Consultant, Resource Mobilization and Fundraising for UNICEF HIV/AIDS Section

Job Description

Draft Terms of Reference

Resource Mobilization and Fundraising for UNICEF HIV/AIDS Section

SSA position – 11 months

Location: New York

UNICEF HIV/AIDS Section

The HIV/AIDS Section of UNICEF is located within its Programme Division and is responsible for providing global programmatic leadership and excellence in the four HIV/AIDS priority areas affecting children (the four Ps).

• Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT)
• Provide paediatric AIDS treatment
• Prevent infection among adolescents and young people
• Protect and support children affected by HIV and AIDS

At a global level, UNICEF supports responses for children and HIV through the development and issuance of programmatic and technical guidance, knowledge management and technical support to regional and country teams. Within the UNAIDS Division of Labour on HIV and AIDS, UNICEF has a key leadership role in relation to PMTCT, young people, social protection , care and support. As co-convenor of a number of global working groups, UNICEF is responsible for ensuring more harmonised and evidence based approaches to children and AIDS and accelerating scale up of HIV programmes in priority countries – which are mainly, but not exclusively in Eastern and Southern Africa.

UNICEF is committed through the Medium-Term Strategic Plan and UN Division of Labour, to ensuring scale up across all four programme areas, with a special emphasis on prevention. The Opportunities in Crisis Publication and Evidence to Impact guidance launched by UNICEF this year – set out key priorities in relation to prevention and protection, care and support. The virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (eMTCT) is a key results area for UNICEF which has clear targets and a global campaign with high level support from UNICEF, UNAIDS, US PEPFAR and the World Health Organization. The Global Plan ‘Towards Elimination of New HIV Infections among Children by 2015 and Keeping their mothers Alive – Countdown to Zero’ was launched at the June 2011 High-Level Meeting on AIDS and has generated high-level political commitment and consensus around these ambitious targets. UNICEF will play a critical role in ensuring effective global coordination on eMTCT as well as country level implementation to ensure that these targets are reached.

UNICEF has a strong country-level presence backed up by evidence-based strategies and guidance, and because of the breadth of UNICEF programming and experience, UNICEF can facilitate linkages across eMTCT and paediatric treatment, as well as HIV prevention programmes for adolescents and young people, and the protection care and support for children affected by AIDS.

Rationale for fundraising position

In order for UNICEF to be able to provide effective technical support and leadership on children and AIDS at global, regional and country levels, UNICEF requires multi-year predictable funding to undertake a number of functions including country-level technical assistance, operational research, knowledge leadership, convening multi-agency for more harmonised approaches, strengthening of health and community systems and monitoring and evaluation. Whilst UNICEF’s programmatic funds are in most countries small compared to other funding sources (for example, Global Fund and US PEPFAR funding), UNICEF plays a critical normative and technical support role in ensuring effective programming and provides significant technical assistance to national level development partners – particularly but not exclusively national governments.

The fundraising environment for HIV is very competitive, and there are indications that HIV funding is plateauing, if not diminishing. Moreover, there are signs that HIV funds and programme efforts for reaching agreed targets may in some cases be diminished in broader health and social policy agendas. In addition, UNICEF’s HIV funding is being squeezed as some bilateral donors are shifting funding from HIV thematic funding to core resources – which has translated into a reduction in HQ funding for the HIV/AIDS Section. UNAIDS, under the Unified Budget Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF), still helps ensure funding for some key HIV positions at HQ and the region, however the UBRAF itself is also under strain. Given the context, a significant funding gap is anticipated from 2012 for recurrent non-salary funding which is important to ensure UNICEF can fulfil its normative and technical support role and commitments to HIV key result areas, as well as those related to other KRAs in the Programme Division.

With a shifting funding landscape for HIV/AIDS, there is the need for UNICEF to develop a fundraising strategy along with successful fundraising proposals to generate new sources of funding for critical funding gaps. In developing the strategy, there will be the need to ensure that funding is both raised to support all key results areas (PMTCT, prevention, protection care and support) and the linkages across these, as well as identifying opportunities for fundraising for deliverables that cut across KRAs within the MTSP – for example, funding for operational research, monitoring and evaluation and HQ regional proposals which are seeking to develop the synergies and linkages between the different KRAs, and emerging SRAs.

In order to respond to some of these challenges, UNICEF is seeking to recruit a fundraiser for a period of 11 months to develop a fundraising strategy and raise funds to enable UNICEF to execute its mandate in relation to HIV and children.

