Duration: 6 Months
Duty Station: UNFPA Bangladesh Project Office- Noakhali
Starting date of Assignment: As soon as possible
- ORGANIZATION SETTING
UNFPA’s Ninth Country Programme (2017-2020) in Bangladesh is targeting 19 districts for sub-national level capacity development and system strengthening in four programme areas: 1) sexual and reproductive health, 2) adolescent and youth, 3) gender equality and women’s empowerment, and 4) population dynamics. The 19 districts include: Patuakhali, Rangamati, Jamalpur, Sirajganj, Moulavibazar, Barguna, Noakhali, Kagrachari, Bandarban, Cox’s Bazar, Sherpur, Bogra, Sunamgonj, Sylhet, Netrakona, Habiganj, Barishal, Bagerhat.
The Field Officer will be responsible for strengthening sub-national capacities in the assigned district of Noakhali to realize national development priorities related to the ICPD Programme of Action and Beijing Platform for Action, as well as creating and maintaining UNFPA’s partnerships and support systems at the local level.
Under the supervision of the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit, the Field Officer will be contributing to the effectiveness and efficiency of the Ninth Country Programme by: 1) enhancing programme effectiveness through quality assurance, data gathering and analysis, monitoring and results reporting; 2) enhancing UNFPA’s capability of responding to local development and/or humanitarian needs and addressing gaps in a timely, efficient and effective manner; 3) improving the mobilization of resources, either domestic or external; 4) increasing adaptability through innovation, partnership and communications; and 5) consolidating the visibility of UNFPA´s comparative advantage and technical excellence at the sub-national level 6) facilitating smooth implementation and tracking of donor funded projects ensure UNFPA’s donor accountability.
While the Field Officer will be responsible for the programme implementation at the sub-national level in all four programme areas in the assigned district, their primary focus lies in advocating for and supporting maternal and newborn health system strengthening and provision of adolescent sexual and reproductive health information and services in districts through the health services. The Field Officer monitors and supports the respective district with local level planning, human resource management including scale up of midwifery led care sites, as well as monitoring the procurement, distribution and cold chain of critical commodities, improving voice and accountability by facilitating stronger community participation and improving health information management and other systems and processes that enable quality sexual and reproductive health information and services, including maternal newborn health services, family planning.
2. SCOPE OF WORK
1. Results Based Programme Management:
● Collect and analyze sub-national (district, upazila and union level) data relevant to UNFPA’s programme areas
● Contribute to the CO management with the development of appropriate field-oriented briefing notes and updates on themes and priorities on UNFPA’s mandate
● Document and generate knowledge and good practices, for scaling up successful interventions and for policy dialogue and advocacy purposes, as well as re-adjusting interventions
● Undertake regular environmental scanning at the sub-national level to support the CO
● Support the CO M&E Unit by provision of data and primary analysis of sub-national data on monthly and/or quarterly basis
● Support the CO with donor reporting with field level inputs
● Explore local level opportunities for innovative approaches to deliver on results and identify opportunities to generate new evidence
● Contribute to the CO substantively in the development of funding proposals by consolidating field-level inputs
2. District level advocacy and representation
● Strategically position UNFPA and the ICPD agenda, as they relate to local governance and decentralization processes, at the sub-national level based on emerging trends, to help mobilize local political and public support for ICPD and UNFPA operations
● Build and maintain relationships with Divisional Commissioners, District Commissioners, Civil Surgeons, Family planning Deputy Directors, and other division and district level key local government officials and representatives, for policy advocacy and capacity development
● Identify UN, donors, multi and bilateral development partners, NGOs/CSOs, academia, think tanks and individual experts that are operating in the respective Division and Target Districts and build/maintain communications and relationship, to help advocate for and strengthen the achievement of 9CP and ICPD PoA goals and the SDGs
● Identify ‘left behind’ populations, determine needs and advocate for more equitable distribution of local resources
● Represent UNFPA, at request by the CO management and respective units, in the sub-national level events, meetings, workshops, trainings, etc.
● Actively contribute to the CO in increasing UNFPA visibility and transparency, by providing materials and information that are readily usable for both internal and external communication channels, both national/local and international
3. Programme Implementation Support in districts:
● Carry out the sub-national level activities as per the 9CP Action Plan 2017-2020 in the respective target districts that fall under the office
● Monitor implementation of activities in districts by all Implementing Partners
● Provide oversight and capacity development, technical support to the respective division and districts in the planning, implementation, monitoring and results reporting, of the programme
● Review, identify, problem solve and communicate sub-national bottlenecks including management and coordination issues and capacity gaps that hamper the appropriate implementation of UNFPA programming, policies and strategies in SRHR, gender equality, adolescents and youth development and population dynamics
● Maximize the synergies of UNFPA’s different programme outcomes in a given division and target district
● Maintain regular reporting to and consultation with the CO in Dhaka on program/project implementation, monitoring (programme and finance) and office management
● Provide technical support in emergency preparedness and response to humanitarian crises such as natural disasters and for refugees, including needs assessments, local level cluster coordination, distribution of emergency reproductive health kits and dignity kits, operationalization of women friendly spaces and community watch groups, capacity development of service providers, etc.
● Receive and facilitate the mission and site visit by the representatives of the donors that support UNFPA programmes/projects
● Ensure all actions among field staff and with external stakeholders are executed with integrity and in accordance with UNFPA ethics policies, thus reflecting a culture of respect, transparency and accountability
● Identify and work closely with community groups and improve their participation in decentralized decision making processes for the programme
4. Other tasks
● Assist the CO in ensuring that the UNFPA’s assets and facilities meet requirements for conducting business efficiently and effectively
● Contribute to the CO with security risk management, also by providing local intelligence
● Perform any other tasks assigned by the Supervisor
3. MONITORING AND PROGRESS CONTROL
The consultant is expected to report to the M&E Unit and other relevant units on a weekly and daily basis as needed and will receive continuous guidance and support from UNFPA Dhaka office. Quarterly data on progress towards the intended results will be collected and sent to the M&E Unit at the end of each quarter.
4. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
Education: Master’s degree in public health, development, social sciences or other related fields
Knowledge and Experience:
● 5+ years of professional experience preferably in programme/project management in public or private sector; clinical background would be an advantage.
● Practical experience in the development field, including health, gender, youth development.
● Field experience is strongly desired.
● Demonstrated experience in coordination and liaison with government counterparts and other stakeholders, including NGOs and communities.
● Experience of conducting research in relevant fields.
Language: Fluency in oral and written English.
UNFPA Bangladesh is committed to building a culturally diverse organization and strongly encourages applications from female and minority candidates.
5. SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED BY UNFPA
The consultant will work at UNFPA Noakhali Project office. The consultant will be provided with office vehicle support whilst working on mission and travelling for official purposes in Dhaka and other office.
6. PAYMENT SCHEDULE
Payment will be made on a monthly basis.
7. Duration and Working Schedule
The consultancy duration is 6 months and normal working house is 40 hours per week.
HOW TO APPLY:
Applicants with the required qualifications and experience should submit a copy of curriculum vitae (CV), completed UN P11 form (http://Bangladesh.unfpa.org/en/vacancies/un-p11-personal-history-form) relevant education certificates and the names and contact information of three references.
Send your application electronically to dedicated email inbox of jchakma@unfpa.org@unfpa.org
For further details, please refer the attached detailed VAs and also at UNFPA website:
https://www.unfpa.org/jobs
Note: Only those candidates in who meet all qualifications and experience will be contacted for further consideration. Kindly note that incomplete applications will be automatically disqualified.
We are no longer accepting applications for this position.
