Research Assistant / Field Coordinator - Public Health Foundation of India (Apply by: 20 May 2014)

Position Vacant : Research Assistant / Field Coordinator

Position Code : PHFI/2014/100-UPBCM

Place of Posting : Lucknow

Organization Name : Public Health Foundation of India
Public Health Foundation of India,is a public private initiative that has collaboratively evolved through consultations with multiple constituencies including Indian and international academia, state and central governments, multi & bi-lateral agencies and civil society groups. PHFI is a response to redress the limited institutional capacity in India for strengthening training, research and policy development in the area of Public Health.

Structured as an independent foundation, PHFI adopts a broad, integrative approach to public health, tailoring its endeavours to Indian conditions and bearing relevance to countries facing similar challenges and concerns. The PHFI focuses on broad dimensions of public health that encompass promotive, preventive and therapeutic services, many of which are frequently lost sight of in policy planning as well as in popular understanding.

The Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, launched PHFI on March 28, 2006 at New Delhi. PHFI recognizes the fact that meeting the shortfall of health professionals is imperative to a sustained and holistic response to the public health concerns in the country which in turn requires health care to be addressed not only from the scientific perspective of what works, but also from the social perspective of, who needs it the most.

Project Brief:

With 21% of annual birth cohort, the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) has disproportionate 28% of neonatal deaths and 35% of maternal deaths in the country, almost 10% of the global burden. Thus, progress in reducing maternal and neonatal mortality can contribute significantly to meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Despite proven family health interventions for reducing neonatal mortality and improving maternal and child health, there is a dearth of scalable community-based demand-side approaches that can take these interventions to scale, thereby ensuring a rapid and sustainable impact on family health outcomes. The self-help group (SHG) model is a promising institutionalized and scalable demand-side social platform (or ‘Operating System’) for scaling up family health interventions. The Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana (RGMVP) has developed a rapidly scalable federated SHG model that can serve as an operating system on which family health interventions can be layered. This model holds tremendous promise as a platform for community mobilization to expedite changes in family health behaviors and social norms, as well as establish strong linkages with the health system at a local level in order to improve access of health services.

Considering the above context, the Public Health Foundation of India is implementing a “Community Mobilization and Behaviour Change Management” project to develop and scale up a package of family health interventions using the behavior change management (BCM) approach through social platforms comprising an institutionalized self-help group (SHG) model in Uttar Pradesh (UP) towards reducing neonatal mortality rate (NMR) and improving family health behaviors.

Job Description / Responsibilities:

· Provide documentation support to program team( conducting literature research, draft reports, letters, presentations)

· Undertake regular review of literature to map innovations in RMNCHN (reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child health and nutrition services) to support the program team.

· Assist in documentation of meetings with consortium partners.

· Undertake field visits to document cases studies on program implementation.

· Assist with data entry of program MLE data collection activities as required.

· Develop activity reports.

· Any other work assigned by the project team

Qualifications / Experience required

Essential Qualifications:

· Masters in Social Sciences/ Public Health/management/ Social Work

· Should have excellent writing skills.

· Typing in Hindi will be an asset

· Should have at least 2 to 5 years of fulltime employment in similar position with a recognized or verifiable entities e.g. National and State governments, research agencies, NGOs, community groups, and/or UN agencies.

· Must provide verifiable employment records till recent employer

Competencies:

· Ms Office Intermediate Skills will be an asset.

· Typing Skills in Hindi will be a strong asset

Interested and eligible candidates may send in their CV to recruit@phfi.org by highlighting the Position Code (PHFI/2014/100 -UPBCM) in the subject line. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for the interview.

Last Date for receipt of applications: 20 May 2014