Vacancies with UNAIDS India

June 16, 2004

UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

1) VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT NO. UNDP/FT/2004/006

Date of Issue: 8 June 2004, Closing date: 22 June 2004

Post Title: Programme Specialist (Monitoring and Evaluation)

Post Level: ICS-10

Organization: UNAIDS

Duty Station: New Delhi

This vacancy is open to applicants of either sex. Preference will be

given to equally qualified women candidates.

Background:

The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS in India is currently operating in

a rapidly changing environment, with numbers of HIV/AIDS cases

ranking number two globally. The epidemic has in several states moved

from the high risk groups to the general population. The country's

hope for effectively mounting and coordinating a mass national

response is largely hinged on the National AIDS Control Programme

(NACP) administered by National AIDS Control Organization (NACO). A

new paradigm is being formed taking into account global experiences

for local action. Several multilateral and bilateral donors support

the national programme along with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The

Country's HIV/AIDS pandemic is widely hypothesized to be both a cause

and consequence of this humanitarian crisis, with a particularly

disastrous impact on people living with HIV/AIDS.

In India, the UN HIV/AIDS Theme Group, made up of all Heads of UN

agencies, is the joint policy and strategic decision-making body for

the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS. The Project Director of NACO,

envisaging establishing a government led Partnership Forum consisting

of all stakeholders; participate in the group's meetings and

deliberations. A wider and more expansive Technical Resource Team

involves more representatives from the UN and Government provides the

necessary technical support. The UNAIDS Country Coordinator (UCC),

backed by a team of professional National Programme Officers and

administrative staff, provide both the technical advisory and

secretariat support. In addition to the direct support provided to

NACO, NGOs and the private sector, the UNAIDS also monitor (and in

some cases administer) several collaborative initiatives involving

two or more UN co-sponsors, often funded through the Programme

Acceleration Fund (PAF). This differs from when activities are taken

under an individual agency leadership, for which UNAIDS is also

mandated to advice, monitor and report on.

Within this context, the exceeding challenging nature of tasks and

demands facing UNAIDS in India becomes apparent. In addition to the

above the results of the five-year Evaluation, the Future Directions

of UNAIDS, the recommendations from the Programme Coordination Board

(PCB) and the proposed UNAIDS capacity enhancement have added to the

need to be more focused. PCB has encouraged strengthened support for

country level (joint) governmental, multilateral, bilateral and non-

public scaled up response to HIV/AIDS to meet the challenges faced.

UNAIDS in India has thus proposed a management development structure

as a knowledge based organization to suffice this demand.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Under the supervision and guidance of the UNAIDS Country Coordinator,

the incumbent will perform the following functions:

1.Support the development and strengthening of inter-sectoral and

cross cutting national Monitoring and Evaluation systems.

• facilitate and support the establishment of national coordination

entities (e.g. National AIDS Commissions) with strong information

management capability;

• facilitate the adaptation of relevant indicators for monitoring the

national situation and response;

• support appropriate mechanisms for harmonization and effective

synergy among key stakeholders.

2. Facilitate and support the collation and utilization of data to

inform policy and strategy on HIV/AIDS, including the mobilization

and allocation of national and international resources.

• contribute to the inter-sectoral collation, analysis and synthesis

of data on country situations and responses;

• facilitate the utilization of such data for advocacy and the

mobilization and strategic allocation of resources, including through

support to National AIDS Councils and Country Coordination Mechanisms

for the design of major grants

• facilitate and support strategic planning processes generally,

including the conduct of government-led participatory reviews of

national programmes;

• facilitate and support the preparation, collation and dissemination

of major national HIV/AIDS reports.

• monitor, analyse and synthesize the Joint Programme's contribution

to the national response through Programme Acceleration Funds and the

UN Implementation Support Plan among others

3. Support the process of national planning, ensuring strategic focus

and strong evidence – based inputs drawn from surveillance,

operational research and strengthened monitoring and evaluation.

• Assist the national programme, NACO and SACS in developing and

implementing an enhanced response to HIV by building capacities in

programme planning, management, monitoring and evaluation.

• To identify country needs and priority areas and develop tools to

assist SACS in their operations.

• To facilitate linkages between state plans and the Technical

Resource Networks established to provide ongoing technical guidance

and support to state programmes.

• Undertake high-level analysis and prepare country progress reports

including country profiles and reports analyzing the trend as well as

the impact of the epidemic.

• Facilitate the management and presentation of strategic information

and reporting of UNGASS implementation.

• Assess trends and contribute to measuring outcomes related to

achieving the National Strategic Framework goals within the context

of national response. Support the national programme in maintenance

of data bank of indicators (for instance the CMIS) and mapping of the

national response.

• Assist the national programme to identify and disseminate

innovative cross cutting research and findings on India, including

best practices from around the world through consultative and

technical working groups.

• Facilitate the application/integration of the Country Response

Information System (CRIS) with the country monitoring tools. Assist

in the introduction of new M & E approaches and methods where possible.

• To assist CHARCA in monitoring and evaluation.

• Initiate contracts with institutions and individuals and monitor

physical, economical and financial progress.

• To carry out other tasks as defined by the Country Coordinator.

Qualification requirements:

Education: Masters degree in one of the areas - public health,

business administration, public administration, management, social

sciences, demography, development planning, statistics or academic

equivalent

Knowledge and Skills: Ability to consolidate information from

multiple sources. Demonstrated skill in the formulation, design,

development and implementation of monitoring and evaluation

frameworks. Able to prepare strategic information for decision

makers. Ability to work with basic presentation software, e.g.

Microsoft PowerPoint. Ability to achieve consensus and coordination

through teambuilding and other methods.

Experience: At least 8 years experience in the development,

design, and implementation of monitoring and evaluation systems or

programme management with significant information management content.

Experience with international donors, non-governmental development

organizations and/or the UN system would be an asset.

Languages: Excellent communication skills in both English and

Hindi (written and spoken), knowledge of any other local languages

will be an asset.

2) VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT NO. UNDP/FT/2004/005

Date of Issue: 8 June 2004, Closing date: 22 June 2004

Post Title: Team Assistant

Post Level: ICS-5