Main tasks and Responsibilities of the Position:

The Officer, Equality and Rights for All is responsible for advisory services that relate to the overall practice area objectives in the office and with UNAIDS partners and counterparts, contributing specialist expertise in the UNAIDS response in the functional areas described below. The Officer will contribute to the overall thought leadership of the practice with practical and innovative solutions, especially within the region.

Within the matrix management reporting structure of the Ethiopia Country Office and the Regional Office, and as part of the global Equality and Rights for all Practice, The Officer, Equality and Rights for All focuses on a set of deliverables that are aligned with the UNAIDS equality and rights for all vision, the epidemic trajectory, the social norms and the needs in the country. This post, like all ERA posts, includes a focus on key populations, customized to respond to the regional and subregional contexts and epidemic, and to match the focus of the post (i.e. gender equality posts include a focus on women and girls living with HIV, women key populations, human rights posts include a focus on the rights of people living with HIV and key populations, youth posts include a focus on young people living with HIV and young key populations etc.)

He /she has the following key responsibilities:

1-Coordination and technical advice

• Provides support to and coordinates with partners and civil society organizations to ensure that:
  • .key considerations and analysis on how advances in gender equality, human rights, community and youth engagement and leadership affect the HIV response
  • .barriers to HIV services are incrementally removed through active promotion and protection of human rights, gender equality, youth empowerment and social justice, particularly for key and vulnerable population groups community priorities are integrated into relevant AIDS response and broader plans, programmes, initiatives and budgets.
• Provides technical support, shares information, guidance tools and resources to partners and civil society organizations. Supports demand creation for the inclusion in national AIDS plans of programmatic interventions addressing the integration of key populations, communities, gender equality, human rights and youth responses as they impact on prevention, treatment, care and support, with emphasis on reduction of discrimination, including in the health sectors, stigma and punitive approaches to HIV, driving social norm change, and achieving scale and efficiency.
• Works towards maximizing the potential of grant opportunities and bilateral aid available to broker aligned, harmonized resources to address priorities for communities, key populations, women and girls in all their diversity, gender, and youth, including for human rights based and gender transformative community systems strengthening.

2-Partnerships and collaboration

• Provide thematic leadership on the country office’s activities towards scaling up of combination HIV prevention programmes for key populations.
• Builds, fosters and expands strategic alliances with communities, key and vulnerable populations, youth (including AGYW) to support tracking and monitoring government accountability for attainment of HIV strategic objectives as articulated in the Political Declaration and the 2030 Agenda, including resources made available to different stakeholder groups (governmental and non-governmental), including for community led responses.
• Supports and strengthens alliances between PLHIV networks, youth and women led organisations and key populations-related civil society organisations, and social justice movements, including those relating to human rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights, women’s rights, access to justice, youth engagement, among others.
• Provides support to cosponsors and other partners to ensure that: key considerations on how advances in gender equality, human rights, community and youth engagement affect the HIV response and community priorities are integrated into relevant AIDS response and broader plans, programmes, budgets, and initiatives

3-Community-led responses

• Provide thematic leadership in the national response in scaling up effective community-led service delivery approaches
• Collaborate with Advisors for key populations in the Department and in the Knowledge and Advocacy Branch in promoting trusted community access platforms for HIV prevention, testing and treatment for the five key populations

4-Knowledge management and communication

• Identifies and promotes good practices, including in relation to knowledge development, sharing and management, to benefit the response in the country, in the region or globally, through appropriate representation of UNAIDS positions on gender equality, human rights, community engagement and youth leadership as central to the HIV response. This specifically includes the participation in communities of practices.
• Stays abreast of current issues and tensions and ensures a coordinated communication as regards to pertinent strategic information and analysis to support communities during crises.

5-Gender Equality

• Works on the positioning of gender equality at the centre of UNAIDS efforts to implement the global AIDS strategy in the country, emphasizing gender transformative, women / key populations / people living with HIV-led interventions at scale.
• Establishes effective leadership, mentorship and capacity building of networks of women key populations, that include and/or are led by women living with HIV, women who use drugs, female sex workers and transgender women, and AGYW for effective representation and advocacy on human rights, gender equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights.
• Analyzes the HIV epidemic, context and response in the country from a substantive gender equality perspective, as well as relevant data on sexual and reproductive health and rights, sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) and comprehensive sexuality education (CSE). Support the conduct of the gender transformative assessments and monitor trends and opportunities across regions to advocate, build political commitment and mobilize allies and resources.
• Organizes or participates in communities of practice on gender equality issues for joint coordination, information sharing, quality assurance, capacity building and mutual support.

