Result of Service

• Assessment report on the current gaps in the standardized protocols to mitigate the risk of and to respond to communicable diseases, a disease outbreak in prisons;
• Draft of standardized protocols to mitigate the risk of and to respond to communicable diseases, a disease outbreak in prisons, in line with WHO guidelines and best practices, including Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the Ghana Prisons Service;
• Manual on Health Promotion in Ghanaian prisons, including sample programmes on mental and physical health, drugs use prevention and treatment for prisoners and prison staff;
• Manual on Training of Trainers for Health Promotion in Ghanaian Prisons;
• Completion of 2 in-person workshops (5 days each) in Ghana for selected prison officers of the Ghana Prisons Service;
• Final assignment report submitted to Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Section.

Work Location

home based with travel to Ghana

Expected duration

5 months

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Within the framework of UNODC’s Global Programme on Addressing Prison Challenges (GLOZ85) as well as the Regional Programme for West Africa and its project “Strengthening the compliance of the Ghana Prisons Service (GPS) with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules)”, the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Section of UNODC intends to provide technical assistance to the Ghana Prisons Service with a view to enhance access to health care in Ghanaian prisons.

2. According to the Nelson Mandela Rules every prison shall have in place a health-care service tasked with evaluating, promoting, protecting and improving the physical and mental health of prisoners, paying particular attention to prisoners with special health-care needs or with health issues that hamper their rehabilitation (Rule 25). The Rules specify that health care for prisoners is a State responsibility and that prisoners should enjoy the same standards of health care that are available in the community, and should have access to necessary health-care services free of charge without discrimination on the grounds of their legal status. Moreover, Health-care services should be organized in close relationship to the general public health administration and in a way that ensures continuity of treatment and care, including for communicable diseases (HIV, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases), as well as for non-communicable diseases (mental health, drug dependence) (Rule 24).

Women and children in prison constitute a special group within the prison population. Although women and children are minority groups within total prison populations, the number of women in prison is nevertheless increasing on global level. Hence, prison administration must pay careful attention to women and children’s special needs, including specific health care needs, and guarantee a gender-sensitive system of care while recognizing the opportunity for empowerment and supporting healthy choices.

3. In the context of Ghana, all prisoners are entitled to be registered under the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), which is a publicly funded healthcare system aiming to provide basic healthcare services to residents of Ghana. All 45 prison facilities in Ghana offer some form of health-care service to the prisoners based on the NHIS, which however differs significantly in scope from one station to another. As part of the Ghana Prisons Service’s strategy to improve health literacy, promotion and diseases prevention in prisons, Health Promotion Focal Persons (HPFP) have been appointed by the Service in each of the prison facilities.

Qualifications/special skills

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in public health, psychology, medicine or related discipline is required. A first level university degree in similar fields in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• At least 7 years of professional work experience in healthcare systems or educational systems promoting healthcare; experience in public healthcare systems related to prisons is is required.

• In-depth knowledge of the current state of research and best practices of healthcare promotion and disease prevention and mitigation is required.

• Strong research and coordination skills, analytical capacities and ability to synthesize complex inputs into coherent support is required.

• Understanding of international standards and
• Prior experience in delivering workshops/training courses for criminal justice officials, including prison officers is desirable;

• Work experience in African regions is desirable.

• Ability to develop practical and user-friendly tools in the field of health promotion in prison is desirable.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this post, fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is an advantage. Fluency and excellent writing skills in English.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.