National Midwifery Officer (Education)

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person's potential is fulfilled. In Bangladesh, UNFPA partners with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) and the Directorate General of Nursing and Midwifery (DGNM) to strengthen the national health system, with a strong emphasis on establishing and expanding a competent midwifery workforce within the heath cadres to improve the Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRHR) outcomes.

While midwifery programme has made significant progress in the country, the institutional arrangement to manage it has not kept pace with the needs of the programme. As a result, there is a perceptible gap in DGNM at the national level to coordinate and manage different components and stakeholders of the programme, including maintaining uninterrupted communication with 172 midwifery schools across all 64 districts.
With the rapidly evolving programme, there is a need for a managerial support to DGNM to strengthen its governance structure and capacity to progressively improve the quality of midwifery education, regulation and service delivery.

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Analyst – Midwifery and with overall guidance of the Chief of Health, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

● Review and assist in updating the national pre-service midwifery curriculum to ensure alignment with International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) and World Health Organization (WHO) standards. The UNFPA ICM model curriculum should be the main guide for this work.

● Supporting Bangladesh Nursing and Midwifery Council (BNMC) and DGNM in transitioning from diploma to BSc course and exploring the need for a bridging course for the current diploma holders to transition to BSc level and providing necessary support for the same (this to be done in consultation with BNMC, DGNM and other key stakeholders).

● Provide technical support to midwifery faculty to enhance their pedagogical skills, particularly in clinical skills lab instruction and objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE).

● Facilitate Training of Trainers (ToT) and refresher training sessions / orientations on evidence-based midwifery practices, respectful maternity care and other relevant topics for midwifery educators.

● Provide necessary Support to the midwifery faculty for implementation of quality assurance activities as part of preparation for accreditation.

● Provide technical support to the national and district level DGNM authority.

● Support the implementation of quality assurance standards at service delivery points.

● Coordination with DGNM, DGHS & DGFP to strengthen the implementation and scale up of midwifery led SRHR services through DGHS & DGFP facilities.

● Work with UNFPA Midwifery Analyst and other relevant staff members of the health unit to effectively implement DGNM work plan supported by UNFPA.

● Ensure UNFPA policy and procedure guidelines are adhered to and all reporting requirements, including assurance activities are complied with.

● Perform activities that may be assigned from time to time to ensure the success of the working team.

● Any other activities assigned to strengthen Midwifery programme delivery.

The UNV will be part of the UNFPA SRHR Team under the overall direction of Chief of Health and the direct supervision by the Programme Analyst - Midwifery.