UNDP Jobs - 1022- Policy Advisor for Health

Policy Advisor for Health

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

200 Series

Starting Date :

01-Feb-2007

Application Deadline :

16-Jan-07 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

L-5

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 year

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

1 year

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

At the recent 2005 World Summit governments committed themselves to adopt, by 2006, and implement comprehensive development strategies to achieve the globally agreed development goals and objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Several countries have since approached UNDP requesting support in designing and implementing these strategies.
In response to the expressed demand from programme countries, UNDP is undertaking an organization-wide effort under the leadership of the Administrator and the Associate Administrator to systematically align its programmatic and technical work with supporting countries in drafting and implementing MDG-based national development strategies. This concerted effort will be carried out under the overall umbrella of the MDG Support (MDGS) and involve all parts of UNDP working at the global, regional, and country-level.
UNDP will focus its support for MDG-based national development strategies on three broad areas: (i) MDG-based diagnostics, needs assessments and planning, (ii) widening policy options and choices, and (iii) strengthening national capacities to deliver. The MDG Support will be rolled out in each region responding to the needs identified by the Regional Bureaus. It is anticipated that by the end of 2007 some 60 countries will receive support through the MDG Support Services.
In order to deliver the MDGS globally, a dedicated MDGS team has been created in the Poverty Group of the Bureau for Development (BDP), UNDP New York. The dedicated team will focus on overall coordination of the MDGS components, policy cohesion, knowledge sharing, training, technical support and tool development. This work will be carried out in close collaboration with the Practices of the organization and other UN agencies, funds, and programmes. When requested, the team will also assist countries in adapting tools for their specific needs and sourcing policy expertise from regional and global centres of excellence. It will also consolidate and codify best practices and techniques developed across the world and document policy approaches applied in different country contexts.
Within this framework, the health policy advisor will support organizational goals through a range of activities including leading/participating in health-related programmatic operations, the design of health programs and policies to reach the MDGs, capacity development through projects and stand-alone technical assistance, analytical work and regional partnerships.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Health Policy Advisor will report to the MDGS manager and will support Health-related work in general, with particular emphasis on the recommendations of the UN Millennium Project Task Force on health, as laid out in the final Report of the Task Force, the Task Force 4, covering MDG Targets 5 and 6 (Child and Maternal Mortality, http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/reports/tf_health.htm), the Task Force 5, covering MDG Targets 7 (AIDS, http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/reports/tf_hivaids.htm), 8 (Malaria, TB and other major diseases, http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/reports/tf_malaria.htm), and 17 (Access to essential medicines, http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/reports/tf_essentialmedecines.htm) .
Working closely with fellow policy advisors, UNDP Regional Bureaux, and UNDP Practices, the Policy advisor will be responsible for:
Function: Roll-Out of MDG Support

Assist governments and UN Country Teams in the design, development, and appraisal, of complex, multi-sectoral health strategies and HIV/AIDS operations.
Assist governments and UN Country Teams in preparing the health components of MDG-based national development strategies and needs assessments. This includes identifying needed interventions, specifying national targets linked to the MDGs, linking health interventions to other critical components of a national development strategy, and estimating the associated financial and human resource requirements of achieving the Millennium Development Goals, including health systems, supplies and management costs.
Provide technical support on Health issues to the special advisor to UNDP on the MDGs.
Provide technical assistance in the preparation of MDG-based plans. This may include reviewing existing Health strategies and budgets, expenditure reviews, and advising on operational implementation.
Support the development of integrated rural and urban strategies with a focus on human resources for health in general and Community-based health workers in particular
Lead the MDGS activities on relevant Health-related Quick Impact Initiatives at the country level.
Support the Regional Bureaus on expanding their capacity, knowledge base, and developing fully working teams for rolling out the MDGS at their regions.
Provide strategic leadership and technical support to the MDGS Team on Health related issues.
Coordinate the MDGS Team country-level advisory work in one or more of its focus countries.
Represent UNDP at international conferences and meetings, support outreach to the UN system, development partners, civil society, and governments.

