Sexual and Reproductive Health Specialist, Humanitarian Office, Geneva; P-4

The Position:

The Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Specialist is located in the Response and Technical Support Unit (RTSU), Humanitarian Office, based in Geneva. The post is part of the integrated technical team of experts, working under the close supervision of the Programme/Technical Adviser, to promote sexual and reproductive health programming in emergencies and contribute to strengthening the capacity.

The overall purpose of the Humanitarian Office is to facilitate the delivery of the UNFPA mandate by supporting humanitarian preparedness, response, and recovery actions in increasingly complex humanitarian situations, within globally agreed frameworks (2030 Agenda, Grand Bargain Commitments, Sendai Framework, etc.). The Humanitarian Office leads in leveraging and increasing effectiveness, efficiency and capacity of UNFPA staff and partners to scale up UNFPA’s role as a key global humanitarian actor. Through the Inter-Agency Standing Committee for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (IASC) and other associated entities, the Humanitarian Office acts as a point of convergence on humanitarian activities, including policy, coordination, programming, advocacy, field capacity development, financing, innovation, partnerships, technical guidance and, crucially, thematic integration, ensuring complementarity between humanitarian and development action within the organization.

HO advocates among humanitarian agencies to include sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender-based violence prevention and response, the empowerment of young people, and population data into the overall humanitarian preparedness and response frameworks. The HO facilitates the development of UNFPA capacities to prepare and respond to emergencies and to ensure the fund is well equipped to deal with the context of fragility and disaster risk reduction. Furthermore, HO advances UNFPA’s strategic global leadership for the Gender-Based Violence Area of Responsibility for the development system.

The Sexual and Reproductive Health Specialist facilitates the capacity building component of the UNFPA institutional strategy towards incorporating and mainstreaming the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in the overall humanitarian response, transition and preparedness. S/He promotes sexual and reproductive health programming in emergencies and contribute to strengthening the organization-wide capacity for timely and effective response to humanitarian crises, particularly in Scale-up countries. S/he coordinates efforts for improving the quality of humanitarian operational and system efficiencies for agile response in the field.

Qualification and Experience:

Education

Advanced Degree or equivalent in public health, medicine, sociology, development studies, health systems, health economics, social sciences, or other related fields

Knowledge and Experience:

7 years of increasingly responsible professional and managerial experiences in the field of humanitarian response, part of which should be in health, sexual and reproductive health, family planning, maternal health and/or population; prior experience in the UN system will be an asset; experience in training programme management needed;
Familiarity with IASC and other humanitarian coordination mechanisms, guiding principles and standards;
Knowledge of the ICPD and other UN global conferences and the Millennium Development Summit;
Good training skills;
Solid interpersonal communication skills;
Proficiency in current office software applications.