Working within a large and complex Ghana Country Office environment, you will support the effective management of UNFPA programmes in the areas of maternal health in line with the Country Programme Document (CPD) 2023 – 2027 focusing on strengthening national capacity for the provision of high-quality maternal health services, especially for the most vulnerable populations, including women, young people and internally displaced people.

Employing your programme management experience, you will support the work of the programme team as well as consultants, advisors, and experts. You will provide quality, timely and integrated technical and programmatic support in terms of UNFPA policy and strategy related to address midwifery issues.  You will work towards increasing the national capacity for delivery of midwifery services, including provision of information.   Through substantive analysis and assessment of political, social and economic trends, you will contribute to project formulation and evaluation, joint programming initiatives and national development frameworks.

You will monitor results achieved during implementation, guiding the appropriate application of systems and procedures, and developing enhancements as required.

You would be responsible for: 

Policy Dialogue and Technical Leadership

Provide legal and technical expertise to the formulation, review, implementation and monitoring of policies, guidelines and protocols and programmes at national and sub-national levels as they relate to maternal health through provision of midwifery services.

Assist in strengthening and reinforcing UNFPA’s leadership role in maternal health through provision of high quality midwifery technical assistance to the government and other national counterparts in the country.

Participate in technical fora of government, civil society and academic institutions as well as of other technical agencies and partners on issues relating to provision of midwifery services.

Participate in the development and updating of guidelines, standards, tools, manuals and approaches on midwifery.

Participate in communities of practice, networks and coalitions related to midwifery.

Keep abreast of policy and legal developments that affect provision of midwifery services and prepare analysis for senior management on potential impacts to UNFPA’s ability to achieve the UNFPA transformative results.

Identify and analyze trends, threats and risks that may affect the accomplishment of the ICPD agenda and UNFPA’s work in Ghana.

B.     Advocacy and Resource Mobilization

• Analyze and interpret the political, social and economic environment relevant to midwifery, and pursuing opportunities for UNFPA assistance and intervention. Assessing implications of new
• policy developments and strategies on programme execution and ensuring appropriate implementation.
• Analyze policy papers, strategy documents and national development plans; preparing briefs and inputs for policy dialogue, technical assistance coordination, and development frameworks in the area of midwifery.
• Advocate for maternal health integration within primary health care and increased national budget allocation for maternal health, specifically midwifery.
• Contribute to concept notes and proposals for funding that are innovative and demonstrate potential for high impact and UNFPA’s comparative substantive role.
• Support management of the mobilized resources for UNFPA Midwifery programmes, ensuring preparation and timely submission of reports to respective donors.
• Contribute to advocacy efforts for increases in national and sub-national budgetary allocations and expenditures for midwifery and to leverage financing for the ICPD agenda and ensure the sustainability of interventions.
• Contribute technical inputs to communications materials for advocating for maternal health with a focus on provision of quality midwifery services as essential for sustainable development.

C.          Programme Management and Coordination:

• Assist in strengthening and reinforcing UNFPA’s leadership role in maternal health through provision of high quality midwifery technical assistance to the government and other national counterparts in the country.
• Contribute to the formulation and design of the country programme and its component projects on midwifery, in collaboration with Government counterparts, NGOs and other partners and in line with Government priorities and according to UNFPA programme policies and procedures.
• Manage implementing partners under UNFPA programmes on maternal health with focus on provision of midwifery services  during implementation of their approved work plans.
• Support scaling up of midwifery services, with a focus on regions where the maternal mortality rate is high.
• Assess gaps and develop strategies for response and coordination with integrated focus on the professionalization of midwifery for maximum impact on the overall MNRH response.
• Contribute to the mobilization of technical support for key strategic areas: National midwifery association, Midwifery regulations and standards, including standardization of MOH/GHS job descriptions for midwives to foster optimal use of midwife’s skills (scope of practice), Training and education of midwives and other skilled attendants, In-service training and supervision of midwives and other skilled attendants, Monitoring & Evaluation of midwifery within MOH/GHS human resources for health plans.
• Foster strategic alliances and partnerships between the UNFPA country office and other UN agencies, local and international NGOs, and other relevant stakeholders, as necessary, to ensure that the UNFPA priority of strengthening the midwifery component and its concerns are taken into account.
• Provide support to cost and implementation of the maternal health action plan with focus on midwifery services.
• Provide support to midwifery colleges, associations and regulators to improve pre and in-service.
• Contribute to the provision of midwifery services in the humanitarian settings.
• Support the achievement of programme results by ensuring appropriate policies and procedures are applied, and appropriate monitoring and oversight mechanisms and systems are established and implemented.
• Establish collaborative partnerships with executing agencies, experts, government counterparts and other UN agencies to facilitate timely and efficient delivery of project inputs, and addressing training needs of project personnel.
• Ensure appropriate monitoring and oversight mechanisms and systems are established and implemented.

D.          Knowledge Management

• Provide technical and programmatic support for research related provision of midwifery services, and identify, documents, and disseminate lessons learned and best practices in addressing maternal health with focus on the provision of quality midwifery services.
• Supports timely preparation and submission of respective reports under the midwifery programmes and projects.
• Contribute to communities of practices and knowledge sharing platforms to share key research, data and information related to maternal health with focus on the provision of quality midwifery services.

• Qualifications and Experience: 

  Education:  

  • Master’s degree in a relevant field such as Public Health, Medicine, Nursing and Midwifery.

  Knowledge and Experience: 

  • At least two years’ professional experience in the field of Reproductive Health.
  • Experience in programme/project management including experience in large multi-sector projects, designing and appraising proposals and actively liaising with relevant and potential project partners.
  • Practical experience in design, monitoring and evaluation of development projects.
  • Field experience is an asset.
  • Prior experience in the UN system is an asset.
  • Experience using Microsoft Office software packages, Cloud applications, like Google Suite, and web-based ERP management systems, such as, the Oracle, Quantum, QuantumPlus, Quantum PowerBI, etc.

  Languages: 

  Fluency in English; knowledge of other official UN languages, preferably French and/or Spanish, is desirable.