UN Women – In July 2010, the United nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Technical Assistant for Association of Women Living with HIV & AIDS in Nigeria (ASWHAN) Project Implementation 2022

Location: Abuja
Type of Contract: Individual Contract
Post Level: National Consultant
Additional Category: Gender Equality
Duration of Initial Contract : 50 working days
Languages Required : English

Background

In 2021, UN Women in collaboration with UNAIDS, UNESCO, NACA, the F/SMWA implemented a package of programmes for the Association of Women Living With HIV&AIDS under a project tagged ‘Enhancing the Institutional and Technical Capacity of Women and Girls Living in Nigeria towards more Inclusive and Sustainable HIV Response in Nigeria (EITC)’.  Two batches of zonal and steps down training on Gender Based Violence and Stigma Reduction trainings were conducted for over one thousand coordinators and members of the Association of Women Living with HIV in Nigeria (ASWHAN) of Nigeria from across the thirty-six states and the Federal Capital Territory with representatives from Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN), Association of Positive Youths Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (AYPIN) and other relevant partners.

Through the Gender-Based Violence and Stigma Reduction trainings, the women, girls, and representatives gained knowledge and skills on how to prevent, mitigate and respond to GBV and stigma. In addition, commitments for more political and strategic partnership for AWSHAN were obtained from the heads of NACA, National Human Rights Commission, UNAIDS and other development partners. Furthermore, the Pili Film and the Toolkit for Action: Making the HIV Response Work for Women Through Film were disseminated and popularised at the trainings too.

Another major milestone achieved in the course of the training and advocacy workshops was the level of increased visibility created for ASWHAN as several media organisations who covered and reported the training called on the need to re-prioritise the group in terms of policy, programme and investment in line with the living-no-one-behind principles of the sustainable development goals.

UN Women provided technical and financial support for the development of a five-year strategic plan for ASWHAN. The strategic note also came with an accompanying plan for resource mobilization and list of relevant prospective donors and supporters. In addition to this results, UN Women in collaboration with UNAIDS, NACA, FMWA and other partners deployed the services of five international and national consultants to carry out a gender assessment for the HIV response in Nigeria. The report is out, and plans are ongoing to validate and disseminate the report in 2022.

This strategic note which is the first in the last eleven (11) years, has the underlisted five strategic objectives with focus on promoting effective information, education, and communications (IEC) sharing, access to and acceptability to voluntary HIV testing and counselling amongst women and children, and targeted prevention programs, improving the care and treatment of HIV positive women and women & children living with AIDS to promote a better quality of life for ASWHAN members:

• To promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls living with HIV
• To reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS on women, children, and communities
• To eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Nigeria
• To promote gender-equitable social norms and work together to end gender-based violence and mitigate the risk and impact of HIV
• To re-organise and reposition ASWHAN for effective contribution towards improved delivery of service to Women and Girls Living with HIV

In addition to these results, UN Women in collaboration with UNAIDS, NACA, FMWA and other partners deployed the services of five international and national consultants to carry out a gender assessment for the HIV response, the report is out, and plans are ongoing to validate and disseminate the report in 2022.

In 2022, UN Women will seek to build on the gains from 2021 by undertaking two broad strands of work; firstly, provide technical and financial support for ASWHAN to implement activities drawn from their strategic note; secondly, in collaboration with UNAIDS, NACA, FMWA and other strategic partners  utilize evidence from the Gender Assessment of 2021 to strengthen engagement with stakeholders in the HIV response towards more gender responsive and inclusive HIV and AIDS response in Nigeria.

2022 Project Objectives
The twin interventions will seek to achieve the following specific objectives:

• To provide technical and financial support for ASWHAN towards costing and operationalization of key interventions in her strategic note at the national and in selected states
• To provide support for ASWAHN to popularize and promote her strategic note among relevant government, development partners and funders with the aim of facilitating visibility and funding for the association
• To build capacity of the national and state coordinators and secretariat staff of the association to enhance its ability to track and document activity outcomes including outcome of GBV and stigma reduction training which took place in 2021
• To establish and mainstream HeForShe and male engagement activities into ASWHAN engagements
• To collaborate with NACA, UNAIDS, FMWA and other partners to popularize and uptake of the Gender Assessment report outcomes towards more gender responsive and inclusive HIV and AIDS response in Nigeria.

