Program Officer, Zanzibar, Tanzania

CLOSING DATE:                    9 July 2015  (5.00 p.m. New York time)

DURATION:                            One year (renewable) No expectancy of renewal in accordance with UN Staff Regulation 4.5

Background Information

The Programme Specialist provides support to the government and other partners in the programming processes to ensure that the Reproductive Maternal Newborn Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) programme for Zanzibar is implemented in the context of the ICPD Programme of Action and UNFPA Strategic Plan, National Strategies for Growth and Poverty Reduction, the national development processes, and the UN DaO in Tanzania through its UNDAP framework. The programme Specialist also serves as technical resource for RMNCAH for all stakeholders of UNFPA Country programme. She/he is instrumental in facilitating programme/project implementation using and developing appropriate mechanism and systems and ensuring compliance with established procedures.

Organizational Setting

The Programme Specialist post is located in the Zanzibar Liaison Office in the United Republic of Tanzania and reports to the Deputy Representative, who provides overall direction and guidance. S/He provides overall support on programme and operational issues for the implementation of the three-year programme (2015–2018) on Accelerating Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) in Zanzibar in the United Republic of Tanzania, funded by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD), in collaboration with UNFPA/UNICEF and the Ministry of Health of Zanzibar. The Programme Specialist is part of UNFPA’s programme as well as operations teams in Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam, which provides integrated programme and technical support within a systems strengthening approach fundamental to UNFPA’s overall strategy. S/he uses UNFPA and national systems and tools to deliver development results and works as part of the UN Delivering as One (DaO) Teams to ensure that population issues are central to national initiatives to promote social economic development in the context of the National Strategies for Growth and Poverty Reduction (MKUKUTA and MKUZA).

Main Tasks & Responsibilities

I.   Programme Management and Implementation:

The Programme Specialist will manage the programme and work with the implementing partners in coordination with MOH - Zanzibar to guarantee the smooth implementation of the programme by:

• Ensuring the development and timely receipt of annual work plans and budgets from implementing partners.
• Ensuring that financial and narrative reporting obligations to DFATD are met.
• Ensuring that regular reviews and adjustments are made based on operational matters to achieve optimum results.
• Bringing to the attention of UNFPA management challenges in a timely manner and proposing solutions and alternate strategies for achieving results.
• Providing oversight and technical assistance to ensure that activities in the agreed annual work plans are implemented in a timely manner, within budget and are of good quality.
• Contributing to the creation and sharing of knowledge by summarizing and documenting results, lessons learned success and best practices, strategies and approaches.
• Participating actively in meetings and desk reviews and undertaking monitoring missions to assess progress in implementation, including appropriate substantive and administrative follow-up actions, including in the Health and Nutrition Programme Working Group and in the Zanzibar MNCAH Technical Working Group and other MoH strategic working groups.
• Establishes and maintains network of donor and public information contacts and provides assistance in organizing and conducting donor meetings and public information events.
• Liaising between his/her counterpart in UNICEF to obtain relevant information and providing feedback and advice to the UNFPA Tanzania Country Office management and the Zanzibar Liason Office on the progress in implementing the programme.Analyzes and interprets the political, social and economic environment relevant to population and development, reproductive health and gender, and identifies opportunities for UNFPA assistance and intervention. Keeps abreast of new policy developments and strategies analyzing policy papers, strategy documents, national plans and development frameworks, and prepares briefs and inputs for policy dialogue, technical assistance coordination, and development frameworks.

