UNOPS
is the Fund Manager for the Access to Health Fund (ACCESS), a multi donor fund
supported by the United Kingdom, Sweden, United States, and Switzerland. The
Fund has been established in 2019 to provide support for health needs in
Myanmar.
The detailed program
description is outlined in the Fund Description of Action, available on the https://www.3mdg.org/sites/3mdg.org/files/publication_docs/access_description_of_action_2018-11-15.pdf website.
The
Access to Health Fund is the third phase of Donors’ commitment to supporting
the Health sector in Myanmar through a pooled funding mechanism: the first
multi-donor Fund (the Three Disease Fund, 2007-2012) supported HIV, TB and
Malaria programs after the withdrawal of the Global Fund from Myanmar in 2005;
it was replaced by the Three Millennium Development Goals Fund (3MDG Fund,
2013-2018), which introduced support for MNCH and Health Systems Strengthening
alongside the three diseases. The 3MDG Fund ended in December 2018. As its
successor, the Access to Health Fund was given a name that reflects a strong
focus on conflict-affected areas and on reaching vulnerable and underserved
populations.
The
United Kingdom, Sweden, United States, and Switzerland intend to continue
pooling funding in 2019-2023 to fund the Access to Health Fund to increase use
of quality essential health services for poor, underserved, marginalized and
vulnerable people in conflict-affected areas, and to enable the continued
strengthening of the health system.
Global health indicators show that there are significant differences in health outcomes depending on where an individual is born, lives and works. Health is influenced by
gender, age, social identity, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, cultural norms, disability, education, economics and politics. Therefore, one key aim of the
Access to Health Fund is to improve health outcomes by addressing the social factor limiting access to health services. To do this, it is
needed to use the skills, strengths and knowledge of communities to the fullest extent possible.
This role represents an exciting opportunity to contribute to the ACCESS’s ‘Health for All/Civil
Society’ team on complex, cross cutting issues, working closely with diverse stakeholders (the Ministry of Health and Sports, international NGOs,
local NGOs, Civil Society Organisations, Community Based Organisations, and
Ethnic Health Organisations), including those who deliver programmes in some parts of the country where conflict has existed until recently, or is ongoing).