Working as Sexual and Reproductive Health Adviser abroad

Talented health professionals doing extraordinary things are at the heart of what we do at VSO. We enable you to share your passion for improving the lives of millions. Together we can strengthen the delivery of health services and healthcare systems in some of the world’s poorest communities. VSO health programs target the whole continuum of care from adolescence, pregnancy and newborn care. We focus on the most vulnerable people, who have limited access to care through lack of information or resources and who face physical or cultural barriers to access quality Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and obstetric services.

As a VSO volunteer, you will immerse yourself in a new culture, face fresh challenges and develop your expertise, and often also management skills while doing something truly fulfilling. The local office or partner’s need will decide your exact job description.

Role overview

As a Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Adviser you will help youth build their skills in advocacy and provide technical support with designing and implementing advocacy campaigns and communication strategies related to Youth and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).
VSO Youth SRHR project will contribute to enabling adolescent and young people, including people with disabilities to exercise their Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) and to be freed from Gender Based Violence (GBV). The project will empower women and youth to lead advocacy and behavior change campaigns on SRHR and GBV issues.

Skills, qualifications and experience

• A Bachelor or Master’s degree in social sciences, international development, or related field
• Minimum of three to seven years of professional experience coordinating and managing a wide variety of behavior change, community and advocacy projects and experience developing social change communication strategies
• Proven track record of delivering on successful policy strategies within the development sector
• Experience in lobbying, advocacy and influencing within a range of decision makers e.g. National and Country Governments
• Understanding of a wide variety of advocacy and social accountability programme approaches.
• Good knowledge of international gender and sexual and reproductive health and right forums
• At least 3-5 years working with Youth and Adolescents
• Excellent writing, training and facilitation skills
• Excellent command of the English language
• Ability to organize training/workshops and lead them with interactive facilitation skills
• Demonstrated commitment to capacity development principles and ability to transfer knowledge and skills and empower counterparts to lead organizational processes

Besides these skills, you need to be openminded, respectful, resilient and adaptive to new situations. It is important that you can facilitate positive change, build sustainable working relationships and are willing to seek and share knowledge.

• For further information about this job, download here the detailed job description.
• Read more information about our Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Capability Statement.

Terms & conditions

VSO will cover and support you in all preparations: training, visa, work permit, registration in-country, flights, vaccinations, anti-malarial treatment, PEP treatment, medical and security clearance. In-country VSO will provide induction and support in placement, arrange secure accommodation (often shared with another VSO professional), full medical insurance (including repatriation cover), medical indemnity insurance, work-related travel costs and a living allowance which will enable you to live a basic but healthy lifestyle, but which is not sufficient to cover ongoing commitments at home.

What we do at VSO

Our programs focus on the areas of health, education and livelihoods, with an increasing emphasis on resilience building, social accountability, gender and social inclusion. We believe progress is only possible when we work together and that strong partnerships are crucial to delivering positive change. That’s why we work with over 500 partner organizations, from local and national governments to businesses, NGOs, funders, charities and community groups. Currently, over 30% of our people are recruited from within the country in which they work, and we continue to grow the share of community and national volunteers involved in our programs. We also send increasing numbers of volunteers from one developing country to another. However, our vision has remained the same; to build a world without poverty.

The experience of a placement is a one-of-a-life-time experience and will benefit you in multiple ways. You will have the chance to learn to work with people from different cultural backgrounds. There is often the opportunity to develop your teamwork-, leadership- and management skills. This can be helpful for career opportunities after your placement.

Coronavirus/COVID19

The world currently faces challenges on a scale not seen in a century. As a global organization, efforts to control COVID-19 will certainly result in changes to VSO’s activities and operations in the coming months. At this moment we are not sending international professional volunteers abroad. We have dedicated teams monitoring the situation, working across locations, programmes and projects to ensure we respond appropriately and responsibly – and that no one is left behind. We’ll continue to recruit professional volunteers and maintain a talent pool, to be prepared to work with them in the face of this uncertainty to plan for the future and build a fair world for everyone. If you have any questions about our current programs and where we currently operate, don’t hesitate to contact our recruiter Hans.