The Position:
The position of Regional SRHR Financing Specialist is located in the UNFPA East and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO). The Specialist will be responsible for providing expert guidance, policy advice, technical assistance, capacity building, and brokering strategic partnerships in the area of health financing and health economics towards ensuring sustainable financing for sexual and reproductive health and rights.
The position will also contribute to cross-regional analysis of social sector financing policies, systems, instruments, and accountability mechanisms for enhancing sustainable financing, including domestic financing for SRHR.
The specialist will play a key role in UNFPA’s collaboration and partnership with the African Union, Regional Economic Communities, national government, academia, and partners in East and Southern Africa. The SRHR Financing Specialist will be part of a UNFPA and broader United Nations-wide effort to scale up SRHR financing guided by a clear value proposition, towards ending preventable maternal deaths, unmet need for family planning, and gender-based violence and harmful practices.
Under the overall guidance of the Deputy Regional Director for UNFPA ESARO, the Specialist will be under the direct supervision of the Regional Health Systems Adviser with functional reporting to the Programme Manager of the 2gether 4 SRHR Joint Programme.
The Specialist will also collaborate closely with the Health Financing, Health Economists, Technical Leads, and Specialists across UNFPA, UNAIDS, UNICEF, and WHO to ensure a UN system-wide effort required to strengthen sustaining financing mechanisms to improve SRHR outcomes.
How you can make a difference:
UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices.
These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030.
Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.
In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.
UNFPA is seeking candidates who transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them, and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.
Job Purpose:
Sustainable financing for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights is critical for the achievement of Health and Wellbeing for All, Gender Equality, and the broader realization of the Sustainable Development Goals and the ICPD Programme of Action.
The position of SRHR Financing Specialist directly supports the under-listed summary tasks:
- Thought Leadership on SRHR Financing
- Capacity Development and Support to Countries
- Knowledge Management on sustainable financing
- Strategic Partnerships: Support existing high-level advocacy efforts by the African Union and Regional Economic Communities with Ministries of Health and Finance at continental, regional, and country levels to increase domestic investments for SRHR including investment through UHC policies and programmes to accelerate progress towards universal SRHR.
You would be responsible for:
A.Thought Leadership on SRHR Financing
- Conduct comprehensive analysis, studies and assessments of relevant financing landscape, policies, strategies, and plans with impact on SRHR outcomes, including health, education, youth, gender, and social protection, to mention a few.