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VACANCY
ANNOUNCEMENT
Date
of Issue: -----------------2005
Closing Date: ----------------2005
Post
Title : Project Coordinator (HIV/AIDS)
Organization : Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (TANSACS)
Duty
Station : Chennai
Duration
: One Year
This
vacancy is open to applicants of either sex. Preference
will be given to equally qualified women candidates.
Background
With
an estimated HIV prevalence of 0.92% (5.134 million people),
India is on the brink of a generalized epidemic. HIV has
already spread from high-risk groups to the general population
in 6 states. Due to India’s large population base,
even a small increase in prevalence would lead to an exponential
increase in the number of people living with HIV/AIDS,
thus placing a tremendous burden on the public health
care system. High levels of malnutrition and household
food insecurity compound this problem by increasing the
rate of disease progression and increasing the need to
adopt risky survival strategies.
There
are innumerable benefits of supplying proper nutrition
to a person with HIV: the onset of AIDS may be delayed,
the person is then allowed to remain productive, and the
food becomes an incentive to remain on antiretroviral
medication. But this food-based intervention also benefits
the families of those living with HIV/AIDS--the food acts
as a safety net. Food becomes a preventative measure against
a family selling off their savings or assets to pay for
HIV medicine and treatment; migrating to find work; trading
sex for food; or withdrawing children from school to care
for sick adults or find work. It also serves as a potential
buffer against the stigma and job loss that can result
as a consequence of people discovering that the person
has HIV/AIDS. The Government of India recognizes the importance
of nutrition and food security in the prevention, treatment
and mitigation of HIV and AIDS. Although not specifically
addressed in the current National AIDS Control Program,
nutrition and food security will figure prominently in
the third phase of the National AIDS Control Program,
which is currently being designed.
On December 6, 2004, NACO and WFP signed a Memorandum
of Understanding in which it is agreed that WFP will provide
technical assistance to NACO over a period of 2 ½
years to help integrate nutrition and food security into
HIV/AIDS prevention, care & support and mitigation
efforts. At the state level, technical assistance will
take the form of developing replicable and scalable model
food and nutrition interventions for people living with
and affected by HIV and AIDS. To begin, WFP will provide
technical assistance to the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control
Society to develop and implement a model nutritional project
for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, which
could be replicated in other high prevalence states.
Goal
of Technical Assistance in Tamil Nadu:
To contribute to improved nutritional status and quality
of life of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS leading to increased
productivity and household food security.
Objectives:
• Strengthen the state level capacity to target,
manage, coordinate, and demonstrate outcomes of food and
nutrition-supported HIV/AIDS programmes;
• Develop and support the implementation of models
for integrating nutrition and food-based interventions
into ongoing HIV/AIDS programmes;
• Increase advocacy at national and state levels
on nutrition and food elements of HIV/AIDS programmes,
including policy and strategy formulation and implementation.
Expected
Results:
• Increased state level capacity to target, manage,
coordinate, and demonstrate outcomes of food and nutrition-supported
HIV/AIDS programmes;
• Improved availability of appropriate models for
integration of nutrition and food security into HIV/AIDS
programmes for replication or scale up;
• Increased integration of nutrition and food elements
in HIV/AIDS programmes, through national and state level
policies, strategies and programmes.
Duties
& Responsibilities
Under
the overall guidance of the Director, TANSACS & in
close coordination with Senior Programme Adviser, UN World
Food Programme (WFP).
• Oversee day-to-day implementation and monitoring
of the project and ensure smooth and timely completion
of planned project activities;
• Organize technical advisory group meetings and
follow-up on agreed recommendations in close coordination
with WFP Country Office and TANSACS
• Oversee a needs assessment/situational analysis
to gather information necessary for designing nutrition
and food-based interventions for people living with HIV
and AIDS in Tamil Nadu.
• Develop an implementation plan & budget, results-based
M&E plan, state-level capacity building strategy and
advocacy strategy based on findings from the needs assessment
in consultation with the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control
Society (TANSACS) and other key stakeholders
• Develop a strategy for involving people living
with HIV/AIDS (especially members of PWN+ and INP+) in
all aspects of project management;
• Oversee the development of training and IEC materials
on nutrition and food management & logistics.
