Reproductive Maternal Neonatal Child Adolescent Health in Emergency

Afghanistan is confronting an unprecedented humanitarian crisis with a very real risk of systemic collapse and human catastrophe that threatens to cancel many of the development gains of the last 20 years. The situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated in recent months due to the conflict with the political power shift, and drought. Following 40 years of war, increasing hunger, economic decline, and rising poverty resulted in the people of Afghanistan facing intensified conflict, the withdrawal of international forces and then the takeover of the country by the Taliban in August 2021. One particularly distressing aspect of the humanitarian crisis is Afghanistan’s high maternal mortality rate, which stands at 620 deaths per 100,000 live births. Significantly, Afghanistan has the highest maternal mortality rate in the Asia-Pacific region. Tragically, every two hours, a mother loses her life due to preventable complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. The deteriorating security situation and the return of Afghan refugees from neighbouring countries have further exacerbated this problem. Women and girls, especially expectant mothers, face limited access to healthcare and basic services, significantly increasing their vulnerability to maternal mortality and morbidity, particularly in impromptu settlements where resources are scarce. To address the above, UNFPA leads the Reproductive Maternal Neonatal Child Adolescent Health in Emergency [RMNCAH-iE] Working Group under the Health Cluster. The RMNCAHiE WG members are working towards the implementation of the Minimum Initial Service Package [MISP] for Reproductive Health in Crisis Settings. The MISP is a coordinated set of activities designed to prevent sexual violence and respond to the needs of survivors, prevent and reduce morbidity and mortality due to HIV and other STIs, prevent excess newborn and maternal morbidity and mortality, prevent unintended pregnancies and to plan for comprehensive RH services integrated into the primary health care as soon as possible. UNFPA Afghanistan is seeking a full-time RMNCAHiE WG Coordination Officer who will be responsible for coordinating RMNCAHiE activities across the response through the facilitation of RMNCAHiE WG under the Health Cluster’s umbrella and associated work plan. The WG Coordination Officer will support the WG coordination and prioritise the RMNCAH issues in relevant coordination fora (e.g. HCT, ICCT, Health Cluster, GBV SC, A&Y WG and other relevant Clusters), reporting on the priority RMNCAHiE issues and advising on appropriate courses of action, to enable decision-making. In addition, the RMNCAHiE WG Coordination Officer is also involved in the programme and technical support of the UNFPA humanitarian programme.

Under the overall guidance of the Representative and direct supervision of the Humanitarian Coordinator, the RMNCAHiE WG Coordination consultant shall perform the following duties and responsibilities, but not limited to: 

Coordination :

• Support the SRHiE Specialist to convene, facilitate and coordinate the RMNCAHiE WG in Afghanistan
• Working closely with other members of health cluster, and other relevant humanitarian coordination bodies, ensuring discussions are participatory, results oriented and well-documented.
• Assist in actively promote national actors’ membership in the RMNCAHiE WG with support from SRHiE Specialist
• Maintain the profile of the RMNCAHiE WG and ensure strong representation of community engagement needs and priorities in inter-sector fora (e.g. ICCG, HCT, intra Health cluster, other clusters, or equivalents, etc.).
• Participate in the different humanitarian coordination forums such as working group and cluster meeting including the AAP WG, A&Y WG,GBV SC
• Support in the development of 2024 RMNCAHiE WG Work Plan and Strategy Document at national and sub-national levels
• Assist in development of a 4Ws (who does what, where and when) matrix on RMNCAHiE WG related activities with input from each of the clusters/sectors.
• Active support in facilitating the development of RMNCAHiE WG strategy action plan that reflects the assessed needs, with objectives and indicators, through consultative and inclusive processes – including the views of national NGOs, UN agencies, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Coordinate the inclusion of appropriate RMNCAHiE indicators in joint needs assessments and stand alone RMNCAHiE WG assessments, as well as in the response monitoring framework.
• Coordinate with AAP WG community-based monitoring of feedback mechanisms to ensure that they accurately reflect RMNCAHiE preferences and the changing context.
• Coordinate RMNCAHiE WG related performance monitoring and recommend corrective action where and when needed.

Information Management :

• Provide advice and support to enable a predictable approach to how the RMNCAHiE WG partners are collecting, protecting, analysing, sharing and aggregating data
• Coordinate with other technical working groups and clusters/sectors to ensure that RMNCAHiE related data and interventions are integrated and reported in different reporting needs
• Design and produce an engaging reporting product that can be shared within coordination platforms (e.g. HCT and ICCG) to regularly update them as to the priority concerns and issues of RMNCAHiE in Afghanistan
• Support the functioning of the working group by ensuring that partners are familiar with and use the 4W reporting format for activities, that the RMNCAHiE WG mailing list and contact details are regularly updated and that the shared drive is organised well, populated with key documents, assessments, evaluations and RMNCAHiE WG outputs, to build a common knowledge base among partners.

Programme Management: 

• Ensure that the 2024 RMNCAHiE WG selected activities are being captured under the UNFPA’s work plan.
• Provide support to SRHiE Specialist and the overall humanitarian unit in programme management and reporting, as well as resource mobilisation and partnerships.
• Engage donors to provide updates on current RMNCAHiE issues and concerns, including plans to improve overall RMNCAHiE integration in humanitarian response-wide.

Capacity building :

• Support in assessing the priority skills gaps and learning needs relating to RMNCAHiE and the MISP guidelines.
• Assist in development of a capacity-building strategy to build the knowledge of, and commitment to RMNCAHiE collective approaches within the response
• Document the capacity building initiative and if possible create a database of those who received training related to RMNCAHiE

Qualifications and Experience: 

Education:

• Essential: University degree in Medicine sciences, Public Health, Midwifery or equivalent qualifications from a recognized university.
• Desirable: Post graduate degree in Medicine sciences, Public Health, Midwifery or equivalent qualifications from a recognized university”.
• Three or more years working experience in the field of reproductive health, preferably in the UN system or INGO;
• Experience in coordination and implementation of Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for Reproductive Health;
• Humanitarian experience and international experience are of added advantage;
• Fluency in oral and written English; working knowledge of other UN languages a plus.

Required Competencies: 

Functional competencies: 

• Analytical and Strategic thinking;
• Knowledge sharing;
• Results-based programme development and management;
• Innovation and marketing of new approaches;
• Leveraging the resources of national governments and partners/building strategic alliances and partners

Source: https://www.unfpa.org/jobs/reproductive-maternal-neonatal-child-adolescent-health-emergency-rmncahie-working-group