Switzerland: Sexual and Reproductive Health Specialist, Humanitarian Office, Geneva, P-4 (Re-advertisement)

Organizational Setting

The Position:

The Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Specialist is located in the Response and Technical Support Unit (RTSU), Humanitarian Office, based in Geneva. The post is part of the integrated technical team of experts, working under the close supervision of the Programme/Technical Adviser, to promote sexual and reproductive health programming in emergencies and contribute to strengthening the capacity.

How Can You Make a Difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young’s person potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s new strategic plan 2018-2021, focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal death; to end unmet need for family planning; end gender-based violence and harmful practices.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction. UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results. We need staff who are transparent and exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

Job Purpose:

The overall purpose of the Humanitarian Office is to facilitate the delivery of the UNFPA mandate by supporting humanitarian preparedness, response, and recovery actions in increasingly complex humanitarian situations, within globally agreed frameworks (2030 Agenda, Grand Bargain Commitments, Sendai Framework, etc.). The Humanitarian Office leads in leveraging and increasing effectiveness, efficiency and capacity of UNFPA staff and partners to scale up UNFPA’s role as a key global humanitarian actor. Through the Inter-Agency Standing Committee for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (IASC) and other associated entities, the Humanitarian Office acts as a point of convergence on humanitarian activities, including policy, coordination, programming, advocacy, field capacity development, financing, innovation, partnerships, technical guidance and, crucially, thematic integration, ensuring complementarity between humanitarian and development action within the organization.

HO advocates among humanitarian agencies to include sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender-based violence prevention and response, the empowerment of young people, and population data into the overall humanitarian preparedness and response frameworks. The HO facilitates the development of UNFPA capacities to prepare and respond to emergencies and to ensure the fund is well equipped to deal with the context of fragility and disaster risk reduction. Furthermore, HO advances UNFPA’s strategic global leadership for the Gender-Based Violence Area of Responsibility for the development system.

The Sexual and Reproductive Health Specialist facilitates the capacity building component of the UNFPA institutional strategy towards incorporating and mainstreaming the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in the overall humanitarian response, transition and preparedness. S/He promotes sexual and reproductive health programming in emergencies and contribute to strengthening the organization-wide capacity for timely and effective response to humanitarian crises, particularly in Scale-up countries. S/he coordinates efforts for improving the quality of humanitarian operational and system efficiencies for agile response in the field.

Main Tasks & Responsibilities

You Would Be Responsible For:

A. Strategic Technical Support

• Analyze the contextual, programmatic and strategic institutional aspects related to UNFPA engagements in humanitarian and fragile settings;
• Support updating policy and guideline documents on SOPs, FTPs, including updating policies on procurement and management of supplies/assets/ inventory etc;

• Undertake a mapping, collating and review of existing training tools and resources for RH, data and gender during crisis and transition, including identifying existing resources and tools and gaps;

• Support data collection and analysis of humanitarian financing trends in relation to UNFPA;

• Produce analytical inputs for defining organization-wide risk appetite and risk management guidelines that enable delivering in humanitarian settings;

• Prepare position papers on critical issues through provision and analysis of information, preparation of speaking points and briefing notes, and through internal information dissemination.

B.Operations and Systems Efficiency

• Facilitate the activation of all Fast-tracking and Emergency Procurement Procedures in humanitarian and fragile settings and the appraisal of reports on their implementation to provide annual reviews of the use of these modalities, proposing modifications as needed;
• Provide support to country offices with the development of CERF proposals and other proposals for mandated areas (SRH, GBV, Data in Emergencies, Adolescents and Young People) bilateral funding as and when requested;
• Contribute to strengthening UNFPA Fast Track Procedures, ensuring comparability to and compatibility with those of other UN agencies, taking into account the respective scale of operations;
• Contribute to the annual compilation and dissemination of UNFPA Humanitarian Response Plans for protracted emergencies, Flash Appeals for sudden onset natural hazards and public health disasters:
• Support with the review of requests and the monitoring and tracking of allocation and utilization of UNFPA Emergency Funds and EFORMS;
• Provide rapid and pertinent support to country offices at the onset of emergencies and in preparedness phases, through collaborative situation analysis and response plans development
• Work with Country Offices on humanitarian forecasting for more accurate emergency procurement planning, while ensuring adequate flexibility for rapid onset emergencies in terms of procurement of reproductive health supplies;
• Ensure reduction of lead time in Surge deployments, as well as the fast-tracking procedures and rapid assignment of critical international staff in crisis countries.

