Strengthening the multisectoral Coordination support for the Adolescent girl and young women( AGYW) HIV programme, Kampala, 11 Months

The goal of this technical assignment is to provide support to the HIV prevention department at the Uganda AIDS Commission in advancement of the Commission’s mandate for the multi sectoral HIV Response for Adolescent Girls and Young women. The Position will be based at the Uganda AIDS Commission Secretariat, Ntinda, Kampala, requiring occasional travel to other government Ministries offices within and outside Kampala, and to various Local governments across the country. The incumbent is accountable to the UNICEF HIV/AIDS Specialist [Adolescents] and Head HIV prevention at the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC).

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Background

The Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) was established in 1992 under the President’s office. The commission is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring a focused and harmonized national response to HIV/AIDS. The commission oversees planning and coordination of HIV/AIDS prevention and control activities across the country through:

• Policy formulation and establishment of program priorities for the control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and management of its consequences throughout the country.
• Ensuring proper planning and coordination of all HIV/AIDS control policies and programs within the overall program strategy.
• Identifying obstacles to the implementation of HIV/AIDS control policies and programs and ensure the implementation and attainment of program activities and targets.
• Mobilization, expedition and monitoring of resources for the HIV/AIDS control program and activities.
• Dissemination of information on the AIDS epidemic and its consequences in Uganda and on the program activities for its control.
• Supervision of all activities relating to the control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Uganda.
• Performing such other functions relating to the prevention or control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Uganda, as the Commission may deem necessary.

The Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) is composed of both the Commission (Board) and the Secretariat (Management). The Head of the Uganda AIDS Commission Secretariat is the Director General who oversees several directorates, including Finance and Accounts; Planning and Strategic Information; Partnership; Policy, Research and Programming; and Human Resource and Administration.

Under the Directorate of Policy, Research and Programming (DPRP) is the HIV Prevention Department which is charged with the overall responsibility of coordinating the multi-sectoral HIV prevention response in order to check the spread of HIV in the country. The HIV prevention department is currently manned by one officer, the Head of Prevention. A national HIV Prevention Capacity assessment conducted in 2020 revealed that Uganda AIDS Commission is significantly understaffed for effective HIV prevention coordination. The staffing at the department of HIV prevention was not adequate and the structure was not aligned to five HIV prevention pillars.

It is against this background that UNICEF is looking for a technical individual contractor to provide TA to UAC to strengthen the HIV Prevention department with a special focus on strengthening the UAC coordination and programming mandate for the Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) HIV response.

Justification

In June 2017 the Government of Uganda launched a Presidential Fast-Track Initiative ( PFTI) on Ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. The country adopted the global HIV prevention targets set in the UN Political Declaration 2016, including to provide effective HIV prevention services to 90% of Adolescent Girls and young women (AGYW) and their male partners in high-HIV incidence communities and to 90% of key populations in order to reduce new HIV infections by 75% by 2020 compared to 2010. However, in spite of progress made in reducing new infections and establishing prevention programmes in the country, the country failed significantly to achieve the set 2020 prevention targets. One key reason for poor progress, as identified in the Midterm review of the National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan 2015/16-2019/20, was the underlying capacity gaps in coordinating, managing and implementing prevention programmes at various levels.

As part of national efforts to enhance national capacity in coordination, management and implementation of HIV prevention services, a national HIV Prevention capacity assessment was conducted for the Uganda AIDS Commission and the Self-Coordinating Entities (SCEs). The National HIV Prevention Capacity Assessment report points to the fact that the HIV Prevention department at UAC is grossly understaffed and the structure is not aligned to core functions of the Uganda AIDS Commission & the 5 HIV prevention pillars. The reports recommend a review of the current staffing structure at the Department to include focal persons for the 5 HIV Prevention Pillars.

According to the 2021 Joint Annual AIDS Review (JAR 2021) report, even though the country has made good progress in implementing some of the pillars of HIV Prevention others are still lagging behind. For example, good progress has been made in EMTCT, scaling up PrEP, but the Programs for Adolescents and Young Women and Key and priority Populations (KPs and PPs) are still lagging behind in terms of coordination, service delivery as well as monitoring and evaluation. These two areas that lag behind need special attention.

Given the above situation, there is great need to strengthen the HIV Prevention Department at UAC with an additional technical staff who will focus on Primary HIV Prevention with greater focus on strengthening the multisectoral coordination and programming for AGYW.

Objectives

The contractor will report to the UNICEF HIV/AIDS Specialist [Adolescents] and Head HIV prevention at the Uganda AIDS Commission, UAC. The contractor will also regularly interact with MoES, MoH, TASO, line ministries, other AIDS Development partners and in-country stakeholders as relevant to this consultancy.

UNICEF will regularly communicate with the contractor and provide feedback and guidance and necessary support so to achieve objectives of the work, as well as remain aware of any upcoming issues related to the performance and quality of work.

Key objectives:

1. To enhance coordination across all sectors and partners, and alignment of the collective work of key actors around the key national and global frameworks, including the national HIV Prevention Road Map, the Adolescents and Young People Action and Accountability Framework, the Global AIDS Strategy, and other related frameworks.
2. To support the successful implementation of the Global Fund grant to ensure coordination across implementing partners and interventions.
3. To support implementation of UAC specific activities under the Global Fund grant as per the deliverables in the TOR.
4. Support the HIV Prevention department to convene regular coordination meetings for the Adolescents and Young People Steering Committee and supporting follow-up on recommended actions through the Uganda AIDS Commission and other partner institutional systems.
5. Provide technical guidance in policy development and programming focusing on the national Adolescent Girls and Young Women HIV response.
6. Rollout and operationalize the Adolescents and Young People Action and Accountability Framework at central and decentralized levels.
7. Coordinate efforts for strengthening the national monitoring and evaluation of the Adolescent Girls and Young women HIV prevention response.
8. In collaboration with all relevant sectors and other partners, ensure that Uganda AIDS Commission receives quality HIV prevention data, and analyse these data to generate regular reports, lobby for resources, and advocate for needed improvements.
9.  Provide technical guidance and support to the M&E team at UAC and partner institutions to come up with a real time data base for HIV prevention services.

Scope of Work

The Position will be based at the Uganda AIDS Commission Secretariat, Ntinda, Kampala, requiring occasional travel to other government Ministries offices within and outside Kampala, and to various Local governments across the country. The incumbent is accountable to the UNICEF HIV/AIDS Specialist [Adolescents] and Head HIV prevention at the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC).

The Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW)programme officer is responsible for providing top notch policy, programmatic and coordination expertise for the national multisectoral AGYW HIV Response and expected to perform the following roles:

• He/She Provides technical support, both through structured meetings and in person engagements with relevant sector, Self-Coordinating Entity (SCE) and Local government focal persons for HIV Prevention to ensure their planning captures a rich scope of the AGYW HIV response interventions.
• Working in collaboration with the M&E department at the Uganda AIDS Commission, all relevant sectors and SCEs, the incumbent will ensure that appropriate and comprehensive data is being collected on the AGYW HIV response, the data is aggregated, analyzed and regular reports availed to the Head HIV prevention on a regular basis.
• The incumbent will ensure adequate policy guidance for the AGYW HIV response is documented and well disseminated to all stakeholders at national and Subnational Level using all available opportunity. He/She will represent the HIV Prevention department at partners meetings, most especially those related to the AGYW HIV response. As such, the incumbent will need to develop and maintain relationships with relevant personnel from the various sectors and SCEs in order to enhance successful coordination of the national AGYW response. He/She will ensure engagement with the AGYW themselves in order to best map their needs, inform national HIV response activities as appropriate.
• The Incumbent will ensure regular coordination meetings for national AGYW HIV response steering committee are held, and support follow-up on recommended actions through the Uganda AIDS Commission and other partner institutional systems.
• The incumbent will also support UAC in its coordination and implementing function of the Global Fund grant.

MAIN DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Leadership & Coordination:

• Convene, coordinate, attend, and facilitate monthly multisectoral AGYW steering committee meetings of the AGYW programme.
• Convene, coordinate, attend, and facilitate Quarterly multisectoral performance review meetings of the AGYW programme.
• To enhance coordination across all sectors and partners, and alignment of the collective work of key actors around the key national and global frameworks, including the national HIV Prevention Road Map, the Adolescents and Young People Action and Accountability Framework, the Global AIDS Strategy, and other related frameworks.

2. Policy & Guidelines:

• Provide technical guidance in policy development and programming focusing on the national Adolescent Girls and Young Women HIV response across all sectors and partners, and alignment of the collective work of key actors around the key national and global frameworks, including the national HIV Prevention Road Map, the Adolescents and Young People Action and Accountability Framework, the Global AIDS Strategy, and other related frameworks.

