The International Rescue Committee is one of the largest providers of relief and development assistance in the Democratic Republic of Congo with an annual budget of approximately US$ 80 million and over 900 staff. In seven of DRC’s provinces, IRC implements programs in the sectors of health, governance & community development, women’s protection & empowerment, education, and emergency response through a network of nine field office and a range of institutional and community partnerships.
As a partner to the lead agency, Management Sciences for Health, IRC is launching the five-year, USAID funded Integrated Health Project in 4 provinces of the DRC - South Kivu, Katanga, Kasai Oriental and Kasai Occidental. With an overall budget of approximately $140 million, IHP will provide support and oversight to the health system in 80 health zones, strengthening the delivery of quality health services to an estimated 10 million people.
Within the overall project framework, the IRC is responsible for the technical leadership for the implementation of the gender component of the project, whose activities will be designed in synergy with Primary Health Care interventions to help women of the targeted Health Zones to fully participate in determining their health outcomes. To this end, the IRC is seeking an experienced and dynamic professional for the position of Gender Technical Advisor for the Integrated Health Project. This position will be based in the IHP project office in Kinshasa and report to the Senior Technical Advisor, and will require regular travel of all IHP project sites.
Scope of work The Gender Technical Advisor will provide coordination, guidance and technical support for the integration of women’s empowerment activities in the Integrated Health Project. S/he will build relationships and coordinate with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (GDRC) and other partners involved in gender and women’s empowerment activities and ensure that the IHP program incorporates gender equity and response to violence against women into all aspects of its programming. The role will involve continual coordination of activities with other Kinshasa-based technical and leadership personnel as well as strong support to, and good collaboration with, IHP field staff.
Key Responsibilities
Promote gender equity in access to health care • Work closely with the Behavioural Change Communication (BCC) Technical Advisor to ensure that gender equity promotion activities use effective evidence-based strategies for behavioural change, and coordinate with the BCC Technical Advisor and Training Specialist to develop and roll out an appropriate training package; • Develop and support a strategy to mobilize communities and train CODESAs on gender sensitivity and women’s access to health • Develop advocacy strategies to address gender issues such as: discrimination within health services; partnership with civil society to promote gender-equitable access to appropriate services; increased responsiveness from relevant institutions to gender-based violence. • Define IHP gender strategy for recruiting and employing women in the target provinces and Health Zones. • Ensure that all IHP activities are designed and implemented in a gender-sensitive manner.
Ensure the availability of quality clinical services for sexual assault survivors at health facilities and that the guiding principles are respected
• Support the training of health staff to deliver confidential and competent care to survivors of sexual assault using the Clinical Care for Sexual Assault Survivors training tool • Develop plans to equip health facilities with the necessary equipment, space and drugs to provide proper clinical care to GBV survivors and ensure that secure, anonymous data collection systems are in place • Develop and ensure implementation of approaches to raise awareness among the community about access to medical services to treat consequences of a sexual assault in a timely manner • In collaboration with agencies implementing gender-based violence response and prevention programs, improve the referral system for sexual assault survivors between the health care facility and necessary services—psychosocial counselling, law enforcement, legal counsel, etc.—where available, ensuring the dignity of survivors and the principles of confidentiality and informed consent at every level
Leadership • Create a shared vision amongst the IHP project staff regarding gender promotion elements of the project, and their contribution to the objectives and vision of the project and their role in helping achieve them. • Provide oversight of IHP project activities with a significant gender component, ensuring that they are relevant, of high quality and implemented on time. • Foster a culture of gender equality among all project staff through staff training, sensitization and focused activities to raise awareness around gender issues in the workplace.
Representation • Establish strong relationships with relevant partner and governmental staff at national and provincial level to facilitate the collaboration required for the successful and efficient implementation of the project. • Represent the gender component of the project to donors, government institutions, project partners, coordination bodies and other civil society actors.
Strategy and Coordination • As agreed with senior IHP staff, represent IHP in external coordination fora and with other actors as appropriate. • Contribute a perspective of gender equity to discussions of IHP project strategy. • Together with the senior leadership and sector specialists on the project, ensure good coordination between sectors, and a coherent, integrated approach to achieve the IHP objectives.
Technical Support • Develop guidelines and tools as required for gender staff to implement key project activities consistently and effectively. • Provide ongoing technical support and guidance regarding programmatic issues, and challenges of a non technical nature encountered. Ensure that technical and programmatic problems are resolved in a timely and satisfactory manner
Monitoring and reporting • Assist the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) team to develop and implement a monitoring strategy for gender activities, including appropriate indicators and monitoring tools. • Oversee the integration of gender elements into project data management systems to track progress and key indicators of project impact and quality. • Maintain regular contact with the project field staff and ensure that the gender component of the project is carried out promptly, to a high quality and according to the project strategy. • Ensure that gender components of donor and internal reports are completed to a high standard and submitted on time
Requirements • University degree in social sciences or a health field; master’s in health sciences, public health and policy, gender studies or a related field; • A respected gender/Gender Based Violence or reproductive health sector specialist with at least 5 years progressive experience managing programs with a gender focus, in challenging environments, including at least 3 years in country sector leadership positions. • Previous experience providing clinical services to sexual assault survivors, coordinating these services and knowledge of best practices in the field is a must
• Strong facilitation and coaching skills; experience of designing and delivering training programs desirable. • Experience of coordinating the activities of several agencies for the achievement of a common goal; experience of working in a key position in a consortium-managed project highly desirable. • Excellent interpersonal, communication and diplomacy skills. • Experience of working with projects/programs with a strong element of capacity building of communities and institutions. • A high standard of proficiency in written and spoken English and French, and completely fluent in at least one of these two languages.
Please apply at: http://tbe.taleo.net/NA2/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=IRC&cws=1&rid=6738
No comments: