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THIS SUNDAY: UNICEF JOB POSTING, CHAD/ PEPFAR EVALUATION, INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE

Friday, 1st of March 2013

 Communication for Development Specialist (Polio), P-4
Duty Station: N’Djamena*, Chad Contract type: 2-year long-term (FT)
Application Deadline: 22 March 2013
If you are a social mobilisation or communication expert passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. Help UNICEF accelerate its response to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) and eradicate polio. Communication plays a crucial role in polio eradication, fostering understanding of the disease and acceptance of the vaccine. UNICEF has key communication and social mobilisation responsibilities in the endemic countries and also in effectively responding to outbreaks, and we are looking for experienced communication professionals.
Key Responsibilities
Under the general guidance of the supervisor, and in close coordination with the Communication Officer, responsible for the design, formulation, management, execution, monitoring and evaluation of a behavioural change and social mobilization strategy, plan of action and programme activities in support of the country programme.
Key responsibilities include:
1. Programme communication strategy and plan of action strategically developed and formulated, and the implementation effectively managed, facilitated and executed for social and behavioural change in support of efficient and effective programme delivery.
2. Culturally relevant programme communication materials designed, pre-tested, and produced timely, meeting requirements and quality standards.
3. Strong partnerships with community groups, leaders and other partners in the community and civil society developed and enhanced for promotion of participation in social and behavioural changes supportive of programme goals.
4. Effective training materials and activities organized, developed and implemented to build capacity in participatory and behaviour communication at various government levels.
5. Technical support effectively provided with government counterparts in the development and effective use of communication for social development.
6. Monitoring and evaluation of programme activities and preparation of reports timely and properly undertaken. Findings, experiences, lessons learned, best practices and new methods effectively shared with government officials, programme staff, and other partners.
Qualifications
1. Advanced university degree in the Public Health, Epidemiology, or social/behavioural sciences, (Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Health Education) with emphasis on strategic communication planning for behaviour development, social mobilization, participatory communication, and research. A first university degree with a relevant combination of academic qualifications and experience may be accepted in lieu of advanced university degree.
2. Minimum eight years of progressively responsible professional work experience in the development, planning and management of social development programmes, including several years in developing countries, with practical experience in the adaptation and application of communication planning processes to specific programmes. Previous Polio programme or public health knowledge/experience an asset.
3. Fluency in English and French. Knowledge of other local working languages would be an asset.
To Apply
By March 22, go to http://bit.ly/15WxmTw or visit us at www.unicef.org/about/employ to register in our e-Recruitment system, and search using keyword “polio” for further details/to apply.
* N’Djamena is a NON-FAMILY duty station

• PEPFAR EVALUATION, INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE

Full text is available at http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=18256&page=1 

Date:  Feb. 20, 2013

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

New IOM Report Highlights PEPFAR's Successes, Calls on Initiative to Intensify Efforts to Enhance Partner Countries' Management of Programs and to Improve Prevention

 

WASHINGTON -- The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has saved and improved millions of lives worldwide and offered proof that HIV/AIDS services can be effectively delivered on a large scale even in countries with high rates of disease and resource constraints, says a new congressionally mandated evaluation conducted by the Institute of Medicine.

 

Moving forward, PEPFAR needs to intensify efforts to help its partner countries develop the capacity to manage their own programs, sustain the gains that have been made in controlling the HIV epidemic, and improve their citizens' access to services, said the committee that wrote the report.

 

Even with PEPFAR's substantial contributions to the global scale-up of HIV/AIDS services, many needs remain, the report notes, and future progress will require partner countries and donors to work together to make difficult but necessary decisions on how to allocate finite resources.  As PEPFAR increases its focus on fostering countries' ability to take on greater long-term responsibility, results may not occur as rapidly or dramatically as in the past, the committee cautioned.

 

"During our visits to partner countries, we repeatedly heard PEPFAR described as a lifeline," said committee chair Robert Black, chair, department of international health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore.  "People credit the initiative with restoring hope.  As it moves forward, PEPFAR must continue to be bold in its vision, implementation, and global leadership."

 

PEPFAR was established in 2003 through legislation that authorized $15 billion for HIV/AIDS and other related global health issues over five years.  In 2008, the legislation was reauthorized, providing up to $39 billion through 2013 for PEPFAR bilateral HIV/AIDS programs as well as U.S. contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.  PEPFAR has supported HIV/AIDS programs in over 100 countries, with the largest share of the investment currently in 33 partner countries.  As part of the reauthorization, Congress requested that IOM evaluate various aspects of the initiative, a task that IOM's international committee of experts carried out through visits to 13 partner countries as well as the review of volumes of documentation and data.  IOM previously evaluated PEPFAR in its initial implementation phase and issued a report in 2007.

 

Overall, PEPFAR has reset the world's expectations for what can be accomplished with ambitious goals, ample funding, and humanitarian commitment to a public health crisis, the committee concluded.  Working with a wide range of international and local partners, PEPFAR has expanded HIV testing and increased the number of people living with HIV who are receiving care and being treated with antiretroviral drugs.  The initiative has trained hundreds of thousands of service providers, strengthened partner countries' health systems, provided additional nonclinical support services for people living with HIV, and made an unprecedented investment in programs for orphans and vulnerable children living with or affected by HIV.

 

PEPFAR has successfully increased services to prevent HIV transmission from mothers to their children during pregnancy and birth. The initiative has become increasingly flexible over time in its approach to other prevention strategies, and it has achieved positive results by supporting data collection to better understand the factors driving the epidemic in each country and scaling up prevention programs for the general population and for populations at elevated risk.  However, greater attention to a range of prevention strategies is needed, the report says.  In particular, countries need to increase the focus on prevention of sexual transmission, which is responsible for the majority of new infections.  PEPFAR should lead the way by supporting innovations in strategies to decrease risk factors that contribute to HIV transmission. 

 

The committee underscored the importance of partner countries receiving support to take on greater responsibility for and management of their own HIV/AIDS programs.  In recent years, PEPFAR has begun providing less direct support and more technical assistance and support for strengthening partner countries' health systems and capacity to lead their efforts, a shift that the report deems reasonable and appropriate.  PEPFAR's guidance should reorient from prescribing specific activities to outlining key outcomes and enabling partner countries to determine how to prioritize their efforts to achieve these outcomes.

 

The study was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.  Established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine provides objective, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector, and the public.  The Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and National Research Council together make up the private, nonprofit National Academies.  For more information, visit http://national-academies.org or http://iom.edu.  A committee roster follows.

 

Contacts: 

Christine Stencel, Media Relations Officer

Luwam Yeibio, Media Relations Assistant

Office of News and Public Information

202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu

 

Pre-publication copies of Evaluation of PEPFAR are available from the National Academies Press on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu or by calling tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242.  Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).  Additional information is available at http://www.iom.edu/pepfar2.