Pathfinder International (Pathfinder International)
Closing date: 31 Jul 2010
Location: Kenya
Location: Kenya
Pathfinder Overview:
Pathfinder International is dedicated to creating access to and improving the quality of family planning, reproductive health, abortion, and community- and facility-based HIV and AIDS care and services. In partnership with host country governments and nongovernmental organizations, we train facility-based health care providers to improve both the quality and range of their technical and counseling skills. Facility-based services are further improved through provision of equipment and facility renovations. We mobilize communities to advocate for quality services and improve access through trained community-based volunteers. Pathfinder improves youth’s access to health care by creating youth-friendly services and training peer educators to promote them. In each project, Pathfinder works with our partners to improve both their management and program implementation capacity. Through all that we do, Pathfinder strives to empower women, men, adolescents, and communities to make choices and create environments conducive to healthy reproductive behaviors.
Program Overview:
To design and implement a project to scale up the provision of comprehensive safe abortion care in selected PSA countries, with an emphasis on reaching poor and marginalized women & girls, as a component of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. It will also build acceptance of the need for safe abortion services at country level, and support innovative mechanisms for service delivery that include improved access for vulnerable women.
Position Purpose:
The Technical Advisor has primary responsibility to strengthen health systems within the public sector to ensure quality services for safe abortion and post-abortion care including contraceptive provision, improving infection prevention systems and practices, , development of protocols and procedures, standardized practices, registers, patient records and data collection systems that have the best chance of sustainability for serving the poor. This position will be the technical liaison with stakeholders and partners working with the public sector in countries with different restrictive laws and policies, with weak or no public health systems to build sustainable services. S/he will work closely with the DFID internal project team to design a project to increase access to safe abortion in Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia. Based in Nairobi the Technical Advisor will coordinate work in up to ten countries (the invitation to tender stipulates that 80% of the funding will go to sub-Saharan Africa, 20% to South Asia).
Key Responsibilities:
- Create and adapt program systems and practices for the prevention of maternal death from unwanted pregnancy and support the provision of affordable, comprehensive abortion services in a range of African/Asian countries, with a focus on fragile states.
- Extend the benefits of existing model programs into new countries, or geographical areas, and pilot and incorporate new approaches working with NGO’s and HEWs to provide community outreach – in particular around medical abortion and long acting contraception.
- Establish practices to support abortion and post abortion care within the public sector to the extent allowed by national legal frameworks. Provide technical advice and facilitation for training and the roll out of high quality safe services for abortion and post abortion care.
- Establish partnerships with select NGO’s as well as govt health outreach workers to inform and mobilize the community to prevent unintended pregnancy, avoid unsafe abortion, access safe abortion or PAC services, and start an effective method, preferably long acting, post-abortion.
- Available to participate in monthly meetings as needed and progress reports with the DFID project team during the design phase followed by quarterly progress reports to the DFID HQ program team, and DFID country health advisors in those countries where the project is active.
Basic Requirements:
- An advanced degree in the medical profession either a doctor, clinical officer, nurse-midwife.
- Minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience successfully providing technical support to safe abortion programs including clinical experience in CAC services using rights based approach in clinical services and community based approaches.
- Successful background providing technical assistance in development and implementation of comprehensive abortion programming with emphasis on working with the public sector, including training of trainers, services development and improvement, and supportive supervision.
- Proven technical skills in working with the public sector to decrease maternal mortality and morbidity from unsafe abortion on several fronts:
- Affordability for marginalized and poor women and girls regarding the ability to access services, i.e. those that are the most adversely affected.
- Building services and strengthening health systems within the public sector to ensure sustainability for serving the poor
- Reducing the burden of unsafe abortion on the health budget in developing countries through safe abortion services.
How to apply
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO APPLY PLEASE GO TO OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.PATHFIND.ORGReference Code: RW_85NRYC-81