II.    Technical and capacity building

The Programme Specialist works with government and civil society to strengthen national capacity by:

• Working closely with the MoH Zanzibar and other  strategic partners to ensure that high quality, relevant, and cost effective programme interventions are designed with clear theory of change and implemented in line with both national policies/plans, UNDAP Framework, UNFPA Strategic Plan as well as international best practice in the areas of RMNCAH.
• Ensure development of essential minimum packages and monitoring tools to support quality implementation of each  pillar of UNFPA’s component of the Joint Programme.
• Identifying gaps and priority areas of work to implement the Zanzibar RMNCAH work plan submitted to DFATD. This includes making review and recommendations for adjustment of activities where necessary.
• Identify the capacity gaps and provide technical assistance and capacity building to government and civil society partners to ensure the work plan is implemented within budget and in the prescribed time period.
• Develop a technical assistance plan and ensure its implementation including sourcing of TA from UNFPA and external partners if and when necessary.
• In collaboration with UNFPA’s M&E Officer and UNICEF, ensure the development of a monitoring and evaluation plan with requisite indicators and targets aligned with the project logframe and track progress.
• Serve as a resource of knowledge and information on matters related to RMNCAH in Zanzibar, including human resources for health (Midwifery workforce), RH/FP commodity security, comprehensive sexuality education and youth friendly SRH service provision, emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC), primary health care planning and management.
• Ensure  human rights based approach and integration of reproductive health service components  for information and service provision to the beneficiaries

III.   Coordination

The Programme Specialist ensures smooth communication between all partners and stakeholders including the UN, government, civil society and partners in Zanzibar and where necessary in mainland Tanzania by:

• Ensuring implementing partners working on related activities are communicating adequately with each other to minimize duplication and enhance synergies.
• Communicating with partners implementing the RMNCAH Programme in Zanzibar to identify effective solutions to common challenges.
• Ensuring smooth communication with UNICEF and DFATD in Tanzania as required contractually as to ensure up-to-date information for implementation.
• Ensuring coordination, complementarity, and synchronization of UNFPA and UNICEF components of the Programme as well as its visibility as a joint programme.
• Contributing to national and regional meetings where Tanzania experience on progress as well as challenges can be shared.
• Provide support to the process of technical/annual and financial reviews of the UNFPA thematic funds through the preparation of internal documents to assess progress of implementation.
• Organize annual review and planning meetings in collaboration with UNICEF and other UNFPA staff to ensure timely preparation of AWPs and disbursement of funds to implementing partners
• Undertake any other assignments as may be requested by the UNFPA Representative and Deputy Representative.

Desired Skills and Experience

Education:  Advanced degree in public health, medicine, Midwifery, international Development, programme management or other social science related field.

Knowledge and Experience:

•      Five years of increasingly responsible professional experience in developmental work, programme/project planning, design, monitoring and evaluation

•      Substantive knowledge and practical experience in population, sexual and reproductive health, provision of adolescent sexual and reproductive health information and services, and gender programming

•      Experience in working in a multi-cultural environment

•      Strong results orientation, with proven experience in using results-based management tools

•      Strong analytical and strategic thinking and sound judgment; team building, advocacy skills and behavior change communications skills

•      Able to promote teamwork between UNFPA and its partners as well as within the UN System

Languages:

Fluency in English is required.

Required Competencies

i)                 Values: Exemplifying integrity, Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system, Embracing cultural diversity, Embracing change

ii)                 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

iii)               Required Skillset:

•      Advocacy/advancing a policy oriented agenda - influencing the public policy agenda; performs analysis of political situations and scenarios, and contributes to the formulation of institutional responses

•      Results based programme development and management - achieving results through programme design and innovative resourcing strategies; ensures that UNFPA’s global and regional institutional priorities and new policy and programming guidelines are taken into account in country-level programming processes; ability to promote equity and human rights as core aspects of programming and reaching the under-served populations.

•      Leveraging the resources of national governments and partners / building strategic alliances and partnerships - building strategic alliances; effectively networks with partners seizing opportunities to build strategic alliances with institutions and individuals relevant to UNFPA’s mandate and strategic agenda;

•      Innovation and marketing of new approaches – fostering innovation in others; generates original and imaginative ideas and effective solutions to problems;

•      Resource mobilization ( Programme ) – developing strategy at country level; identifies country needs and develops proposals to be presented to donors and governments;

•      Job knowledge/technical expertise – expert knowledge of own discipline. Understands more advanced aspects of primary area of specialization as well as the fundamental concepts of related disciplines

Program Officer, Zanzibar, Tanzania