Duties and Responsibilities
Expected Outcomes:

• Costed Annual Work Plan activities developed to drive implementation at the national and selected states
• ASWHAN Strategic Note popularized among relevant government agencies, development partners, funders and relevant stakeholders towards enhanced visibility and funding for the association
• National and state coordinators and secretariat staff of the association gain knowledge and skills towards Qualitative delivery of their activitie3s, tracking/ documentation and communicating activities outcomes in relation to GBV, stigma reduction and others
• HeForShe and male champions identified and trained to support issues advocacy regarding gender mainstreaming to the HIV response and GBV and stigma reduction
• Gender Assessment report outcomes popularized and advocacy for uptake promoted in collaboration with NACA, UNAIDS, FMWA and other partners towards a more gender responsive and inclusive HIV and AIDS response in Niger.

Key Activities and Methodology
The following activities will be undertaken:

• Costed Operational and Annual Work Plan Development Workshop; UN Women will support ASWHAN to develop costed operational and annual work in line with the interventions in the strategic note/Plan (short-term technical assistant/consultant) as well as support the strategic note popularization among ASWHAN state chapters and external partners at the national and state levels
• Support key interventions targeting women living with HIV in health facilities and in the communities; Training for ‘Mentor mothers’ to enhance their capacity to scale up their counselling, PMTCT and GBV/stigma services for their clients, develop tools and materials for mentor mothers and support the documentary on ‘Saving the Next generation from HIV through the Mentor Mothers Intervention in Nigeria’ as a way of sharing knowledge
• Support for Institutional Strengthening of the Association; UN Women will build the capacity of the leaders of the association on Effective Leadership, help strengthen their M&E, Documentation, and Communication system and structure through training for ASWHAN National and state coordinators and Secretariate staff, training for selected M&E, documentation and communication focal points to enhance the ability to track, report and communicate activities outcomes in line with the annual work plan
• Identify and Train Community Influencers including Male Champions; Key influencers within the HIV community and Male champions will be identified and trained on basic gender concept, GBV and Stigma reduction and PMCT using the UN Women RESPECT Framework to increase participants appreciation and participation in changing negative gender norms, ending VAW/G and promoting PMCT uptake
• Hold and support Advocacy and Campaigns for 16 Days of Activism etc; Advocacy events will be organized in collaboration with influencers, women groups, youth groups and male champions towards changing negative gender norms, VAW/G, HIV stigma, and promotion of PMCT uptake using key moments and international observed days like the August Women Meetings, 16 Days of Activism, and others.
• Organize Dissemination and Uptake Workshop for the Gender Assessment Report; In collaboration with NACA, UNAIDS, FMWA, ASWHAN and other relevant partner organize a workshop to share, disseminate the finding from the gender assessment report. HIV/Gender focal points in relevant government agencies, SACA and other relevant stakeholders will be targeted with the aim of getting them to appreciate the findings and mainstreaming findings into their work plan and strategic engagements
• Track and Document Activities Outcomes: Review and documentation sessions will be held with ASWHAN coordinators and relevant partners to track and document outcome of 2022 activities as well as impact stories from 2021 to improve programme designs and implementations.

Purpose

• The purpose of this consultancy will be in two-fold, the consultant on one hand will provide technical assistant for ASWHAN to undertake prioritized activities in their strategic note and ensure that the association gets direct support for the popularization of the strategic notes and targets potential funders.
• On the other hand, the consultant will attend the UNAIDS co-sponsor meeting and provide update of implementation and prepare the final reports for the 2022 activities and outcomes in line with the objectives for the 2022 plan.

