United Nations Development Programme s3

Date of Issue: 22 June’12

Closing Date: 05 July’12

Post Title : Technical Officer (Drugs, Health and HIV/AIDS)

Organization : United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Duty Station : New Delhi

Duration : One Year (extendable)

Type of Contract : Service Contract

Band : SB-4

Remuneration package starts at Rs. 76861/- per month (taxable). UNDP also offers additional benefits which include medical insurance coverage and limited pension reimbursement for contract holder and encourages work life balance.

Background:

UNODC is implementing a regional project titled “Prevention of transmission of HIV among Drug Users in SAARC Countries” (TD/RAS/03/H13) together with South Asian Governments and civil society organizations in the SAARC region. This nine-year project has been implemented in three phases - Fast Track (3 years including evaluation), the extended Phase I (1 year) and Phase II (5 years). The ongoing Phase II of the project is being implemented jointly with UNAIDS and WHO.

Phase II was initiated in June 2007 with the objective to foster national responses of the scale required to achieve 100 per cent outreach to injecting drug users (IDUs) with comprehensive prevention and care services. The project has established regional and national learning centers to train the government and civil society workforce. The project has established country support units in Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. In addition, staff is placed at Sri Lanka and Bhutan to carry forward project activities.

·  The project in partnership with the mentor and partner agencies in the 7 SAARC countries supports the implementation of a ‘Comprehensive package’ of services for drug users and their sex partners. To this end, the project implements the following activities: conducting a Rapid Situation and Response Assessment (RSRA), Peer Led Intervention (PLI), Safer Practices (SP), Low Cost Community Based Care and Support (LCCS) and Oral Substitution (OS) and needle and syringe exchange programs in some countries as well as advocate and negotiate with stakeholders on mainstreaming of IDU concern in the over all HIV prevention response in the SAARC region. The project is helping countries to develop advocacy strategies as well as monitoring and evaluation framework.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Under the overall supervision of the UNODC Representative for South Asia and the direct supervision and guidance of the Project Coordinator, the Technical Officer (Drugs, Health and HIV/AIDS) will be responsible for providing technical assistance to initiate and scale up cost effective comprehensive package of services for prevention of spread of HIV among drug users especially injecting drug users.

More specifically, the incumbent will:

·  Update project toolkits, SOPs, guidelines in the context drug use, health and HIV/AIDS in the South Asia region.

·  Be responsible for leading the execution of the technical aspects of project, ensure quality assurance in implementation of project activities and be responsible for technically assisting in developing, finalizing and implementing new UNODC proposals and existing grants in the context drug use, health and HIV/AIDS in the South Asia region.

·  Reviews, analyzes, and evaluates technical and project reports and other relevant materials on the state of the art of prevention and care of drug use and HIV/AIDS in the key areas and prepares respective extracts, summaries and reports both for internal and external use, in line with UNODC reporting requirements.

·  Works collaboratively and proactively with the project implementing partners and stakeholders on drug use and HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care related policy/programme areas.

·  Build capacities of service providers and civil society partners on drug use, health and HIV/AIDS in the South Asia region and ensure proper follow-up.

·  Undertakes other relevant duties.

Results Expected:

Support UNODC key policy programmatic areas relating to drug treatment and prevention including prevention of spread of HIV among drug users especially injecting drug users.

Competencies:

·  Professionalism: Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations.

·  Respect for diversity: Treats all people with dignity and respect, with no discrimination against any individual or group.

·  Communication: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

·  Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.

·  Planning & Organizing: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; uses time efficiently.

Educational Qualifications:

·  Advanced university degree in public health, sociology, medicine, psychology or other related areas.

Experience:

·  5 to 7 years of professional experience in drug treatment, especially oral substitution therapy and HIV/AIDS prevention and care, especially with reference to risk-reduction strategies (including among injecting drug users).

·  Experience in project planning and programme management.

·  Work experience with relevant Government counterparts is an asset.

·  Experience in analysis, documentation and advocacy.

·  Strong interpersonal skills, including excellent oral and written communication, team and networking skills.

·  Excellent writing skills in English and computer literacy.

Knowledge and Skills:

·  Proficient in use of word, excel and power-point. Should be capable of doing web based research.

Languages:

·  Fluency in English (oral and written) is required.

Please apply online by visiting www.in.undp.org (Careers).

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