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For every child, Health
BACKGROUND
After decades of conflict, massive displacement of the population, widespread insecurity, and lack of public funding, the health care system as well as the health status of the people of South Sudan has suffered enormously. In relation to health service delivery, the former states of Jonglei and Upper Nile remain extremely challenging due to widespread insecurity and looting of health supplies and assets, including the closure of health facilities. Access to primary health care has been difficult for a large proportion of the vulnerable populations situated there, including internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host community populations and health indicators in the former states of Jonglei and Upper Nile are among the worst in the country. In this context, with support from donors, UNICEF aims at delivering low cost, high impact essential health services to about 1.8 million of the total population living in the former states of Upper Nile and Jonglei. The package of services and scope of activities to be supported includes: (a) Child health services: Health education; routine immunization; integrated management of neonatal and childhood illnesses (IMNCI) and rapid response and referral for complicated cases; long lasting insecticide trained nets (LLITNs) distribution; vitamin A supplementation; promotion of adequate infant and young child feeding behaviors; and nutrition screening and referral to nutrition therapeutic programmes.(b) Maternal and neonatal health services: Health education; antenatal care, skilled delivery, postnatal care of mothers and newborns; family planning; and referral to secondary health services.(c) Basic and comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care: To be delivered at the Primary Health Care Center (PHCC) and hospital levels.(d) Sexual and GBV services: Identification, counselling, management and proper referral for victims of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), including rape victims. (e) Distribution of essential medicines and supplies procured by UNICEF(f) Emergency preparedness and response: Building the capacity of partners to detect, assess and respond to health needs in the event of emergencies and disease outbreaks. (g) Disease surveillance and outbreak response: In line with the nationwide Integrated Disease Surveillance Response (IDSR) and Early Warning Alert and Response (EWARS) systems.(h) Quality improvement and supervision: In-service training; continuous quality improvement activities; infection prevention activities; supportive supervision; and promotion of procedures for proper waste management and disposal of sharps and other waste.The main strategy is to support an agile mix of static essential health services that are complemented by regular outreach to increase and expand equitable coverage and access, especially for mobile or hard to reach populations with intermittent periods of stability and weather-constrained access. These front-line interventions will be supported in specific areas with the roll-out of community-based health services (BHI) to bolster community resilience and basic services provision, even while communities are exposed to shocks and cannot be accessed. This combined with emergency preparedness and response will ensure service continuity.
PURPOSEThe Health Officer reports to the Health Specialist – Malakal for supervision under the oversight of the Chiefs of Field Office, whilst receiving technical support from the health section in Juba. The Health Officer provides professional technical, operational and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for the Health Programme within the Country Programme, from development planning to delivery of results, by preparing, executing, managing, and implementing a variety of technical and administrative programme tasks to facilitate programme development, implementation, programme progress monitoring, and evaluating and reporting of results. The health officer, whilst supporting the overall health programme in the former states of Malakal, will have a particular focus on community health and will provide technical and programmatic support for the roll out of the Boma Health Initiative (BHI) whilst ensuring effective integration with the primary health care focused programme as whole.
MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES1. Support to programme development and planning• Conduct and update the situation analysis for the development, design and management of health related programmes. Research and report on development trends (e.g. health, political social, economic) for higher management use to enhance programme management, efficiency and delivery of results.• Contribute to the development and establishment of sectoral programme goals, objectives, strategies, and results-based planning through analysis of health needs and areas for intervention and submission of recommendations for priority and goal setting. • Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing and administering a variety of technical programme transactions, preparing materials and documentations, and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support programme planning, results based planning (RBM), and monitoring and evaluation of results.• Prepare required documentations and materials to facilitate the programme review and approval process.2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results• Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and partners to discuss operational and implementation issues, provide solutions, recommendations, and/or to alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and decisions. Keep record of reports and assessments for easy reference and to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual sectoral reviews with government and other counterparts to assess programmes and to report on required action/interventions at the higher level of programme management. • Monitor and report on the use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets), and verify compliance with approved allocation and goals, organizational rules, regulations, procedures, as well as donor commitments, standards of accountability, and integrity. Report on issues identified to ensure timely resolution by management and stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution.• Prepare regular and mandated sectoral programme/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.3. Technical and operational support to health programme implementation• Conduct regular programme monitoring and field visits and surveys, and share information with partners and stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support and/or refer to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.• Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners, and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes, and best practices on health-related issues to support programme implementation, operations and delivery of results.4. Networking and partnership building• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with health sector government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to enhance programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to deliver concrete and sustainable results.• Draft communication and information materials for advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships/alliances, and support fund raising for health programmes.• Participate in appropriate inter-agency mechanisms on health programmes to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on joint operational planning and preparation of health programmes/projects, and to integrate and harmonize UNICEF’s position and strategies with the health sector development and planning process. • Research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership development purposes.5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building• Identify, capture, synthesize, and share data and lessons learned for knowledge development and to build the capacity of stakeholders.• Apply innovative approaches and promote good practices to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.• Assist with oversight of research and ensure results are available for use in knowledge products.• Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders.
DUTY STATION AND TRAVELMalakal with frequent travel for programme monitoring purposes
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES
1. Education A university degree in Medicine, Nursing or Midwifery is required.
2. Work Experience A minimum of two years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: public health/nutrition planning and management, maternal and neonatal health care, or health emergency/humanitarian preparedness. Relevant experience in a UN system agency or non-government organization is considered as an asset.
3. Language ProficiencyFluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (e.g. Arabic) or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.
For every Child, you demonstrate…
UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability. The competencies required for this post are….
- Builds and Maintains Partnerships
- Demonstrates Self and Ethical Awareness
- Drive to Achieve Impactful Results
- Innovates and Embraces Change
- Nurtures, Leads and Manages People
- Works Collaboratively with Others
- Thinks and Acts Strategically
- Manages Ambiguity and Complexity
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.
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 also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.
Remarks:
Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
How to apply
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization.
More Information
- Job City Juba
