Youth Coordinator AIDS Healthcare Foundation

Founded in 1987, AIDS Healthcare Foundation is one of largest specialized provider of HIV/AIDS medical care in the nation. Our mission is to provide cutting edge medicine and advocacy, regardless of ability to pay. Through our healthcare centers, pharmacies, health plan, research and other activities, AHF provides access to the latest HIV treatments for all who need them.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Zambia invites applications from suitably qualified persons to fill the under listed position:

Job Title: YOUTH COORDINATOR

Location: Country Office-Lusaka

This is a fulltime position and the holder will oversee HIV programs for Young People and Adolescent Girls broadly providing leadership, planning, demand creation, referrals/networking, liaison between prevention and medical, peer support, financial management and reporting. He/she will also work closely with Policy, Advocacy and Marketing teams to identify key advocacy issues and development of suitable communication materials and strategies.

Essential Duties and Responsibility:

Leadership:

• Provide requisite leader that will ensure successful implementation of interventions for young people and adolescent girls.
• Convene regular team meetings to discuss progress of implementation.
• Identify YPAG role models and ensure their active participation in all aspects of the program.

Planning and strategy development:

• Ensure views of YPAG are incorporated at all stages of the program including their active participation in implementation of activities.
• Ensure that routine (monthly, quarterly and annual) planning for YPAG interventions is done satisfactorily with involvement of all key stakeholders.
• Develop appropriate strategies that will ensure that services and information reach the most vulnerable groups in the most efficient and effective manner.

Demand creation, mapping and health education:

• Conduct routine mapping to identify communities that harbour YPAG who are most at risk.
• Conduct routine assessments and community dialogue to understand factors that predispose these categories to risk of HIV infection.
• In conjunction with Policy, Advocacy and Marketing teams, develop health education/communication mechanisms and materials that will be suitable to meet the information needs of YPAG.
• Continuously evaluate the effectiveness of communication mechanisms and advise on the need to review them when and where necessary.

Referral, linkages and networking:

• Identify and document needs of YPAG that may not be within the scope of AHF mandate that may be predisposing them to risk of HIV infection.
• Identify other service providers and develop functional directories high, lighting the services they may be able to provide outside the AHF mandate. Such services may include; life skills, Economic Empowerment, Legal Aid, Psychosocial support, Drug and substance abuse (Rehab centres), Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Family Planning Services.

In conjunction with management, spear head formation of functional partnerships with providers identified to ease and facilitate referral of YPAG who may be in need.
Refer YPAG to other providers for appropriate services, follow up and document the outcomes
Reviewing existing policies affecting young people and girls and working with the advocacy manger to advocate for policy change.

Liaison between prevention and medical programs:

• Ensure that liaison between prevention and treatment programs is smooth to ensure biomedical services (HIV Testing, STI screening and management, cervical cancer screening, Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision, condoms and Antiretroviral Therapy) are easily made available and accessible to YPAG.
• Work out cost-effective modalities to ensure that some activities are tied together as a cost saving mechanism.

Peer support:

• Establish peer support groups in key AHF supported clinics
• Identify material and technical needs of the support groups and support mobilization of the same including linking them to points of help.
• Support empowerment of peer support group members and development of the groups into self-help associations or groups.
• Monitor performance of all peer support groups.

Financial management and accountability:

• Ensure all activities planned for adequately budgeted for and necessary approvals are sought.
• Ensure all advances for activities related to YPAG to staff or partners and adequately accounted for prior to subsequent releases.

Reporting and documentation:

• Ensure routine program reporting is adhered based on the indicators prescribed by AHF.
• Document and share best practices, lessons learnt and outcomes of the different interventions.

Other duties:

• Other duties may be assigned from time to time depending on programmatic need

Qualifications:

• The holder of this position must possess Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and Social Administration, Social Sciences (humanities), Guidance and Counselling, Public Health.
• Additional training in HIV prevention counselling, Rights Based approach to programming, Training in Youth Work and psychosocial support for young people are an added advantage
• A minimum of 2 years working experience in a similar position with a reputable non-government organization (NGO)
• Persons, who are health professionals, must be registered with the national health professionals’ council.
• Candidates 26 years and below are strongly encouraged to apply.

Key Attributes and Skills:

• Excellent written, oral communication and interpersonal skills,
• Should have good leadership qualities,
• Proficient in counselling and, Client focused approach and pleasant personality, Ability to read, analyse, and interpret common scientific and technical journals, and legal documents.
• Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from clients, regulatory agencies.
• Ability to prepare and make presentations to management, public groups, and write articles for publication that conform to prescribed style and format. Proficiency with Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, Power point)
• Good command of up-to-date knowledge of and practices in HIV/AIDS prevention, testing, care and treatment
• Willing to travel to support upcountry teams
• Needs to be sensitive to confidentiality and issues surrounding HIV/AIDS
• Flexible, proactive, innovative and able to organize work independently with minimum supervision
• Must be good at team work and team building
• Should be able to identify and solve problems.