Sexual and Reproductive Health Specialist UN Volunteer - United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Guyana

The Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Specialist provides strategic technical and programmatic support for the Sub-regional Office for the Caribbean (SROC) in SRH to ensure that capacity building, advocacy and policy dialogue work reflects UNFPA’s policy and programme policies.

General

Details

Mission and objectives
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Our mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.

We promote gender equality and empower women, girls and young people to take control of their bodies and their futures. We work with partners in more than 150 countries to provide access to a wide range of sexual and reproductive health services. Our goal is ending unmet need for family planning, preventable maternal death, and gender-based violence and harmful practices including child marriage and female genital mutilation by 2030.

The UNFPA Sub-regional Office for the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean supports 22 countries and territories and has offices in six countries, i.e. Jamaica, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago.

Context
UNFPA and UN Women, with funds from Global Affairs Canada, will jointly work in four Eastern Caribbean countries with the aim to improve economic and social equality for women and girls, including for marginalized or vulnerable women and girls. UNFPA will particularly contribute to enhanced quality and accessibility of sexual and reproductive health and rights frameworks and services for women and adolescent girls, especially for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.

Under the direct supervision of the Technical Advisor for Reproductive Health currently based in Guyana, the Sexual and Reproductive Health Specialist (SRH) is responsible for providing technical support in the area of Sexual and Reproductive Health, and will support ongoing projects in this area, particularly, two Canadian funded projects namely; Build back Equal and Equal Access.

Task description
The Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Specialist provides strategic technical and programmatic support for the Sub-regional Office for the Caribbean (SROC) in Sexual and Reproductive Health to ensure that capacity building, advocacy and policy dialogue work reflects UNFPA’s policy and programme policies as well as current thinking and academic advance in substantive areas affecting the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action.

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the SROC Director or his/her designated mandated representative(s), the Sexual and Reproductive Health Specialist will:

• Provide technical and related programme support at sub-regional and national levels, in SRH, including for emergency preparedness, humanitarian assistance, recovery and transition in collaboration with the Sexual and Reproductive Health technical advisor and programme staff in the SROC.
• Support countries in the sub-region on the implementation of Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for reproductive health by supporting the conduct of readiness assessment and action plans.
• Support capacity building of health care providers in specific areas such as clinical management of rape and Intimate partner violence, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) management and family planning with focus on Long Acting and Reversible Contraceptives (LARC) capacity building.
• Provide support to government and civil society organizations in the area of adolescent programming with a focus on Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) for out of school.
• Contribute to the development of new or updated policies, frameworks, guidance, standards, instruments and tools based on the best available evidence in the area of sexual and reproductive health at sub-regional and national levels.
• Contribute to the regional adaptation of training materials, manuals and tools in SRH and ensure their availability and promote their use for capacity development.
• Act as focal person on climate change knowledge management at the SROC sharing up-to-date evidence on impact of climate change on SRH and overall UNFPA mandate.
• Carry out any other duties as may be requested by the office of the SROC Director.

Results/expected outputs:

● As an active UNFPA team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to UNFPA and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions, including:

o Sexual and Reproductive Health coordination mechanisms established in selected countries
o Adolescent-friendly standards developed in the four counties.
o Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for reproductive health country action plans developed
o Implementation plans for health worker’s capacity building on clinical management of rape and Intimate partner violence, STI management and family planning with focus on LARC in place.
o Contribute to sub-regional strategy on reduction of adolescent pregnancy

● Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment

● A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed

Eligibility criteria