3. Capacity Building:

• Support the dissemination of the Adolescents and Young People Action and Accountability Framework rolled out in all relevant MDA, Local Governments and SCEs.
• Facilitate experience sharing on the TA implementation process, outcomes and lesson learned for country and regional dissemination consultancy at country and regional level.

4. Technical Assistance:

• Provide remote and field based technical assistance for AGYW partners on the GF implementation.
• Compilation of data and evidence for MDAs to guide individual stakeholder needs for support and prioritize collaboration to address HIV/AIDS among AGYW.

5. Research:

Support identification of priority strategies to address barriers in the HIV/AIDS prevention for AGYW programme.

• Identify implementation gaps and research opportunities.

6. Research Mobilization:

• In collaboration with all relevant sectors and other partners, ensure that Uganda AIDS Commission receives quality HIV prevention data, and analyse these data to generate regular reports, lobby for resources, and advocate for needed improvements

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Education

• Advanced University degree in Public Health, Social Sciences post graduate diploma in M&E, epidemiology or related field.

Work Experience

• Five years or more of experience in adolescent SRH or HIV-related Programming, at the National or Decentralized level and Experience working with the National HIV Programme is an added advantage.

Technical knowledge:

• Demonstrated experience in providing technical assistance and capacity building on SRHR and HIV programming for adolescent girls and young women, including data handling, monitoring and results-based management
• Excellent analytical and report writing skills as well as good communication skills

Specific knowledge:

• Demonstrated experience in gender transformative programming and national level integration work will be an asset.
• Excellent analytical and report writing skills as well as good communication skills.
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft office such as word processing, power point spreadsheets and databases is required.
• A detailed understanding of the Uganda AIDS Commission’s mandate in the national HIV response, in addition to the distinct mandate of the various sectors in coordinating, planning and implementing interventions targeting AGYW is an advantage.

Competencies skills:

• Demonstrate leadership skills in programme management and coordination at the National level Strong leadership and interpersonal skills to work with all levels of staff in a team setting to accomplish the UAC mandate
• Demonstrated ability to deliver capacity building initiatives to government sectors and implementing partners.
• Demonstrated ability to working in a multicultural environment and establish harmonious and effective relationships, including with national-level stakeholders

Languages:

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of an additional Ugandan language is an asset. Please note that working knowledge of English is required for all assignments.

Conditions:

• The consultancy will only commence when the contract has been signed.
• Consultants will not have supervisory responsibilities nor authority on UNICEF budget and other resources.
• Consultants will be required to sign the Health statement for consultants/Individual contractors prior to taking up the assignment, and to document that they have appropriate health insurance, if applicable.
• The Form 'Designation, change or revocation of beneficiary' must be completed by the consultant upon arrival, at the HR Section.
• No contract may commence unless the consultant provides a certificate of completion of a mandatory course on “Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse”. A certificate to be submitted with the signed contract should have been obtained in the last three months.
• Under the consultancy agreements, a month is defined as 21 working days, and fees are prorated accordingly. Consultants are not paid for weekends or public holidays
• Consultants are not entitled to payment of overtime. All remuneration must be within the contract agreement and are paid according to satisfactory completion of deliverables
• No contract may commence unless the consultant provides a certificate of completion of a mandatory course on “Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse”. A certificate to be submitted with the signed contract should have been obtained in the last three months.
• Clearance from DHR will be required for former UNICEF staff
• Clearance from the Government required for civil servants
• COVID19 Vaccination for this position is mandatory.

How to Apply

UNICEF is committed to gender equality in its mandate and its staff. Well qualified candidates, particularly females are strongly encouraged to apply.

Qualified and experienced candidates are requested to submit a letter of interest including a Technical Proposal outlining a road map for review and implementation timeline. In their letter of interest, candidates should highlight their previous work experience relevant to the assignment, the attributes that make them suitable, and their proposed approach to the assignment.

The applicant should also submit a Financial Proposal outlining the total costs for this consultancy with payment linked to the main deliverables outlined above. The financial proposal should indicate an all-inclusive lumpsum fee composed of consultancy fees, travel costs and subsistence/living allowances (where applicable).

Remarks:  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. 

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.