The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is the UN organization that promotes volunteerism to support peace and development worldwide. Volunteerism can transform the pace and nature of development and it benefits both societies at large and the individual volunteer. UNV contributes to peace and development by advocating for volunteerism globally, encouraging partners to integrate volunteerism into development programming, and mobilizing volunteers.
In most cultures volunteerism is deeply embedded in long-established, ancient traditions of sharing and support within the communities. In this context, UN Volunteers take part in various forms of volunteerism and play a role in development and peace together with co-workers, host agencies and local communities.
In all assignments, UN Volunteers promote volunteerism through their action and conduct. Engaging in volunteer activity can effectively and positively enrich their understanding of local and social realities, as well as create a bridge between themselves and the people in their host community. This will make the time they spend as UN Volunteers even more rewarding and productive.
The UNV Field Unit in Senegal seeks to recruit a national UN Volunteer to serve as UN Volunteer HIV Focal Point at the United Nations Development Porgramme Country Office in Senegal. This assignment is open to senegale nationals, and persons living in Senegal with the legal status of refugess or stateless.
Organizational Context/Project
UNDP is a founding cosponsor of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), a partner of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and a co-sponsor of several other international health partnerships. UNDP’s work on HIV, health and development leverages the organization’s core strengths and mandates in human development, governance and capacity development to complement the efforts of specialist health-focused UN agencies. UNDP delivers three types of support to countries in HIV, health and development.
First, UNDP helps countries to mainstream attention to HIV and health into action on gender, poverty and the broader effort to achieve and sustain the Millennium Development Goals. For example, UNDP works with countries to understand the social and economic factors that play a crucial role in driving health and disease, and to respond to such dynamics with appropriate policies and programmes outside the health sector. UNDP also promotes specific action on the needs and rights of women and girls as they relate to HIV.
Second, UNDP works with partners to address the interactions between governance, human rights and health responses. Sometimes this is done through focused or specialized programmes, such as promoting attention to the role of legal environments (law and access to justice) in facilitating stronger HIV responses, including the use of flexibilities in intellectual property and human rights law to lower the cost of drugs and diagnostics and to increase access to HIV-related treatment. UNDP also works to empower and include people living with HIV and marginalized populations who are disproportionately affected by HIV – also known as key populations – such as sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender people. Beyond these focused efforts, UNDP plays a key role in ensuring attention to HIV and health within broader governance and rights initiatives, including support to district and municipal action on MDGs, strengthening of national human rights institutions and increasing access to justice for marginalized populations.
Third, as a trusted, long-term partner with extensive operational experience, UNDP supports countries in effective implementation of complex, multilateral and multi-sectoral health projects, while simultaneously investing in capacity development so that national and local partners can assume these responsibilities over time. UNDP partners with countries in crisis/post-crisis situations, those with weak institutional capacity or governance challenges, and countries under sanctions. When requested, UNDP acts as interim Principal Recipient in these settings, working with national partners and the Global Fund to improve management, implementation and oversight of Global Fund grants, while simultaneously developing national capacity for governments or local entities to be able to assume the Principal Recipient role over time.
The UNDP Regional Centre is Principal Recipient for the Global Fund Africa Regional Project on HIV and Human Rights which will be implemented at the AUC and REC levels and in 10 countries (Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia). The value of the regional grant is approximately $10.5 million over three years, and is jointly implemented by UNDP and four sub-recipients (ARASA, ENDA, KELIN, SALC). UNDP also implements other regional projects in cooperation with USAID and other development partners.
The UNV HIV Focal Point will be responsible for country level coordination of implementation of the Global Fund project and other regional projects in conjunction with the government counterparts and the UN Joint Team on AIDS. The UNV HIV Focal Point will provide country level logistical and coordination support to the UNDP Programme Management Team (PMT) as well as ENDA Santé, the Regional NGO serving as the sub-recipient for the Global Fund Grant, specifically for implementation of key activities in Senegal. He/she will also coordinate any other UNDP CO projects should they arise.
The UNV HIV Focal Point will report to the UNDP Country Director in Senegal, with guidance provided by the UNDP PMT at the Regional Centre in Addis Ababa (RSCA).
The UNV HIV Focal Point will provide programmatic support to the National AIDS Commission, Global Fund Country Coordination Mechanisms (CCM), and other key national stakeholders’ including Sub Recipiendaires (SRs) in implementation of the GF Grant and other regional programmes. He/she will also carry out M&E responsibilities in terms of collecting, reviewing, verifying data. Capacity building will be provided for this.
Conditions of Service for national UN Volunteers
A Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) is provided monthly to cover housing, utilities and normal cost of living expenses. Life, health and permanent disability insurance are included (health insurance for up to 3 dependents), as well as final repatriation (if applicable) and resettlement allowance for satisfactory service. |