C.Capacity Building and Coordination

• Develop new training programmes or revise existing programmes as appropriate to meet the urgent training needs in close cooperation with academic partners, IAWG, IASC, and other partners;
• Organize training activities, oversee and facilitate administrative/logistical preparation and provide hands-on guidance on substantive/technical issues relating to training activities and workshops; act as resource person and facilitator during such events; document results and impacts of each activity as part of the results based programme development and management practices;
• Coordinate closely with the Division of Human Resources for surge deployments to country offices, monitor emergency Stand-by Partner SURGE personnel processed through NRC, DRC or other partners to UNFPA, in addition to monitoring surge personnel processed and deployed through the UNFPA internal surge roster;
• Act as secretary to the UNFPA’s Humanitarian Steering Committee and for Senior-level Crisis Response Team (CRT) as and when system wide humanitarian Scale-Up is activated;
• Contribute to capacity building to enhance UNFPA engagement in humanitarian and fragile settings throughout the humanitarian programming cycle (preparedness, humanitarian needs assessment, response, and recovery).

D. Partnership and Representation

• Undertake evidence-based advocacy and policy dialogue with the IASC and UN partners, international and local NGOs, the private sector, civil society organizations, to ensure that ICPD concerns are taken into account in their capacity building priorities;
• Maintain institutional database of experts, consultants, academia and other partners for tailored support to regional and country offices;
• Guide and manage strategic partnerships for visible and sustainable integration of issues relating to UNFPA mandate in humanitarian and fragile settings;
• Participate in and provide inputs into the Academic Partnerships Initiative supported by UNFPA and other training and research institutions to build increased capacity on SRH and gender among humanitarian partners;
• Foster strategic alliances and partnerships between UNFPA and other UN agencies, humanitarian and transition partners, regional institutions, national partners (Governments and NGOs), and donors, as necessary, to leverage maximum mainstreaming effects;
• Participate in various meetings and discussions related to UNFPA mandate related to humanitarian and development work of general nature, including technical working groups, such as SRH in Geneva, as appropriate;
• Participate in inter-agency meetings/workshops as requested and provide inputs to mainstreaming humanitarian concerns into overall development focused programmes supported by UNFPA.
• Perform any other duties as may be required.

Qualifications and Experience

Education

• Advanced Degree or equivalent in public health, or other related fields; Clinical degree (medicine, midwifery, nursing)

Knowledge and Experience:

• 7 years of increasingly responsible professional and managerial experiences in the field of humanitarian response, part of which should be in health or sexual and reproductive health;
• Prior experience in the UN system will be an asset;
• Experience in training programme management needed;
• Familiarity with IASC and other humanitarian coordination mechanisms, guiding principles and standards;
• Knowledge of the ICPD and other UN global conferences and the Millennium Development Summit;
• Good training skills;
• Solid interpersonal communication skills;
• Proficiency in current office software applications.

Language:

• Fluency in English and French for both oral and written required.
• Knowledge of another UN language is an asset.

Required Competencies

Values:

• Exemplifying integrity
• Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system
• Embracing diversity in all its forms
• Embracing change
Core Competencies:

• Achieving Results
• Being Accountable
• Developing and Applying Professional Expertise/Business Acumen
• Thinking analytically and Strategically
• Working in Teams/Managing Ourselves and our Relationships
• Communicating for Impact

Functional Competencies:

• Advocacy/ Advancing a policy-based agenda;

• Strengthening the capacity of country offices;

• Leveraging resources of national governments and partners/ building strategic alliances and partnerships;

• Providing technical/programmatic support; humanitarian response, resilience and recovery;

• Delivering results based programme development and management;

• Providing conceptual innovation to support programme effectiveness.

UNFPA has established an electronic application management system. This allows applicants to create a candidate profile, which can be updated regularly and submitted for more than one vacancy.
Download the Step by Step Guide to Applying in the E-Recruit System of UNFPA at:
https://www.unfpa.org/resources/step-step-guide-applying-jobs-unfpa
To apply directly to the this vacancy, please click on the link:
https://www.unfpa.org/jobs/sexual-and-reproductive-health-specialist-humanitarian-office-geneva-p-4-re-advertisement

Please print out the Guide for your reference during the registration and application process.
Notice: There is no application, processing or other fee at any stage of the application process. UNFPA does not solicit or screen for information in respect of HIV or AIDS and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.