Knowledge Building and Training:

Identify and translate analytical and operational lessons from the country work so that they can be applied more broadly.
Lead and participate in analytic work on a wide range of health MDG related issues, sometimes with large teams.
Promote and strengthen dialogue with Health Ministries, donors, academia and other stakeholders by providing leadership in developing health system strategies, knowledge-sharing, training, and conferences that are responsive to country needs and integrated into country assistance strategies.
Support institutional capacity development including training of UNDP staff and government officials on all Health related components of the MDGs.
Develop training materials.
Develop tools for needs assessments and policy analysis in close collaboration with UN agencies, the World Bank and other organizations.
Coordinate with the Earth Institute team that is implementing the Millennium Villages to identify lessons for scaling up health strategies and support their inclusion in national development strategies.
Prepare technical reports and policy papers on Health related issues
Carry out additional research and data analysis in support of the MDGs research.

Support to the UN system
The Policy Advisor will work with UN organizations to strengthen the UN system’s support for national MDG-based health strategies and implement Quick Impact Initiatives. In particular, the Policy Advisor will:

Collaborate with UN organizations and UN Country Teams to strengthen the UN system’s advice to governments on preparing and implementing the health components of MDG-based national development strategies.
Provide training on preparing national health strategies and associated needs assessments.
Help mobilize UN partners for the implementation of relevant Quick Impact Initiatives.

Work Context

The Health Policy Advisor will report to the Manager of the MDGS. S/he will supervise at least three staff including one policy advisor (HIV/AIDS).
Country focus. - The recruited candidate will devote most of his or her time to supporting low-incomce countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and South America. S/he will be expected to work with Regional Bureaus and UNDP practices and be responsive to needs for inputs, information, and country strategy work.
Policy dialogue. - A core foundation of the UNDP’s engagement in a country is the policy dialogue and analytical work related to poverty alleviation policies and good governance. The Policy Advisor’s technical and operational engagement must support the conduct and content of that dialogue.
Partners. - The conduct of the work requires constructive engagement with a range of partners, including UN agencies, funds, and programmes, the Bretton Woods institutions and other development partners, international research organizations, local and international non-governmental organizations and the private sector.
Outreach. - Represent UNDP at international conferences and meetings, support outreach to the UN system, development partners, civil society, and governments.
The Policy Advisor will be expected to travel regularly. The position will be based at UNDP Headquarters in New York

Competencies

Broad understanding of the analytical and policy issues of international development.
Detail-oriented with outstanding organizational skills.
Excellent analytical skills
Demonstrated ability to excel in a multi-cultural team environment.
Excellent interpersonal and diplomatic skills: Demonstrated high capacity to interact effectively with a range of stakeholders within and outside UNDP, and ability to manage conflict constructively.
Flexibility in responding to changing priorities in a fast-paced environment and strengthen all team members through collective action and individual initiative.
Demonstrated initiative and ability to work independently
Understanding of the UN/UNDP system, including thorough knowledge of its practices and procedures;
Communication skills and ability to convey difficult issues and positions to senior officials, sensitivity to local cultures.
Demonstrated ability to engage with sensitivity foresight and political acumen in situations involving multiple actors and stakeholders.

Required Skills and Experience

Post Graduate degree in public policy, medicine and public health. An MD with a Public Health background is preferred. A working knowledge of Health economics is expected.
Strong quantitative skills and demonstrated capacity to perform outstanding original research including statistical analysis.
A minimum of 10 years experience in health policy design mostly, development or public policy/government mostly in developing countries.
Demonstrated experience in policy dialogue and policy design.
Demonstrated ability to assist both the UNDP and LDC countries in the analysis and design of health policies and health systems and to support capacity development. Ability to translate analytical and technical skills into sound, innovative operations.
Strong knowledge of UNDP operational policies and procedures, as evidenced by experience in high quality project supervision.
Experience with planning, costing and budgeting for health interventions including MDG needs assssments;
Experience in Training highly level technical staff
Experience in conceptualizing models in Excel for health planning and budgeting
Strong writing and drafting skills.
Demonstrated capacity to perform outstanding research.
Outstanding English verbal and written communication skills.
Fluency in at least one of Arabic, French, Mandarin, Russian or Spanish preferred.