• Oversee the training of government officials,
medical officers, counsellors, nutritionists and food
manufacturers on various aspects of nutrition and food
management & logistics;
• Transfer knowledge and skills related to the management
of food based interventions to TANSACS and other key stakeholders
by involving them in participatory manner in all project
activities;
• Design and put in place food management systems
in close consultation with TANSACS and participating medical
institutions and NGOs, which establish standards, procedures
and institutional arrangements for fortifying, procuring,
delivering, storing, packaging, distributing, and tracking
food;
• Oversee the design of food-for-training and food-for-work
activities for people living with HIV/AIDS in collaboration
with organizations with expertise in livelihood development;
• Oversee baseline, mid-line and end-line studies
to gather data required for measuring the impact of nutrition
and food-based interventions for people living with HIV
and AIDS in Tamil Nadu;
• Initiate and oversee operational research on links
between food and nutrition and HIV/AIDS;
• Prepare publications based on operational research,
best practices and programme results for sharing with
stakeholders in multiple forums;
• Meet regularly with government officials to ensure
that food and nutrition issues in relation to HIV are
integrated into policies, programmes and curricula and
organize advocacy events at key junctures in project cycle
(launch, mid-term and final presentation of results);
• Supervise food distribution.
• Supervise consultants who will be hired to undertake
needs assessment/situational analysis and evaluation;
and also supervise the work of Data Manager on a regular
basis.
• Identify organizations to undertake specific project
activities, such as needs assessment, training, and the
development of IEC materials. This would include the development
of TORs for all work to be undertaken.
• Handle accounts and prepare monitoring and financial
reports for submission to WFP Country Office at monthly,
quarterly and annual intervals;
• Liaise closely with major stakeholders to ensure
smooth and timely project implementation;
• Write funding proposals and meet with donors to
mobilize additional resources to scale-up project activities
in Tamil Nadu and develop models in other states;
Educational Qualifications:
• A Masters Degree in related field (e.g. Public
Health and/or Nutrition). A degree in Management /PhD
would be an advantage.
• Minimum 5 years professional experience in program
management in the health sector
Experience
• Demonstrated ability to plan, cost, implement,
and monitor health/nutrition programmes. Preference would
be given to candidates with experience in the field of
HIV/AIDS programs.
• Experience working in clinical health care settings
• Experience in research.
Knowledge
and skills
• Knowledge on anthropometrics, dietary, biochemical
and clinical tests.
• Ability to organize and manage workshops and trainings
• Superior problem solving skills and ability to
meet deadlines
• Excellent communication and inter-personal skills
• High degree of proficiency in speaking, writing
and reading English and Tamil
• Familiarity with UN system
Languages:
•
High degree of proficiency in speaking, writing and reading
English and fluency in Tamil.
PROJECT
DIRECTOR,
TANSACS
VACANCY
ANNOUNCEMENT
Date
of Issue: -----------------2005
Closing Date: -----------------2005
Post
Title : Data Manager (HIV/AIDS)
Organization : TANSACS
Duty
Station : Chennai
Duration
: One Year
This vacancy is open to applicants of either sex. Preference
will be given to equally qualified women candidates.
Background
With
an estimated HIV prevalence of 0.92% (5.134 million people),
India is on the brink of a generalized epidemic. HIV has
already spread from high-risk groups to the general population
in 6 states. Due to India’s large population base,
even a small increase in prevalence would lead to an exponential
increase in the number of people living with HIV/AIDS,
thus placing a tremendous burden on the public health
care system. High levels of malnutrition and household
food insecurity compound this problem by increasing the
rate of disease progression and increasing the need to
adopt risky survival strategies.
