Employer: WHO
Duty Station: Arbil, Iraq
Duration of contract: 1 year
Date: 26 March 2015
Application Deadline: 9 April 2015
Currently accepting applications
The objectives of WHO's emergency programme are to design and implement programmes that prepare the health sector to deal with emergencies and that improve health during and after crises. Within the emergency programme, the objectives of WHO's emergency
response team are to support Member States by:
1) promptly assessing health needs of populations affected by crisis, identifying priority causes of ill-health and death; preparing damage estimates and emergency response and rehabilitation plans; providing prompt, credible health information and ensuring the continuity of essential health services;
2) coordinating and monitoring emergency health relief efforts under the aegis of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Health Cluster, of which WHO is the lead agency;
3) ensuring that critical gaps in the health response are rapidly identified and filled;
4) revitalizing and building the capacity of national health systems to deal with preparedness, mitigation and response.
Purpose of the Post:
To support the coordination of health partners in the Erbil governorate for the elaboration and implementation of surveillance strategies and policies to strengthen preparedness for epidemic-prone diseases, producing and analyzing information on health threats for refugees and IDPS, activities and outcomes, and ensuring dissemination to partners and local authorities, including securing information from a broad range of health sectors, analyzing such and recommending actions and guidelines for the elaboration of medium- and long-term plans of work and strategies, identifying gaps in the delivery of health services or emergency interventions, and recommending appropriate actions and innovative approaches to improve the situation. The incumbent will support the coordination of Erbil activities in addition to his normal duties as Public Health Officer.
Organizational Context:
With guidance from the Emergency Coordinator and close collaboration with the field team and local authorities, the incumbent provides expertise in the areas of surveillance and strengthening preparedness for epidemic-prone diseases, gathering and disseminating information on health threats, activities and outcome, analysing and consolidating data for monitoring and early warning. In addition to ongoing contacts with technical staff to secure sources of information and recommending work plans for medium- and long-term work plans, he/she has extensive contacts with counterparts from local health authorities and relevant partners, to coordinate activities and provide technical expertise to advocate and successfully influence strategies for the implementation of surveillance and preparedness for epidemic-prone diseases within the context of emergency response for relief efforts.
Description of duties:
The incumbent will perform the following duties:
1) Assess threats to human life and heath, damage to health infrastructure for primary and secondary care, the state of health referral and support systems, including cold chain, laboratory, essential drugs and health information systems, and the vital needs for the affected populations.
2) Support health partners in the elaboration and implementation of surveillance strategies and policies to strengthen preparedness for epidemic-prone diseases, producing and analyzing information on health threats, activities and outcomes, and ensuring dissemination to partners and local authorities.
3) Secure information from a broad range of health sectors, analyzing such and recommending actions and guidelines for the elaboration of medium- and long-term plans of work and strategies, including consolidating health data in trends and trends assessment, with particular attention to surveillance, monitoring and early warning.
4) Identify gaps in the delivery of health services or emergency interventions, recommending appropriate actions and innovative approaches to improve the situation; and to analyze existing coordination mechanisms, designing and recommending improvements.
5) Convey and lead weekly coordination meetings with all relevant partners and project staff, producing and circulating minutes, related decisions and tracking the latter, and developing detailed "lessons learnt" reports documenting achievements and obstacles to implementation, recommending coordination mechanisms and improvement to current and future field operations in the area of work, constantly assessing situations and needs, and redirecting efforts.
6) Proactively participate in the development of project proposals to mobilize resources.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Education:
Essential:
Master's degree in public health and/or health related fields, complemented by degree or studies in epidemiology, surveillance and monitoring.
Desirable:
Degree or sound understanding of emergency response or disaster management in the context of public health, or in communicable/infectious diseases or university degree in medicine.
WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an accredited institution.
Skills:
Competencies:
WHO global competencies model at:
http://who.int/employment/competencies/WHO_competencies_EN.pdf
1) Producing results
2) Creating an empowering and motivating environment
3) Building and promoting partnerships across the Organization and beyond
4) Fostering integration and team work
5) Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
Functional Skills and Knowledge:
1) Demonstrated knowledge of health sector activities in developing countries and/or in the context of emergency response relief, or preparedness for epidemic-prone diseases.
2) Excellent skills in the assessment, surveillance and monitoring in the context of emergency situations, with the ability to conceptualize and implement innovative strategies and promote their implementation.
3) Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work under pressure.
4) Proven ability to communicate effectively.
5) Tact, discretion and ability to promote consensus.
Other Skills (e.g. IT):
Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications to surveillance and monitoring. Excellent presentation skills.
Experience:
Essential:
At least 7 years of relevant experience in health sector coordination in developing countries, at national level, with emphasis on emergency response relief and/or the management of epidemic-prone diseases, and Disease Early Warning System, outbreak field investigation. Experience in capacity building, developing and promoting collaborative partnerships.
Desirable:
Experience or sound knowledge of WHO mandate and goals in humanitarian health crisis, or experience in UN organizations/agencies, international institutions or NGOs.
Languages:
Excellent knowledge of English and Arabic
Additional Information:
Only nationals of the country will be considered for this position.
Applicants are kindly requested to pay attention to the screening questions as they will be used to screen out unqualified candidates.
Only qualified applicants with the relevant experience will be considered.
A written test/presentation and interviews will be used as a form of screening. The written test might be used as eliminatory tool.
Other similar positions at the same level may be filled from this vacancy notice (this could be the base for rosters).
Candidates will be interviewed using a competency based approach.
Annual salary: (Net of tax)
USD, 45,307 at single rate.
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