Medical Advocacy Advisor At Médecins Sans Frontières

GENERAL CONTEXT

Médecins Sans Frontières is an international independent medical-humanitarian organization, which offers assistance to populations in distress, to victims of natural or man-made disasters and to victims of armed conflict, without discrimination and irrespective of race, religion, creed or political affiliation.

MSF is a civil society initiative that brings together individuals committed to the assistance of other human beings in crisis. As such MSF is by choice an association. Each individual working with MSF does it out of conviction and is ready to uphold the values and principles of MSF.

The MSF movement is built around six operational directorates. MSF OCBA is one of those directorates. The operations are implemented by field teams and the mission coordination teams; together with the organizational units based in Barcelona and decentralized in Nairobi, Dakar and Amman. OCBA field operations are guided and supported by 5 Operational Cells, the Emergency Unit, and other departments supporting operations, including the Medical Department.

GENERAL OBJECTIVE AND CONTEXT

The main objective of this position is to support OCBA teams at mission and department level with analysis, reflection, positioning, and advocacy on identified health issues.

This is mainly done through the Centre for Applied Reflection on Humanitarian Practice (ARHP), which documents and reflects upon the operational challenges and dilemmas faced by the field teams of OCBA. ARHP’s purpose is two-fold: internally it aims to feed identified lessons learned back into operations as well as to support advocacy efforts, while externally it seeks to give visibility to practical and operational constraints in humanitarian practice and, when relevant, how MSF has addressed them.

PLACEMENT WITHIN THE ORGANISATION
This position is based in the ARHP, while also being part of the OCBA medical network, reporting hierarchically to the Head of the ARHP and functionally to the Deputy Medical Director.
Effective partnerships with field coordination teams and operational cells are essential.

MAIN RESPONSABILITIES, FUNCTIONS AND TASKS

• Provide an overview of global health trends to help missions, as well as the medical and operations departments, to identify concerns and meaningful opportunities for MSF to share its medical humanitarian analysis and to conduct advocacy so to improve the situation of the affected population.
• Support the medical department with analysis of overall global health needs in conflict-settings, so to orient prioritization and planning processes.
• In line with the OCBA strategy and operational priorities, support the mission coordination and field teams with sparring, analysis, engaging, positioning, and advocacy on health issues, including the drafting of briefing papers, reports, talking points etc.
• Respond to requests from OCBA coordination and field teams for support in identifying health advocacy priorities, formulating strategies, and implementation.
• Contribute to organizational learning on medical-humanitarian responses and programming, especially through the proposal and implementation of selected health analysis projects (project cards).
• Support the ARHP and medical network with analysis/reflection on health issues as requested.
• Represent OCBA in inter-sectional / global health analysis and advocacy initiatives (e.g., GHAN, Food Security Advocacy Working Group, Access Campaign), and in external engagements with Global Health actors.

Key deliverables:

• Analysis of evolving health-related trends that can have an impact on OCBA mission priorities to support wider advocacy and operational approaches.

1. Support in the identification for the missions, medical and operations department, the external processes that are of interest to partake in and influence for the successful development of key health dossiers.
2. Production of materials adapted to different needs/audiences (internal and external audiences).
3. Make connections with the diverse MSF bodies and initiatives that are relevant to a specific issue.
4. Periodic updates on relevant global health actors and trends (e.g., shifts in global health actors’ priorities, health financing) are shared with the field so that they can connect their work with the bigger picture.

• Prioritized missions are given the necessary support for analysis and advocacy on the annual operations health priorities (e.g., for 2023 – emergency response and prevention, malnutrition response and vaccination response/campaigns). This includes working with the relevant medical referents and assisting missions to provide relevant data for inter-sectional and other advocacy initiatives.
• Develop briefing papers for prioritized missions on HIV/TB/malaria situation and otherwise support engagement in the 2023-2026 Global Fund (GF) replenishment and other connected processes.
• Analysis and engagement on access to primary healthcare, to support missions with in-depth understanding of PHC systems and relevant actors, to orient programs and to consider the overall impact of our response.
• Support to prioritized missions to analyze trends on sexual violence and survivors’ access to services, as well as the development of an advocacy strategy where needed.
• Ensure the successful implementation of, and use of the analysis from, the project cards.

1. Project dossier 2023: Second phase for access to contraception and safe abortion care (SAC) in Middle East.
2. Project dossier 2023: Fragile/complex operating environment policies and approaches.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Education, Experience and desired attributes:

• Master’s degree in Public Health/ Health Policy, or equivalent experience.
• Experience working with MSF or other international humanitarian non-governmental organizations. Strong preference for a candidate with field experience with MSF or a similar organization.
• Experience in health advocacy at global, regional and/or national level.
• Demonstrable understanding of global health actors, issues, and trends.
• Analytical and strategic thinking.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to write high level technical reports suitable for external dissemination.
• Proven ability to present complex information in clear, concise and engaging ways.
• Fluency in English and French. Other languages (e.g., Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese) an asset.
• Awareness of and sensitivity to multi-cultural and diverse environments, and ideally a proven track record of working effectively in such environments.

CONDITIONS

• Position is based in any MSF OCBA Hub with availability to travel to MSF field projects when requested.
• Contract duration: Permanent.
• Annual Gross Salary: level HQ-4B (divided in 12 monthly payments) + secondary benefits based on MSF OCBA Reward Policy. Subject to local conditions.
• Starting date: September 2023.

How to apply

• To apply, please submit your CV and cover letter:

• CLICK HERE TO APPLY

• Closing date: 7th of June 2023, 23:59 CET (Central European Time).

MSF is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, race, nationality, and culture. Individuals from
minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. We are committed to achieving a balanced gender distribution and therefore encourage women to apply.
All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. MSF provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, teamwork, integrity and a healthy balance of work and life. MSF does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment and discrimination. All selected
candidates will, therefore, undergo reference checks.
Médecins Sans Frontières, as a responsible employer, under article 38 of “Ley de Integración Social del Minusválido de 1982 (LISMI)” invite those persons with a recognized disability and with an interest in the humanitarian area to apply for the above-mentioned position.