6-Human rights

• Supports the engagement and/or engages with human rights mechanisms, governmental fora, missions, civil society organizations, human rights defenders, and others as appropriate, particularly on decriminalization, stigma, discrimination, sexual and gender-based violence, rights of people living with HIV and key/populations, as well as women, adolescent girls and young women in all their diversity.
• Supports legal and human rights analysis of proposed law reform to ensure that the HIV response in the country is grounded on human rights and informed by the latest public health evidence.
• Facilitate the development and/or implementation of a national framework/plan to guide the operationalization of the Global Partnership for Action to eliminate all forms of HIV related stigma and discrimination
• Undertakes or supports country advocacy efforts to reform laws, policies and regulations, including providing country advice for leveraging UNAIDS and UN country teams plans on human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals.
• As required, provides substantive technical advice, including on law reforms, human rights violations and tracking and facilitate the establishment of appropriate redress mechanisms and response to human right crisis.
• Support the network of PLHIV and key populations to conduct stigma index surveys

7-Community Engagement

• Regularly meet with national and local networks of people living with HIV, and key population networks, including networks led by women and young people for two-way information sharing, to identify and support network priorities, and to assist in increased understanding and collaboration across PLHIV and KP networks.
• Support community-led organizations and national governmental HIV responses to meet the 30-60-80 targets for community-led responses in the 2021-2016 Global AIDS Strategy and the 2021 Political Declaration, with particular attention to encouraging, guiding and championing the inclusion of community-led responses into national AIDS strategies, plans and policies for prevention, treatment, care and support, with support for advocacy and interventions to increasingly limit, and ultimately end, criminalization and other forms of stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV and key populations.
• Convene networks of PLHIV, key populations, and other affected populations with national decision makers and facilitate meaningful engagement of PHLIV, key population, and other affected community networks in decision making mechanisms, always working to ensure strengthened relationships and cooperation to craft national AIDS responses that monitor and respond to barriers to access to health care and other societal enablers and that center the needs and priorities of communities living with and affected by HIV.
• Within country offices, be a voice for the priorities and needs of people living with HIV and key populations, always supporting UNAIDS’ offices to be PLHIV and key population friendly and to keep communities at the center of UNAIDS’ work.
• Support the effective leadership of communities, particularly of networks of people living with HIV and key populations, including women and youth-led PLHIV and key population networks, within strategic planning, policy, community development programmes and service delivery, including through community systems strengthening.
• Build and sustain strategic relationships with civil society and community leaders, ensuring UNAIDS stays abreast of current/hot issues and tensions at national level and provides support, as we are able, to communities during human rights crises.

8-Youth engagement and leadership

• Coordinates the country office’s youth portfolio by leading, facilitating and promoting efforts to scale up and strengthen the HIV response by and for young people in all their diversity, particularly young key populations and adolescent girls and young women.
• Provides advice to and engages with the government, cosponsors, youth-led organizations and networks on issues related to:
  • youth leadership and engagement;
  • capacity building and skills development;
  • investment in youth leadership and partnerships;
  • comprehensive sexuality education;
  • education and social protection policies and programmes for young people;
  • removal of policy, legal and societal barriers for adolescents to access services;
  • integration of services, including SRHR;
  • generation, analysis and use of data for programming and advocacy;
  • promotion of technological and other innovations to drive youth leadership and engagement and
  • the overall expansion and diversification of youth-led responses.
• Supports the establishment of a culture of youth inclusion within UNAIDS including via strengthening and quality assuring of internship and other youth support programmes.

Performs other duties as required.

Requirements

EDUCATION

• Essential: Advanced university degree at Master´s level or equivalent in Public Health, Human Rights, Gender or Women’s Studies, International Development, Public Policy or Administration, Business Administration, Law or another field related to the responsibilities. A relevant first university degree and 7 years of relevant professional experience will be considered as equivalent for internal candidates only.

Competencies:

VALUES

• Commitment to the AIDS response
• Integrity
• Respect for diversity

CORE COMPETENCIES

• Working in teams Communicating with impact
• Applying expertise
• Delivering results
• Driving change and innovation
• Being accountable

MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES

• Vision and strategic thinking
• Leading teams
• Building relationships and networks
• Managing performance and resources
• Developing and empowering others
• Exercising sound judgement

Experience:

Essential: At least five years of experience in the programming, project management and advocacy, including as related to HIV or health, in one or more of the following areas: gender equality, human rights, community engagement, and youth engagement/leadership at the national level.

Desirable: Experience in programme- / project- / initiative-based collaboration with a variety of national and international public sector organizations and international civil society institutions.

Languages:

Essential: Advanced level of English.

Desirable: Knowledge of additional UN official languages.

Additional Information:

Please note that for this vacancy, only nationals of Ethiopia are eligible to apply. A valid passport will be requested. You are required to reside within reasonable commuting distance of the UNAIDS Office located in Addis Ababa. Furthermore, only online applications will be accepted.
Other similar positions at the same level may be filled from this vacancy notice.

Annual salary: (Net of tax) 31147 USD at single ratea