Consultancy: Technical writer to support the development of a UNICEF regional funding proposal in the area of scale-up of access and uptake of HIV testing in CEE/CIS with a special focus on adolescents and youth (Home Based)

The Regional Office for CEE/CIS is seeking a home-based technical writer to support the development of a UNICEF regional funding proposal in the area of scale-up of access and uptake of HIV testing in CEE/CIS with a special focus on adolescents and youth.

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

Background

The HIV epidemic in Eastern Europe and Central Asia is fuelled by risky behaviour – mainly drug use and unsafe sex – particularly among marginalised groups such as intravenous drug users, sex workers, men who have sex with men, and populations on the move. Increasingly, infection is spreading from these groups through their partners to more young people. Even within these groups, HIV has a young face.

Across the region, young people face poverty, unemployment levels that are three times higher than among adults, trafficking in drugs and humans, economic migration and violence. Youth poverty, unemployment and lack of hope fuel the trades in people and drugs that feed the HIV epidemic. While they are the most vulnerable, young people are the least likely to know the risks or how to avoid them, least likely to have access to the services that they need and least likely to be adequately protected by policies and laws.

HIV testing and counselling represents one of the most underused resources in CEECIS in response to HIV epidemic. Key barriers for HIV testing are low awareness, low risk perception, stigma, long distance to HIV testing sites, high cost of tests. There is growing consensus that provision of HIV self-testing (HIVST) in outreach settings represents an important opportunity to extend access to HTC for most-at-risk populations in low threshold and outreach programmes that otherwise have little or no contact with the health system.

The CEE/CIS Regional Office submitted a letter of intent in response to a UNITAID call for proposals on Expediting access to HIV self-testing in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) http://unitaid.org/en/how/call-for-proposals/16-home/1635-call-for-proposals-expediting-access-to-hiv-self-testing-in-low-and-middle-income-countries-lmic. The next step is to develop of the full application in accordance with UNITAID guidelines, requirements and deadlines.

The proposed project will be implemented in close collaboration with community based organisations in three middle-income countries: Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Ukraine.

Scope of Work and Objectives

The consultant is expected to consult closely with the RO team as well as the community based organisations in Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Ukraine, with the former on the technical content and background materials development and the latter, primarily with the arrangements related to the preparation of the proposal to meet the requirements of UNITAID.

The selected consultant is expected to develop the proposal for UNITAID that will include the following steps:

1. Literature review, desk research, and familiarization with the guidelines and intention letter.
2. Coordination of technical inputs with UNICEF Regional and country offices, NGO partners and identification of items where specific information is required from implementing partners (especially sections that request information about prior work with the collaborating partners), and first draft proposal including
3. Description of the action
4. Methodology
5. Implementation/action plan
6. Sustainability
7. Logical framework and budget
8. Send the draft proposal to UNICEF Regional office for review, incorporate comments, seek for additional information and/or clarification as required
9. Send revised draft proposal to UNICEF Regional Office
10. Incorporate UNICEF Regional Office's comments
11. Finalize and submit the proposal to UNICEF Regional Office
12. Provide a feedback and clarification for UNIAID request that will follow submission of the proposal

Work relationships: The consultant will be under the direct supervision of the HIV/AIDS Adviser and in close consultation with the HIV/AIDS specialist.

Outputs/Deliverables:  

Duration

15 March to 31 April 2017 (up to 23 working days, home-based) 

Payment Schedule

The consultant will be paid 50 per cent of the total amount at the 3 April, 2017 upon submission of the final proposal, and the final payment at the conclusion of the contract after providing a feedback to UNITAID questions/clarifications, dependent on the satisfactory delivery of items 2 – 4 above.

Qualifications of Successful Candidate

• An Advanced degree in Public Health/MBA or other relevant social sciences;
• Five to eight years of relevant experience, at the national and international levels;
• Previous experience in developing proposals for international and development organizations;
• Experience in working with UNICEF, World Bank, other UN agencies, and other international partners a plus;
• Fluency in English and excellent writing skills. 

Competencies of Successful Candidate

• Communicates effectively to varied audiences;
• Consistently achieves high-level results;
• Analyzes and integrates verbal and other data from a number of sources;
• Sets clearly defined objectives and plans activities for self, own team or department;
• Demonstrates, applies and shares expert technical knowledge across the organization;
• Translates strategic direction into plans and objectives;
• Has good leadership and supervisory skills; co-ordinates group activities, ensuring that roles within the team are clear;
• Knowledge and expertise in HIV/AIDS and HIV testing and social marketing areas 

Administrative issues

Focal Points CEE/CIS:Regional Adviser on HIV/AIDS and Young People Health and Development & HIV/AIDS Specialist, Geneva.

Conditions

No travel planned under this consultancy.

Estimated Cost of Consultancy: Estimated cost of consultancy is up to 23 working days. The Consultant shall indicate the total amount with daily fees to undertake the term of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily fee will not be considered.

UNICEF will issue a consultant contract in USD. The payment will be made in USD by bank transfer and in instalments upon deliverables as per contractual agreement.

Reservations: UNICEF reserves the right to terminate the contract without a prior notice and/or withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if the rules and the regulations regarding confidentiality, ethics and procedures of UNICEF and the project partners are not followed, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines.

 The candidate selected will be governed by and subject to UNICEF's "General Terms and Conditions for individual contracts."

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.