NATIONAL INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT: To Support the Development of the national HIV Prevention Roadmap

The Position:

Rwanda is a low-income country, which faces enormous challenges in sustainable systems for health, notably in the response to HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria. Key and vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected by HIV, with female sex workers registering HIV prevalence of 35 percent. However, Rwanda has succeeded in stabilising the HIV prevalence in the general population aged 15-64 at 3% and the country managed to reduce HIV prevalence from 3% to 2.6% among people aged 15-49. The current evidence from Rwanda population-based HIV impact assessment (RPHIA 2018-2019) show that HIV prevalence is higher in urban areas (4.8%) than in rural areas (2.5%) in rural areas. HIV prevalence is approximately 2 or more times greater in females compared to males in the age group of 15 – 34 years.  Rwanda has registered significant progress towards the Fast-Track 90-90-90 targets: By 2019, 83.8% of people living with HIV knew their status, of these, 97.5% were on treatment, and for those on treatment, 90.1% were virally suppressed. However, gaps remain in identifying the remaining 16% not yet diagnosed, reducing new infections, and reducing stigma and discrimination.

The advances in the country’s health sector have been achieved by building a health care system founded on the principle of coordinating development partners around one national plan – The Health Sector Strategic Plan V (HSSP V) 2024/25-2028/29. The RHSSP V aims to give all citizens access to quality health care. The National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan (2018 – 2024) (NSP) is aligned to the HSSP IV. The NSP sets ambitious targets to achieve the end of AIDS in Rwanda by 2024. The 95-95-95 by 2024 targets were set on the basis that the country had already surpassed most of the 90-90-90 targets ahead of schedule.

Rwanda has demonstrated remarkable progress in addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic, with significant reductions in new infections and AIDS-related deaths over the past decades. Despite these achievements, the country continues to face challenges in fully eliminating new HIV infections and ensuring sustainable health outcomes for all affected populations. There is also growing concern about increasing new infections of HIV among adolescent girls and young women aged 15-24 from 22% to 24% as compared to 6% among adolescent boys and young men in the same age group (UNAIDS Estimates, 2023). In relation, there are ongoing efforts by partners to understand the intersectionality of teenage pregnancies, HIV, GBV and the risk of maternal death among young girls, calling for more focused joint interventions to ensure equitable access to quality health services for all.

Rwanda has recently joined the Global HIV Prevention Coalition and together with the National HIV prevention TWG and the UN Joint Team on HIV/AIDS, the country planned to develop a National HIV prevention roadmap. The Global HIV Prevention Coalition (GPC), established by UNAIDS and UNFPA, aims to support countries in reinvigorating and scaling up HIV prevention efforts to meet the global commitment of reducing new HIV infections by 75% by 2025

The GPC has outlined a set of targets and a strategic framework to guide countries in accelerating HIV prevention. These targets emphasise the importance of scaling up combination prevention approaches, strengthening community-based interventions, addressing structural barriers, and ensuring sustainable financing for HIV prevention. Rwanda's commitment to the GPC targets necessitates the development of a comprehensive HIV Prevention Roadmap that aligns with these international goals while addressing the unique epidemiological and socio-cultural context of the country.

How you can 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 person's potential is fulfilled.  UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

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, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

Job Purpose:

 The IC will work under international consultant recruited through the Technical Assistance Facility (TAF) managed by UNAIDS Geneva to support the process of the development of the national HIV Prevention Roadmap.

You would be responsible for:

• Under the technical leadership of the international expert, review the  national strategic and technical documents including population studies reports and programmatic to guide and support the development of the national HIV prevention roadmap.
• Develop an inception report and a roadmap, with detailed tasks, clear milestones, responsibilities and timelines, to be endorsed by the core team made by RBC, UNAIDS and UNFPA technical team. 
• Support the Lead technical expert to coordinate the development of the National HIV Prevention Roadmap Support the lead consultant to facilitate consultative workshops with stakeholders.
• Design and facilitate the consultative and validation workshops, in collaboration with the international consultant.
• Ensure all the inputs from the stakeholders are well reflected in the final HIV prevention roadmap.
• Produce all final documents, edited and ready for dissemination including a master PPT with relevant visuals. 

Qualifications and Experience: 

Education:  

• An advanced degree (Master’s) in public health or other health services. 

Knowledge and Experience: 

• Proven experience working with national programs and international organisations on sexual and reproductive health, in limited resource settings for at least 3 years.
• Proven experience in public health, scientific research, and evaluation.

Languages: 

Fluency in English and knowledge of Kinyarwanda is desirable.

Required Competencies: 

Values:

• Exemplifying integrity, 
• Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system, 
• Embracing cultural diversity, 
• 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,

Compensation and Benefits:

This position offers an attractive remuneration package including a competitive net salary plus health insurance and other benefits as applicable.

UNFPA Work Environment:

UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of UNFPA's workforce - click here to learn more.

Disclaimer:

Selection and appointment may be subject to background and reference checks, medical clearance, visa issuance and other administrative requirements. 

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts. 

Applicants for positions in the international Professional and higher categories, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.