence in HIV in the world. This description takes into account Haiti and the Dominican Republic, in addition to the other Caribbean countries and territories.

While the most pronounced decline in new infections since 2001 (49%) has occurred in the Caribbean, HIV continues to be driven by gender inequalities and harmful gender norms that promote unsafe sex and reduce access to HIV and sexual and reproductive health services for women. Throughout the Caribbean, the prevalence rate of HIV among teenage girls is much higher than that of teenage boys, this is a reflection of the vulnerability girls and young women face vis-a-vis transactional sex, sexual abuse and inter-generational sex. This is also manifested through the still high rate of teenage pregnancy in the region. At every point along the HIV/AIDS continuum, from preventing the spread of the virus to diminishing its impact, this crisis is different for women and men. Gender interacts with HIV through four primary pathways: i) gender inequality influences susceptibility to infection; ii) gender inequality affects clinical outcomes and the experience of those infected; iii) gender inequality influences the effectiveness of the actions taken to control the epidemic, and iv) the pandemic and the response to it also have the potential to in turn influence gender inequality, either positively or negatively.

The tendency of many national programmes in the Caribbean is to address women in the context of their reproductive role; and much less so in the context of their gender and the implications for vulnerability because of gender.

It must be noted that addressing women in their reproductive role is very legitimate in the context of epidemic control, especially when there is a clinical/ health service/behavioural response available to reduce the number of children born with HIV in a relatively short period of time. This is illustrated in the priority given to the reduction and elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV. This has enjoyed great success in the Caribbean; indeed, Jamaica is now in the process of being assessed by WHO for the status of elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV.

The challenge however is that this essential but narrow approach does not ensure that the root causes of women and girls vulnerability to HIV infection is addressed in a manner that will reduce these vulnerabilities in a sustained way. It does not ensure that the core challenges to women’s human rights and gender equality are confronted.

With the financial support of UNAIDS through the Unified Budget, Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF), as the latest co-sponsor, UN Women Multi Country Office – Caribbean is building upon previous work with government and civil society organisations at the regional and national (Jamaica) level to address the gender based vulnerabilities to HIV AIDS and to address the intersection between HIV and Gender- Based Violence.

Focus of Programming for 2018

Given the current scope of support to programming in Jamaica within the context of UNAIDS UBRAF, the past work of UN Women related to addressing gender based vulnerabilities to HIV, and the outcome of a Symposium to chart the way forward in terms of intervention methodologies and strategic approaches to addressing HIV and related gender based vulnerabilities namely gender based violence; the Multi Country Office is recruiting the services of a consultant to undertake the following:

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the assignment

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women MCO - Caribbean Representative and the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist GBV and HIV the consultant will complete the following:

Prepare a consultancy work plan and timeline, in coordination with UN Women.

Liaise with partners and UN Women, to do the following;

Support and provide oversight and monitoring to a national consultant who will develop a strategic plan on safety and sexual health (emphasis on HIV/AIDS prevention) on the UWI Mona Campus;
Support and provide oversight and monitoring to the implementation of UN Women supported programmes in Jamaica related to;
- the provision of psycho-social support to women and girls living with HIV/AIDS;
- use of media including social media and new media to address sexual abuse of young women and;
- decent work and maintenance of economic Livelihoods in support of adherence and treatment and preventing Gender- Based Violence.
Support the expansion of prevention efforts in Jamaica through expanded focus on Strengthened multi- sectoral education programmes for service providers related to gender based HIV vulnerabilities including GBV and other related stigma and discrimination.
- Actions to include development and adoption of educational toolkits and learning guides related to gender based vulnerabilities to HIV;
- Training persons within core civil society and government institutions to deliver multi-sectoral educational programming;
- Roll out of educational programmes amongst service providers and first responders in Jamaica.
Support to partners in the application of results based management to ongoing projects and programmes with the view to supporting building an evidence base related to success of intervention methodologies and strategies used to address gender related HIV vulnerabilities.
Provision of programme and advisory support to the national partners and the UN agencies implementing Joint Programming on HIV and GBV as well as the provision of technical support to the UN Country Team’s Human Rights and Gender Theme Group;
Provide weekly email updates to UN Women, on the progress made, identify challenges and request support as needed.

Scope of Work

Within a maximum 80 day working period:

Deliverables

Consultancy Workplan and timeline, in coordination with UN Women;
Monthly written reports on the progress of programmes and activities in Jamaica;
Production of educational toolkits and learning guide related to addressing gender-based vulnerabilities to HIV;
Reports of training sessions with Government, civil society and service providers.

Reporting Requirements

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist EVAW and HIV.

Competencies

Core Values / Guiding Principles:

Respect for Diversity;
Integrity;
Professionalism.

Core Competencies:

Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
Accountability;
Creative Problem Solving;
Effective Communication;
Inclusive Collaboration;
Stakeholder Engagement;
Leading by Example.

Functional Competencies:

Demonstrated experience in situation analysis and strategic action planning;
Demonstrated knowledge of sexual and reproductive health issues, with an emphasis on HIV/AIDS and Gender-Based Violence;
Demonstrated Experience in the development and delivery of training modules related to HIV and Gender;
Demonstrated experience in the application of Results-Based Management Methodology.

Required Skills and Experience

Minimum Requirements

The consultant should meet the following criteria:

Required skills and experience:

At least five (5) years’ experience project and programme development and management;
Working experience in sexual and reproductive health issued, especially HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean would be an asset;
Demonstrable research experience in gender and sexual health (at least 5 years).

Education:

Masters in Social Science, Law, Political Science, Gender and Development, or Public Health.

Languages :

Fluency in English is required.

References:

Minimum of three client references that include the name of the contact person, title and contact information.

Remuneration:

The consultancy fee will be negotiated before contracting. Each payment will be based on a predefined and formal agreement between UN Women and the consultant and will be disbursed based on satisfactory completion of agreed deliverables.
A financial proposal must be submitted which should include the following:
- Consultants’ fees (listed as daily rate by number of days).

Hardware, Software and Communication:

The consultant must be equipped with a laptop, which must be portable and must run at least Windows 7. The consultant must be reasonably accessible by email and telephone (preferably mobile). The use of reliable, internet-based (Skype or equivalent) is required.

Location and Duration:

The consultant will be home based and be engaged for a maximum of seventy (70) working days during the period 15 March to 30 June 2018.

Other

The consultant contracted will be required to sign a statement of confidentiality and freedom from any conflict of interest with potential future contractors with respect to the TORs and work that they will be delivering.

Note: Submissions to UNDP Jobs are limited to a maximum of 10 MB, virus-free or corrupted contents to avoid rejection, and no more than 1 email transmission. As such, all application materials must be scanned into one document and submitted.