Scope of work

The consultant will be required to:

Develop a fundraising strategy

• Familiarise themselves with UNICEF’s priority deliverables in relation to HIV/AIDS as set out in the Medium-Term Strategic Plan, biannual work plans and UNAIDS Unified Budget Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF) as well as core policy documents for each of the results areas.
• Work closely with colleagues responsible for planning to identify HIV/AIDS Section funding needs and anticipated gaps from 2012 to 2017
• Review UNICEF’s regional HIV/AIDS strategies such as the Eastern and Southern Africa Strategy which highlight UNICEF’s role in Children and AIDS and identify their 5-year funding needs.
• Work with each Key Result Area lead to identify key funding gaps both in relation to HQ and regional and country technical support needs.
• On the basis of above, develop a 5-year funding needs assessment for UNICEF’s contribution to the HIV response.
• From discussions with internal key stakeholders and UNICEF US Fund, identify potential funders for UNICEF’s contribution to the children and AIDS response. Attention should be given to bilateral donors, philanthropic organisations, National Committees and foundations
• Having identified both the funding needs and potential funding sources of funding, work with the HIV/AIDS Section to match funding sources against priority areas.
• Review UNICEF proposals that have been developed over the last 2 years and identify reasons why fundraising has or has not been successful.
• On the basis of the analysis from above, develop a fundraising strategy for the Section with priority fundraising targets, and responsibilities over the next 5 years.
• Identify/define potential funding scenarios from which the programme can be redirected (e.g. best, med, worst cases, etc.)

Develop fundraising proposals and strategies for stronger donor partnerships

• Identify key funding priorities and funding sources and, building on previous funding proposals, develop high quality proposals in consultation with the technical leads

Work with the UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Region (ESAR) team to fundraise for their regional strategy, emphasising opportunities for continuity on OVC, protection, care and support following the end of the successful Children and AIDS regional initiative.

• Work with the head of Technical Scale-up Leader and officer-in-charge (OIC) HIV/AIDS Section to ensure continued funding from UNITAID.
• Work closely with Public-Sector Alliances and Resource Mobilization Officer (PARMO) and Private Fundraising and Partnerships Division (PFP) to set up meetings with key funding partners – bringing together core HIV/AIDS staff with funding agencies.
• Work closely with Programme Division colleagues on opportunities for integrated proposals, such as “Together for Girls”, “Schools for Africa”, and the SG’s initiative on women’s and children’s health
• Act as focal point with the US Fund for UNICEF’s Innovation Fund and ensure that good quality proposals are submitted for funding and that follow up with funding partners is made.
• Develop a mechanism for tracking funding needs and proposal development which can be sustained within the Section after the 11 months of the consultancy

Key deliverables

• After 3 months, develop a draft fundraising strategy for the first year for the HIV/AIDS Section, identifying funding needs, gaps and potential sources.
• Develop 3-4 high quality multi-year proposals responding to priority needs of each of the Key Results Areas in the MTSP and funding gaps in supporting UNICEF’s 22 priority countries for children and HIV scale up.
• By end of consultancy have identified new funding of more than $2 million a year for the HIV/AIDS Section in UNICEF to enable UNICEF to effectively carry out its mandate

By end of the consultancy, produce fundraising strategy for the Section for 2012- 2017 focusing on improving the effectiveness of fundraising

Reporting

The fundraiser will report to the Head of Section or OIC and provide regular updates of progress to the monthly management meeting. S/he will be located in the HIV Campaign and work closely with the Campaign to ensure synergies and avoid duplication with their fundraising work with the National Committees.

Competencies required

• Higher degree in relevant field including international development, public health, social sciences, political science
• At least 10 years’ experience in international development
• Proven successful track record in fundraising for UN agencies or non-governmental organisations
• Good understanding of HIV and AIDS and children living with and affected by HIV and AIDS
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Good understanding of both US and non-US funders, bilateral and multi-lateral donors, funds and foundations in relation to HIV and social policy (child protection and social protection)
• Excellent inter-personal working skills

7. Application

• Qualified candidates are requested to submit a cover letter, CV and P 11 form (which can be downloaded from our website at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_53129.html) to pdconsultants@unicef.org with subject line “Fund-Raiser for UNICEF HIV/AIDS section” by September 30rd, 2011. Please indicate your ability, and daily/monthly rate and availability to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily rate will not be considered.

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