There
are innumerable benefits of supplying proper nutrition
to a person with HIV: the onset of AIDS may be delayed,
the person is then allowed to remain productive, and the
food becomes an incentive to remain on antiretroviral
medication. But this food-based intervention also benefits
the families of those living with HIV/AIDS--the food acts
as a safety net. Food becomes a preventative measure against
a family selling off their savings or assets to pay for
HIV medicine and treatment; migrating to find work; trading
sex for food; or withdrawing children from school to care
for sick adults or find work. It also serves as a potential
buffer against the stigma and job loss that can result
as a consequence of people discovering that the person
has HIV/AIDS. The Government of India recognizes the importance
of nutrition and food security in the prevention, treatment
and mitigation of HIV and AIDS. Although not specifically
addressed in the current National AIDS Control Program,
nutrition and food security will figure prominently in
the third phase of the National AIDS Control Program,
which is currently being designed.
On December 6, 2004, NACO and WFP signed a Memorandum
of Understanding in which it is agreed that WFP will provide
technical assistance to NACO over a period of 2 ½
years to help integrate nutrition and food security into
HIV/AIDS prevention, care & support and mitigation
efforts. At the state level, technical assistance will
take the form of developing replicable and scalable model
food and nutrition interventions for people living with
and affected by HIV and AIDS. To begin, WFP will provide
technical assistance to the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control
Society to develop and implement a model nutritional project
for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, which
could be replicated in other high prevalence states.
Goal
of Technical Assistance in Tamil Nadu:
To contribute to improved nutritional status and quality
of life of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS leading to increased
productivity and household food security.
Objectives:
• Strengthen the state level capacity to target,
manage, coordinate, and demonstrate outcomes of food and
nutrition-supported HIV/AIDS programmes;
• Develop and support the implementation of models
for integrating nutrition and food-based interventions
into ongoing HIV/AIDS programmes;
• Increase advocacy at national and state levels
on nutrition and food elements of HIV/AIDS programmes,
including policy and strategy formulation and implementation.
Expected
Results:
• Increased state level capacity to target, manage,
coordinate, and demonstrate outcomes of food and nutrition-supported
HIV/AIDS programmes;
• Improved availability of appropriate models for
integration of nutrition and food security into HIV/AIDS
programmes for replication or scale up;
• Increased integration of nutrition and food elements
in HIV/AIDS programmes, through national and state level
policies, strategies and programmes.
Duties
& Responsibilities
Under
the overall guidance of the Project Coordinator work closely
with the Tamil Nadu AIDS Control Society.
• Provide data management support to the project.
• Develop the System Requirement Specification (including
the software and hardware requirements) for information
management.
• Develop a mechanism to mange information collected
through the needs assessment/situational analysis, mid-line
and end-line studies; and operational research on food
and nutrition and HIV/AIDS;
• Develop a results-based M&E plan, and fund,
food and information management plans for Tamil Nadu.
• Develop a data flow plan from different reporting
points on nutrition and food management & logistics.
• Develop systems for smooth data flow (backward
and forward linkages) and ensure dynamic feedback loop/s.
• Coordinate data collection from the project location/s.
• Develop tools/indicators for obtaining feedback/collecting
information from people living with HIV/AIDS (especially
members of PWN+ and INP+); using participatory techniques.
• Develop a system to obtain feedback on training
of government officials, medical officers, counselors,
nutritionists;
• Assess the feasibility of developing a web-enabled
MIS. Accordingly design the MIS - Develop a MIS for managing
and analysing the data obtained from the project locations.
• Integrate the project MIS with existing MIS.
• Design queries for standard reports. Generate
reports on identified parameters as suggested by Senior
Adviser (Programmes)
• Develop a users manual for the MIS and train the
project team on the usage of the MIS.
• Any other activities as required under the project
Educational Qualifications:
•
Degree in statistics/maths/economics
Experience
• Demonstrated ability to plan, cost, implement,
an IT based M& E System
• 5 years experience in information and data analysis
& management.
• Should have experience in training/developing
user manual
Knowledge
and skills
• Basic Computer knowledge with excellent grasp
of MS Office especially excel /DBMS
• Knowledge of Stata/SPSS
• Superior problem solving skills and ability to
meet deadlines
• Excellent communication and inter-personal skills
Languages:
•
Proficiency in speaking, writing and reading English and
Tamil.
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