HIV/AIDS Consultants at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Level: NOC
Duration: 11.5 months

Purpose of the Assignment

• According to the UNAIDS Global Progress report only 33,000 out of 200,000 (17%) HIV positive pregnant women received PMTCT services in 2012. Often low ANC coverage is given as a bottleneck for increasing PMTCT coverage but with 65% of women who had given birth in the last five years receiving ante-natal care during their last Pregnancy there is still a big gap between ANC and PMTCT coverage.
• Key components for success in PMTCT and Pediatric HIV prevention and treatment is the integration of HIV prevention and treatment services into routine MNCH services. The Joint EU/UNICEF Programme on MNCH that recently started in Adamawa therefore provides an excellent opportunity to also address HIV among women and young children.
• The general poor health indices in Nigeria may be attributable to:
  • Weak governance and stewardship
  • Inappropriate allocation of Human and Financial Resources:
  • Low coverage of core maternal, newborn and child health interventions including HIV services, and
  • Limited access to HIV/AIDS services due to financial and socio-cultural barriers.
• Federal Ministry of Health, National Planning Commission, European Union and UNICEF launched the new EU-MNCH project which seeks to contribute to addressing the sub-optimal status of health for women and children in Adamawa, Bauchi and Kebbi States characterized by high maternal and childhood deaths.
• The Goal of the project is to assist the Government of the State in line with their State HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan to prevent, treat, care and support adolescents, mothers and children from/or living with HIV/AIDS, and as well reduce maternal, newborn and under 5-year child deaths in line with the State Strategic Health Development Plan and Nutrition policy through integrated equitable and strengthened primary health care delivery system.
• This position is to provide technical and programme assistance to project partners especially State Ministry of Health, State Primary Health Care Development Agency, State Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS (SACA), and other partners in the implementation of the HIV component of the Project.
• The consultant will work as part of a broader UNICEF team of consultants and staff in support of the state level stakeholders in developing, implementing, monitoring and managing project strategies and activities especially those focusing on PMTCT and pediatric HIV.

Assignment Tasks
Technical support to policy development and Programme design:

• Provide TA to government and other stakeholders in PMTCT/MNCH and EID / Paediatric AIDS bottlenecks analysis, micro planning and monitoring as part of broader MCH aproaches including on:
  • conduct PMTCT/MNCH and EID/Paediatric AIDS bottleneck assessment and strategic planning as part of broader MCH planning
  • State and LGA level PMTCT programme managers participating in the PHC BNA processes
  • development of guidance on scale-up of EID / Infant Testing and adolescents HIV testing on HIV including integration into routine MCH services

Technical support to coordination and convening:

• Provide TA to the government and other stakeholders to strengthen coordination mechanisms and systems including building of effective partnerships and alliances.
• Provide technical support to coordination meetings for PMTCT responses at State and LGA level and promote linkages with broader MCH coordination mechanisms
• Provide technical support to coordination meetings for Paediatric HIV responses at state level and LGA level and promote linkages with broader MCH coordination mechanisms
• Provide technical support to coordination meetings for Adolescents and HIV responses ate State and LGA level as part of broader adolescents health coordination mechanisms

 Support advocacy and Leveraging:

• Assist the government and other stakeholders to build a momentum using evidence based advocacy to increase organizational and financial resources for integrated MNCH, PMTCT and, Paediatric HIV services including for adolescents. Also specific advocacy on integration of PMTCT across the broader MNCH platforms

Technical assistance for capacity strengthening:

• Support capacity strengthening of government and other stakeholders for scaled up delivery of integrated comprehensive PMTCT and Paediatric HIV programme roll-out including for adolescents. The TA will specifically focus on
• Strengthening of identification of HIV exposed (infected and uninfected) children at EPI, growth monitoring, CMAM, in-patients service delivery points and subsequent initiation of treatment and support
• Supporting the integration of MNCH/PMTCT/Paediatrics
• Supporting the participation of State and LGA programme and service delivery staff in national and State level advocacy and TA conferences, meetings and trainings.
• Provide technical support to planning and monitoring roll out of integrated EID and Paediatric HIV services

Technical and programming support on Communication and ANC/PMTCT Demand Creation :

• Provide TA on the design, planning, implementation and monitoring of Communication and Social Mobilization to increase ANC/PMTCT and Paediatric HIV services up-take including for adolescents. TA will specifically focus on:
• Evidence-generation on facility and community-based ANC demand-creation bottlenecks and challenges
• Development, implementation and monitoring of comprehensive ANC/PMTCT demand-creation strategy and action plan
• Integration of community-based approaches for ANC/PMTCT demand creation, including working with common inter-sectoral platforms, structures and institutions
• Mobilization and supporting existing community groups to have specific groups of pregnant girls/young women to prepare for pregnancy, ANC, PMTCT and prevention of HIV

 Technical assistance to strengthening strategic information:

• TA to support timely state level children and HIV programme coverage data is available, programme lessons are documented and disseminated and knowledge management and platforms for information sharing on PMTCT and Paediatric HIV are functional. This includes also TA for the development and maintenance of a PMTCT/EID/Paediatric HIV Dashboard.

Support to Programme Management including on planning and use of project financial resources.

Qualifications of Successful Candidate
Education:

• Advance university degree (at least a Masters level) in public health, medical sciences or related field

Years of relevant experience:

• A minimum of 5 years or more experience in decentralized programme planning, support to implementation and monitoring and evaluation in the field of PART, or PMTCT
• Up to data knowledge on global PART, EID, PMTCT and adolescents and HIV technical guidelines, programme guidance and knowledge of proven successful interventions
• Proven experience in successfully applying this knowledge at State and community levels.
• Proven experience with promoting, supporting and leading initiatives for the integration of PMTT services into routine MCH services.

Competencies of Successful Candidate:

• Communication- Speaks fluently English; presents information with skill and confidence; projects credibility; structures information to meet the needs and understanding of the intended audience; presents information in a well-structured and logical way.
• Relating and networking - Easily establishes good relationships with external partners and staff; builds wide and effective networks; relates well to people at all levels.
• Drive for results - Sets high standards for quality of work; independently monitors and maintains quality of work; works in a systematic, methodical and orderly way; consistently achieves project goals; focuses on the needs and satisfaction of internal and external partners; accepts and tackles demanding goals with enthusiasm.
• Formulating strategies and concepts - Works strategically to realize goals; sets and develops strategies;
• Analyzing - Analyzes numerical data and all other sources of information, to break them into component parts, patterns and relationships; probes for further information or greater understanding of a problem; makes rational judgments from the available information and analysis; demonstrates an understanding of how one issue may be a part of a much larger system.
• Deciding and initiating action - Takes responsibility for actions, projects and people: takes initiative and works under own direction; initiates and generates activities and introduces changes into work processes; makes quick, clear decisions.