Country: Lesotho
City: Maseru
Type: Regular – Full Time (eligible for benefits)
Business Unit: Country Programs - Country Teams
Overview:
The Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI – formerly the
Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative) has been working in Lesotho since 2004 to address
some of the most urgent health care needs of the nation. CHAI’s work supports
the rapid expansion of access to high quality, essential healthcare for all who
need it by improving the organization of commodity markets and by enabling the
effective delivery of health services and efficient management of health
systems thereby optimizing the use of available resources to save more lives.
CHAI has worked to strengthen the Lesotho health system by improving management
of health services and availability of human resources for health,
strengthening the supply and distribution system, improving laboratory services
and planning for sustainable health financing.
In Lesotho, children with HIV are much less likely than
adults to be identified and initiated on treatment, a critical challenge due to
the high mortality for children with HIV. The country is stepping up
efforts to rapidly identify and enroll these children for care before they pass
away, with a target of enrolling 10,000 additional children in care by the end
of 2016. CHAI is coordinating a consortium project aiming at addressing
the low rates of identification and treatment for children living with
HIV. This multi-year project will work with specialized partners to pilot
and evaluate approaches for identification of children with HIV in the
community in Year 1, with the most effective approaches being scaled up in
later years. CHAI will place coordinators in the target districts, who
will facilitate implementation of the approaches and lead monitoring and
evaluation. In addition, CHAI will lead implementation of improved systems
to deliver HIV results to HIV-positive children around the country using mobile
health technologies, and promote utilization of data and analytics for decision
making and project planning.
CHAI is seeking talented, highly motivated, creative, and
flexible individuals to contribute field support and practical implementation
assistance to CHAI’s Pediatric HIV program as it seeks to reach ambitious
targets. The candidate must have excellent communications skills and
cultural sensitivity as s/he will be working closely with MoH partners at the
district and facility level. S/he must be able to manage multiple tasks and
drive work plans forward. S/he must exhibit a passion for results and
commitment to excellence. We place great value on the following qualities:
entrepreneurship, responsibility, tenacity, independence, energy and work
ethic.
There will be four positions. The District
Coordinators will report to the Program Manager, Pediatric HIV.
Responsibilities:
The District Coordinators, Pediatric HIV, will work in teams
of two in order to support District Health Management Teams (DHMTs) and their
partners to implement initiatives to identify children with HIV and initiate
them on treatment.
- Conduct
trouble-shooting, strategy, and creative problem-solving in the effort to
identify and initiate HIV-positive children on treatment in target
districts and facilities;
- Support
implementation of HIV testing in health facilities by assisting health
staff with trouble-shooting and planning to ensure that all sick children
receive an HIV test and that all children are born with a known exposure
status;
- Support
implementation of community-level testing approaches including mapping
outreach locations, maintaining a calendar of regular visits, and
assisting with coordination across partners for activities within the
assigned district;
- Operate
and routinely update a district dashboard with available data related to
pediatric HIV, and assist in interpreting results for action by district
stakeholders;
- Support
DHMT management efforts through regular meetings and effective
communication and maintain close professional relationships with
counterparts in the DHMTs in order to ensure that the project is aligned
with Ministry priorities;
- Coordinate
a system for ensuring that positive HIV test results lead to treatment
initiation for young children, in cooperation with DHMTs and focal point
people to trace children with positive results;
- Support
implementation of the mHealth system for delivery of HIV results;
- Support
data collection for the project monitoring and evaluation activities;
- Contribute
to project reporting requirements and participate in team coordination
meetings;
- Perform
any other responsibilities assigned by the Program Manager.
Qualifications:
- University
degree;
- Sesotho
language skills;
- Demonstrated
leadership and social-service commitment through extracurricular and
volunteer activities;
- Strong
problem solving skills and analytical capabilities and a positive,
solution-oriented approach to challenges;
- Ability
to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, set priorities, and work
independently in a fast-paced environment;
- Able
to work in a team of two to plan and orchestrate work in a coordinated
way;
- Fluency
in English, excellent written and oral communications skills;
- Proficiency
in relevant computer applications particularly Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint
and Word.
- Strong
interpersonal and communication skills, and an ability to build rapport
and influence behaviors of colleagues while maintaining appropriate
respect and consideration;
- This
position may require frequent travel and/or part-time residence in project
districts.
