Contract type: Temporary Appointment, Consultant
Level: P-4
Location: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Seychelles
Categories: Health, Emergency
Seeking external candidates only
Contract Type: Temporary Appointment (TA) or Consultancy
Duration: 3 months to 364 days
Location: Countries based in Eastern and Southern Africa
Job Description
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.
Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.
And we never give up.
For every child, hope
Since two years, countries in the ESA region have experienced an alarming increase in the number of new, or re-emerging humanitarian emergencies, including public health (including Ebola, Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, yellow fever, wild poliovirus, and Cholera), armed conflicts and natural disasters emergencies.
An outbreak of Sudan Ebola Virus (SDV) started in September 2022 and spread to 9 districts in Uganda, elevating the risk for cross border spread to neighboring countries (Tanzania, Rwanda, South-Sudan, Burundi, Kenya and DR Congo).
UNICEF ESAR has prioritized the critical need to support countries to rapidly scale up capacity to prevent, mitigate, and manage ongoing and anticipated emergencies as well as to enhance capacity for preparedness and response to these emergencies.
Purpose
The purpose of this external announcement is to attract suitable Emergency Health Specialist candidates interested in working in any of the countries within UNICEF’s East and Southern Africa region to respond to Ebola outbreaks for the next 36 months. The countries within each region are listed on the following website: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html.
Key activities & duties
- Advise chief CSD on any revision of the UNICEF EVD Response Plan as well as strengthen routine health system for the continuation of life saving critical interventions for the children and women.
- Work with all units in the UNICEF Country office – WASH, communication, protection, education, supply to adjust, as relevant, the EVD contingency plan and monitor the implementation of key activities. Analyse data by age and sex (children and adult, male/female) by geographical area to refine programme/operational interventions focusing on children and women.
- Attend the national coordination mechanisms with focus on NTF and its coordination committee, as well as UN/HDP coordination meetings. Document and communicate key issues to Chief CSD and other relevant units in the office, highlighting those of relevance to UNICEF and follow up on actions requiring UNICEF attention.
- Participate in rapid needs assessments and conduct joint with MoH and WHO field visits and assess response effectiveness with relevant sector/partners.
- Identify bottlenecks hindering the delivery of critical life-saving interventions under the EVD Contingency Plan and the delivery of Essential Package of Health Services (EPHS) in Ebola contexts. Suggest alternative options/solutions for addressing implementation bottlenecks to the Chief CSD.
Provide technical support to UNICEF field office staff and partners including contributing to the development of or sharing relevant standards, protocols, guidelines and training materials for EVD response.
Maintain the information management system for EVD response established by the – action tracker, dedicated space on share-point. Support the organization of internal coordination, communication and reporting requirements to MOH/WHO, UNICEF, donors.
Support UNICEF information products related to the response including situation reports.
In close consultation with the M&E team, contribute to the office M&E mechanism, including performance results tracking. Among others, monitor the coverage of UNICEF-supported interventions among the affected population and share information for internal communication and external coordination.
Help draft funding appeals, donor reports and project proposals related to the Ebola outbreak response.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Education-
- Advanced university degree in public health field.
Work Experience-
- 5-8 years of progressively responsible experience in planning and implementing emergency programmes with either the UN, IO, and/or NGO. Preferably experience in controlling outbreaks of EVD and/or other VHFs.
- Innovative and resourceful mindset to make solutions work in adverse conditions
- Ability to work under stressful conditions and flexible approach in undertaking his assignment within a rapidly changing environment.
- Strong interpersonal communication skills and team spirit
- Good report writing skills
- Fluency in English (verbal and written). Good written and spoken skills in the language of the humanitarian operation and knowledge of another UN language an asset.
Language Requirement:-
- Fluency in verbal and written English or French (depending on the country office’s official language). Knowledge of another UN language or a local language is an asset
For every Child, you demonstrate…
UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: https://uni.cf/UNICEFValues
UNICEF competencies required for this post are…
- Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (2) -For P4/NOD level only
- Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (2)
- Works Collaboratively with others (2)
- Builds and Maintains Partnerships (2)
- Innovates and Embraces Change (2)
- Thinks and Acts Strategically (2)
- Drive to achieve impactful results (2)
- Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)
During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.
UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children.
The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.
UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children.
All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.
Remarks:
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF.
UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.
Deadline: E. Africa Standard Time