Specific Objectives:

• To convene a review and costing workshop for ASWHAN Annual Work Plan and Strategic Plan.
• To support the leadership transitioning process for ASWHAN and carry out Leadership training for new EXCO.
• Carry out capacity building on Monitoring and Evaluation, Documentation and Communication for selected ASWHAN members from national and states chapters.
• Work with ASWHAN and NACA to map and training selected men and boys to serve as HeForShe and male champions to support ASWHAN and the broader HIV issues.
• Work with ASWHAN to carry out a capacity gap assessment for the Mentor Mothers Initiative and use evidence from the assessment to develop a scale-up plan to enable the team expand their scope of work for PMTCT, GBV and stigma reduction.
• Support the development of a documentary on the impact of the initiative since its inception.
• Support the granting process for NACA to organise Dissemination and Uptake Workshops for the 2021 Gender Assessment Report with support from UNAIDS and other partners and support for the development of the National Strategic Framework.
• To support the grant making and supervision for Skill Learning/Economic Empowerment Initiative for Young Women and Advocacy for 16 Days of Activism 2022 on World AIDS Day.

Expected Results:

• ASWHAN Annual Work Plan and Strategic Plan costed
• Leadership training conducted for new EXCO members or existing ones
• Capacity building on Monitoring and Evaluation, Documentation and Communication conducted for selected ASWHAN members from national and states chapters
• Men and boys trained as HeForShe and male champions and developed action plan to support ASWHAN GEWE and stigma reduction agendas and other broader HIV issues
• Capacity gap assessment conducted for the Mentor Mothers Initiative and findings/evidence used to develop a scale up plan developed for them to expand and scope for PMTCT, GBV and stigma reduction
• Support the development of a documentary on the impact of the Mentor Mothers Initiative undertaken showing evidence of its value addition and impacts
• 2021 Gender Assessment Report disseminated, and uptake promoted among relevant stakeholders and support give for the National Strategic Framework
• Funds granted for the Skill Learning/Economic Empowerment Initiative for Young Women in ASWHAN
• Advocacy event planned and undertaken for 16 Days of Activism 2022 on World Aids Day.

Specific Outputs Expected from the Consultant:
In close collaboration with ASWHAN, NACA, UN Women and UNAIDS, the consultant will be expected to support undertake the following:

• Develop and share an inception report of how the task will be carried out (methodology) with a clear work plan.
• Work with UN Women operations and finance to get out procurement requests and funds etc for activities
• Hold planning with ASWHAN secretariate to agree and action the planned activities.
• Hold planning meeting with NACA to plan and support the dissemination and uptake meeting for the Gender Assessment Report
• Attend UNAIDS meeting and provide update on progress of activities
• Write both narrative and financial reports.

Deliverables

Timeframe:

• The consultancy is expected to be completed in 50 days between August and September 2022

Guidance and supervision:

• The consultant will be supervised by UN Women and UNAIDS Team.

Required Skills and Experience
Education:

• Advanced Degree in Public Health or Social Sciences with specialization in gender and development
• A Bachelor’s Degree in combination with 2 additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the Advanced University Degree.

Experience:

• At least 5 years’ proven knowledge and experience in HIV, Sexual and Reproductive Health/Rights and Gender, and 2 additional years with Bachelor’s degree.
• Demonstrate good understanding of the HIV/AIDS situation in sub-Saharan Africa and in Nigeria in particular.
• Should have experience in programme planning and implementation
• Should have undertaken at least two (2) similar assignments.
• Proven knowledge and experience in training and documentation
• Knowledge and experience in working with women associations and women led organizations.
• Proven experience in writing and editing reports, with a strong track record of producing similar publications for dissemination.
• Substantial knowledge of working with stakeholders in the development sector and donor agencies.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in oral and written English.

Competencies:
Core Values:

• Integrity: Demonstrates consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UNDP and UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
• Professionalism: Demonstrates professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.
• Respect for Diversity: Demonstrates an appreciation of the multi-cultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrates an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Competencies:

• Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.
• Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.
• Development and Innovation: Take charge of self-development and take initiative.
• Teamwork: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Communication and Information Sharing: Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.
• Self-management and Emotional Intelligence: Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others.
• Conflict Management: Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.
• Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing: Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.
• Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Application Closing Date
11th August, 2022 (Midnight New York, USA).